Anyone interested in the latest news about telecommunications has been hearing about Starlink, a satellite internet constellation currently being deployed into low earth orbit (LEO) by SpaceX. This network aims to deliver high-speed internet connectivity to any location on the planet — a particularly beneficial development for those in rural or remote areas.

In this article, we examine this space-age internet service provider and evaluate its viability for services such as VoIP, video and other time-sensitive communications applications.

Now that working from home and dispersed workforces have become the new norm, connecting employees’ or company-issued smartphones to the enterprise IP PBX offers several advantages, including the ability to reach employees via their direct inward dial (DID) landline numbers, even though they are physically off-premise.

The technology that enables this is called VoIP over cellular data networks. In this article we detail how to enable it, the advantages of doing so and some potential issues to watch out for.

Key trends for WISPs from WISPAPALOOZA

Wireless Internet Service Providers or WISPs constitute a growing industry in the United States and worldwide. The WISP Association (WISPA), an advocacy organization for WISPs in the U.S., has over 650 members and 200 vendor associations. WISPA organizes an annual event called WISPAPALOOZA for the purpose of bringing together WISPs and vendors from all over the country.  Last week, Anthony Morris and Trey Smith were speaking with people about our wireless networking and telecommunications solutions at the TeleDynamics booth.

Here we cover some of the key trends this year that affect WISPs.

In today’s connected world, it is increasingly common to have workers in different parts of the country, or even different parts of the world, collaborating over the multiple communications channels available to them. Many remote workers use OTT services like Skype to keep in touch with their clients, partners and customers in situations where a telephone call (even over VoIP) would incur a non-trivial cost.

Such calls usually require the use of a computer with a webcam and either a headset or speakers and a microphone. This makes Skype calling more complex than a simple telephone call. Skype-enabled telephony devices remove this complexity by integrating the application with the endpoint, so communicating over Skype becomes as simple as a traditional telephone call. By enabling Skype, these devices also make more features available to the user like instant messaging, presence technology, and file sharing.

In this article we list some productivity-boosting Skype- and Skype for Business-enabled products.

When to use VoLTE vs. an OTT voice app

In a previous article, we discussed voice over LTE (VoLTE) and its implications for the enterprise VoIP phone system. All voice traffic over the LTE (also known as 4G mobile) network is packetized and conforms to modern VoIP standards, making it the first mobile telephony standard to completely circumvent the traditional circuit-switched telephony infrastructure.

In many ways, VoLTE sounds a lot like over-the-top (OTT) voice applications that leverage the same protocols for voice. In this article, we look at what OTT voice apps are, what VoLTE is in relation to OTT, and the benefits of using one, the other or both over an LTE network.

Last week, we touched on some of the technological advances that have allowed VoIP telephony to surpass the PSTN in both quality and reliability.

Yet, even though VoIP has been around for two decades, there are still some misconceptions about what it really is. A lot of people think of VoIP as a technology that allows placing phone calls over the internet. Although this is true, such a narrow definition encompasses only a fraction of the functionality of VoIP.

The unfortunate consequence of this misperception is that VoIP is often associated with low quality and best-effort services that offer low cost or free voice calls over the internet. Those familiar with these services have experienced the frequent disconnects, jitter and stuttering on the line characteristic of this type of service. As a result, VoIP has erroneously been associated with an unreliable user experience.

The truth is, VoIP is much more (and better) than just voice over the internet.

These four innovations are taking business communications by storm.