Introducing Broadview Networks .... New Telarus Vendor Partner!

During the month of September Telarus announced the launch of our newest vendor partner, Broadview Networks.

Broadview is a network-based electronically integrated communications provider (e-ICP ... see - you learned something new today!) serving small and medium-sized businesses in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States.

The company offers integrated communications solutions ..... including local, long-distance and international voice services; data services that encompass VPN and MPLS enabled offerings; hosted and premises-based VoIP systems; traditional telephone systems; and high-speed Internet services using DSL, T1 and T3 technologies.

To see what Telarus can do for you with a Broadview Networks solution .... including our famous low price guarantee .... simply click here

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Telecom News: Week of 9/20/10

In case you missed the news last week, here's a quick round-up of some of the more interesting stories:

• Facebook had its worst outage in 4 years, read the reports directly from facebook here.
• LION2 cable consortium to build a new submarine cable in the Indian Ocean. Read what Sean Buckley of Fierce Telecom has to say about it here.
• CORESITE goes public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: COR) the company raised $246 million on its opening day. See what Data Center Knowledge says about its opending day here.

Other big trending topics in the news include a wide-range of discussions and opinions on Carrier Ethernet Exchanges. This will continue to be a topic of discussion as Neutral Tandem seeks to close on its acquisition of Tinet the beginning of Q'4 2010. The acquisition will bring Neutral Tandem's global Carrier Ethernet Exchange to 99 Points of Presence (PoPs), making it the largest Ethernet Exchange on the market.

Acquisition news will also stay in the news, at least for the coming months as PAETEC announces its acquisition of Cavalier Telephone for $460 Million, GoDaddy.com puts itself on the Auction Block and Lightower announces its intention to acquire Lexent Metro Connect, of course the deal is still pending completion.

I'll continue to keep you posted on the latest and greatest news - so check back and don't miss a thing!

Want to know more? Visit my company's website at http://www.jaymiescotto.com/ and check out the news from clients in the Telecom Industry.

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Telarus Appears In CRN Magazine "Top 75 Coolest Providers" List

CRN Magazine, formerly known as VAR Business, named Telarus as one of the 'Top 75 Coolest Telecom Providers' in its current issue. Telarus, ironically enough, was the only master agent mentioned in the magazine, which also included some of our carrier partners in its list.

We won the award as a result of the hard work performed month in and month out by our loyal agents, and our hard-working staff. Our belief in something bigger defines who we are, and why we continue to win awards for innovation. We are doing something that has never been done before, and for that we are the most proud.

To see the original article .... click here.

To take advantage of what we have to offer click here

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[Rant] When Good Hosts Go Bad

I've run across the below situation more requently recently .... maybe it has something to do with the state of the economy.

Anyway .... it's not about me. But this "rant" could very well describe a similar situation many of you may have ... or are now facing. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave a comment.

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It really, really pisses me off when a hosting company that has been an excellent partner for years suddenly does a 180 and becomes flaky and a nightmare to deal with.

My principal provider has had an outage that started Sunday morning that is affecting www and sql for sites hosted on specific machines (which of course has to include a site for my biggest customer). Their promised redundancy did not kick in. They have been real slow at posting status updates. When they realized they had a major issue on their hands, rather than offer customers the option of moving their sites to unaffected boxen, they are sitting on their hands. And, if being down for going onto a third day now wasn't bad enough, they are hinting at the possibility that the affected sites may lose their SQL Server databases and site content.

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

What's clear to me is there has been a regime change. When I rang yesterday, the guy I've dealt with "is no longer with the company" and "priority support for resellers was discontinued in February." The guy I spoke with claimed they had sent out an email and posted on the website about the change. He then got snitty with me for pressing him about *where* on the website this announcement was, since there's nothing in the announcements or company news sections, and it still clearly states on all the package descriptions and order pages that resellers get priority. He then goes on to tell me that not only do we not have priority support, resellers can only receive telephone support for dedicated or co-lo issues, not for any issues involving our shared customers.

Needless to say, I'm shopping around for a replacement. Good luck with this, right?

Are there any hosts out there that are completely US-based, aren't part of some big corporate conglomerate or mass-market concern, are focused on working with developer-resellers (as opposed to end-users), and understand that if they're marketing to SMBs that they are committing to specific obligations and expectations that are nothing like selling space to people just wanting to host pictures of puppies and kittens?

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Telarus Signs with NetWolves

Leading master agent expands carrier portfolio through new partnership with NetWolves

DRAPER UT, September 10, 2010 - Telarus, Inc., premier telecom master agent and patent holder of real-time carrier quotes, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to market and sell managed carrier services through Netwolves. The new agreement opens the way for Telarus agents to sell a more complete network solution to their customers. Netwolves, utilizing over 150+ underlying providers, offers multi-carrier solutions on a single invoice.

"We are excited for the addition of Netwolves" commented Adam Edwards, president of Telarus. "The combination of NetWolves' proprietary security offering and broad reach in network footprint makes them a great addition for Telarus agents. We know that this new relationship will open doors to new network opportunities for our agents."

NetWolves offers network security solutions coupled with network management and communication services worldwide . As a managed service provider, NetWolves has developed unique and patented technology to monitor and safeguard their client's network.

"We are excited for Telarus to join our channel program," stated Michael Grossman, VP of Channel Sales for Netwolves. "Their agents continue to come across companies who require all-in-one networking and security solutions, and we are happy to be able to meet that demand. Building long-time relationships with Telarus' agents is our goal and we will pull out all of the stops to make sure that happens."

"NetWolves is a super-flexible provider of data and managed services," added Lance Akins, VP of Sales for Telarus, Inc. "Their Managed Services Offering is unique in the industry and makes them one of the most robust one-neck-to-grab solution for businesses looking to optimize their network without adding a ton of IT resources. NetWolves takes care of everything for their clients, from soup to nuts - and happy customers make for happy agents."

If you are interested in learning more about what NetWolves can do for YOUR business ..... request a no obligation quote here:

Network Solution

About NetWolves

NetWolves Corporation is a managed services provider delivering consolidated, secure network services from leading telecommunications companies, offering its customers a single-source solution for all of their ever-changing telecommunications needs. NetWolves is a privately held company headquartered in Tampa, FL.

About Telarus

Telarus is a leading master agent that caters to the needs of professional independent commercial telecom brokers. Telarus is contracted with the top carriers and pays top commissions to its partners, all while providing superior support and tools that enable sales growth. Established in 2002, Telarus has become a leading master agent in the telecom industry through its use of non-outsourced home grown technology, unsurpassed transparency, and the best people in the business. In short, we make selling more efficient and effective for our partners so they waste less time and get paid more. Today Telarus leverages GeoQuote, our patented real-time quote engine to provide near instant pricing for transactional services, allowing its sales support staff to focus on providing agents with assistance on large and complex solutions. Telarus, a privately held company with headquarters in Draper, Utah, was named the top master agent by the members of the Telecom Association in 2008 and 2009.

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Telarus Telecom Vendor News

Any business needing dedicated bandwidth or any other Telecom network solution will be interested in the news below. Lot's of specials and impressive deals you should take advantage of.

If you'd like to know more simply request support through ...... Telarus Vendor Deals

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1. AboveNet

* AboveNet has expanded their footprint into Washington DC, Miami, and Denver.

* Metro Core Wave, AboveNet's latest product, provides Carrier and Enterprise customers a scalable and dynamic metro solution, and the ability to grow from 1Gbp/s to 40Gbp/s and higher.

2. ACC Business - Effective 8/5/10, PNT customers who order new ACC Business service, or renew their existing service, will now be able to add new PNT (including EaPNT) and ANIRA locations under their existing contract term.

3. Accel Networks - Accel Networks announced the availability of its new customer portal AccelView, a Web-based platform that provides customers real-time reporting of each network site, network status, usage reports, asset tracking, orders and returns tracking.

4. Accuconference - Accuconference is now offering a free demo account. For two weeks they will be granted free access to all of the Accuconference features, including call recording, live-call screen, the customer site, web conferencing, and more.

5. Airband - Airband Communications and Sparkplug Communications today announced they have merged, creating the largest fixed-wireless company for businesses in the U.S.

6. One Communications - One Communications expanded their services to Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit.

7. PAETEC

* PAETEC opened new rate centers last week in Florida, New York, and Iowa.

* New PAETEC bundled pricing will be loaded into GeoQuote in the next few days. This pricing has only been made available to Telarus. It will be about three weeks before the rest of the industry sees this pricing.

8. Telepacific - TelePacific Communications announced an agreement to acquire the SMB customer base and network of O1 Communications.

9. Telx - Telx announced a 13,500 square foot expansion of its Chicago data center.

10. Windstream -

* The entire Windstream footprint, including recent acquisitions, has been integrated into GeoQuote with 100% pricing accuracy.

* Through a recent government grant, Windstream Corporation will offer broadband service speeds of up to 12 megabytes per second in Chautauqua County New York, covering Clymer, Columbus, Ellery, French Creek, Mina, and Sherman.

* Windstream has acquired Q-Comm Corporation, a privately held regional fiber transport and competitive local exchange carrier based in Overland Park, Kansas in a transaction valued at $782 million. The transaction includes Q-Comm's wholly owned subsidiaries Kentucky Data Link, Inc., a fiber services provider in 22 states, and Norlight, Inc., a competitive local exchange services company serving the Midwest.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service has announced $66.4 million in grants and loans for Windstream to develop DSL, fixed wireless and other broadband projects in seven states, including Georgia, Texas and Missouri. Windstream will match the grants with $21.7 million in private funding.

* Windstream announced an expansion of its network data security portfolio with the introduction of Windstream Managed Security - Enterprise to protect the entire network of large and enterprise business customers.

11. XO Communications - XO Communications has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan, a global market research and growth consulting firm, as the leading VoIP and SIP trunking services provider and capturing the largest market share among service providers by delivering superior customer satisfaction and value.

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What is a Bonded T1?

Understanding what a bonded T1 is, and what it brings to the table, is not as complicated as some people make it out to be. For T1 bandwidth specifically, your choices are fractional T1, T1, and bonded T1. In other words.... part of a T1, a full T1 line, or X number of T1s connected to deliver whatever bandwidth capacity you need met.

The benefit of a bonding T1's is that it eliminates overtaxing of a single T1. If your required bandwidth is more than what a full T1 delivers.... but less than a DS3 line.... then a bonding T1 lines is a smart choice.

Bonded T1's are basically 2 or more T1's that are connected to make a fatter pipe. This does confuse a lot of people so let me try and explain with a few examples.

Lets assume you have 2 T1's bonded together.....

If you have to download a file from the web that is 300Mbits in size then it would take 100 seconds to down load that file (300Mbit file/3Mbits per second bandwidth). This is because the bonded T1's appear to be one large pipe.

Taking the same example but now you have 2 unbonded T1's.

You still have a total of 3Mbits per second bandwidth, however if you have to download one file that's 300Mbits in size it will take 200 seconds. This is because you only have 1.5Mbits per second bandwidth available as the file cannot be split and sent down both T1's at the same time. The other T1 is not used for this transfer but is available for other traffic.

If you had two 300Mbit files to download then it would take 200 seconds to download in either scenario.

Bonded T1's only help if you transfer large data files and time is critical. If time is not an issue and the data transfer is not large then bonded T1's won't help much. In that case stick with a full T1 line or look at the availability of Business Ethernet. Please note tt some point you'll reach a point of diminishing return with a bonded T1 solution. For both capacity and cost. If that is a concern than fractional or full DS3 bandwidth is a better option.

The key is to understand first what your typical use load will be. Also consider what your peak load parameters would look like. Then design your solution around those two analyzed scenarios.

For quality Bonded T1 service, protect yourself and your investment by comparing amongst 30 first and top tier carriers where you have a Low Price Guarantee. For more information and finding your best deals and options, please visit Bonded T1.

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Warning..... Be Careful When Looking For a Hosted PBX Business VoIP Solution

As popular as Hosted PBX seems to be today for a business VoIP solution..... you need to tread lightly during the decision process or risk making a costly mistake. If you don't pay attention to the details you'll likely be very unhappy with the results.

If you're in the market for a new office phone system, and are considering business VoIP, do your homework. There are lots of providers offering what seems like similar services so make sure you test drive the quality and support before you put your money down. Or at a minimum do meaningful due diligence ahead of time. Also, get the help of a professional to walk you through the mine field of hype and hyperbole so as to avoid making a big (and costly) mistake.

Any consumer making family phone decisions based on Google searches and anonymous message board recommendations can make a mistake, but the unintended consequences aren't more severe than a couple of bucks for a couple of weeks.

A commercial business making similar decisions with no prior experience on putting VOIP systems together is put at much more at risk, including (at the extreme) the livelihood of their employees. A mistake by a business can and likely will cost a LOT more.

There are plenty of business providers in the VOIP space, and many are very competent at what they do, yet any particular otherwise excellent provider might be exactly the wrong carrier for any specific business. A simple example would be "carrier X" which gets 5 star ratings, has a very low cost structure, month to month contracts, and very customer friendly terms. However, if your phone numbers disappear from directory services (411 databases) and/or outbound caller ID name, that carrier could be worthless to you despite its reputation.

If you don't know what questions to ask, then Google searches for business telecom services can lead to big trouble. Especially if one's primary concept of evaluation and comparison is price.

To stay out of trouble I suggest first educating yourself as much as possible by doing meaningful research ahead of time. The best starting point is at the industry information site VoIPMechanic.com, which will give you information and help with your VoIP phone connection, tutorials and news about VOIP, help with installation, trouble shoot and solve common use problems, and share a number of practical tutorials. Next I recommend using the free assistance available from Business VoIP Solution to walk you through the decision process and make sure the outcome makes business sense for you and your organization.

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A Conference that Focuses on Broadband VoIP Development, Education and Business Development

By Suzanne Bowen, co-founder and VP of Super Technologies, Inc., DIDX wholesale DID marketplace, and Techistan online magazine is a guest editor for Broadband Nation.

I found an exciting conference that focuses on voIP education, entrepreneurship and development near Chicago, Illinois. I've met the professors of the VoIP Research Lab such as Carol Davids at Cluecon where John Lodden, CEO of Michigan Networks CLEC interviewed us about the VoIP Conference in Chicago area. Many of the sponsors for this conference are the most respected in the broadband sector. Hope you will meet up with us all there.

VoIP Conference & Expo - Oct 12-14, 2010- Join us!

VoIP Conference & Expo at IIT

SIP Tutorial: October 12, 2010
Conference & Expo: October 13-14, 2010
Location: Wheaton, IL (Chicago Area)

Are You Participating?
Join more than 200 telecommunications professionals from 100+ organizations for 3 days of VoIP.

Attend - $300 for 2 days / $400 for 3 days (Early registration discount through 9/15)
Sponsor - $500-$1,500 with exhibit table

Program/Schedule

* More than 50 presentations + panels, keynotes & more

* SIP Tutorial - 1 day preconference tutorial by industry experts (Oct 12)

* Emergency services /NG911 - Mini-Conference

* Cloud Telephony & Voice on the Web

* Emerging Technologies and Applications

* Unified Communications - Mini-Conference

* Evolving Networks - Voice, Video, Mobility - Architectures and Protocols

* And, more!

Speaker and program info at www.cpd.iit.edu/voipconference.

Become a Sponsor - Sponsor Opportunities are still available. I personally think this is a great deal for all who want to be at the point of entry of many new telephony related businesses, educators, experts, engineers and entpreneurs who have a dream to make broadband available everywhere with easy access to IP communications including voice, video, data ....
Platinum - $1500
Gold - $750
Silver - $500

For more information on Sponsor and/or Exhibitor opportunities, contact Scott Pfeiffer at pfeiffer@iit.edu or 630-682-6001.

Keynote Speakers
* "How Will VoIP Reincarnate the Web and Cloud Worlds?"
- Henry Sinnreich and Alan Johnson, Industry Consultants and Authors

* "Policy and Technology: The FCC's Goals for Broadband Technology, 911 Alerting and Cyber Security"
- Jeff Scott Cohen, FCC - Public Safety and Homeland Security

- Bernard Aboba, Microsoft

- Eric Burger, Georgetown University
* "Sense Everything, Control Everything - Connecting VoIP and Location with the Physical World"

- Henning Schulzrinne, Columbia University
* "Panel Discussion: Carriers View of VoIP and the Future"

- Christopher Mayer, VP, Verizon Communications

- Michael Paradise, AVP, AT&T

Current Sponsors Include:

* Platinum: AT&T, Verizon, Tellabs, Mu Dynamics

* Gold: Avaya, InCharge Systems, S-Net Communications

* Silver: Tekno Telecom, AG Projects, Elarasys, Dialogic

* Organizational: NENA, IPTComm, SIPForum, Clue Con, NGN Forum, IMS Plugfest, DIDXchange, No Jitter, Techistan, biz-news, IEEE, Light Reading

Registration Details
3-day Conference Package (includes SIP Tutorial): $400
2-day Conference Package: $300
Register by September 15 to receive an Early Bird discount!
Other Discount Rates may be available for society and group registrations.

To Register:
Visit http://www.cpd.iit.edu/voipconference/

Quick Links
Register Now http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=e2f0ff38-a913-4f21-a842-58e29285fafa

Visit Us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69473938607
Visit Us on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1893440&trk=anet_ug_grppro
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/IITVoipConf

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You Might Be A Smart Phone Addict If .....

You might be a smart phone addict if ......

- You sleep with your smart phone next to you in the bed while it's charging.

- You take it with you to the restroom at home to use while on the throne.

- You are reading this post from your smart phone even though you have a laptop or desktop nearby.

- You're at your desk at work but you check your email on your smart phone.

- You and your significant other have matching smart phones.

- You have the home charger, the work charger, the travel charger, the car charger, and an extra battery just in case.

- You have different color smart phone holsters to match your outfits.

- You forward your home and work calls to your phone, even though you are at home or at work.

- You have more than one smart phone, with you right now.

......... If you can think of more Smart Phone addict "habits" ..... feel free to add them as a comment. ;)

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How To Share Your WiFi With Your Neighbor

First .... An often overlooked point is to check your Terms of Service. Your ISP may forbid sharing, and there may be HEAVY penalties. Some ISP's are friendly to it. Check on it!

To reiterate the basics of the technology:

1) Line Of Sight (LOS) is an essential ingredient.

If you have a window in location #1 where you can put the AP and sit your client in the window at location #2, and they have clear line of sight and distance is reasonable, it can be done. Let this much be clear, 2.4 GHz is the same frequency your microwave oven uses, and there is a reason it heats up food so well. Water molecules absorb 2.4 GHz radio very nicely, which is why it get hot when you bombard it in the oven. If you have a bunch of trees in the way, they are full of water, and there is very little chance you are going to get a signal through many trees over a long distance. Getting LOS is essential, and if you need to go higher to get it then do it.

2) An amplifier is no substitute for a good antenna and LOS!

If we are at a party and you want to chat with me from across the room, is it a good idea to whip out your bullhorn? No, it's quite stupid. Now I can hear you but you still cannot hear me. WiFi is 2-way, it is not AM-radio. The next answer will be "let's all get bullhorns" but then we all go deaf. There is a smarter way. A cone held to your ear will let you hear better.

A good high-gain antenna will let you hear weak signals as well as you transmit, so it is in every way superior. Usually cheaper too. The best solution is often a directional antenna which will enhance transmit and received in a particular direction, with the side-benefit of rejecting interference sources in other directions. Try even the simple home-made antennas from
freeantennas.com

3) To connect two networks wirelessly or to extend wireless, the ideal solution is to get a REPEATER. Normally this has TWO radios so that no significant loss of throughput occurs. One can essentially make a repeater by using the coupling of two devices, an ethernet adaptor bridge(to capture) and wire it to an AP (to retx).

Let me attempt to explain the "obstruction in the way" :

You have a candle sitting in a windowsill. With clear LOS (Line of Sight) you can see this candle from a long distance on a dark night. You might need binoculars further away.

Now you put a house or a thick stand of trees in the way. You cannot see the candle anymore! I would point out that "amps" are no help since they boost maybe to 1 Watt. How bright is a 1-Watt light bulb? Not very. The problem is not insufficent power, it's that house in the way!

To put it quite simple the nature of WiFi is low-power and not very penetrating. Metals and any material with water in them (i.e. TREES) cut your range drastically.

The correct solution is to get clear LOS. Most people do this by putting an antenna on a mast up high enough to see over the obstruction. At least from altitude with a good directional antenna you have a better shot at it.

Alternatively you could put up a repeater station on the top of the obstruction.

Now if you have any personal experience .... good or bad .... feel free to share by leaving a comment.

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