VoIPWatch

Text Fragment Linking By Google

Google just redefined sharing in a very powerful. It's called text fragment linking, and it works really well for a first time out of the box.

For me, it's like having a highlighter and sharing the copy of the page with others in color. With the text fragment linking extension added to my Chrome browser I simply highlight the section, click on it with the alt key, and then copy the link. Then I'll share the link with someone, and if they're using Chrome, or another browser that supports text fragment linking, they will be taken to the web page and right to where the text is being highlighted.

All the details are found on this Google post.

So why is this so important? For years people have been sharing links, but really, the important part that you want someone else to read is on the page. In the past you would copy the link, then go back and copy the content. With Text Fragment linking, that multi-step process is eliminated. 

Here's are a few scenarios where this new function within the browser becomes super useful. Quotes. Commentary. Reviews.

Often, especially in sports or politics, or when anyone is interviewed, different news accounts will have different quotes pulled and used in a news article. Movie, book or music reviewers will often whip up memorable comments. Those reviewers may be in the same city, or now, around the globe. The comments they make in the past have been gathered up, compiled and you'll see them quoted. But often, pulled quotes don't tell the whole story.  Now with the links available, the reader could easily go back to the source material, and see the context, not just the content.

As a wine lover, I enjoy reading wine reviews and notes on a winery, or a particular wine, and often will want to share the notes with others. Now, I'll be able to highlight just the one wine review from a page full of reviews, save that note in Keep, and do the same with other reviews of the same wine, winery, region, etc. Another use is restaurant round up. Many sites will have best of roundups, or recaps of various cuisines. As I'm reading through the write ups I'll often think, "gee, that's a restaurant I'd like to go to" or "if I go there, this menu item seems like something I'd like." With Text Fragment Linking I can not only recall the article, but the exact restaurant or menu item that caught my eye. But instead of cutting and pasting multiple times, I'll just highlight, copy and paste the link in my Google Keep or Apple Notepad. While I could do much of this in Evernote, this just feels easier, as it ties to the idea of a journal of links surrounded by my notes as opposed to a link to a page, and lots more explanation.

As someone who likes to use the information, and the facts, I find what Google has done super useful. Once Google gets around to indexing the highlighted and searched text fragments, we'll likely have a new search engine function available to us,  on a personal, if not global user basis.

Ex Truphone -James Body's Son Sebastian Died Too Soon

Sad news department ---I was about to write a few overdue wine notes today, but I wanted to catch up on things about ClueCon and Dangerous Demos with long time Truphone exec turned Not Spot maven James Body in the UK. 

While VoIPWatch is not the obituary column, it is a mode of communication for now 16 years that has the eyes and attention of the VoIP and Telecom community paying attention to it.  I just reached James a short few minutes ago, as he's been a friend and colleague of now over 15 years, to only be saddened to learn the news of the passing of his 20 year old son, Sebastian just two weeks ago. And it had nothing to do with Covid-19.

They often say that the loss of a child is the parents biggest loss they can ever have in life, and for James and Sophie I know this is truly the case.

To say, it was shocking and devastating is an understatement. On many a trip to the Body house I would see the inquisitive, smart, lively and very fit Seb constantly looking to learn and act well beyond his years. I can still remember the trip to Wiltshire with my then wife, Dr. Helene Malabed, D.O.  where when we visited the Body family one year (2007 or 2008) and there was Seb yearning to learn. Outwardly inquisitive and a very lively young man.

The coroner's inquest is underway, but the details as of now are simply after returning from a successful internship in Singapore a few weeks earlier, Seb was home, bigger, stronger and more energetic than ever, according to James. One day, he was found on the floor of the bathroom, found by Sophie, but already gone.

I asked James if he minded me sharing this, and he replied to the affirmative, as he felt that talking about it is still hard so, and it would be easier this way.

James and family are well, but still they need our love, and emotional support, so please send your thoughts, prayers and condolences their way.

The MicroSwitch: My Analysis On The Microsoft's MetaSwitch Buy

When the news broke yesterday about the pending Microsoft acquisition of MetaSwitch I was going to write a post outlining why, but pal Rich Tehrani did such a good job with his, by providing a first glance analysis, I decided to hit pause and let my thoughts settle in.

 

Pain and Suffering

First, I wanted to look at who this hurts.

This is a big blow to Ribbon who had been rumored to be deep in talks to supply Kandy with the telecom functionality that Microsoft lacked. Ribbon is/was one of two SBC providers already certified to work with Microsoft Teams for direct routing to analog devices via gateways and one of six with SIP based SBCs.  The second company on the list that came to mind, literally, was Audiocodes, which like Ribbon was already on the approved list. While Microsoft will likely continue to allow them to be approved, where do you think the bulk of the business will go. If I'm Ribbon or Audiocodes I'm checking my contract and NDAs, meeting notes and more because all that intellectual capital that was shared with Microsoft is now their's to apply with MetaSwitch...OUCH. Oh, and this in a broadside way hits Oracle too via Acme Packet and Tekalec acquisitions, but for Oracle this buy doesn't cut as deep as it does to Ribbon or Audiocodes.

Next I took a look at where within Microsoft the transaction was being announced. It wasn't the Teams or Office groups, but instead it was Azure. This is as poker players say, is a "tell" because it's where the NFV (network function virtualization) and SDN (software defined networking) will reside.

Mobile Enterprise

In essence everything that MetaSwitch that can be in the cloud, will reside there. Here MSFT will be able to be a telecom pieces and parts supplier to telcos, mobile operators and enterprises wanting to have a full stack solution. This immediately takes aim at Nokia, Ericsson and the Chinese supplier Huawei. If I'm working with Qualcomm or InterDigital, I'm quickly checking what patents MetaSwitch was using of theirs, or seeing what I've got telephony wise for openers and I'm heading to Redmond to talk to Microsoft about as those algorithms that scale and can work with 5G.

More importantly, for upstarts like Telet Research in the UK, who are working on filling voids created by mobile operator NotSpots with mobile connectivity, this type of stack immediately gives them the all cloud infrastructure they need. Add Teams to that, complete with softphone, and they have a carrier in a box solution for 5G. This is important because small cells, 5G and enterprise workers = mobile operator of your own. Little Telet is poised to be a leader here.

The reason for this is at the enterprise level, Microsoft can begin to offer a unique combination of "work site" and "remote workplace" services, and delivery of them in a more secure, highly available environment. This got me thinking about Skype. Many have cast Skype to the curb with teams. But one piece of Skype's technology of old was a really serious encryption algorithm. JOLTID which was virtually uncrackable at the time. 

Encryption

This piece of technology, which has been sitting on the sidelines as  Skype morphed to SIP and in turn laid the groundwork for Teams, is incredibly important as enterprise customers look for more privacy that encryption provides. All one needs to do is look at Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp and even SilentCircle, to realize that shadow IT in the voice, text and video world all are thriving. Move the P2P encryption into the NFV/SDN world and give the enterprise back its privacy and Microsoft has a sector gobbler. Why? Like Cisco, enterprise IT has learned to trust Microsoft flaws and all. And as Teams keeps being their heroin into the Office, and as Microsoft keeps using the "drug dealer strategy" where that first hit's free, the door is being opened. Not narrowly, but wide enough to roll the truck through.

Timing

Next is timing. Microsoft has been testing telephony with Teams via what they call Direct Routing in the UK and Canada and now has rolled it out in the USA.  For the next 18-24 months I see this as more of a solution for the do it your selfer type techie, or the Enterprise IT group that has a department large enough to support a round the clock telephony IT team.

While some may infer that this is a threat to the likes of 8x8, RingCentral, Vonage or Dialpad, that's hardly the case. Doing telephony right and keeping it running isn't easy at all. And while others may think this attacks the white label players who focus on the small to mid market business world, it's also not a threat. There's just too much complexity to doing telephony right, and unlike Apple, or even Google, Microsoft doesn't make doing things easy. If anything, they help support the ecosystem of IT engineers and techs more. 

One also has to look at what this does to Google. Microsoft is never the "first mover" into any sector. Google has their fledgling Google Voice for Business service. It gets almost no attention. You never hear of it really being used, promoted or touted. Google is spending more time fighting Zoom with Meet than making what was internally called Wolverine a day to day business service. If Google isn't chasing the phone using market themselves, Microsoft, which has always been known for "selling through the channel" likely won't be either. Sure business can add this to their Office 365 service, but without some helping hands, well, it won't be on anyone's must do list anytime soon. Move on, as for Microsoft they have bigger fish to fry.

More Pain, More Gain

It does however bring up ideas of how this hurts Microsoft's perennial nemesis, Cisco, and their Broadsoft acquisition. Now MSFT has something for the large telcos like AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Orange, Telstra who can market the TEAMS telephony service at likely better rates than their Broadsoft licenses. Microsoft has been courting them since the Skype buy, and its been working. Big pond. Big fish. Channel. All what Microsoft wants.

What API Would Like With That Cloud

Instead I would look at what API's can be built from the MetaSwitch stack and think about how instantly Microsoft can become the CPaaS slayer of Twilio, Nexmo, Plivo, and provide the type of integration web devs need to look to Zapier for. If I'm Twilio I'm looking to Amazon or Google for richer alignments, as the ability to deploy, distribute and scale in the Azure cloud is likely as good or better than AWS, and Microsoft can bundle those pieces and parts that right now a develop has to cobble together.  Those features also are the same kind of integrations that Slack users love and which Teams is chasing. Well, not much longer.

Wind Up

This is an upper end of the tech stack type play for Microsoft in the short term. The NFV and SDN aspects of the buy, and the pieces and parts to support telcos and really the enterprise scale business are clearly there. Add in Teams and the soft entry point is telephony, but this is really about Microsoft becoming an Information Services provider, not simply about dial tone.  

For Microsoft this is about getting businesses, the big ones to switch to Microsoft Azure, back to Office and from Slack to Teams. 

That's why this is about is what I'll call:

MicroSwitch......

How Skype Fell to Zoom

WiredUK has a drill down on how Microsoft's SKYPE lost the video calling war to ZOOM. Long time media voice turned VC, and friend, Om Malik, is quoted heavily in the story, and Om's right. 

While pointing to the rise of Microsoft Teams as a contributory factor due to Microsoft's internal decisions, both Wired and Om missed one of the key contributors to SKYPE's demise; that's also the reason why Microsoft put its bets on Teams while letting SKYPE wither in the wind. 

SLACK.

Before Slack, for many workers, SKYPE was the way they messaged one another, and people outside their organization. It allowed them to text, share files and advance to a call, then a video call and even a group video call. But as Slack took chat and file-sharing traffic over, offered deeper integration with Google Drive, DropBox, Box, as the ability to start a call with a few keystrokes with many calling and conferencing services, the use of Skype for calls became less and less necessary.

Slack's rise was contributing to less use of Skype in business. And in essence, Microsoft's own efforts to counter Slack with Teams took away efforts to keep Skype alive.

Combine that with what Om said about Microsoft and the phrase "muck it up," and you had the perfect storm. As the Covid-19 pandemic arrived and more people started to need to "see" one another, ZOOM swept in with a well-timed PR campaign. ZOOM's integration with Slack isn't a "Johnny come lately" move either that arrived at the start of Covid-19, like Houseparty's rapid ascent or the repositioning of Hangouts to Meet by Google. Those are playing catch up. ZOOM has had a longstanding integration with SLACK. And, that "love affair" was already blooming. Many Slack users were already ZOOMing, just as they also have been using UberConference or Go To Meeting the same way for many years. 

While Skype has the same Slack integration , Zoom kept working and deepening the Slack relationship, and with shared channels that allowed people to work across organizations available, just like Skype, they offered users more integration. 

Right now, Slack plus Zoom is winning the battle. If Teams can succeed in moving business over from Slack, then Zoom has to worry about the ground it gained shifting to Teams. 

5G Delays May Be Good News. Here's Why

As we live through the new normal we need to reassess our plans. And when it comes to 5G there's a lot of room for reassessment. Here's why.

Already we're seeing reports that due to Covid-19 and impact on people and the economy globally, 5G rollouts may be slowed down. While the 5G conspiracy theorists will revel in the pause button being hit, that's not why this is good news. It's good news because all the plans for 5G rollout had to do with where people, and their mobile devices were, not where they are today and likely where they will more often be in the future.

Much like where fiber is being deployed, not where it's needed now, 5G was largely planned to go where the densest levels of usage were or where coverage gaps that needed filling were. Now with more work from home, schooling at home and just everything happening (or not happening) at home, the need to look at coverage maps, deployment schedules and locations of cell towers and micro-cells all changes. 

The tower companies and telcos though are not like small PT boats that can quickly turn in the sea. They operate more like battleships and destroyers. That means they don't shift around very easily, very well or most importantly, very quickly.

Lots of research went into where 5G is going to be deployed. Then there's securing the towers, erecting new ones, getting local approval, all before the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint throws a big monkey wrench as swaps of towers and the agreements that are already in place need to change hands and more.

 

 

In effect, the hitting the pause button allows the biggest enemy of a deployment, time, to reset. Now with new data being collected from LTE/4G usage, traffic patterns and online usage of cable, fiber and DSL connections, the telcos can rethink where they put 5G and when. 

This is important as more data keeps coming out everyday that working from home isn't any longer an aberration, but really the harbinger of things to come. By having the time to sift through the new data, the telcos can now move their uninstalled gear, and RAN (radio access networks) efforts to where the people are, not where they used to be.

Sure the business sectors and commercial corridors will need 5G, but with traffic counts way down, and people shopping more and more online, having groceries delivered and more, the rush to make sure the commercially dense areas are covered isn't any longer as important. Home is. That's where 5G needs to be.

Random Thoughts from A Road Warrior's Idle Mind

Life on the road is never as great as some who don't travel. Here are some observations from being on the road more than at home.

Q. Why is it that the morning of daylight saving time (DST) hotel clocks are not updated the night before I go to bed. How hard is it to adjust the clock before the guest arrives, or returns for the evening during turn down service and leave a note that the clock's been adjusted so when you wake up it's the right time?

A. Because the hotel staff hasn't been around long enough to live through one time change.

Q. How hard is it for the housekeepers to make sure the alarm is not turned on before you check in and get woken up at the wrong time?

A. Because they've likely never been a guest in a room where the clock goes off at 515 AM.

Q. Why do the makers of HVAC controls for hotels think they know how I want my room to feel?

A. Because they are sadists.

Q. Why do HVAC engineers they think that the hours between midnight and 7 AM are when the sensors will detect motion while we're sleeping and turn off the automatic temperature control system so the room goes from comfortable to uncomfortable in the middle of the night?

A. Job security.

Q. How come room service staff aren't wearing latex gloves when they deliver the food to the guest room?

A. Because accounting hasn't figured out how to add that cost to the bill yet.

Q. Why is bagel and lox delivered as BAGEL and LOX and I have to make the sandwich myself?

A. Because it's not Kitchen Service.

Q. Why are hotel bathrobes belts tied so tight that it takes longer to untie it than you may be wearing it?

A. Because the chambermaid has other ideas of what they'd like to do with those belts.

Q. In the era of bandwidth on demand, why is it that hotel broadband is never as good during work hours as it is in the middle of the night?

A. Because hotel IT departments still see the guest room as a place you sleep, shower and dress and not a place for work.

Got any anecdotes from life on the road. Share them.

What The Corona Virus Means To Business Today

The Corona virus is not being contained, and each day we read of another event being shut down or companies pulling out--with SONY and Facebook being the most recent to cancel their participation in the Game Developers Conference.

Make no mistake, these are not easy decisions as sales, marketing and promotion all surround conferences, but it's the sales meetings and media launches that are hit the hardest. Hundreds of meetings with prospects. Thousands of man hours of training independent developers. Dozens of briefings with reporters, all that set the tone for what's coming next are sideswiped and pole-axed when a company pulls out of a conference, or like with Mobile World Congress, the event is cancelled. Travel plans go up in smoke and hotel rooms that are not-cancelable are written off as a loss.  But let's first credit the companies who are pulling out, but putting their people before profit.

So, how will all the work and plans get delivered, now that the companies who are skipping the GDC tell their story? How will all the companies and people who had meetings set for Mobile World Congress do their jobs, make their quotas and hit their numbers? Those have to be the questions on everyone's minds.

Here are some suggestions/prognostications about what will fill the gaps:

For starters Video Conferencing is going to become front and center as the mode of communication. Companies are already adding accounts with ZOOM, and the stock price is benefitting. Traveling to see customers would be an expected effort, but with the Corona Virus spreading, many will opt for the video route vs. the airborne ones.

Media Relations will kick up and pick up. There will be more effort placed on mini-media conferences done virtually. Tools like WebinarJam and GoToWebinar, like Zoom, will pick up the slack of in person meetings with many media folks at one time and the virtual media conference will take form. The media will begin to be besieged event more with news releases, requests for briefings, more video being sent their way. Given other events are also scheduled, and how the media has to cover those as well, and if they are not cancelled, getting coverage will be tougher.

Greater use of Slack and Microsoft Teams outside of the organization. Shared Slack channels and the same with Teams will begin to become more used, as the need to collaborate without being in the same place rises due to the concerns about travel and the reduction in companies attending trade shows and conferences. 

More shipping. Expect to see greater use of FedEx and UPS by more companies as items that previously would have been shown in person, need to be seen and held. 

Greater Social Media Efforts-with the pressures and constraints of media space, time and location, greater emphasis will be put on using social media to engage more. We'll begin to see new engagement models, greater use of OPT-IN marketing and the need for more permissions from the sales side. On the buyers side, more use of ways to stay anonymous will arise. Unlike being at a trade show, where your badge tells all, the use of online search and information gathering allows for many more ways to be less known to marketers. This will only lead to more social media, an expansion of cross-marketing, and more.

More "Own Conferences" To Come--Once the Corona Virus is deemed under control, a cure found or outbreaks subside, many companies will turn to organizing their own conferences and customer gatherings. These events will be held in executive briefing centers, in large hotels with conference and meeting space and resorts. Once this happens expect hotel rates to rise and airfare availabilities to major business markets in the USA and around the world to rise.

These are all likely scenarios, and probably what's being discussed inside many companies right now. Plans have to be made, and work must go on. Technology is going to help in many ways, but it's still all about people who need to make things happen.

 

Three Reasons Why IT Expo Was Great For Me

I've been a regular attendee at IT Expo since the late 1990's and other than a flight issue one year that kept me from making my way east, I've been attending the telecom industry gathering each winter. This year's event, held in Fort Lauderdale, was one of the best ever, and felt a lot like the old days of VON. Here's my three reasons why IT Expo was so great:

1. More people I know were there-Having been a regular at telecom shows I've gotten to know a lot of people over the years. This year at IT Expo I had a hard time walking the halls without being stopped by someone who I personally know, who has been or is a client or a member of the media/analyst world.  
2. Better content-the panels I moderated and sat on, as well as tuned into all were a step up from prior years. Less message point speaking and more issues and answers. Erik Linask did a stellar job at recruiting the right speakers and came up with some killer topics.
3. The exhibition floor. While it was jammed, the space and aisles were wide enough that you can walk without feeling cramped but the traffic was strong enough that in many cases the booths were always busy, and the crowds were lining up.

These three factors made this year's IT Expo great for me. Here's to next year's and a return to Miami Beach.

IT Expo-The Modern Day VON Blur

It's been a long time since Jeff Pulver's VON Conference series ended. Back in the day there were at least two if not three or four or five VON's a year. Competitor, TMCNet's IT Expo ran two events as well and literally the conference circuit for VoIP and related industries felt like an every other month activity. There were others that were put on but as publications died off so too did the events. What was great though back then was you got to see your friends more often, as well as you clients.  What was bad was between the event expense, the travel and the time away from the office is work was the conferences.

With the sad demise of VON, smartly, IT Expo went to a once a year format, holding its annual gathering in February in Fort Lauderdale. For me that means hours of meetings representing agency clients and companies I serve as the CMO for, moderating and speaking on panels or doing media interviews.  To say conferences are nothing but a party, would be a real understatement.

Lots of prep goes into all facets of the event. For SkySwitch, where I've been CMO since last June, it means booth design, messaging, working with the team on booth scheduling, SWAG, working on the news announcemets and logistics. All work that started months ago. Thankfully I have a great team to work withm from founder Eric Hernaez on down, and our efforts at IT Expo will show the benefits of the prep.

For others like Fonative, who I've been advising and counseling, and now act as their virtual CMO also, it means news announcement planning, panel and media relations prep, as well as meeting participation along with founder and CEO Steve Smith. For myself, it's all about preparing for multiple media and analyst interviews, panel prep for the three that I'm moderating and one that has me on the panel speaking too.  It also means scheduling meetings both onsite and off, as well as all the travel logistics needed to get to and from those meetings and the event.

Given how big IT Expo will be this year the return of the Blur is upon us....see you in Fort Lauderdale.

The Why Behind Comcast's BlueFace Acquisition

A few weeks ago I was attending the PTC Conference in Honolulu for a client. The event came right on the heels of the news that Comcast had purchased the Irish softswitch company Blueface. Maybe it was the timing, and how busy things were being 5 hours off of east coast time, but I sort of chalked the purchase up to the obvious reasons to me in conversations at PTC about the buy.

However, in thinking back to most of the news coverage of it, so much was focused on what Comcast said in their statements that the "obvious" wasn't said.

1. Good bye to Broadsoft-With Blueface Comcast can stop paying licensing fees down the road. They also get a team that's 100 percent dedicated to them. Why should Comcast be paying the Cisco/Broadsoft tax when they can buy a more modern competitor, put the workforce in Ireland-a haven for Intellectual Property, and make more money. 
2. It's about Mobile-Comcast's mobile team will be able to fully integrate with their business and consumer phone services as well as next generation communications features. Right now Xfinity Mobile is known as a "light" MVNO meaning all the do is market and bill, and then rely on Verizon's Broadsoft switch for the rest. With the Blueface acquisition, and team, they can now use the power of an all IP switch to fully integrate and deliver new services that work across the entire "mobile broadband," "content," "phone" and "messaging" spectrum.
3. Long term bad news for Momentum and Alianza -The two supply telephony services to the many smaller cable companies across the USA. Momentum is on Broadsoft while Alianza has their own platform I'm told. Watch as Comcast outsources their Blueface platform to Cox, Charter/Spectrum and other cable companies taking away the business from Alianza and Momentum (or buys one of them). They can do this and bundle telephony plus content deals from all they own from NBC/Universal and also offer their cable company brothers the ability to integrate ad sales, offers, content, sports programming and more to both the big screen and mobile devices.  This puts the Blueface switch right in the middle of all of it.

At the end of the day this is a really smart move by the Philadelphia based cable co, and it shows that Comcast is far smarter strategically than AT&T. The purchase also demonstrates that Comcast wants to be technology independent, while being all standards based. It also shows that they have a clear vision, and clearly a better roadmap.

Lastly, unlike Verizon or AT&T, they understand how communications, advertising, sports and entertainment are going to be delivered. All that makes the Blueface acquisition one more rung of that ladder they are building that keeps more of the money in their pockets.