Avaya's Nortel buy might not power it over Cisco
By Tim Greene
November 30, 2009
Network World
Analysts have said that one key reason for Avaya buying Nortel is that the deal would give the combined entity a dramatic lead in the race for business customers. At the VoiceCon conference this fall, analyst Alan Sulkin, president of TEQConsult Group said, "They're going to be a powerhouse. The last time somebody had a marketshare like this was AT&T in 1900."

Siemens Introduces 'Socially Aware' Unified Communications
By Ted Stevenson
November 20, 2009
VoIP Planet
The result, previewed earlier this month at VoiceCon in San Francisco, was Twitter functionality for the OpenScape Unified Communications (UC) application while running in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) environment.

Aura Possibilities
By Gary Audin
November 19, 2009
No Jitter
I spoke with Lawrence Byrd, Avaya's Director of UC Architecture at Voicecon San Francisco. We covered the bases as to what Aura is and is not.

Toshiba Launches Unified Messaging For Small Businesses
By Antone Gonsalves
November 18, 2009
InformationWeek
In approaching the problem, Bruce Morse, IBM's VP of unified communications and collaboration, recently advised attendees of VoiceCon 2009 in San Francisco to look for solutions that incorporate collaborative technologies as an important part of business communications.

Polycom Launches Three New IP Phones
By Jeff Goldman
November 12, 2009
VoIP Planet
At VoiceCon San Francisco 2009, Polycom added three new phones to its lineup: the Polycom CX300, the SoundPoint IP 335, and the VVX 1500 D business media phone.

snom At VoiceCon: The Desktop Phone Lives On; UC Defined
By John Gates
November 9, 2009
snom Blog
From the exhibit hall to the panel discussions and sessions, one of the key themes of this year's VoiceCon San Francisco was that the desk phone isn't dead, and all signs point to the desktop phone sticking around for a long, long time.

VoiceCon: Softphone Debate Continues
By The VAR Guy
November 9, 2009
Dave Courbanou
At the VoiceCon 2009 conference in San Francisco, there was growing buzz about softphones potentially replacing standard hard land-line phones.

Cisco Expands the Size of Its Collaboration Palette and Brings the "Network Effect" to Corporate UC
By Yankee Group
November 9, 2009
Wireless Week
Social media was one of the hot topics at the recent VoiceCon event and I expect to see Cisco continue to grow this area as a point of differentiation.

Hot Products From VoiceCon San Francisco
By n/a
November 7, 2009
Channel Web
VoiceCon San Francisco 2009 was the gathering place this past week for some of the industry's most established enterprise communications players -- and also some of its most exciting upstarts and niche players.

Musings on VoiceCon San Francisco 2009 - Unified Communications Still Rules
By Blair Pleasant
November 6, 2009
UC Strategies
Another VoiceCon has come and gone - while the exhibit hall wasn't as full with exhibitors as in years past, it was still a great VoiceCon, with lots of information-packed sessions, and opportunities for networking with vendors, customers, and peers.

Avaya ships software add-ons for Aura
By Greg Meckbach
November 6, 2009
IT World
Avaya Notification Solution, unveiled at VoiceCon in San Francisco, is available now and can be programmed to send out urgent alerts to a list of people by voice or e-mail.

VoiceCon San Francisco 2009: UC meets Social Media
By Yankee Group
November 6, 2009
Wireless Week
The fall version of VoiceCon wrapped up this week in San Francisco and, despite financial woes, the attendance was around 3,000 people, about the same as last year. This is an encouraging sign that even in a down economy, unified communications and collaboration is an important enough theme for enterprises to invest time in.

View from VoiceCon - Incremental Innovation through Social Media Inclusion
By Nancy Jamison
November 5, 2009
Jamison Consulting
This week at VoiceCon in San Francisco, among the usual chatter about "What do you think of the show", were comments about the need to modify some of the usual presentations that we have on comparing vendor offerings in unified communications, and where the industry is in unified communications.

Twitter Meets up with Unified Communications
By Mike Vizard
November 5, 2009
CTO Edge
The convergence of social networking and unified communications was on display this week at the VoiceCon conference in San Francisco.

VoiceCon - Clear Signaling and No Jitter
By David Michel
November 5, 2009
Pin Drop Soup
First off, VoiceCon always exceeds my expectations. This year is no exception, but in unexpected ways.

Siemens invokes Twitter to lure unified communications application developers
By Tim Greene
November 5, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle/NetworkWorld
Siemens is invoking the model of iPhone-application development by opening a site in Amazon's cloud to encourage creation of unified communications apps, priming the pump with a mashup it created that mixes its UC gear with Twitter.

Siemens Integrates Twitter Into Communications App
November 5, 2009
eWeek
At the VoiceCon 2009 show in San Francisco, officials with the Siemens Enterprise Communications Group will show off the upcoming integration of Twitter with the company's OpenScape UC application

Siemens Integrates Twitter Into Communications App
November 5, 2009
eWeek
At the VoiceCon 2009 show in San Francisco, officials with the Siemens Enterprise Communications Group will show off the upcoming integration of Twitter with the company's OpenScape UC application

VoiceCon San Francisco: Day Three
November 4, 2009
No Jitter
I had a chance to talk with Siemens' Mark Straton after his Wednesday keynote, and so I took the opportunity to ask him about the Nortel auction. You'll remember that the auction to acquire Nortel Enterprise Solutions pitted Avaya against Siemens, and Avaya submitted the winning bid of $900 million

How not to get 'royally screwed' on wireless costs
By Tim Greene
November 4, 2009
NetworkWorld
Wireless plans are a great place to start for companies looking to cut communications costs, with one firm reporting at VoiceCon that it saved $33,000 per month by renegotiating unfavorable contracts.

Lines Blur Between Voice and Social Networking
By Andrew-Conry Murray
November 4, 2009
InformationWeek
At VoiceCon 2009, Siemens Communications is launching a demo of a forthcoming integration between OpenScape, its UC platform, and Twitter, the insanely popular micro-blogging network.

SonicWALL Unveils VoIP Firewall, Releases New Version of E-Mail Solution
By Paula Bernier
November 4, 2009
TMCNet
SonicWALL Inc. at VoiceCon this week unveiled a VoIP firewall that provides security and employs deep packet inspection that enables special treatment for certain applications, such as giving priority to voice, without adding latency.

VoiceCon 2009: Siemens Brings Twitter To OpenScape
By Marin Perez
November 4, 2009
InformationWeek
During the VoiceCon San Francisco 2009 keynote Wednesday, Siemens Enterprise Communications Group said it will be supporting Twitter in its OpenScape unified communication software to enable enterprises to tap into the growing business uses for social networks.

eOn Communications launches Linux-based eConn IP-PBX
By Mike Dolan
November 4, 2009
FierceVoIP
eOn Communications used this week's VoiceCon show to debut eConn, an IP-PBX server-based IP communications platform.

Nortel customers: Don't panic yet
By Tim Greene
November 4, 2009
NetworkWorld
Nortel users shouldn't panic, but they should put off any long-term decisions about their communications infrastructure until after Avaya buys the bankrupt company and reveals its product road map for the combined companies, VoiceCon attendees were told T

Siemens invokes Twitter to lure unified communications application developers
By Tim Greene
November 4, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
During his keynote at VoiceCon Wednesday, Siemens Senior Vice President Mark Straton showed off a SOAP- and XML-based software tool that reads Tweets, decides if they indicate that communications actions are needed and if so, sets them up.

How not to get 'royally screwed' on wireless costs
By Tim Greene
November 4, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle/NetworkWorld
Wireless plans are a great place to start for companies looking to cut communications costs, with one firm reporting at VoiceCon that it saved $33,000 per month by renegotiating unfavorable contracts.

Kraft's Global Challenges
By Sheila McGee-Smith
November 4, 2009
No Jitter
While at a VoiceCon reception Monday night, I had a chance to meet Thomas Behnke, Manager of Global Managed Network Services Architecture and Strategy for Kraft. During a VoiceCon Orlando 2009 keynote, Tom talked about a pilot unified communications program Kraft was undertaking in one of its Chicago facilitates.

Nortel Customers Need Not Worry, According To VoiceCon 2009 Panel
By Zeus Kerravala
November 4, 2009
No Jitter
The morning of day 2 at VoiceCon 2009 kicked off for me as part of the panel in the deep dive session called "I'm a Nortel Customer: What do I do now?" and I thought I would share many of the recommendations from myself and the other panelists as well the feedback from the audience.

VoiceCon 2009: Avaya Aims For Voice 2.0
By Marin Perez
November 3, 2009
InformationWeek
During Tuesday's keynote speech at VoiceCon San Francisco 2009, Avaya's Dr. Alan Baratz said that in order for enterprises to plan for their next generation of business communications infrastructure, businesses must first analyze which types of communication tools are most effective for achieving their goals.

VoiceCon 2009: Measuring Avaya Nortel Deal's Impact
By Marin Perez
November 3, 2009
InformationWeek
During a panel discussion Tuesday at VoiceCon San Francisco 2009, industry experts said Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT)' collapse and potential acquisition by Avaya definitely raises many questions for enterprises, but businesses can maneuver through the ripple effects by not panicking and doing their due diligence.

VoiceCon 2009: Users Key To Unified Communications
By Marin Perez
November 3, 2009
InformationWeek
During his keynote speech Tuesday at VoiceCon San Francisco 2009, IBM (NYSE: IBM)'s Bruce Morse said end users are going to play a key role in the shaping of future collaboration and communication architectures, and that businesses can embrace this while still retaining security and return on investment.

IBM's Morse to Discuss UC at VoiceCon
By Paula Bernier
November 3, 2009
TMCNet
Enterprise customers, IBM (News - Alert) Software Group and many others in the industry are moving beyond a focus on plain vanilla IP telephony and instead looking at VoIP as part of a larger picture, which also includes unified communications and Web 2.0 social networking capabilities, Bruce Morse, vice president of unified communications and collaboration at IBM Software Group and one of this morning's VoiceCon keynote speakers, told TMCnet in an advance interview.

VoiceCon - Clear Signaling and No Jitter
By Dave Michels
November 3, 2009
Pin Drop Soup
First off, VoiceCon always exceeds my expectations. This year is no exception, but in unexpected ways.

eOn Communications Unveils IP PBX
By Paula Bernier
November 3, 2009
TMCnet
A new server-based solution called the eConn IP-PBX unveiled by eOn Communications Corp. today at the VoiceCon show in San Francisco offers a range of telephony applications for companies with 10 to 1,000 employees.

iPhone helps forge new relationship between IT and users at Kraft Foods
By Tim Greene
November 3, 2009
Network World
Kraft Foods uses iPhones in part as a peace offering between users and IT by letting some workers use the devices even though they are not optimal for many corporate uses, VoiceCon attendees were told Monday.

New Phones from Polycom
By David Michel
November 3, 2009
UC Strategies
VoiceCon-SFO: Polycom introduced 2.5 new phones this week- the SoundPoint IP335 and the Microsoft Office Communicator optimized CX300. Plus a new version of the VVX1500 business media phone.

VoiceCon Fall 2009 is Underway but without Significant Presence from Microsoft or Cisco
By Zeus Kerravala
November 3, 2009
No Jitter
Day 1 of fall VoiceCon got underway on Monday in San Francisco. All the usual suspects were here in force except for the two biggest names in the industry--Cisco and Microsoft are absent. Sure, Cisco is on a few panels here throughout the session but there's no VoiceCon booth, demos or product. Microsoft has a booth at the co-located Enterprise 2.0 show but no VoiceCon presence at all. So this begs the questions, why aren't they here and what kind of message are they trying to send to the industry?

Avaya to launch 'chameleon' communications gear
By Tim Greene
November 3, 2009
Computerworld
Avaya is coming out next spring with chameleon-like appliances that will take on the characteristics of phones, desktop video systems, locked-down contact centre terminals - a whole range of dedicated communications gear.These units will likely be dominated by a video screen equipped with soft buttons that users can configure for a variety of functions, says Alan Baratz, senior vice president and president for Global Communication Solutions at Avaya, in his VoiceCon keynote address scheduled for 3 November.

eOn Communications Unveils IP PBX
By Paula Bernier
November 3, 2009
TMCNet
A new server-based solution called the eConn IP-PBX unveiled by eOn Communications (News - Alert) Corp. today at the VoiceCon show in San Francisco offers a range of telephony applications for companies with 10 to 1,000 employees.

VoiceCon San Francisco: Day Two
November 3, 2009
No Jitter
Dr. Alan Baratz's opening keynote today aimed to give Avaya's vision for what Baratz called "Voice 2.0," and the idea that grabbed me and a lot of other people was Baratz's take on the future of the end devices that knowledge workers will use when they're in the office

VoiceCon 2009: Cutting The Cord On Enterprise Phones
By Marin Perez
November 2, 2009
InformationWeek
Experts debate the transitioning role of the desktop phone and whether smartphones, Unified Communications, and soft phones can fulfill enterprise voice needs.

Avaya Unveils First Custom Aura Applications
By Khali Henderson
November 2, 2009
Phone
VoiceCon - Avaya Inc. delivered on a promise to create custom and vertical industry applications leveraging the Avaya Aura architecture with the introduction of the Avaya Notification Solution (ANS) and Avaya Proactive Outreach for Financial Services. Both applications are available through Avaya's indirect sales channel.

Avaya helps automate incident response
By Pete Babb
November 2, 2009
InfoWorld
Enterprise communications vendor Avaya has been talking up the idea of CEBP (Communications Enabled Business Processes) for years now, but with its announcement of Avaya Notification Solution (ANS) at VoiceCon on Monday, the company took a big step toward moving CEBP from abstraction to reality.

VoiceCon San Francisco: Day One
November 1, 2009
No Jitter
This is the first time we've kicked off a VoiceCon conference with something other than half-day or full-day tutorials, and from the crowds here at Moscone Center North, it looks as if the attendees like the wider choice of Monday session formats.

VoiceCon 2009: Tackling A Shifting Business Communication Landscape
By Marin Perez
October 30, 2009
InformationWeek
The last year has been full of uncertainty and change, but Fred Knight, general manager of VoiceCon San Francisco, November 2-5, said the best bet for businesses is really understanding what their options are in order to maximize the investments they make in enterprise communication.

What to Do About Video
By Eric Krapf
October 30, 2009
No Jitter
Brent Kelly of Wainhouse Research has put together a terrific tutorial on videoconferencing for next week's VoiceCon San Francisco.