Thinkbright’s new Director of Global SMB Reseller Partnerships, Jeff Jones, announced a new reseller program and a reorganization to support it. The program will allow affiliates to generate online income by referring customers for VOIP products and services. The program has received huge funding in the hopes that more business owners will become aware of the new form of communication called VOIP. Business VOIP is affordable, inexpensive and tech savy and has everything a small business needs in order to look like a large enterprise business with multiple offices and departments. There are even software clients that could be installation your laptop or ipad that could allow business employees to stay connected with customers in and out of the office. Thinkbright will be fully launching its VOIP Reseller program in January 2011 and will be allowing a few beta testers into the program in December  2010. To register into the program just sign up at http://www.thinkbright.net/reseller_registration.php as an incentive Thinkbright is also having a contest,  where winners will receive a brand new ipad. All you have to do is enroll 1 customer into ThinkBright’s Services to be eligible. Each customer signup equals to one entry into the contest.

To sign up for the reseller program just go to

http://www.thinkbright.net/reseller_registration.php

All small businesses need a phone line to run their everyday business. When a business grows and new employees are hired, more phones are needed. However, the act of having an additional line comes at a cost that is very expensive to most startups.  Now businesses are turning away from the old traditional communications and are turning towards professional business VOIP solutions like the services found at ThinkBright.net.  Thinkbright provides Enterprise level VOIP PBX solutions at prices that could save a small business hundreds even thousands of dollars per month on phone costs. In addition to the savings small businesses can now get access to features that only enterprise level businesses have. Auto Attendants, Queues, Ringgroups, Time Conditions and more. Times are changing fast and business owners are learning quickly that the key to staying in business is by increasing productivity and reducing costs. ThinkBright’s Business VOIP plans are just making it easier to stay in business.

Microsoft Lync, a rebranding of the company’s Office software suite, offers commerce users an end-user construction for endeavor VOIP (vocalise over IP), fast messaging, video and frequence conferencing, and remedy and screen intercourse. In ownership with Microsoft’s force toward interoperability, Lync gift manipulate in connecter with other software platforms such as Microsoft Power, SharePoint and Commute. Explore house Forrester estimates that the coverall unified discipline activity testament be designer $14.5 1000000000 by 2015, a ripened direct for any software program flexible and refined enough to cite to businesses. During a recent present in New Royalty Metropolis, Microsoft executives demonstrated how Lync can give groups of users to port via sound or recording, all time collaborating on a PowerPoint writing. Because Lync integrates ternary services multiplex tasks and business partners. New Dynasty is also the position of Lync’s Nov. 17 begin, and Microsoft hopes that businesses involved in an mainstreamed bailiwick experience will choose the platform over others on the market. Thinkbright users can use this new field with their maintenance plans to get a greater goodness of having ThinkBright.

Smartphone use is on the appear. But then again you belike figured that out, as your smartphone use is also on the origin.

ThinkBright.net conducted a canvas late which constitute that:

1) Smartphones and having intimate relationships even (40%) for state the find one abstract respondents cannot unfilmed without.

2) The majority (79%) of respondents name the Smartphone as the phone they utilized the most to convey commercialism, as compared to an staff sound or internal phone.

2) Smartphones are also invasive on computers as healthy, with 34% of respondents using the Smartphone more than the computer for mercantilism. In fact, 7% don’t change train their laptop when they travel for enterprise if they tally their Smartphone. Is this the kickoff of a upcoming hammy shift?

What does this mingy for your performing?

1. Your customers are going to be accessing your web position and interacting with your associate, solon from a smartphone application than a computer. Are you prepared?
2. Your employees are leaving to poorness to “decline the laptop” (see my diary posts for AT&T) and travel much with their smartphones. Are you set?

You need to ensure that your corporate data is readily available on mobile devices and ensure your team (employees or contractors) can work productively from anywhere, with any device. Yep, even the iPad.

There are two new Unified Communications solution products being released by GN Netcom. The new products are the Jabra GO(TM) 6400 and PRO(TM) 9400 Series, which are the first Bluetooth and DECT headset solutions that feaure a touch screen base.  They are scheduled for release in September.

“We are dedicated to working with today’s industry leading unified communications solutions providers to help change the way office professionals communicate,” said David Grazio, Director of Channel Marketing, GN Netcom. “The Jabra GO 6400 and PRO 9400 series are the latest innovations that secure our commitment to the Jabra brand’s position as the number one choice for unified communication solutions.”

According to the company:

The Jabra GO 6400 and PRO 9400 Series feature several state-of-the-art sound technologies to ensure optimum call clarity and hearing protection, regardless of which phone (mobile, desk and softphone) the user is connected to.

Wideband/Narrowband Sound and DSP
– High definition sound and digitally enhanced speech deliver crystal
clear calls ensuring both parties are able to hear clearly, minimizing
disruptions

Noise Blackout(TM) Technology
– A dual microphone technology eliminates virtually all background
noise, transmitting only the user’s voice

SafeTone Technologies
– PeakStop(TM) technology protects users from sudden sound spikes and
loud noises, while Intellitone(TM) keeps sound levels within a safe
average throughout the day

DECT Technology
– The Jabra PRO 9400 series features DECT technology, providing up to
450 feet range; dependable connectivity gives users the freedom to
move around the office without losing sound quality

TwitterFone, a voice-to-text-message service for Twitter launched just earlier today. From their press release: “Twitterfone voice-enables Twitter, a text message rebroadcast service and the hottest social networking service at the moment. With Twitterfone, people can dictate text messages via their mobile to be sent out to everyone on their Twitter social network.”

Truphone’s VoIP App

Truphone was the first company out of the gate with a new iPhone VoIP app. Software downloaded to the iPhone lets Truphone’s app make calls over the company’s VoIP backbone network from wifi hotspots. But the app doesn’t allow users to connect to the VoIP network via cellular voice links, as they can with Truphone Anywhere, a service that the company introduced in May 2008. If it did, iPhone users could make their cheap overseas calls even when they weren’t near hotspots, paying only for local cellular minutes plus Truphone’s low international VoIP rates.

Packet8 MobileTalk for iPhone

On the other hand, 8×8 Inc.’s VoIP application, called Packet8 MobileTalk for iPhone, doesn’t use wifi but does use the cellular voice network to carry calls between the handset and the VoIP network. To do so, the app eschews the downloaded client software that 8×8 uses to provide MobileTalk to users of other cell phones (which also means that it’s not actually an App Store application). Instead, Packet8 MobileTalk for iPhone employs a Web portal, which is accessible through the iPhone browser, that mimics the iPhone dialer.

To establish the connection once the user has entered the number, the portal reads a cookie that the browser has stored in order to determine who is making the call. The portal then sends the browser an instruction that causes the iPhone to dial a local Packet8 access number. From there, the call travels over the Packet8 VoIP network. The portal-based approach is necessary because third-party apps cannot directly access the iPhone dialer, according to 8×8’s vice president of engineering Ramprakash Narayanaswamy.

JAJAH’s iPhone App: Coming Soon

JAJAH Inc.’s iPhone VoIP app — like many iPhone apps of all kinds — is still awaiting Apple’s OK before users can download it through the App Store, but it should be impressive once it is released. According to JAJAH co-founder Roman Scharf, the app will allow iPhones to make calls that travel over 3G, EDGE or wifi data networks to reach the JAJAH VoIP network. A call goes over the data network if the quality of that link is sufficient or if the user specifies that it do so regardless. Otherwise, JAJAH calls the iPhone and the overseas number that the user is trying to reach and connects the two calls via a VoIP link — a classic VoIP callback approach.

iCall App in Beta

ICall Inc.’s planned iPhone application is still in beta testing. Like Truphone’s app, it will use wifi links to access the VoIP network. A unique feature is the app’s ability to switch from a cellular call to a wifi call without interrupting the conversation. ICall claims that such transfers will happen “seamlessly.” CEO Arlo Gilbert said that the application should be available in early August 2008.

VOIP can connect you to the world. But what can you do to keep the bad guys from listening in on your calls?

It’s no secret that Internet telephony is vulnerable to eavesdroppers, much more so than conventional phone calls. That’s because IP phones aren’t part of the public phone network, where tapping requires a specific, physical wire connection. Calls transmitted via a LAN, a WAN or the Internet can be easily intercepted by anyone with a protocol analyzer, simply by capturing and analyzing the voice packets. This means that just about anyone can snoop on your business and personal calls, including employees, business partners, competitors, law-enforcement authorities and government officials.

Since you probably don’t like the idea of everybody and anybody listening to your conversations, you’ll want to take action to ensure your VoIP privacy. The best way to accomplish this is with encryption.

As you probably already know, VoIP voice traffic is data that is transmitted over networks. This means, like any type of computer data, VoIP can be protected by encryption. Unfortunately, while VoIP encryption tools are widely available, not many people have taken the minimal time and effort required to use the technology. That’s a shame, because encryption can make it make it nearly impossible for someone to snoop on IP telephony calls. Here’s a look at five different VoIP encryption approaches.

Zfone: Perhaps the easiest way to encrypt VoIP calls is with Zfone. The software’s chief designer is Phil Zimmermann, who created PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), the world’s most widely used email encryption software. The technology is simple enough to be installed and used by just about anyone. The latest beta version of Zfone can be downloaded for free. The software’s biggest drawback is that it requires both callers to install the application. This means that calls to people you already know, at least those who are willing to install Zfone, will be secure. But calls to banks, brokers, government agencies, and various other organizations and strangers won’t necessarily be protected.

Internal Encryption: Many VoIP clients have responded to customer security concerns by incorporating encryption into their software. Skype Ltd., for example, has installed encryption support into its proprietary software. Check your client’s provider to see if any encryption services are available.

TLS (Transport Layer Security) and IPsec (IP Security): TLS and IPsec are handy ways of encrypting VoIP calls. TLS encrypts VoIP data traveling between two applications, while IPsec encrypts information for two devices and all the applications running on them. Both protocols aim to keep unauthorized parties from interfering with or listening to calls, and they are almost impossible to manipulate externally. Both approaches are well worth considering.

SRTP (Secure Real-Time Transfer Protocol): SRTP is ideal for protecting VoIP traffic because it has a minimal effect on call quality. For each call you make, a unique encryption key is created, which makes eavesdropping almost impossible. This attribute alone makes SRTP a good choice for day-to-day calls, as well as highly confidential conversations.

VPN (Virtual Private Network): If your business has a VPN, you can leverage its built-in encryption feature to protect your IP telephony calls. Best of all, this protection is extended to all users — even traveling employees who log in to the VPN from a laptop. Remember, however, that a VPN can only secure the data from gateway to gateway. Once calls are on your LAN, you’ll need additional protection.

People expect their phone calls to be as private as when they’re speaking to someone in their own office or home. VoIP technology by itself can’t guarantee this level of protection, so it’s up to you to provide the safeguard — encryption — that will keep your conversations confidential.