BroadCloud Simplifies Hosted UC and IP Telephony

It sometimes is difficult to keep clear the distinctions between hosted and "cloud-based" services, but for BroadSoft, the difference between "BroadWorks" and BroadCloud" is the difference between a service provider hosting the app servers in their own network and having BroadSoft host the apps "in the cloud."

As you might imagine, there is a key difference in terms of how fast a customer can get a branded service up and running, the degree of resilience and the amount of integration work that might have to be done to get a BroadWorks solution up and running.

BroadCloud will include BroadSoft’s current SaaS products, PacketSmart and Casabi, as well as new unified communications services including instant messaging and presence; "BroadCloud Video," a high-definition, always-on, meet-me videoconferencing service, "BroadCloud Web Collaboration," a suite of web-based collaboration options, including screen sharing, a document library, chat, audio and video support and whiteboarding.

BroadCloud PacketSmart is a network assessment and monitoring service, while BroadCloud Casabi enables the delivery of group SMS, personalized content and tools that help keep families organized.

High-Definition Voice Initiative Launched in United Kingdom

XConnect, Polycom, BroadSoft and Dialogic are working together to promote the adoption of high-definition voice by service providers in the United Kingdom.

The initiative was launched in response to U.K. service providers’ interest in HD voice services. The HD initiative is designed to raise awareness and educate service providers about the benefits of HD voice and help them resolve implementation challenges.

As part of the initiative, XConnect announced that the XConnect Global HD Voice Federation is now open to HD voice-enabled service providers globally, following its successful launch in the United States.

First to join from the U.K. are service providers Simwood, SureVoIP and thevoicefactory.

The federation enables the exchange of HD voice calls among all participants, all interconnecting through XConnect’s carrier hub and routing through phone-number lookups via its carrier ENUM registry.

BroadSoft for Act!

Forget the hype about "voice mashups," the integration of communications capabilities with applications. The idea is about as simple as mating the BroadSoft call control and feature set with the Act! customer management application.

The VoIP AddOn developed by C3IP seamlessly integrates ACT! with BroadSoft’s BroadWorks platform Basically, BroadWorks users now can access those features directly from Act!

That means the ability to "click to dial" from the database, automatic logging of calls and screen pops on inbound calls, for example. So far, voice mashups largely have been developed as a way to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of current business processes.

That's just the way such innovations are introduced, because in a business context there has to be some measurable benefit on either cost or revenue fronts. The easiest way to demonstrate such effects is to "save money" or "save time" doing things that already must be done.

It will be a while before people start to redesign whole processes in light of ubiquitous communications embedded inside the applications themselves.

Will Android Disrupt PCs?

Though most of the speculation about Android's impact concerns what might happen with mobile apps on mobile devices, mobile Web, mobile carriers and device manufacturers, there are other angles. Let's assume lots of apps start to get developed around Android. Then assume people really do start spending lots more time with Web apps of various types on their hand held devices, even if today that does not seem to be common.

Once those apps are written, will they start to port to PCs? After all, any app well-enough written to run on a mobile with severe display and input capabilities, compared to a PC, might be fun to use even on a PC that suffers from none of those limitations. Basically, anything Android runs can appear as a widget on a desktop or laptop. Widgets are fun. They are personal. They are customized. They are easy to add and delete. They don't require lots of thinking, processing or storage.

Of course, that might have really serious implications for PC operating systems. In a new way, we might see yet another iteration of the thin client approach to applications. In essence, that is what software as a service is all about. Android just might change the paradigm for PCs, since it essentially will assume services are in the cloud. It will take a while before we can determine whether this is realistic or not.

Google has argued Android and its ecosystem might lead to ad-supported devices. Might it also someday lead to a resurgence of interest in thin client PCs? Microsoft will hope not. But network-centric participants in the communications and entertainment industries might see new possibilities.

Photo by Andy Voss at the BroadSoft Connections conference. Can you figure out why I think thin client and mobile Web access seems promising, even when multiple mobile smart and feature phones are in the quiver? I have an office and a desk. I just don't use them, even when able to use the "office." A nice view of the animals and the vegetation is much better, so long as I have power and wireless access of one sort or another.

BroadSoft Aastra: Man Bites Dog

Aastra Intecom, a provider of PBX-BASED enterprise communications and contact center solutions for large enterprises, now has a strategic alliance with BroadSoft. Aastra, which supports hundreds of thousands of enterprise voice systems, will use BroadSoft’s carrier-grade BroadWorks VoIP platform as the foundation for new next-generation IP-PBX solutions it will deliver directly to large enterprises.

So here's the "man bites dog" angle: in the past, enterprise suppliers have offered a richer menu of features than a large enterprise could buy from a communications service provider. To my knowledge, this is the first time a major PBX supplier has turned to a carrier platform to enrich its enterprise offering.