Entries from Earthling - EarthLink blog tagged with 'VOIP'
Another New Way To Avoid Your Phone Company
Today we announced that in Verizon territories in many of the states we service, we can now offer "freestanding DSL," or the ability to get our DSL service alone, without having to also pay the phone company for phone service if you don't want it. Freestanding DSL is now available(product page) in Verizon territory, including parts of California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington state, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin. This should help lots of people reduce their communications bills and stop paying for services they don't want or need.
Blocking Can Be Spun As Good Or Bad
In a blog entry about Net Neutrality, I alluded to the concern that ISP's would specifically block competitors services in order to muscle their customers into using theirs. There's a conversation on Techmeme today about a press release from a European company that has developed a new technology for blocking Skype calls:
But I Don't Have An E-mail
But the exciting thing about MindSpring is that as EarthLink continues to integrate its VoIP and internet services, it will soon be another way to use voice and internet products I already use and like. These are things like trueVoice, DSL and Home Phone, my webmail account, and my voice services site (which, by the way, is one of the neatest things about trueVoice). As a standalone alternative to other forms of communication, maybe it's just interesting. But as an integrated part of my home phone line, my voicemail system, my instant messaging tools, my inbox, and my address book, it becomes a more seamless extension of what I'm doing anyway. When I can set up these services to work in harmony, like if I had one shared identity in all of these systems, then things start to get really interesting. When I choose to use computer-based calling from my array of choices, but the person on the other end doesn't know or care how I'm calling, then it's all working together. It provides a cheap, quick, and easy option for communication where previously it would have been difficult. Just like the real power of VoIP is in its efficiency behind the scenes, the real power of PC-based calling is in its ability to act as an extension of your regular communication habits.
Why People Like SIP
Cisco revealed today that their upcoming voice, data, and video suite for businesses would support SIP. Didn't you hear me? I said it would support SIP. Still nothing? If you want to impress your geekiest friends, basic SIP knowledge would be a good thing to have in your bag of tricks. And that way you'll know what it is before the first time you see "SIP:" on a business card.
A New Addition To The Family
I am proud to welcome a new arrival to our family by the name of EarthLink DSL and Home Phone Service Frances Reynolds Esquire. It goes by EarthLink DSL and Home Phone Service for short.
Issues to Follow In 2006: Net Neutrality
That all could change quickly. It's an issue worth looking out for in the coming year. The term "network neutrality" refers to the idea that your ticket to the internet should remain an open pathway through which you should be able to send and receive any type of data you choose.
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