Communications News articles from August 2008

Communications News archives from August 2008

Webinar spam.(Viewpoint)
August 1, 2008... Every day, my Outlook inbox fills up with invitations to attend a variety of webinars. Here is a recent two-day sampling of topics covered by these online events: disaster recovery, workload automation, deduplication, aligning ITSM strategies,...

Hosted VoIP.(SHORT TAKES)
August 1, 2008... Ashworth & Sullivan Wealth Management Group has selected C4 IP from Cypress Communications as its hosted VoIP and unified communications solution. "Cypress has a service level that no one else offered, and they back it up with top-notch...

Wireless security.(SHORT TAKES)
August 1, 2008... The Clinton Public School System in Connecticut has selected Aruba Networks' wireless LAN technology for use in wireless video-surveillance systems at the district's four elementary, intermediate and high schools. The first deployment collects...

The case of the 12,000 lost laptops.(Mobility)(Survey)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Business travelers are losing more than 12,000 laptops per week at U.S. airports. Only one-third of those are reclaimed, according to a study by the Ponemon Institute, sponsored by Dell. At the same time, more than...

Events.(Calendar)
August 1, 2008... IT Security World, Sept. 13-18, San Francisco, delivers targeted security information to meet the needs of the workplace, with industry-specific summits focused on health, government and financial sectors. www.misti.com/itsecurityworld Web...

E-mail data loss still a problem.(Security)(Survey)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Data protection continues to be a hot topic, according to a report from security vendor Proofpoint, as large-scale breaches of personal information continue to come to light and as the regulatory environment becomes more sophisticated....

How to avoid the pitfalls of UC.(Convergence)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... With a technology as complex as unified communications (UC), looking for shorter-term solutions is tempting, says Forrester Research consultant Elizabeth Herrell. These short-term solutions only consider some of the components, however, and...

Network Security: Know It All.(PUBLICATIONS)
August 1, 2008... Network Security: Know It All, by James Joshi and other experts, is a desk reference that offers key concepts, practices and protocols of network security and survivability. www.elsevier.com

Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services.(PUBLICATIONS)
August 1, 2008... Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services, by Zach Seils and Joel Christner, is a guide to designing and deploying WAAS in a scalable, transparent and seamless fashion, www.ciscopress.com

Enterprise Master Data Management: An SOA Approach to Managing Core Information.(PUBLICATIONS)(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Enterprise Master Data Management: An SOA Approach to Managing Core Information, by Allen Dreibelbis, Ivan Milman, Paul van Run, Eberhard Hechler, Martin Oberhofer and Dan Wolfson, systematically introduces MDM's key concepts and technical...

Optimize data center energy use: improve cooling, processor and server efficiencies to reduce power consumption.(Power Play)
August 1, 2008... Data center energy use has become a mainstream issue for manufacturers, data center managers and even legislators. Data centers accounted for 1.5 percent of all electricity use in 2005, according to the EPA, and according to IDC, in 2010 there...

Overcome interoperability hurdles: converged communications boils down to using different kinds of technologies from different vendors.(IP Connections)
August 1, 2008... One of the largest resellers of caravans and motor homes in the United Kingdom recently wanted to make the jump to IP-based communications, the first step on the path to converged communications. This company had about 20 satellite offices it...

Bank invests in business continuity: fast-tracking planning and disaster recovery to keep pace with a merger was a challenge.(Business Continuity)
August 1, 2008... When two banks merge, a primary area of concern is addressing the "What if disaster strikes?" scenario. Whether a potential disaster is natural or man-made, a sound business-continuity and disaster-recovery plan is important to the bank, its...

Wireless prescription: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center installs a 900-access-point WLAN to mobilize electronic Patient charting and to gain valuable time savings.
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hardwired communications and computing devices are no longer the preferred tools of the trade for doctors and nurses at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC) in Winston-Salem, N.C. That is because...

Company builds voice network: a managed, premise-based service blends the strengths of IP PBX and hosted voice over IP.(IP Convergence)
August 1, 2008... Waterline Industries Corp. builds water and wastewater systems to support cities and towns, and when its existing PBX began experiencing failures management evaluated alternative voice solutions. The company first selected a hosted...

Firm enhances customer service: IP communications network's conferencing capabilities keep remote workers in touch.(IP Convergence)
August 1, 2008... With just 63 employees serving a customer base from its headquarters in Richmond, Va., and remote sites in Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Memphis and Tampa, InSource Software Solutions (ISS) staff must cover a lot of terrain in terms of sales,...

Route voice through the WAN.(IP Convergence)
August 1, 2008... In the past, implementing enterprise communications with a number of vendors was common, each with their own proprietary platform and/or solution. While this may have been a cost-effective strategy for businesses, the resulting patchwork...

VoIP conference phone.(TELEPHONY PRODUCTS)(Conference news)
August 1, 2008... The SoundStation IP 7000 features high-definition voice, with up to 22 KHz of CD-quality audio and a high-resolution display with an XHTML microbrowser for IP applications. Corporate directory access, such as LDAP and Active Directory, and...

IP telephony management.(TELEPHONY PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Prognosis IP Telephony Management Reporter 9.5 provides management-level visibility of IP telephony usage trends and service levels. The system generates reports incorporating service-level analysis, operational metrics and business-level...

Conference recording.(TELEPHONY PRODUCTS)(Tandberg ASA)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The Content Server enables organizations to create, store, download and distribute video calls and multimedia presentations for live streaming or on-demand access. The 1U rack-mountable appliance facilitates content creation using any H.323 or...

Wireless delivers jitter-free VoIP: Hershey Resorts installs gigabit solution to improve performance and reliability.(Wireless)
August 1, 2008... When the network team at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts (HE&R) first was tasked with integrating the headquarters of the nonprofit M.S. Hershey Foundation and two foundation properties, the Hershey Theater and Hershey Gardens, to the corporate...

Utility uses open communication: combined IP and TDM approach yields customer service and productivity improvements.(Storage/Business Continuity)(Jackson Energy Authority )
August 1, 2008... During peak call periods, the Jackson Energy Authority (JEA) taps its entire available staff to respond to customer inquiries. When JEA decided to construct a major new office location two years ago, it sought to extend its contact center so...

The next phase of convergence: IT departments now must coordinate physical security and building automation needs.(Facilities Management)
August 1, 2008... With voice over IP telephony (VoIP) deployments displacing traditional PBX installations, many enterprises are already realizing the efficiencies that can be gained from a consolidated voice and data infrastructure. LANs were first built to...

Modular panel.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2008... The SYSTIMAX iPatch M4200i 24-port Intelligent Universal Modular Panel supports unshielded and foil-twisted pairs, provides insight into the physical layer and gives real-time results in order to automate change management and help prevent...

Cable insulation repair.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)(Tyco Electronics Corp.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Quick Shrink Wrap (QSW) repair sleeves permit permanent repair of minor damage to cable insulation without requiring connectors to be removed from cable. The black, adhesive-backed polyolefin wraparound sleeves are available in flat sheets with...

Rugged UPS.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2008... Available in 850 VA, 1,250 VA or 1,650 VA versions, the Rugged-UPS is suited for mission-critical military and industrial applications. The 2U unit can fit into transit cases for mobile applications. A flow-through heat-sink design enables...

Mobile data protection.(Product Spotlight: Network Security)
August 1, 2008... IronKey Enterprise provides always--on mobile data protection and policy enforcement by combining a USB flash drive, remote management and security policy enforcement from a centralized administrative console. While hardware-based...

Password manager.(Product Spotlight: Network Security)
August 1, 2008... Random Password Manager 4.02 automatically and periodically randomizes local administrator and root account passwords across every system in the enterprise, and allows temporary, delegated recovery of current passwords on demand. The solution...

Spam/malware protection.(Product Spotlight: Network Security)
August 1, 2008... To block zero-hour spam and malware in real time, Aladdin eSafe 6 Feature Release 2 uses dual antispam engines to provide real-time content analysis/security. The first antispam engine performs sender reputation and distribution patterns...

File protection.(Product Spotlight: Network Security)
August 1, 2008... McAfee Anti-Theft File Protection provides privacy and theft protection for files stored on a PC by enabling users to lock important files. Users can create digital vaults to store sensitive files and protect the vaults with secure passwords....

Laptop protection.(Product Spotlight: Network Security)
August 1, 2008... Computrace LoJack for Laptops is a theft-protection service that tracks, locates and recovers stolen laptop computers. Features include a recovery service that tracks the location of the laptop and a data delete service that remotely erases...

WLAN access control.(Product Spotlight: Network Security)
August 1, 2008... SmartPass 7.0 controls access to the wireless network, allowing administrators to set access-control policies based on location, time of day, identity of user, SSID, VLAN and accounting data. A location-based authentication/access control...

SSL VPN appliances.(Product Spotlight: Network Security)
August 1, 2008... Suited for complex and demanding environments, Secure Access 2500, 4500 and 6500 appliances provide a single platform to control remote access to Web applications, terminal services, client/server applications and mobile devices. The SA 6500...

Green giants take on e-waste: extended producer responsibility helps recover materials safely and promote cleaner design.(GreenTech)
August 1, 2008... Some people claim that asking manufacturers to take on the burden of being environmentally responsible for their own obsolete products is unfair, but manufacturers are the ones that are in the best position to affect the environmental impacts...