Communications News articles from March 2009

Communications News archives from March 2009

Is the Internet broken?(Viewpoint)
March 1, 2009... My initiation to the Internet and the World Wide Web occurred in 1994 in a large meeting room at an Atlanta hotel. Most of the 100 or so seats were empty. Those in attendance seemed fairly rabid about this new network and took exception to one...

Wireless football.(SHORT TAKES)(InterReach Fusion )(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... ADC's InterReach Fusion in-building cellular solution has been deployed at Tampa's 65,000-seat Raymond James Stadium to support mobile services for capacity crowds at football games and other events. The system will provide coverage throughout...

Secure e-mail.(SHORT TAKES)(University of Rochester (N,Y.) Medical Center)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The University of Rochester (N,Y.) Medical Center (URMC) has selected Voltage Security's SecureMail to ease and protect e-mail communications between employees, customers and partners. The agreement includes 15,000 licenses for a fully managed...

Phishing for Twitter security.(Social Networks)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The social networking site Twitter was hit by hackers recently, affecting the accounts of several high-profile celebrities, including Britney Spears, Bill O'Reilly and even then president-elect Barack Obama. The scam...

Events.(Calendar)
March 1, 2009... VoiceCon Orlando 2009, March 30-April 2, Orlando, offers reliable, objective and practical information on enterprise voice, IP telephony and converged networks. www.voicecon.com SaaSCon, March 31-April 1, Santa Clara, Calif., explores cloud...

Green IT for Dummies.(PUBLICATIONS)(Book review)(Brief review)
March 1, 2009... Green IT for Dummies, by Carol Baroudi, Arnold Reinhold, Jeffrey Hill and Jhana Senxian, provides an overview of what green technology is, what problems it can solve and how businesses can plan and implement green technology solutions,...

The rising cost of telecom.(Voice Networks)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The use of telecommunications services has been growing, but budgets have not substantially increased--largely due to falling prices of legacy services and the availability of less-expensive new services like MPLS and Ethernet. Those days are...

SMBs weigh security purchases.(Security)(small and medium sized companies)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... SECURITY Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are aligning their own concerns with key security threats this year, and spending where it hurts, according to research conducted by Chadwick Martin Bailey. Among the findings: Companies are...

Three steps to peak performance: keep the network running with careful monitoring and planning for future capacity.(Beyond Testing)
March 1, 2009... Enterprises need their networks operating 24/7 to access critical applications and remote data. More often today, however, enterprises are outsourcing these networks and services or are moving to centralized data centers in order to reduce...

Make the call: a credit union and a software firm each take different approaches for their new IP communications networks.(Mitel)(Union Square Federal Credit Union )(Cover story)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Credit union dials into hosted service Headquartered in Wichita Falls, Texas, Union Square Federal Credit Union relies heavily on technology to compete with banks and other financial services providers located...

Hand-held VoIP tester.(Telephony products)(voice over internet protocol)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Used to measure voice and data transmission quality, the Trend Unipro VoIP tester has Ethernet and Wi-Fi interfaces to provide connection to wired and wireless networks and SIP-based VoIP systems. Voice quality tests are determined using...

Hybrid cordless phone.(Telephony products)(TalkSwitch Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The TalkSwitch TS-850i cordless DECT 6.0 phone uses SIP for standards-based VoIP connectivity and also works with a traditional phone connection. The TS-850i includes a speakerphone and eight hours talk time or 240 hours standby time per...

Rugged cell phone.(Telephony products)(Motorola Tundra )(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Motorola Tundra is a rugged 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) push-to-talk clamshell phone certified to military specifications for shock, vibration, rain, humidity, drop, blowing dust, low temperatures and high temperatures. The...

Multimedia IP phone.(Telephony products)(internet protocol)(Open Peak)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Combining voice, video and data into a single device, the ProFrame Multimedia IP Phone joins VoIP phone functionality with an advanced multimedia communications and information center. The 7" touchscreen display provides an interactive...

Telecom expense management.(Telephony products)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... In addition to displaying each user's telecom activity, devices, services and allocated charges, the VeraSMART 8.1 Communications Management Suite offers a self-service wireless procurement solution and a configurable interface that enables...

Office in a box.(Telephony products)(Sutus)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Designed for businesses with up to 25 employees, the Sutus Business Central is an all-in-one multiservice business gateway that combines telephony, data and networking functions. The system includes a business-class phone system, file server,...

University brings cellular indoors: coverage solution delivers wireless inside its facilities and will scale easily.(Wireless)(Ave Maria University)
March 1, 2009... Cellular phones are the primary means of communication for college students, faculty and staff. Management at Ave Maria University in southwest Florida knew that ensuring proper reception for personal cell phones, as well as university-issued...

Media converters bridge the gap: combined with fiber-optic cabling, devices help solve legacy issues in industrial environments.(Cabling Infrastructure)
March 1, 2009... Industrial or hardened environments face the challenge of creating interoperability throughout a network in less than ideal environmental conditions. Network administrators in industrial environments are challenged to ensure network performance...

VPN delivers the goods: solution ensures seamless failover in the event of Internet access outages or lost connections.(Network Security)(virtual private networks)
March 1, 2009... Network downtime can be devastating for any business, but for AIT Worldwide Logistics, it can be catastrophic. As a global transportation and logistics provider specializing in heavyweight and perishable shipments, AIT's network is just as...

Assess APPS in use.(Network Security)(analytical photogrammetric positioning system )
March 1, 2009... Documenting all applications in a business can be a daunting task in isolation. It requires IT to work with the end-user community to uncover all applications and define how they are used. Step 1. IT should identify significant operations...

Energy savings MAID to order: intelligent power management can ensure performance and reduce electicity use.(Business Continuity)
March 1, 2009... Ninety percent of all stored data was untouched during a three-month time frame, according to a recent information access study conducted by researchers at UC-Santa Cruz. This study revealed a common but not well-understood problem in data...

Dual disk USB storage.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Offering a capacity of up to 2 TB, the Hard Disk MAX includes two 1-TB disk drives that can be set in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration with a switch on the back panel, along with included formatting and backup...

Desktop NAS.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)(Network-Attached Storage)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Designed to meet the centralized network storage needs of up to 200 users, the ReadyNAS Pro Gigabit Desktop Systems are available in storage capacities of 1.5 TB, 3 TB and 6 TB, enabling users across the LAN or WAN...

RAID system.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)(redundant array of independent disks)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Suited for Macs and PCs, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro DualBay Quad Interface features a high-performance Oxford chipset with two SATA I/II hard drive bays for high-performance RAID storage of up to 3 TB and transfer speeds of 300 Mbps. Quad...

Fireproof hard drive.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)(ioSafe's ioSafe Solo )(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Offering up to 1.5-TB capacity, ioSafe Solo connects to Windows, Mac or Linux computers with a USB 2.0 interface. The unit combines a single 3.5" Seagate or Western Digital SATA internal hard disk drive with a fireproof/waterproof enclosure,...

Web security appliance.(General Products)(S-Series Web security )(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Combining traditional URL filtering, reputation filtering and malware filtering, IronPort S-Series Web security gateway appliances secure and control Web traffic risks facing enterprise networks, including security,...

Hand-held Wi-Fi optimizer.(General Products)(BEETLE-B/A/N/G)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The BEETLE-B/A/N/G wireless test receiver system verifies, sweeps, measures and optimizes 802.11 Wi-Fi network standards, including 802.11b/g (2.4 GHz), 802.11a (5 GHz) and 802.11n. When equipped with a...

Unified threat management.(General Products)(SonicWALL TZ 210 )(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Delivering throughput speeds of up to 100 Mbps, the SonicWALL TZ 210 unified threat-management security engine integrates deep-packet inspection firewall, Gigabit Ethernet and automated failover/failback...

Access point.(General Products)(Aironet 1140 Series Access Point )(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The Aironet 1140 Series Access Point is an in-building, enterprise-class, 802.11n access point designed for simple deployment and energy efficiency. The Wi-Fi-certified 802.11n Draft 2.0 access point is backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g...

Wireless card modems.(General Products)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Designed for notebook computers, AirCard 501 and AirCard 502 ExpressCard modems offer top download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5.76 Mbps. AirCard 501 supports 850/1,900/2,100 MHz HSPA frequency bands, while AirCard 502...

Laptop KVM switch.(General Products)(CS661 Loptop USB KVM Switch)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Designed for laptop users who need to connect to another computer, the compact CS661 Loptop USB KVM Switch offers plug-and-play functionality for control and seamless file transfers, without the need for manual software installation The...

UPS systems.(General Products)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... ECO Series UPS Systems include an energy-saving feature that turns off designated ECO outlets when a USB-connected computer is turned off or enters standby mode, eliminating energy waste caused by phantom loads. Three models are available,...

HD videoconferencing.(General Products)(high definition)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The TANDBERG Profile, a telepresence-quality 1080p high-definition videoconference system, has an intelligent, user-friendly interface and is flexible for any room environment. The widescreen LCD display options (single 42", single 52" or dual...

In-wall access point.(General Products)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The HD27000 in-wall Wi-Fi, data, VoIP and PoE device fits into a single gang electrical box. The PoE-powered 802.11b/g access point is designed for locations wired for CAT 5/5e/6 cable or planning to wire for Ethernet cable. Along with multiple...

Web application firewall.(General Products)(Breach Security)(WebDefend 3.5)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Offering customized, behavior-based security for each protected application, the WebDefend 3.5 appliance can be installed between Web servers and the Internet for active blocking of Web application attacks, including SQL injections,...

Exchange file recovery.(General Products)(DataNumen)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... When trouble occurs on a Microsoft Exchange server, such as crashes or database corruption, Advanced Exchange Recovery minimizes losses by scanning orphaned or damaged Exchange offline storage (.ost) files and recovering mail messages,...

Green IT grows as economy slows: more efficient operations become the goal of enterprises with shrinking budgets.(Green Tech)
March 1, 2009... The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has a long history of environmental stewardship and has been honored with dozens of environmental awards for supporting energy conservation, recycling and waste reduction. "Going green isn't just good for the...