As the FCC has increased penalties for violating CPNI, service providers are improving their policies regarding the requirement. Customer information such as name, address and billing telephone number, is known as "Customer Proprietary Network information," or CPNI. Additionally, service features, class of service, phone charges, billing and call records are considered elements of CPNI. The FCC has issued a requirement that all parties with access to CPNI must give the customer the option of disallowing the information to be used for certain marketing activates and certainly restricting its resell to third parties. The penalties are such that each violation carries a substantial fine. Over the next few weeks, Broadvox and its partners will be implementing new policies to maintain compliance with the FCC’s order regarding CPNI. Our customers will be given the option of allowing us to use their information to market additional features and services and provide the information to third parties.

Personally, I hope that they read the policy and take the time to appreciate its potential impact on how their CPNI can be used. In today’s environment of tell all, privacy seems to be losing out. Interestingly, although Facebook has over 500 million subscribers willing to share a lot of personal information, only 46% like doing so. Innately, they may understand that they are losing bits of their privacy and certainly gobs of their time, but they cannot resist.

 The August eNewsletter was released this week and is well worth reading to see what Broadvox is up to. However, it also contains a fun element. We are giving away hundreds of Metoo screaming monkeys to people who request them. You will soon be able to join a thundering horde of travelers that take pictures of Metoo in locations around the world. The pictures and videos we receive will be posted on Flickr and IPMAN Adventures.com.  One lucky photographer will receive a free Amazon Kindle, Compliments of Broadvox.

Work should be hard, rewarding and fun.

Have a great weekend and see you Monday!

On several flights recently taken, I have noted that Wi-Fi is available. On one flight in particular I was quite please to see it as I desperately needed to complete a proposal and send it within the next hour or so. Before boarding, I had explained that it would be after I landed. Imagine their surprise to receive it while I was still in flight.

I liked my in flight Wi-Fi experience and will probably use the service again. However, I do not like the price or the pricing methodology. My first experiences complimentary on two different carriers. Therefore, to date, I have not paid for the service. On one carrier, the access was for the segment only. On the other, it was for the day. With prices ranging from $10 to $13 for a single flight, it is not a good value when compared to either free Wi-Fi in bargain hotels or $10 per day in full service hotels. It is a convenience that I’ll use in a pinch, but not on a regular basis.

 In reviewing the packages offered by GOGO, one of the Wi-Fi providers for several airplanes, I did note that $40 buys a 30-day or monthly pass. When my primary job included traveling three out of four weeks (with international destinations as well), that would have seemed like a bargain. Perhaps, the pricing suggested by Southwest airlines will prevail. There service is provided by Row 44 and ranges from $2 - $12 per segment. Obviously, I am backing the $2 price.

As for VoIP while in flight, I am opposed. You may recall that while in New Orleans in the buffet line at the Court of Two Sisters, a woman was trying to fill her plate and talk on the phone. I say trying because she merely slowed everyone down and looked like a train wreck about to happen. I really do not want to be seated next to anyone that can engage in a conversation with someone a thousand miles away for several hours speaking with their “cell phone” voice. If a VoIP in flight service is established, the airlines need to install “phone booths” for the comfort of their passengers.

It is clear in flight Wi-Fi has arrived and will be rolled out over the next few years. It is unclear as to final pricing and availability.

Have great weekend! New recipe on Monday!

SEO, SEM, Social Media sells IP

It has been at least a year since I discussed the need to expand your marketing efforts to include more on line elements. Most of the Broadvox VARs are SMBs and have few, if any, resources to expand their online efforts. However, the world has changed a lot and there are many ways that a SMB can inexpensively gain a better understanding and strategy to improve their online marketing efforts. The number of consultants has increased, as well as both their skill sets and potential incompetence. I suggest using eMarketing consultants that either you or a respected associate has used previously, or do some homework. Gain a functional understanding of what you need, evaluate at least three proposals, and check out their references. The good ones will have several and the bad will be busy creating a smoke screen.

I recently hired an Internet Marketing Manager because the Broadvox spend to promote our retail SIP Trunking products and wholesale SIP origination and termination products was justifying having someone give it their fulltime attention. While I have been active with the Internet since 1992 and thought I knew a few things about online marketing, having a specialist look at our activities was a revelation. Moreover, his work has resulted in a significant increase in the number of leads generated, online conversions and usage of the website. Our SEO rankings for the search term “SIP Trunking” and “SIP Origination” now place us on the first page of Google. It takes vigilance and constant effort to remain on the first page, a significant challenge for a company of our size.

So, why have we been successful? It requires a coordinated approach to search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), proper design, construction and content applicability of your website and leveraging and coordinating the more disconnected elements regarded as social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs).

Next week this blog is going to provide further information on Online marketing, however, we will have a new recipe on Monday as usual. Enjoy the weekend!

Last year some estimates for running out of IPv4 based addresses was placed in 2012. Today as a result of a huge increase in demand by Asia for Internet numbers John Curran, CEO at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), is moving the date to as early as mid next year. In any case, ISPs and companies that have put off preparing for IPv6 will have to do so quickly. Moreover, they will need to support it and IPv4 for many years until the older addressing scheme is phased out. It is necessary to support both schemes as doing only one or the other will result in certain sites and users losing access to the Internet.

In the simplest of terms, IPv6 is intended to resolve the issue of the world running out of IP address in 2011. IPv4 is based upon a 32-bit address scheme whereas IPv6 uses 128 bits. The difference is dramatic. With IPv4, the Internet has a total IP address capacity of 4 billion unique addresses. In 1980 when IPv4 was released this seemed like a big number, as the engineering groups involved did not foresee the eventual growth that defines today’s Internet. IPv6 represents 3.4x10³⁸ or 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses. I think that might last the planet earth for a while. Other elements of IPv6 include improved security, simpler processing, mobility features and multicast.

As a result of the recession and focus on spending cuts many companies and ISPs are not ready for IPv6.

Curran suggests that ISPs begin offering IPv6 now in anticipation to exhausting the current numbers.

The effort will be worth it, as the trillions of addresses available under the IPv6 scheme will certainly last beyond the life of what we know today as the Internet.

As I sat this morning watching the live feed of the oil unleashed by British Petroleum (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico, I wondered about the role of IP communications in the event. Certainly, the reason that I can see the oil gushing out of the earth is because of the Internet. Most of what I read about the tragedy comes via Internet news sites and other IP sources. But, what role on a daily basis does the technology play?

I would be surprised if smartphones were not in use by BP, its contractors, volunteers, state and local officials to schedule daily work activity, document where the oil is approaching shore or creating havoc with various wildlife. Moreover, given BP’s size and financial resources, I am certain that they employ Unified Communications to support their daily business practices and processes. They probably use Skype to make international calls between the US and the UK. They certainly will find it easier to use emails and IM to contact each other and provide updates as to their progress or lack thereof. And I am sure that when escalation is required, transitioning from an email to IM to VoIP is not uncommon.

The role of IP communications in this case is broad based. It is supporting the delivery of information to interested parties such as me. It is supporting the role of those responsible for the cleanup such as BP, its contractors and volunteers. Finally, it is supporting the financial needs of businesses and people who are facing closure and the loss of their jobs. Today, IP communications is applied in nearly every aspect of our lives.

As Broadvox and I push forward the concepts and value propositions associated with VoIP and SIP Trunking, I would be remiss if I did not remind all of you that we use this data-centric technology to accomplish an incredible number of tasks every day. Internet Protocol is not a solution but it enables numerous applications, services, products and processes. At some point, the final solution to shutting off the spill will probably be an action initiated by a command sent over using IP.