Re: SIPphone Peering With UC San Diego

[Daniel Golding <dgolding@burtongroup.com>]

Well, it looks like SIPphone is trying to be an international LD provider
for VoIP users - i.e. Everything is per-minute, no monthly membership fees,
etc. 

From that point of view, peering with Universities looks to be a very good
idea, because of the large number of international students.

The approach of using a dedicated T-1 is interesting - who picks up the
costs? Also, why not use the University's Internet or I2 connections?

- Dan

On 10/5/04 12:04 PM, "Michael Robertson" <michael@linspireinc.com> wrote:

> Here's an announcement that we made last week. We have about 25+ universities
> we are setting up to peer with. I'd like to hear what this group thinks of
> this strategy. 
> 
> It works very well in our testing. We help the universities get setup with
> technical support and we've written a white paper on it.
> http://sipphone.com/university/
> It's less than $1000 of hardware to have a 20+ call simultaneous call
> capacity. 
> 
> -- MR
> 
>   
>  The University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and VoIP startup SIPphone,
> Inc. today announce they have interconnected their telephone networks.
> SIPphone was started by Michael Robertson, UCSD alumni and founder of MP3.com
> <http://www.MP3.com> and Linspire, Inc.
>  
> By interconnecting the telephone networks, UCSD and SIPphone have enabled the
> following: 
> * UCSD's 10,000 phones can now directly dial any of the thousands SIPphone
> users in over 100 countries around the world, free of charge
> * SIPphone users can directly dial any UCSD phone at no cost using either
> their regular phone connected to a standards-based SIP adapter or with one of
> SIPphone's free softphones that run on any Windows, Mac or Linux based
> computer 
> * UCSD's staff, students and professors can take advantage of SIPphone's free,
> on-the-fly conference calling system, voicemail to email and other advanced
> VoIP features 
> "Just as universities were the birth place of the internet, they're leading
> the charge with internet calling," says SIPphone CEO and founder Michael
> Robertson. "UC San Diego's phone system is now modernized to make free calls
> with the VoIP world using SIP technology," adds Robertson. "UCSD is always
> looking for ways to improve the services we provide our faculty, staff and
> student body," says Dr. Elazar Harel, assistant vice chancellor of
> administrative computing and telecommunications for UCSD. "By interconnecting
> with SIPphone's free SIP network, no matter where our students and faculty
> travel in the world, they will still be connected to our local phone network.
> This project is still in an experimental mode -- we expect to learn a lot and
> expand features over time."   International students will enjoy a connection
> to family and friends previously unavailable. For example, a student from
> India can talk to her family for free as long as she wants. Professors
> teaching abroad can keep their UCSD phone number, even if they are working in
> China, Europe or the Middle East.   "My family in New Delhi can't believe it,"
> says Puneet Sharma, a graduate researcher in UCSD's electrical and computer
> engineering department. "Calls between India and the US are normally
> prohibitively expensive, which means we have only been able to call
> sporadically and in rushed calls. Now my family can call me every day if they
> like just using a $60 phone adapter and their broadband connection. It is
> cheaper for my mom to call me than it is for her to call my brother who lives
> in India. That's crazy, right?"   In addition to extending the UCSD phone
> network around the globe, the interconnection immediately boosts the features
> UCSD can offer its 10,000 phone network users. By interconnecting with
> SIPphone's network a professor can now add a "Virtual SIP Number" from most
> major cities in the United States or even the UK that allows them to have a
> "local" number in cities like New York, Miami or Chicago.  About SIPphone,
> Inc.  SIPphone.com <http://www.SIPphone.com>  is the leader in Internet
> calling. With no monthly fees, no setup fees, free PC softphones and SIP
> adapters for standard phones starting under $60 (www.SIPphone.com/store
> <http://www.SIPphone.com/store> ), anyone around the world with broadband
> access can now enjoy the benefits of free worldwide calling, clear digital
> calls, free voicemail, free conference calling and zero configurations devices
> based on SIPphone's Plug-N-Dial standard (www.plugndial.com
> <http://www.plugndial.com> ). SIPphone's service uses an inexpensive device
> that sits between your broadband Internet connection and your standard phone
> that enable phone calls via a regular phone.   SIPphone was founded by Michael
> Robertson, who also founded MP3.com <http://www.MP3.com>  (digital music) and
> Linspire (digital delivery of software). SIPphone (www.SIPphone.com
> <http://www.SIPphone.com> ) is based in San Diego, California.
>   
>   
>    
> 


-- 
Daniel Golding
Network and Telecommunications Strategies
Burton Group



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