VoIP provider Interlink Global Corp. will offer point-to-point video calls and multi-party videoconferencing through its VoIP network.

The point-to-point calls will be free to existing Interlink customers, while multi-party conferencing can be paid either on a per minute usage basis, or on a monthly fixed price plan.

With the multi-party service, up to 11 users can participate in a video conference call. Additionally, users may record video calls for quality and archiving purposes.

“We are now seeing that advances in compression and networking technology are quickly bringing digital voice, video and data to consumers over a single broadband IP connection,” said Anastasios Kyriakides, chairman of Interlink. “This in turn, drives our plans to deliver these services in a converged package to our customer base…. As far as we know, we are the first national VoIP company to offer this service as a part of a basic VoIP package to its clients on a nationwide basis.”

Free VoIP calling service provider Skype has been beta testing integrated video calling in its Skype 2.0 software.

Sony and GlowPoint have been offering a video calling and conferencing service, which also allows voice communication, to consumers since November 2005 under the name Sony IVE. It operates under a similar price structure to Interlink’s, where point-to-point video calls are free, and video conferences are part of a premium service with a monthly fee.

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Cell Wireless Corporation, an Arizona provider of discounted long-distance services, Web calling, and other services, will offer a Wi-Fi phone in the first quarter of 2006.

Users of the new phone will be able to make VoIP calls to each through Wi-Fi hotspots. They will also be able to use the device as a conventional Wi-Fi phone at home or at the office. The phone is expected to cost between $300 and $500.

“This exciting development allows members to call each other using a mobile Wi-Fi cell VoIP phone — free of charge,” said John Bohringer, CEO of Cell Wireless Corporation. “It will also include free VoIP conference calls and free VoIP chat rooms.”

According to In-Stat, 2 percent of VoIP subscribers used wireless IP phones as of last summer. The research firm predicts that by 2009, 73 percent of consumer VoIP subscribers will use wireless IP phones.

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That’s part of an E164.org configuration.

I admit, what I just showed you there won’t qualify as eye candy. But it is something you should care about. I would like to explain.

Remember the old days when one phone company - the regional Bell or local company serving a given area, was all you needed for directory assistance?

Well, that was then. Now, with so many VoIP, cell and other telecom service providers, how are you going to find the person’s phone number you are looking for?

It’s not that you can call Vonage and access their directory.

Well, as IP name and address software company Nonimum’s CEO Chris Risley explains in this month’s edition of Converge! Network Digest, the key to all of this is ENUM.

ENUM (TElephone NUMber Mapping) is the name for an Internet Engineering Taskforce standard for directing Internet traffic using traditional phone numbers. It integrates E.164 phone numbers with IP addressing using the Domain Name System.

E164.org is a directory of telephone numbers that can be reached over the Internet.

The system works by publishing a DNS zone, ‘e164.org’, that can be used by various Internet applications including SER, Gnome Meeting and Asterisk. The concept here is to be able to map your phone number to an Email address, website, or VoIP address.

Read more

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