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Skype adds a new “blurred background” feature

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Microsoft has announced that the latest version of Skype for desktops and laptops now offers the option of blurring the background during video calls. This feature works to distinguish and isolate the subject from the surrounding background, and places the focus on the person as the most important component of the scene. This will provide a distraction-free space, and help eliminate any embarrassing moments during video conferencing. This option was first introduced in another Microsoft messaging application, Teams. Last September the company announced their support for the background blur in this collaboration app, introducing new features for the workplace chat platform and Office 365. The blur feature has put Artificial Intelligence (AI) to use, as this advanced technology has been trained to recognize the human form. It is not just the speaker’s face that is in focus, but also their hair, hands and arms, thus creating a smooth…

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Telecom News

Facebook rocked by yet another data-sharing scandal

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The problems for the social networking giant Facebook continue to mount as yet another data-sharing scandal has exploded. The New York Times (NYT) has published a thorough investigation detailing Facebook’s data sharing practices, and reported that the social network provided some well-known tech companies with access to hundreds of millions of users’ data without their consent. Interviews with former Facebook employees and its corporate partners, as well as hundreds of pages of documents obtained by the NYT, confirmed that Facebook made the questionable arrangements with partners such as Amazon, Spotify, Netflix and Microsoft. These alliances enabled the companies to “read, write and delete users’ private messages, and to see all participants on a thread”. The records revealed, that “Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent. The social network permitted Amazon to obtain users’ names and contact information…

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Top 10 Women in Telecommunications

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As a whole, the telecommunications industry has been traditionally male-dominated. However, the trend is rapidly changing as this business sector becomes increasingly augmented with talented women having profound knowledge and skills, and influencing an industry where high-ranking female officials were a rarity until recently. Here is the list of the top ten women in the telecommunications industry, selected for their technical and business know-how, extensive experience, leadership and most significantly, their influence. Michelle Bourque Michelle Bourque is Senior Vice President, Product, Marketing and Access Strategy for BCE Nexxia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Canada. The company provides wholesale services, including voice, broadband, hosting and co-location, and IP connectivity. As the leader of a team of product and marketing professionals, Michelle has introduced innovation and fresh perspectives to the wholesale marketing and product divisions. According to Michelle, women already have a significant presence in the telecoms sector, and…

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Telecom News

Intel and Sprint partnership to sell 5G-based PCs in 2019

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Sprint announced that 5G PCs will be available to buy in their stores next year. Those computers will be built around Intel’s chips. The operator won’t be the only one to offer 5G PCs as Acer and Asus also recently declared their plan to produce 5G Intel-based computers. With Microsoft, Dell, HP and Lenovo having already announced their plan to launch 5G laptops, the market will see a total of six companies battling for this new segment, until others tech companies come out with their own project. Intel has fought hard for this, as the company met difficulties competing with Qualcomm in implementing its chips in connected devices, especially in 4G PCs that are supposed to be available in stores this year with Snapdragon chips inside.

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Telecom News

VoIP tool off iPhone’s app in China

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Apple recently sent a message to all developers of apps on iOS that are available on the Chinese App Store. They informed them that they had to remove a tool called Callkit, that allows to implement VoIP calls into their app. Any app that uses Callkit is refused by apple for the Chinese market. The message stated: “Recently, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) requested that CallKit functionality be deactivated in all apps available on the China App Store.” Despite this announcement, VoIP is still allowed in China, but the ease of use of Callkit seems to be the issue. Some Human Rights activists suggest that even though China doesn’t want to officially ban VoIP, they want to make it more difficult to use. It is not the first time Apple had to comply with Chinese demands as they removed last year Microsoft’s Skype among other VoIP…

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Telecom News

UAE telecom talks about lifting ban on Skype and FaceTime

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Negotiations started recently between Microsoft and Apple on one side, and UAE Telecoms controllers on the other, in order to check if the ban on Skype and FaceTime could be lifted. As Hamad Al Mansoori, head of the TRA (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority), the “discussions are still ongoing”. According to arabic news Al Ittihad, those talks are a part of the two companies plan to extend their business in that part of the world. The goal of the UAE is to keep good relations with Microsoft and Apple, as the first is launching a data center in the UAE in order to cover the entire region. Etisalat and Emirates Integrated Communications have applications that offer similar features, called Botim and C’Me. Al Mansoori says that the number of people using those services are increasing. The main difference is that those apps are paid-for video applications. The telecoms in the UAE are…

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VoIP Fundamentals

Top Ten VoIP Apps For Consumers

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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has been revolutionizing global communications for a while and nowadays it is considered the coolest and smartest way to talk on the phone. As a result, there has been an explosion of VoIP apps, programs and hardware that offer you amazing features. So whether you are a business owner, an online video gamer, or just an ordinary user, you know that VoIP provides you with an easy, low-cost way to communicate with people around the world. But it’s hard to choose the right application for you with so many options available. So to make your life easier, here are the 10 most popular VoIP apps available: Skype Skype was the first VoIP app for end-user, and is still, by far, one of the most popular VoIP apps available, with more than 300 million subscribers. Skype to Skype audio and video calls, group calls, instant messaging…

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Guides & Tips

How to Choose the Best Softphone for You

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Well-designed software and plentiful features are essential to having the best softphone: effective and useful. This is especially true of the user interface (UI), where all the necessary functions must be displayed front and center, smoothly integrating voice operations with the workflow processes. In many cases, the softphone is designed to resemble a traditional telephone, with a display panel and buttons for user control, very much like a standard phone interface. Over and above the importance of the user interface, there are a number of factors to consider when choosing the right product. We will discuss these factors in order to assist you in making an informed decision in selecting the best softphone. Cost There is a wide range of both free and paid softphones. In many cases, vendors offer a free, limited-feature version of their paid products. If you wish to use the free version, then you should carefully evaluate this…

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SIP Market to Grow at CAGR of 18.23%
Market Trends

SIP Trunking Market to Grow at CAGR of 18.23%

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According to Technavio’s analysts, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunking market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.23% by 2021. SIP Trunking is an Internet-based service that allows businesses to extend VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony beyond the organization’s firewall without the need for an IP-PSTN gateway. It allows VoIP users to stay connected in local and long-distance calls to and from endpoints in the traditional phone network. The report ‘Global Session Initiation Protocol Trunking Market 2017-2021’, was based on detailed and reliable data gathered from an extensive research and an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. It provides a complete market and vendor landscape as well as a SWOT analysis of the key vendors and major factors that influence the market such as drivers, opportunities, and challenges. Session Initiation Protocol Trunking Market Driver: – The increasing adoption of cloud-based solutions is…

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VoIP specialists

Top 10 VoIP Specialists to Follow on Social Media

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If you are working or interested in the VoIP technology industry and looking for some insights,  tips, and trends on the market- then these are the 10 VoIP specialists in that you should be paying attention to on social networks. The slideshow below gives you a short biographical summary of each expert. For more information and links to their social media profiles, please scroll down. [cycloneslider id=”top-ten”] Jeff Keni Pulver – VoIP Market Specialist and Entrepreneur The North American Internet entrepreneur, Jeff Keni Pulver, is the co-founder of some of the best-known companies in the VoIP market, such as Free World Dialup, MoNage, Vonage, and the Zula application. As a well-known expert and pioneer in the VoIP market, Pulver is now hosting several events focused on the future of communication, including the use of bots. In addition, he has been investing in numerous startups related to the sector. LinkedIn: /in/jpulver…

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