The talk of Silicon Valley these days is about "The Downturn". How bad is it going to be, what company is laying off, etc.
In typical Silicon Valley fashion, people are trying hard to stay optimistic. At a recent investor meeting, the host of the event insisted that everyone "say something positive" after introducing themselves.
Many are saying that this market dip will be as bad as it was after Sept 11th and the dot-com bubble burst. I find that very hard to believe. While the stock market has plunged and people are feeling poorer, the fundamentals are not nearly as bad.
What could make it worse is the self-fulfilling prophesy. As more people expect the economy to get bad, companies and individuals cut back making the possible a reality. This is already happened, partly precipitated by the widely circulated blood-and-guts Sequoia Capital slides.
Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and the Valley can continue to do what they do best: innovate and create new value.
October 27th, 2008 | Category: BFP Telecom Blogs | Leave a comment
Interactive Intelligence (ININ), a global provider of unified IP business communications solutions, honored resellers this month at its annual partner conference, Oct. 7–9, in Indianapolis, for their visionary use of the company’s software.The Vision Award winner, voice and data communications solutions provider, EDCi, was honored for its Customer Interaction Center (CIC) …(200 words)
October 27th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Hey, Alaska politicians, what on earth are you people doing up there in the so-called Last Frontier? Yeah, yeah, it’s one of the lowly Lower 48 calling you out but come on – first, Sarah Palin is found guilty in Troopergate (despite her hilarious insistence to the contrary) and now …(159 words)
October 27th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
For the most part, solution providers are reporting business as usual in light of the economic crises plaguing America these past few months. However, stories are beginning to surface about credit lines getting yanked and therefore killing financing for a deal.Not only might spending begin to change, partners also can …(141 words)
October 27th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Siemens Enterprise Communications has enhanced its OpenScale Services and solutions portfolio to help businesses improve the security of their UC solutions, releasing offerings in these four areas: Business Continuity, Compliance, Identity and Privacy, Threat Mitigation and Data Security. Siemens business continuity services can help build policies and plans to ensure …(261 words)
October 27th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Following the departure Oct. 22 of Jeff W. Howe, PAETEC will divide responsibility for its indirect sales channel between two executives, according to a company spokesperson.West Region President Chris Bantoft will spend a greater proportion of his time in the channel, said Dan Smith, PAETEC’s director of corporate communications. Bantoft …(143 words)
October 27th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
ConvergeWireless Inc., a value-added wireless application developer for BlackBerry, announced that MyMileageGenie and MyFormsGenie have been certified by the ATT Developer Program. MyMileageGenie and MyFormsGenie will now be included in the ATT Certified Solutions Catalog for Enterprise Sales.MyMileageGenie operates on all BlackBerry smartphones with GPS (or Bluetooth with an external …(173 words)
October 27th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Somewhere in Verizon Communications Inc.’s (VZ) deepest recesses, there surely is a shrine to cell phone inventor Martin Cooper where Ivan Seidenberg bows, often. Because without wireless, Verizon – not to mention its rivals – would be hurtin’ for certain in this economy.But, never fear! Verizon added 2.1 million new mobile …(179 words)
October 27th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
TalkSwitch, a developer and inventor of phone systems for SMBs, has announced Polycom Authorized Partner status after successful completion of the Polycom VoIP Field Verified Program.TalkSwitch’s fully hybrid phone systems are certified interoperable and able to auto-provision Polycom’s SoundPoint IP desktop phones, including the SoundPoint IP 301, 320, 430, 501, …(181 words)
October 23rd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Meraki, a provider of wireless mesh network solutions, has announced the Meraki Partner Program. The program enables Meraki resellers and solution providers to deploy the company’s wireless networking solutions, supported by dedicated account management, discounted pricing, training, lead distribution, technical support and access to a partner portal.“Wireless networking is clearly …(137 words)
October 23rd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Hoover’s Inc. and its parent company DB (DNB), a provider of global business information, tools and commercial insight, announced the first two releases within a new mobile product line. They are Hoover’s Mobile, a browser-based application, and Hoover’s MobileSP, a device-enabled application. Both products are available in beta today to existing …(241 words)
October 23rd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT) still is losing money, but at least not as much as Wall Street had feared.The Colorado carrier on Thursday reported $120 million in losses during the third-quarter, compared to losses of $174 million a year earlier. Sales, however, improved only slightly. Level 3 reported $1.07 billion …(122 words)
October 23rd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Dave Wallace, formerly a channel executive with Cbeyond Inc., has launched a master agent program for LAN integrators, PBX resellers and independent agents offering telecommunication solutions, including voice, data, wireless, conferencing, security and hosting, to SMBs.The master agency, Aligned Communications, officially began Aug. 1, and now has approximately 20 partner …(397 words)
October 23rd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
IP PBX maker Allworx, a subsidiary of PAETEC Holding Corp., announced Wednesday that Jeff W. Howe has been named president effective immediately. Howe previously was the vice president and general manager for the PAETEC agent channel, a post he took on in 2007. In his new role, Howe will be …(485 words)
October 22nd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Some good news at last? ATT Inc. (T) today reported a 5.5 percent rise in profit during the third quarter of 2008.Analysts and other experts have been saying ATT and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) results would serve as a bellwether for the entire telecom industry – whether it sinks or swims, as …(91 words)
October 22nd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Microsoft vs. Cisco: Which vendor will win the UC battle? ( surveys) (11 words)
October 22nd, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Optimum Lightpath has completed the acquisition of 4Connections LLC, a dark fiber company out of New Jersey.Under terms of the agreement, 4Connections will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Optimum Lightpath. The existing management team and employees will remain based in Parsippany. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.“Optimum …(409 words)
October 21st, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Veramark Technologies Inc. (VERA.OB), a provider of telecom expense management (TEM) solutions, announced it has signed an OEM agreement with MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR), a worldwide provider of business intelligence (BI) software. Under the OEM agreement, MicroStrategy BI technology will be embedded into the VeraSMART Communications Management Suite, Veramark’s modular TEM software. The …(126 words)
October 21st, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Global Crossing (GLBC) has announced high-definition enhancements to its flagship IP video conferencing service. The service was made possible through significant upgrades to the company’s next-generation video conferencing bridge platform. The latest enhancements support end-to-end high-definition video quality that is comparable to watching high-definition television programming, enriching the visual and auditory …(127 words)
October 21st, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Mitel is busy wrangling Canadian business communications resellers for its newly introduced Canadian Exclusive Business Partner (CEBP) Program. Based on the Exclusive Business Partner (EBP) program in the United States, Mitel has created a tailored program offering that meets the specific requirements of the Canadian marketplace.“We have designed a program …(230 words)
October 21st, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
ATT Inc. (T) announced the availability of an application programming interface (API) to support direct interconnection to individual agency pricing tools for IP service quotations for the company’s ACC Business customers. Direct API interconnections will be utilized by ACC Business’ most productive agency organizations, the company said. These select agencies will …(147 words)
October 21st, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
ATT Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. were named Leaders in the new IDC MarketScape report profiling the leading providers in the U.S. enterprise telecommunications services market. Qwest Communications International Inc., Level 3 Communications Inc. and Global Crossing Ltd. were named Major Players. Sprint Nextel Corp., tw telecom Inc. and XO …(296 words)
October 21st, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
With recent layoffs and new channel executives, Avaya had a lot to talk about at its worldwide sales kickoff event.The gearmaker announced its BusinessPartners of the Year in six categories as follows: Enterprise Partner: XETA TechnologiesSMB Partner: All Business CommunicationsServices Partner: Daycom SystemsCommunications Applications Partner: Relational TechnologiesSmall Business Applications: NACRDistributor …(510 words)
October 17th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
UCN Inc. (UCNN), a provider of on-demand contact center software for intelligent contact routing and agent improvement, has received shareholder approval to change the company name from UCN Inc. to inContact Inc. This change will go into effect Jan. 1. The decision was announced yesterday at the annual inContact customer user …(240 words)
October 17th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
Consumer spending may be flat or declining but Best Buy is hoping to combat that by purpose-building stores to focus on one of the more stable areas in our mixed-up economy: wireless.This week the retailer said it would build Mobile Life Stores, starting in Chicago, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. These …(90 words)
October 16th, 2008 | Category: Phone-plus-news | Leave a comment
