In the June edition of our VoIP roundup, we look at the results of a recent SIP study, the first smartphone built to maximise security, snom’s announcement of a new CEO, recap WebRTC Conference and Expo IV and finally, the news that Viber reached 100 million concurrent users.
SIP global rollout set to double by 2019
A worldwide study of over 15,000 businesses by Eastern Management Group has found that SIP rollout has increased considerably in recent years and is set to double in volume by 2019.
The study found that while 30% of global network traffic moves through SIP, by 2019 analysts expect 76% of outbound calls to be made via SIP.
The survey completed by IT managers worldwide surprisingly found that reducing expenses was not the key driver in implementing SIP, but more the ability to utilise advanced features like video and the increased use of mobile devices for employees.
The report also found that Western Europe moves more traffic via SIP than any other region in the world, with a third of it’s traffic making use of SIP, ahead of Eastern Europe and the United States.
‘Blackphone’ with encrypted VoIP now on sale
After all the privacy concerns that have arisen in recent years since the Edward Snowden and NSA scandals, a Switzerland-based company decided to address the issues by producing a smartphone offering anonymous communications which cannot be tracked or monitored.
SGP Technologies SA, the joint venture between Silent Circle and Geeksphone announced that their high security, anonymous Blackphone handsets have began shipping to the first of it’s pre-order customers.
The Blackphone has been touted as the world’s first smartphone built from the groud up to maximise the privacy of the user. Running on a security-enhanced operating system, aptly named PrivatOS, the Android based phone provides both protection and control over security without compromise.
There are a number of unique advantages to the Blackphone, including private communications with encrypted VoIP, messaging and contact list – all features which are available on Android and iOS, but in this case come pre-installed with two years subscription included.
snom announces Markus Schmitt-Fumian as CEO
Leading VoIP handset manufacturers snom announced that its supervisory board has selected Markus Schmitt-Fumian as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Schmitt-Fumian, along with COO Dr. Michael Knieling and board member Usman Tahir will be responsible for managing growth and pushing the company’s innovation as snom expands.
snom’s new CEO has a great track record in senior leadership roles within multinational technology companies, most recently as senior vice president of business development and innovation at Gigaset, a role which saw him managing new products, partnerships and distribution. Prior to his work at Gigaset, Schmitt-Fumian spent over a decade in a number of senior roles at Siemens AG.
snom make security a top priority
Over on the snomchannel blog there was an interesting post on snom hardware security and how snom ensure the protection of private VoIP conversations for their customers. Packnet are a snom certified Value Added Reseller (VAR).
snom is focussed on developing all it’s hardware and software in line with the strict TLS and SRTP security standards crucial in preventing data theft and phone tapping.
All snom products are designed with full support of Transport Layer Security (TLS), the standard which encrypts SIP communication and makes data transfer over IP secure, as well as Secure Real Time Protocol (SRTP) which encrypts voice data. Installing an open VPN on a snom phone also allows further security.
Additionally, all snom phones will disallow the installation of any firmware that is not an official snom release, preventing any third party software manipulation.
Later in 2014, snom will release further security enhancements such as support for TLS 1.2, more TLS ciphers, LDAP over TLS, certificate-based network authentication and also provisioned credentials for hosted VoIP systems.
WebRTC Conference & Expo IV
More than 500 people turned up to engage with industry experts at WebRTC Conference & Expo IV which took place from June 17-19.
Held at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, Georgia, the event hosted a wealth of WebRTC experts who showcased implementation strategies across a number of platforms, provided demonstrations and ran case study and networking events, offering individuals the opportunity to learn more about the growing WebRTC market from the best in the industry.
Keynotes from the event featured Google Chrome Product Manager Serge Lachapelle, Dialogic President and CEO Kevin Cook, TokBox CEO Ian Small, GENBAND EVP and Chief Marketing Officer Brad Bush and many more big names in the industry. The event’s agenda included content focussed on enterprises, developers, business applications, contact centres and service providers, with panel discussions on using WebRTC to make money, customer service and WebRTC for telecoms professionals.
WebRTC Conference and Expo V will take place in San Jose, California from November 18-20 2014.
Viber reaches 100 million concurrent users
The popular VoIP and instant messaging app Viber was recently acquired by Rakuten for $900 million and in June announced it had reached 100 million concurrent active users.
Previously, Viber only released metrics on registered users, however the difference between registered users and active monthly or daily users is huge, making this new figure much more indicative of the apps success.
The growth mainly comes down to the apps increased platform availability over the last year or so, with versions released to be compatible for desktop, iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry users.
