Vodburner  has announced a Skype video call recorder that can accurately record Skype video calls. There are already several companies and services that can record Skype audio calls - but recorded video is a first.

Avaya has announced the latest version of its main unified communications solution for SMBs and SMEs (small to medium businesses and enterprises), IP Office version 6. At the same time Avaya has made it more attractive to smaller businesses by cutting the price for businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

Here are the questions you need to ask before you go shopping. Put the answers together and keep them for reference as you discuss your requirements with providers and collect their answers, particularly with regard to price and service, so that you have a consistent basis for real comparison.

After strong pressure from the Elexctronic Frontier Foundation's Patent Busting Project, the US Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to review a patent it granted in 2005, called "Method and apparatus for implementing a computer network/Internet telephone system." The patent in question is owned by a company called C2 which was previously called Acceris Communications Technologies and which has never produced or sold a product. In 2006 the company sued every one of the major US Telecom carriers accusing them of patent infringement and all the carriers settled out of court with one time payments. The company says it believes that other companies are infringing its patents and that its patents cover most VoIP technology. (It also owns another VoIP-related patent). 

Apple just finished its blockbuster announcement of the new set of commandments issued by Steve Jobs - aka the rumored Apple Tablet - which it turns out is called the iPad and is both less and more than the huge media storm leading up to the launch would have us believe. BUT from the telephony point of view there is one big thing missing - there is no phone.

There's a lot going on in the world of the open source Asterisk phone system platform. Just this week all the following things have happened...

Like in any other growing industry, the growing number of VoIP connections and customers are attracting increased security breaches in VoIP networks. A convenient summary of modern VoIP security vulnerabilities and possible solutions can be found here. The article, written by McAfee security researcher Kevin Watkins, discusses multiple types of VoIP security breaches including eavesdropping, denial-of-service and more. It also provides general advice about what causes security vulnerabilities and how to protect against them, applicable to systems with both H.323 and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standards.

Recently most of the exciting news in telephony is coming out of companies that are enabling telephony applications and mashups that extend traditional software and web-based applications by adding voice services. A great example is Twilio that is aggressively promoting its API for adding voice to all kinds of web applications. The Cloudvox acquisition by Ifbyphone is no exception and it brings together an aggressive hosted phone services company with a company providing great web- or coud-based voice services. The combination is going to be a strong player in providing services that run the gamut from traditional hosted phone service through to cutting edge Web 3.0 voice apps that are totally web based.

Just as MagicJack plans to launch a femtocell service T-Mobile USA has dropped its own cellphone to VoIP home service, according to Rachel King at ZDNet. The program, called HotSpot@Home, offered free, unlimited calls with a T-Mobile cellphone from home networks. Unfortunately there were only ever two compatible phones offered for the service - neither one was a phone that was otherwise attractive to consumers. In contrast, the MagicJack plan is to work with ALL cellphones from all carriers.

The FCC is going to miss a mandated deadline of February 17th for delivering a plan to ensure that all Americans have access to a 'high-speed, affordable' broadband service. So it has asked for a one month extension to complete the plan. This is the same plan that underlies the FCC's additional plan to transition all phone calling from the old PSTN to VoIP. The FCC asked for public input to that plan in December but has revealed almost nothing of what it intends to recommend. So far it is known that they intend to recommend an overhaul of the Federal phone-subsidy program and that some airwave space gets reallocated for the provision of wireless broadband (presumably for broadband access in remote areas that will be difficult to wire).