Some of you may have read the news already but for those of you who have not please visit Google’s press center for further information.

It’s always great to see one of our customers get the recognition they deserve. The New York Times’ David Pogue recently wrote about Toktumi and its latest product Line2 –  an iPhone VoIP application that provides you a second telephone number. The application works over 3G, Wi-Fi or Cellular networks using the same number… an industry first.  That’s in sharp contrast to Verizon’s announcement with Skype, which will make calls on Verizon via the existing circuit switched network according to FierceVoIP. So unfortunately that call quality will only be regular cell phone quality if that’s the case.

Line2 iPhone User Guide from Toren Ajk on Vimeo.

What was nice to watch from David Pogue’s video was his recognition of Line2’s voice quality: “It sounds like she’s right there in the room!” While HD voice is something GIPS has offered its customers HD voice for donkeys years, GIPS VoiceEngine technology also deals with the less glitzy side of VoIP, which is the media processing -  solving all the inherent device, network and bandwidth issues that provide stumbling blocks to offering VoIP/HD voice.

Unfortunately, Toktumi had to pull their iPhone app this morning after some bad sport(s) attacked Line2 with an intense denial-of-service computer attack similar to what Twitter has experienced in the past. Booooooo! Well knowing Peter Sisson I’m sure Line2 will be back up soon – and then we can all go on using Line2.

#I♥HDvoice and there are multiple reasons. Jeff Pulver provides a very good summary here in this video – so I won’t repeat what is already a good message.

However, I will add this – all of us in the industry need to work at raising the profile of HD voice – so that all telephone users understand what is HD voice. The fact that we can’t always understand each other on the telephone is one glaring reason. So today, GIPS is reaching out to spread the word on HD voice and you can help too.

Let’s reach out to twitterers, colleagues, competitors, facebook friends IM buddies and compile a list of Mondegreens and spoonerisms.

What’s a Mondegreen or spoonerism I hear you say? A mondegreen is a phrase that is misheard or a misinterpretation of a phrase. A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched.  We’ve all heard them. Rude, fun, bizarre – they run the gamut.

I plan to compile the best Mondegreens and spoonerisms and weave them into a blog topic that we can share around to promote the need for HD voice.

It’s an easy way to reach out to twitterers (I suppose that’s a word now) and bloggers and it would be great to see if we can raise the profile of HD voice through Twitter and get people talking about the need for huge improvements in our telecommunication with the technology that exists today.

So no matter how inane, it would be great if you could contribute, retweet #I♥HDvoice with a phrase – and what it was supposed to say.

To submit your tweet to GIPS on twitter click here.

Canned weed Buick – Yeah swing  gang!

Ok, so all pun intended if you twitter are you a twit? I suspect if you are reading this blog then you are not but there are a lot of tweeters out there who don’t seem to be the full tweet. Twittering has received both good and bad press – and it’s possible to point to the worst and also some of the best in twittering. However, each to his own opinion.

Here at GIPS we tweet because it’s no longer enough to rely on distribution through traditional media. There are more channels to reach out to both businesses and consumers. Naked Pizza (if the health benefits are true) is one shining example of how twitter can really add value to business – stay twittered, I’m sure it’s going to be a big hit.

One of our goals at GIPS is to continue educating people on the value of HD voice. Twitter is another channel in which we reach out to people because there is a real opportunity for communication to be vastly improved. Along with HD Connect – an industry consortium that GIPS is a founding member of – GIPS is actively engaged in spreading the word, or perhaps I should say (HD) voice!

Earlier this week, Communications Daily, a Washington DC staple for policy wonks, wrote about HD Voice. While Washington will always have two-sides to an argument, there is an indomitable force within industry pushing HD voice. As In-Stat analyst, Keith Nissen said in this recent article, “the market for HD Voice phones could reach $3 billion annually within five years, with the U.S. market starting to take off this year.” The HD connect group is pushing for the White House to be HD Voice enabled – wouldn’t that be a great thing if President Obama wasn’t looking for a source of cheese! (This slide was borrowed from Polycom CTO’s Jeff Rodman’s presentation at the last HD Communications summit.)

HD voice really can be a force for change, so try it. If you really want to experience it now, try googletalk, Nimbuzz, Yahoo instant messenger, AIM or Gadu-Gadu and perhaps you can pass on the message that you too can hear the difference.

“Q: How do you make an HD radio executive bang his head against the wall?

A: Ask him, “What’s HD radio?”"

This was the opening paragraph for David Pogue‘s article in The New York Times today.

It resonated well with me as this is one of the issues that I face when explaining GIPS technology to people when I first meet with them. “Q: What’s HD Voice?” A: HD voice is the clarity of voice you hear when the audio bandwidth, which ranges between 50 Hz-7 kHz using a sampling rate of 16 kHz provides clear, concise speech without jitter, delay and the snap crackle and pops that you get with regular phones…

Just like HD radio, HD voice requires more than a one sentence explanation and the best way to illustrate HD voice quality is to listen to it. Anyone who has used Skype, Googletalk, Nimbuzz or Yahoo! will know what I am talking about – great sound quality.

I’m stupefied that even today most of us still tolerate bad quality on our phones – akin to listening to an AM radio station. A gentle reminder here: AM broadcast technology was used at the start of the 1900′s! Even radio got FM, and now they have HD!  What’s up with that?

While GIPS doesn’t make lager, if it did, it probably would be the best lager in the world. Fortunately, for service providers, application developers and enterprises we do make the best audio and video software for real-time communication… Cue the light refreshing video

Thankfully, there appears to be more recognition of the need for HD Voice and there will be more in-depth discussion of the subject next month when Jeff Pulver gathers industry heavyweights for the HD Communications summit in New York.  We hope to see you there.

Cable and telephone companies are preparing for a meeting tomorrow as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) starts work on a US national broadband strategy. Two items on the ticket are: Promoting Diversification of Ownership in the Broadcasting Services and a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment to inform the Commission’s development of a national broadband plan for our country

Less than 1 percent of the stimulus package will go towards improving the US broadband infrastructure. However, that 1 percent does weigh more than $7 billion and it would seem that further federal monies may also flow into this pot.

The FCC’s mandate is to provide a plan by early 2010 that incorporates the guidelines that will guarantee delivery of the Internet and define how fast is next-gen broadband in the US.

Free Press a non-partisan organization promoting decentralization in broadcasting, wrote a letter to the FCC chairman, Michael Copp, last Friday raising concerns that “wireless service providers appear to be engaging in activities that go against the Commission’s Internet Policy Statement by violating consumers’ right to run applications, use services, or attach devices of their choice over their broadband connections.”

Ben Scott, Policy Director at Free Press continued in the letter: “Wireless networks demonstrate numerous anti-consumer practices that may be violations of the Commission’s Internet Policy Statement. In some cases, these appear to be outright restrictions on applications, services or devices imposed by the carrier.”

However, Service Providers are going to want to maintain control of their networks to ensure that bandwidth is not eaten up by larger users, while end users and application developers will want to have services, such as video, that requires more bandwidth.

The debate has been stimulated by a number of companies who offer VoIP services such as Skype (over Wi-Fi) and Zer01 – a truly mobile VoIP carrier here in the US.

As more consumers begin to access the Internet wirelessly, Free Press argues it will be critical for the FCC to clarify both that the Internet Policy Statement applies to wireless and that online consumer protections that prohibit blocking are the same regardless of how we access the Web.

More demand for VoIP or video conferencing will require technology that regardless of network, platform or device ensures high-quality voice or video calls even when bandwidth is restricted – thankfully there is GIPS technology!

About 40 years ago, three men were launched into space on a mission to explore the moon.  Although explorations like this had become fairly routine by this time, an important lesson was to be learned during this journey – expect the unexpected.   Two days into their journey, an explosion seriously damaged their spacecraft and forced the crew to take drastic measures to ensure their survival. Despite overwhelming odds, the men were able to navigate the craft and eventually return home safely. One of the lessons of the Apollo 13 mission is that people matter. Even though unprecedented technology was able to send humans to the Moon, it was courage, creativity, perseverance and the ingenuity of the human spirit that allowed those three men to perform the miraculous feat of finding their way back to Earth.

This same idea applies to business, a fact which I am reminded of on a daily basis at GIPS. Andy Abramson recently blogged about the top 10 individuals he would recruit if he were starting his own company.  It points to the importance of recruiting talented individuals and the value they add to any business. To many it’s just about work product, but exceptional companies, and the companies where people want to work are based on more than just having great products or technology.  It is my philosophy that not only is it important to recruit talent, but also to make sure that people feel motivated so that you get the most out of them and they end up being a true asset to the company. People who feel like their work is valued, and that they have a stake in the company’s success will be much more likely to give their maximum and go above and beyond the call of duty.

 At GIPS, we have a long history of amazingly talented people- probably some of the best signal processing engineers in the world. But it is the effort that they have given and continue to give each and every day which helps make us successful.  We always try to anticipate the unexpected to provide our customers the best possible solution.  We have the best voice and video processing technology on the market, but without the dedication of our staff making sure that our customers’ needs are always met, we wouldn’t be in a position to offer our technology to the market.

I look forward to continuing to be a part of an organization filled with such dedicated, talented people, and to improving upon our award winning formula of innovation and customer support through creativity, perseverance and the ingenuity of the human spirit.

Welcome to the new Global IP Solutions blog! GIPS has launched this blog in an effort to keep readers informed of industry news and company events, as well as provide GIPS’ unique perspective on various market trends. We hope to foster a community of open dialogue and encourage anyone who wishes to participate to add their thoughts to the “Comments” section below each post. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that readers receive an informative, fun and interactive experience.