Tools for efficiency — Mobile Computing Tools for Commuting Professionals.

“Help! I’ve got VoIP and I can’t call 911!” This is the complaint the FCC planned to eliminate when it gave providers of Internet phone technology a mandate and a deadline of November 28 to give their customers a way to reach an emergency services dispatcher who can identify their phone number and location, or be forced to stop providing the service.

Now, the FCC is lightening the requirement by allowing existing customers to continue using their Voice over IP telephones while the bugs are still being worked out with the exising VoIP911 or E911 solutions.

It is no wonder the FCC is taking the problem so seriously. Approximately 5.5 million people use some type of Internet phone, and that figure is expected to hit 3 million users just in the United States by the end of the year. The number of users in the US is expected to be near 27 million in four years.

There are a couple of methods for providing E911 solutions currently in development. The company I911 Resource uses a GPS device to pinpoint the exact location of the caller in terms of longitude, latitude and altitude. Location software and database comparisons are then used to find the address of the emergency and route the call to the nearest public safety service.

TeleCommunication Systems, Inc., has a private network 911 service for broadband and packet communications. They use five redundant entry points for 911 calls through the Internet. The strategic geographic placement of these points provides routing instructions through a database that then delivers location indentification to the nearest emergency services provider.

Other technological developments in telecommunications we’re covering in this Winter issue of TMIS eNewsletter includes a device called Qlink that reduces the adverse effects of active mobile phones or human brain cells. In another article, now that 32-bit IP addresses using the IPv4 protocol for Internet addresses has reached it’s natural limit, international Internet hosting provider Verio is meeting the demand for the IPv6 protocol. Their IP version 4/version 6 dual stack Virtual Private Server provides early adapters the opportunity to develop IPv6-enabled products and services in a cost-effective test environment before transitioning entirely to the new Internet protocol.

Bluetooth has already received a lot of attention, and now another emerging wireless standard called ZigBee could soon be the lower-cost alternative for wireless sensing. ZigBee proponents believe mesh networking is the key to unattended wireless systems in the home, business or industry. Essentially, the technology uses remote sensors to gather data relating to the status and position of remote devices, transmitting the data to a central server for analysis and decision making for other individuals or devices, all in what seems like “real time.”

Don’t be surprised to find such devices in the near future at your local home-supply megastore: monitors for elder residents, networked sprinkler systems that run for seven years on a single battery, and radio-equipped windows that call you if they break. Primarily designed to solve problems at home and in the workplace, ZigBee uses the very low power 250-Kbps standard, now very popular with consumers wanting to reduce battery consumption on their ever-expanding array of devices.

I am grateful to be in a collaborative business with many talented and skilled professionals. Additional feedback and recommendations for our products and services at TM Information Services http://www.tminformationservices.com are always welcome.

- Mary M. McLaughlin

From the Front Page of TMIS News
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Click on links below to view Full Stories.

FCC Backs Down on VoIP 911 Regulations Despite Existing Solution
Dallas, Texas

When you call 911, how sure are you that help really is on the way? If you have a VoIP-enabled phone service, don't get too comfortable. The latest decision by the FCC does not require Internet phone service providers to cut off service to customers who don't have reliable 911 emergency call services, so it may be some time before VoIP customers can effectively dial 911. Internet phone providers aren't helping either. While providers should be spending resources finding ways to keep their customers safe, many simply are spending their time fighting the FCC regulations.

In the FCC's original decision, providers of Internet-based phone calls had to certify that their customers would be able to reach an emergency dispatcher when they called 911. Dispatchers also must be able to identify the caller's phone number and location. Providers had until Nov. 28 to comply with this regulation or they would be required to cut off service to customers. But the FCC's newest decree only necessitates that providers stop taking on new customers, and they are expected to discontinue marketing Internet call services.
Full Story

New Research Shows That Breakthrough Technology Can Reduce The Effects Of Electromagnetic Fields On Human Brain Cells
San Francisco, California

Clarus Products International has announced that the company’s Sympathetic Resonance Technology (SRT) has been the subject of a research study concerning its impact on electromagnetic fields. The results of the research have been published in the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Research on Paradigm Practice and Policy (published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc.) and indicate that SRT may help protect normal brain cell function in the presence of electromagnetic fields. The study indicated that the QLink, a pendent worn around the neck that contains SRT technology, reduced the effects of active mobile phones on human brain cells.

The study monitored the brain waves of twenty-four normal adults and was conducted by Dr. Rodney Croft at the Brain & Behaviour Research Institute at the University of Wollongong, Australia, in collaboration with the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Behaviour at Imperial College Medical School, London and the Department of Psychology at Coventry University, England.

“My conclusion from the study is that the QLink does have an effect on human neural function. The lack of difference between the control and QLink conditions suggests that the QLink may be mitigating the mobile phone’s effect on human neural function,” said Dr. Rodney Croft, leading author of the study.
Full Story

VoIP, Inc. and TCS Join Forces for VoIP E911
Annapolis, Maryland and Fort Lauderdale, Florida

VoIP, Inc., a global provider of advanced communications services utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as its core technology, and TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), a leading provider of mission critical wireless communications, announced today that they have partnered for the reliable delivery of E911 services for VoIP Service Providers (VSPs).

VoIP, Inc.'s CTO Shawn Lewis commented, "We chose to work with TCS for our VoIP E911 service, because they are proven experts in the industry for the maintenance of critical data required for the delivery of E911 calls. Coupled with our private, high quality-of-service network and direct connections to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), we are able to provide successful delivery of critical E911 calls from VoIP subscribers."

TCS Chief Marketing Officer Tim Lorello agreed, "VoIP, Inc. has focused on providing the backbone that VoIP service providers need in order to terminate calls into the PSAPs. This makes them an ideal customer for our VoIP E9-1-1 solution that has been Designed for Mobility™. We enable VoIP, Inc. to provide the E911 services that allow their VSP customers to meet the FCC mandate."
Full Story

Verio Unveils Industry's First IPv4/v6 Dual Stack Virtual Private Server Hosting Solution
Englewood, Colorado and Tokyo, Japan

Verio, a subsidiary of NTT Communications and a leader in managed hosting solutions, has announced the launch of the industry's first IP version 4/version 6 (v4/v6) dual stack Virtual Private Server (VPS) and Managed Private Server (MPS) hosting solutions. The initial launch of the service is being offered from an NTT Communications data center in Tokyo and is designed for viaVerio(R) reseller partners targeting small to midsize markets as well as government agencies. A unique combination of technology and performance, IPv4/v6 dual VPS/MPS v2 provides early adopters the opportunity to develop IPv6-enabled products and services in a cost-effective test environment before transitioning an entire infrastructure to the new Internet protocol.

"As the need for fully secure end-to-end communication has been growing, many service providers - especially in Asian countries - are beginning to see demand for system integration using secure IPv6 technology," said David Chao, vice president of product management for Verio. "Verio launched the industry's first VPS technology and IPv6 service, and we are continuing our product innovation by enabling our VPS and MPS solutions with IPv6 capabilities. A multitude of requests from our international customers and resellers made it clear that this is an important function, and we believe it can drive important new features and application opportunities for businesses worldwide."
Full Story

World's First System-on-Chip Solution With Location Estimation Capability Targeting ZigBee(TM)
Oslo, Norway and Schaumburg, Illinois

Chipcon AS, the world's leading provider of low system cost, low power RF chipsets and networking software, today announced the availability of the CC2431, a true System-on-Chip (SoC) IEEE 802.15.4 low power wireless sensor networking solution, also targeting ZigBee(TM) solutions. The new SoC solution from Chipcon includes a licensed location detection hardware core from Motorola. The solution is based on the world's first available SoC in this field, the CC2430 (launched by Chipcon in September 2005), and Motorola's IEEE 802.15.4 standards based radiolocation solution, all in one single silicon die.

The CC2431 includes the industry leading CC2420 IEEE 802.15.4 & ZigBee-compliant RF transceiver core, 128 kByte flash memory, a high performance 8051 microcontroller core and a radiolocation hardware core. The part comes in a 7x7 mm package, is fully pin to pin compatible with the existing CC2430 SoC and is available with the market leading Z-Stack(TM) ZigBee protocol software from Figure 8 Wireless, a Chipcon company. The CC2431 will enable OEMs to seamlessly develop compact, high performance and reliable wireless networking products using the chip as the only active device in the system, thus reducing time-to-market, and keeping production and test costs to a minimum.
Full Story

From Thunder Mountain the On-Line Store
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