It was a common trope in science fiction stories of the mid 20th century - people talking to one another on videophones. Just look at the viewscreen on Star Trek as an example. But nowadays, what was once science fiction is a way of life. Thanks to applications like Skype, we can talk to our long-distance girlfriends that live out of state, or our grandchildren who live overseas or anyone else for that matter. But, as great as Skype is for personal conversations, it is not the best video conferencing solution for enterprises, for a host of reasons.

The idea of sending a text message to 911 is a sound one -- it's a mostly silent approach, after all, which can have its own value in high-stress situations -- but it's not a technology that's available just anywhere. New rules that recently emerged from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), however, are providing new guidance to providers in terms of handling those who try in areas where the technology isn't available, while also requiring development in the direction of allowing all users to have text-to-911 technology.

Security is a top concern while hosting enterprise data in a third-party data center. Worldwide, several hosting and data center providers have implemented PCI compliance to address this growing concern among their customers.

Security has been the most serious concern while hosting enterprise data in a third-party data center. Worldwide, several hosting and data center providers have implemented PCI compliance to address this growing concern among their customers.

Y&L Consulting, Inc., a company that has assisted many companies with their IT strategy, architecture, programming and integration needs, recently acquired the Operari Group, a specialized consulting firm focused on the interplay between people, the processes they follow and the information they use.

As the importance of telecommunications increases in business operations, telecom expense management (TEM) is becoming a critical business strategy. It allows businesses to not only track spending, but also maximize telecom resources.

ASC, a provider of VoIP call recording and analysis, has successfully implemented VoIP recording and quality management solutions for De Lotto, the Dutch lottery organization.

If you're just getting ready to make a move to the cloud in your contact center or sales organizations, you may be a bit overwhelmed by the number of vendors and choices available in both arenas. Given how critical customer relationship management (CRM) is to a sales organization today, choosing the right solution means understanding not only the features of the solutions available, but your own contact center's needs.

With the growth in demand for broadband connections and increase in Internet speeds, video is gradually becoming the preferred means of communication with existing and potential customers. Hence, companies in this domain are looking to expand their business.

NetVoucherCodes.co.uk, a company owned and operated by 4DX Media Ltd, recently unveiled its new mobile-optimized website.

Fujitsu, the Japanese information and connection technology (ICT) company, recently won the 2013 SAP-Microsoft Unite Partner Connection Innovation Award for showcasing innovation and creativity in sorting out customer problems and aiding to redefine the future of ERP integration and interactivity.

VoIP Innovations has enhanced its BackOffice solution, Titanium III, with the addition of international and toll-free numbers to the My DID Groups. The VoIP DID from VoIP Innovations is used by major VoIP service providers.

Yorktel recently unveiled a very comprehensive video communications platform. With this new solution, it hopes to go further than the future demands of its users. The goal of Yorktel's new solution, called VideoCloud, is to bring different methods of enterprise communication under one roof. Solutions such as Avaya's Aura, Cisco's Call Manager and Microsoft's Lync can be put into one platform that will unify them.

Google has always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with its competitors in the smartphone market. Apple, Google and Microsoft all work together to some degree when it comes to putting together applications, but there is clearly a lack of interest in ever really being friends. That case was made most clearly when Apple removed the YouTube app from its iOS 6 release. A new fight between Microsoft and the search engine giant is apparently brewing. The new Windows 8 phones recently sported a brand new YouTube application of their own. A week later, Microsoft got a cease and desist letter over the application.

According to Ferris Research, a company that tracks spam messages, an estimated 4.5 billion spam text messages were sent last year. Everyone from the FCC and FTC to telecom companies are feeling the rage of consumers who are submitting complaints in the tens of thousands. Besides being annoying, spam texting can be costly; the recipient of the text can pay up to 20 cents per message. In trying to address this and other messaging abuses, Cloudmark CTO Neil Cook will be addressing many of the effects of mobile messaging spam at CTIA 2013 in Las Vegas, NV from May 21-23.