Voxeo Talks

Are you looking for a free IVR platform to use on MacOS X or Linux? Would you like to build applications with open standards like VoiceXML, CCXML and SIP? Are you tired of all the solutions out there that require you to do all your development on Microsoft Windows?

Here at Voxeo we believe in Unlocked Communications™ and believe that you should NOT be locked in at any level – including the operating system!

That’s why we make our Prophecy platform available for all three major operating systems at:

www.voxeo.com/prophecy

And of course, Prophecy is free to download and use.[1]

Sure, the majority of our downloads reflect the market and are for Windows, but we use all three operating systems internally and have large customer deployments on all of them.

The best part of all of this?

Prophecy is the same on all three platforms.

And your apps are naturally movable between versions… so if your servers are all Windows or Linux but your developers all want to use shiny Mac laptops, they can install Prophecy locally on MacOS X and build all the apps they want. When it comes time to deploy, those apps can be moved over to your Windows or Linux server. Same platform, same tools, same code.

Unlocked from the operating system!

If you are interested in learning more, just head on over to our Prophecy download page and try out a version for yourself! Heck, it’s free, so feel free to download it onto several different systems and figure out which version you like best!

P.S. And just remember, the Linux version is the one that we showed CEO Jonathan Taylor demoing that runs over 5,000 simultaneous connections!

[1] The free version of Prophecy includes a license for 2 ports of simultaneous use. It’s the exact same code as the commercial version, though, so if you want more ports you simply have to contact us to buy a license for more.

As mentioned previously, Voxeo CTO RJ Auburn is out at the JavaOne conference this week and spoke today on the topic of “Media Servers for Mortals – The quick guide to JSR309 madness“. His “slides” are embedded below… although they aren’t exactly “slides”. Instead RJ used Prezi.com which allows you to create presentations that are a little bit… different. Enjoy!

P.S. And if you do have comments on this presentation and the style, format, etc., we’d certainly welcome those comments to this post or elsewhere. We are always looking at new tools to help us tell our story better.

With (voice or multi-channel) applications created in VoiceObjects, comprehensive reporting and analytics comes out of the box: VoiceObjects Analyzer reports help you understand how callers use the application, where they struggle, and what the task completion rates are. In order to make best use of this highly integrated platform, call flow developers should be aware of how their implementation design decisions influence reporting.

In this developer jam session, we will create simple call flows using Module, Menu, Input, Layer, and Business Task objects, make test calls, and show the results in VoiceObjects Analyzer standard reports. Our aim is to show how the value of reporting can be maximized by making proper design decisions.

We will try to make this webinar useful both for absolute beginners and for VoiceObjects veteran developers!

Join us for this session on September 29, 2010, 8:00 AM Western, 11:00 AM Eastern, 5:00 PM Central European

Speakers:

Andreas Volmer, Presales Manager EMEA

Martin Mauelshagen, Business Intelligence Engineer

REGISTER NOW

Are you heading out to ITEXPO West 2010 in Los Angeles on October 4-6? If so, several Voxeons will be there participating in the show. Dan York is speaking on communications security, Adam Kalsey will be part of the Cloud Communications Summit and another Voxeon may be joining the team there, too. Watch our event page for more info in the next few days:

http://blogs.voxeo.com/events/itexpo-west-2010/

You will of course be able to watch our @voxeo Twitter stream during the event… and feel free to drop us a note if you are going to be there.

We look forward to catching up with many folks from around the industry there at the event!

If you are attending the JavaOne conference next week in San Francisco, you can hear Voxeo CTO RJ Auburn speaking about media servers and the JSR 309 standard. His talk is Tuesday, September 21, 2010, at 8:00AM and has this description:

Media Servers for Mortals – The quick guide to JSR309 madness

JSR309 brings a standard API to accessing media services from IP communications applications. One problem with it however is that it can be very overwhelming to developers who are not accustomed to it’s unique style and nuances. This session will give developers an overview of the API and a roadmap of how and where to learn more about this powerful API and how not to get hung up on some of the concepts that both make this very useful and yet difficult to master.

This session is recommended for Java developers who would like to learn the basics of communications applications and how to develop them.

Topics will include:

• API Overview
• Basic Application Tutorial
• Frameworks to assist in development
• Resources on where to learn more

If you would like to connect with RJ out at JavaOne, please drop him a line. You can also follow him on Twitter

Are you  a Java guru?  Do you have a passion for programming and love to live on the bleeding edge of communication technology?  If so, we’re looking for you… check out our job description for more info:

Senior Java Guru

Voxeo is a profitable, pre-IPO, international, employee-owned company with awesome benefits and a strong and open culture. (Read more about working here and what our employees say.) We’re working hard to change the world of communications… and this is your chance to join in that change!

P.S. All applications need to go through that CareerBuilder link (rather than email or comments to this blog post).

As our CEO Jonathan Taylor tweeted out today and posted to Facebook, we just closed on a new 60,000 square foot office space in the Plaza complex in downtown Orlando which will be the new corporate home of Voxeo in Q1 2011:

It’s new office space so we are able to build it out to our specification – and Jonathan has a very cool plan in mind!  It will be more of a campus environment including an 8,000 square foot cafe/work space that seats up to 80 people (think like a Starbucks in your own office). There will also be a 7,000 square foot incubator / co-working space that will be available for 4-6 young, creative companies to use.

On that note, if you – or anyone you know – are with a startup looking for space, Jonathan is interested to talk.  The Plaza in downtown Orlando is in a great location with a wide range of restaurants all around and a cinema in the building…  drop him a note!

Stay tuned for more info on the big move… you can be sure we’ll have pictures and more up as the date draws closer.

In Part 1 of this three-part series, you read about the initial making of our 16,000 port demo system for SpeechTEK in August as part of our Prophecy 10 announcement. In Part 2, you saw what was inside the case and what we did to the front of the case. Now in the final part you’ll see the Beast Cage making it’s way to New York City… (click on the images to see a larger version)

Here is the “Beast Cage” unloaded at the Orlando International Airport parking garage. Voxeo CEO Jonathan Taylor personally brought the system with him on his flight up to NYC.
	Here is the TSA inspecting the Beast Cage. After X-ray, the TSA agent basically asked "what the heck is this thing?"
The Beast Cage arrives at LaGuardia airport in New York. The bubble wrap is on there just to prevent any scratches to the case top.
	The Beast Cage in the fine lobby of the W Times Square hotel.
Beast Cage powered up for a post-transport test run in Jonathan’s W Times Square hotel room.
	Voxeo CTO RJ Auburn takes a stroll through Times Square with the Beast Cage.
Beast Cage arrives in our SpeechTEK NYC booth. 16,000 ports, 90 pounds, $100 to transport!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this photo journey through the creation of the “Beast Cage”. Again, if you haven’t checked out the video, please do, as Jonathan actually dives into a bit more of the details. And if you’d like to try out the software on the Beast, just head on over to www.voxeo.com/prophecy to download a free version for Windows, MacOS X or Linux.

In Part 1 of this three-part series, I showed you the initial making of our 16,000 port demo system for SpeechTEK in August as part of our Prophecy 10 announcement. Now in part 2, we’re moving on to what’s inside the case and to the front of the case… (click on the images to see a larger version)

This was the initial power-up of the “Beast Cage”. Not quite sure what discussion was going on here…
	First we installed three SGI Rackable C1001 servers. It took less than 30 minutes to install Prophecy 10 on the three Linux servers and start the 15,000 port load test. The temporary Cisco ethernet switch on top.
Next we started work on the front of the case. Here we’ve removed the front panel plywood and put the front LED lighting in.
	We had the plexiglass front panel custom-made. Here you can see the LED lighting shining through the panel.
Voxeo CEO Jonathan Taylor was directly involved with this project and is seen here modifying the plexiglass front panel to allow the LED lighting cable to run through two corners of the panel.
	Here Voxeo CTO RJ Auburn and head performance engineer Rob Green are working on the config and load test.
Next step was to install the final Juniper EX2200-48P ethernet switch and all hardware and cables.
	The Beast is alive!
Finally the Beast Cage is loaded in our CEO’s Jeep for transport to the Orlando airport and on to New York!

Stay tuned for Part 3, where the system heads to the Big Apple…

After we demonstrated our 16,000 port demo system at SpeechTEK in August as part of our Prophecy 10 announcement, we received a lot of questions about the case we used for the demo system… mostly along the lines of:

“Hey, that’s a really cool case! Where can I buy one?”

The truth is that we built the case ourselves. There is definitely a strong “modding” ethic within Voxeo (of computers, cars, equipment, pretty much anything…) so building this case was right in line with that part of our culture.

In this three part blog post series, I’m going to show how we built the case and then transported it down to New York for SpeechTEK.

First, though, if you haven’t seen the video of Voxeo CEO Jonathan Taylor talking about the server and Prophecy 10 (and giving a tour of the server), here it is:

As to the name used in the title of this post, we called this 16,000 port system internally “the Beast” and so naturally the case was called “the Beast Cage“.

Now, on to the photos…

We started with an Odyssey FZAR4 4-space rack. This box is normally used to transport high-end audio gear.
	First we modified the rear portion of the case. On the left will be a two-port ethernet connection. On the right is the hole for the power connection.
Here’s a close-up view of the 2-port Ethernet jack plate.
	Here we’re almost done with the Ethernet connection.
We next added two more holes for cooling fans.
	We added two 8mm cooling fans.
Ethernet, cooling fans, and twist-lock power connector are now installed. We paid $8 more for the fans with the blue LED lights.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we get the system ready to go…