It's Pink Cell Phone Season Again

Valentine's Day is almost upon us, and with that the start of the pink cell phone season. From now until Mother's Day we witness the convergence of technology and pinkness, as mobile communications shows its feminine side. Would you like to put a little fashion flair in your hand or that of your significant other? What you need is a cell phone that is a vision in pink.

This year we're featuring the high-tech, high-touch Samsung Instinct Pink for Sprint PCS. Yes, this is normally an expensive luxury phone. But it can be yours at a huge discount when you order it with an Everything Plan or Talk/Message/Data Share Plan from Sprint PCS as your wireless service. Two women in the same family can even get TWO discounted Samsung Instinct Pinks when they order it with the appropriate family plan.

Samsung has taken the cellphone world by storm... but not BlackBerry Storm... with its tactile touchscreen technology built into advanced mobile phones like the Samsung Instinct. It's a phone. It's a music player. It's a Web browser. It's a head to head competitor to the Apple iPhone. Plus it's free and, oh, so very pink.

The high definition touch screen display measures 240 x 432 pixels and offers a QWERTY keyboard through an on-screen virtual touch keyboard. Motion sensing technology will change the orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape automatically as you rotate the phone. The pictures you take will display in stunning definition using the built-in 2.0 Megapixel digital camera that also runs as a camcorder. Make movies if you want to. The video capture is limited only by the amount of available memory, which is expandable using plug-in microSD memory cards.

The Samsung Instinct Pink may look like a fashion accessory, but this phone is built for business as well as pleasure. Sprint's EVDO cellular broadband network offers download speeds up to 3.1 Mbps. That's fast enough to enjoy Sprint TV and streaming or downloadable Sprint Music. Search the Web at broadband speeds without having to constantly hunt for a WiFi hotspot. The Internet goes where you go. A full HTML Web Browser is built-in with support for the tactile user interface experience on the Instinct's touch screen. The email client will synchronize over the air, via Bluetooth or USB cable. Text messaging features 2-way threaded view. Multimedia messaging includes both pictures and video messages.

There's more, including built-in GPS to take advantage of Sprint Navigation services, Bluetooth for standard wireless phone headsets and music streaming to compatible wireless stereo headsets, voice driven menus, speakerphone, voice memo capability and more. It's a very high tech thing of beauty.

What are the hottest cell phone deals available right now, including free cell phones? Use the Cell Phone Plan Finder to check out the top phones and associated wireless service plans.

How BlackBerry Touch Screen Technology Works

The BlackBerry Storm smartphone breaks new ground for BlackBerry wireless devices. This one is missing those ubiquitous little QWERTY keys below the display. They are replaced by a touch screen technology called "SurePress." Your QWERTY keyboard is still there. But now it's on the screen rather than a separate physical keyboard.

So how do they do that? How did they get rid of the keys but still keep the physical sensation of using a keyboard, and why? The why is probably easiest to explain. All those little keys take up a lot of real estate. If you want to have a larger display screen so that you can more easily read documents and images, watch videos or access applications, something has to give. If the screen is going to get bigger, then one of two things has to happen. Either the device grows in size or something else has to be eliminated to maintain the familiar "fits in your hand" form factor.

In the case of the BlackBerry Storm, the design decision was to keep the device a familiar pocket size and enlarge the screen by eliminating as many physical buttons as possible. There are 4 buttons below the screen. They're the usual send and end telephone buttons, plus menu and return buttons. Everything else is on the screen, including the dial pad for making calls. Without a slide-out keypad the Storm can maintain a thin 0.55 inch profile.

BlackBerry isn't the first with touchscreen capabilities in a cell phone. The Apple iPhone made quite a splash in this regard. But BlackBerry has gone the extra distance to ensure that a virtual key emulates a physical key as much as possible. The magic of the SurePress technology is flexibility in the display screen, called a "popple dome". When you push on a virtual button, the screen depresses slightly and pushes back, as if there were a spring right under the display surface, and you hear a click. This physical and audible feedback makes you think there's a physical pushbutton where you just pressed. But look again. It's just a screen with a picture on it. Change the screen view and the button disappears.

Another bit of technology that enables the BlackBerry touch screen is a built-in accelerometer. An accelerometer detects motion. I suppose you could program it to scream if someone threw the phone across the room. But in this case the purpose of the accelerometer is to detect the orientation of the BlackBerry Storm. If you are holding it straight up, the screen is set to portrait mode. But when you twist it to a lengthwise orientation, the screen switches quickly to landscape mode. Both graphics and the virtual keyboard will follow your moves and maintain the proper viewing orientation.

The end result is a smartphone with a 3.25 inch high-resolution touch screen in a 4.4 x 2.5 x 0.55 inch case that provides full BlackBerry functionality, including email, web browsing, messaging, and quad band GSM cellular phone. Plus there's EVDO Rev A broadband with 3G Internet access up to 3.1 Mbps, GPS service support, 1 GB of onboard memory and a 3.2 Megapixel digital camera. Talk time is a respectable 280 minutes. Not bad for 5.5 ounces in total.

How does the Storm compare with other BlackBerry phones you may be familiar with? There's an easy online tool to compare BlackBerry phone models that you can use. Check the features and specifications side by side and see which BlackBerry device you prefer.

So Much Network Congestion You Could Just Burst

Just because the economy is down that doesn't mean the workload is any lighter. In fact, you and your people may well be scrambling more than ever to retain current customers and try to bring in what new business you can. As a result, your WAN network may be getting congested. Just when you need things to run faster and smoother, they run slower and spottier. A big bandwidth increase isn't in the budget. Is there anything that can be done?

First of all, don't assume that you can't get any more bandwidth for what you are currently paying. It all depends on who your vendor is and how good a deal you got. Just out of curiosity, why don't you try an instant online search for bandwidth pricing specific to your location. If you are already paying less, then move on to other options. If not, you may have found the solution. Just get a more competitive offer and pay less.

If you are already paying competitive rates for your dedicated Internet connection, MPLS network or point to point private line and can't afford an upgrade, then you need to more effectively use what you have or go with a different type of bandwidth. By more effectively using what you have, I'm suggesting WAN optimization appliances that use various compression and caching techniques to use connectivity more efficiently. These devices also require a capital expense, but may be able to pay for themselves quickly depending on your network situation.

Another approach that may not cost much, if anything, is to consider burstable bandwidth. No, that doesn't mean your connection blows up when you try to cram too much data through it too fast. Burstable bandwidth sets a price for usage up to a certain number of Mbps. But if you exceed that the network doesn't just clog up. It uses more bandwidth for the time it needs to. Your bill for service will be a combination of the flat lease rate plus the overage costs for using the extra bandwidth. You won't necessarily get dinged if your instantaneous need is short enough. But if you use significant amounts of additional bandwidth, you'll get charged accordingly.

Is burstable bandwidth right for your organization? That depends on your network traffic patterns. If you have constant heavy usage above 80 or 90% of your maximum WAN bandwidth limit, you really need to scale something back or pony up for a bandwidth increase. Depending on what is hogging all the bandwidth, you might be able to throttle back a particular low priority application to free up additional bandwidth for more critical needs. But if your needs run at a steady level with plenty of bandwidth margin but occasionally soar for short periods, you are a good candidate for burstable bandwidth solutions. An example might be a ecommerce website that normally has a modest amount of traffic but sees a lot of activity for particular events, holidays, etc.

How can you best judge whether burstable bandwidth offers a savings over fixed bandwidth options? Best to have an expert consultant help you with that. We have a number of them who will be happy to discuss your situation and show you the range of options available. Simply call the toll free number or put in a quick online request available at the MegaTrunks bandwidth service.

How Aircards Work For Mobile Computing

Broadband Internet access has become a standard utility for nearly all businesses and home office users. DSL and Cable Internet is readily available and reasonably priced for individuals. T1 lines, DS3 bandwidth, and Ethernet connections are the choice for most business locations. But what do you do when you leave the desktop environment and venture outside? Are you cast into a disconnected limbo between WiFi hotspots? How can you take your presentations, inventory access and order entry to a client's office when they all require a broadband Internet connection? For that you need a little accessory called the aircard.

An aircard or air card is a wireless modem that gives your laptop or notebook computer a 3G cellular broadband connection to the Internet. Generally, any place you can get cell phone reception you can get Internet access. Both the voice and data signals are coming from the same towers. Each cellular carrier has a certain number of channels available at each tower site. Some are assigned for voice calls. Some are assigned for broadband data. But you need a smartphone or plug-in aircard to access the data channels that supply Internet service.

Most aircards offered today are designed for 3G access, but will fall back to the slower 2.5G or 2G speeds if reception is poor or a particular tower site hasn't been upgraded for 3G. The largest carriers, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, have been in a frenzy to get their tower site base stations upgraded over the last few years. There is a booming market for 3G access, both by aircard users and also for many of the newer smartphones that have 3G access built-in. The Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Storm are just a couple of examples. Broadband service is necessary to support streaming video as well as web-enabled applications and full HTML browser surfing. You can still get by with lower speeds for email and text messaging.

Aircards are specific to a particular carrier, just like cell phones. They also require service contracts, just like cell phones. Wireless service plans for aircards are currently running around $60 a month.

There are differences in the technology used to transmit cellular broadband. Verizon Wireless aircards, Sprint PCS aircards, and Alltel aircards run CDMA networks and use a technology called EVDO. The baseline EVDO service is similar to entry level DSL and offers download speeds of around 700 Kbps with bursts up to 2.4 Mbps when the network is lightly used. The upload link is much slower, typically around 150 Kbps. This network was designed for basic Web access and video clip download. The newly upgraded EVDO Rev A networks increase cellular broadband speeds to cable modem levels of 3.1 Mbps download bursts and a faster uplink of 1.8 Mbps.

AT&T aircards use a different technology called GSM that is more of a worldwide standard. Their basic wireless broadband service is called EDGE and runs at around 250 Kbps. This is the technology used by the first Apple iPhone. But AT&T has now moved to a faster network called HSUPA that has download burst speeds up to 7.2 Mbps with uploads as fast as 2 Mbps. Typical speeds in heavily used metropolitan areas are slower that this, but equivalent to what you'll get on the EVDO networks.

So how do you get an aircard for your laptop computer? That's easy enough. You can comparison shop for aircards by model and carrier right online. In addition to being carrier-specific, there are two styles of wireless modem available. The traditional form factor is a PCMCIA card that plugs into a slot on your laptop computer. But many newer laptops are smaller and have done away with the PCMCIA slots. For those you select the USB models that simply plug-into a USB port just like a USB flash drive. Take some time to check the features of each card you are interested in. Some work only with PCs. Others support both PC and Mac. Some of the USB aircards also have a slot to install microSD memory cards so you can use them as a flash drive as well as an aircard.

Finding Information on PBX Telephone Systems Pricing

Are you building a new office building or hotel? How about plans to upgrade your antiquated business telephone system? If so, you are no doubt interested in finding good information on PBX telephone systems pricing. Ideally, you want to get a range of options and competitive prices so you can make and informed buying decision. But, how much trouble is that going to be?

No trouble at all. Well, no trouble if you take advantage of an online clearinghouse that connects qualified vendors of PBX phone systems with qualified business buyers. That clearinghouse is called the VAR Network.

The VAR Network specializes in two important telecom technology areas. One is PBX telephone. The other is network equipment. For many businesses, these are complementary technologies. Most companies have both multi-user telephone systems and computer networks for internal communications and Internet access.

There is another synergy between telephone and computer systems. The latest in telephony developments is VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. VoIP telephone systems "speak" the IP computer language that runs on all Ethernet based networks. Some companies still keep their computer and telephone networks separate. But others integrate the two onto a single company LAN that serves both voice and data. It take some engineering expertise to make this work so that both voice and data function as if they each had the network to themselves. But when it does work, there is a huge advantage of plugging everything into a common set of network jacks. Moving phones and adding new ones is as simple as unplugging from one network jack and plugging into another somewhere else in the building.

The VAR Network is made of up Value Added Resellers or VARs who are authorized representatives for one or more equipment lines. These VARs often offer everything from pre-sales consultations to sales, installation and ongoing support for the manufacturers they represent. They are located all over the country and chances are there are a number that serve your area. But how to you find them? The easy way is to browse through the customer website for the VAR network. You can select from the most popular equipment lines or search for exactly what you are looking for. When you find it, simply enter some basic contact information and your request will enter the system.

What happens then is that the search database of the VAR Network will match up your request with appropriate VARs who have been pre-screened for membership in the network. The matching algorithm is based on what type of equipment and/or service you are looking for and where you are located. When there is a match, a email request is sent to the matching VARs to have them contact you at your mutual convenience. You can then decide whether you want to do business with one or more of the VARs who call you.

The VAR Network supports a wide range of PBX telephone systems, including those offered by Allworx, Avaya, Cisco, Fonality, Nortel, Mitel, ShoreTel, NEC, Polycom, 3 Com, Inter-Tel, TalkSwitch, Toshiba, Lucent, Artisoft, Vodavi, Vertical, and Switchvox. Network hardware includes the lines of Adtran, Cisco, 3 Com, Extreme, Foundry, Juniper and Nortel, among others.

And what does all of this cost? Not a penny. The VAR Network functions as a match-maker between Value Added Resellers and companies that are looking for what they sell. There is no cost or obligation for you to use the system. The only request is that you have an actual business need, so as not to waste everyone's valuable time. If you do have a current or near term need and would like to give this system a try, simply visit the VAR Network website now and do just that. If you happen to be someone in the business telephone system or computer networking business, you are also invited to visit the VAR Network and see how it can help bring you new business.

Cell Phone Family Plans for Professionals

When you think of family plans, it's probably in terms of adding cell phones for the kids. But these economic times, a family plan might mean the difference between two professionals each having their own cell phone and having to share a phone. Share a phone? That doesn't work so well for business. Let's take a closer look at those family plans.

The name "family plan" is probably why you haven't considered this option for professional use. These service arrangements should more properly be called shared minutes plans. But family plan is the name that has stuck, so we'll use that.

The first thing you should know is that sharing a plan does not mean sharing a handset or sharing a line. It's only the minutes that are being shared. You each have your own phone and phone number. But you get only one bill per month and it can be a lot less expensive than two completely separate cell phone bills.

Some people use all the minutes they can get. But what if 900 minutes a month are more than you actually use. In fact, what if 900 minutes is more than you and your significant other both need in a month? That is a likely case if one of you is a light duty user while the other is a heavy user of wireless minutes.

Of course, if you need more minutes you can always upgrade to a larger service plan. The price you'll pay will be less than having two identical service plans and two cellular bills each month. With a rollover plan you may find that even if you have a heavy usage month you'll still have plenty of minutes available on a shared basis.

There are family service plans available for all the major carriers and many, many cell phones available free or at a big discount. Some even offer cash back rebates even though don't pay for the phone in the first place. You don't have to get two identical phones. Each of you can select the model phone you want. You just need to be on the same family plan with the same carrier. Check out the special offers and variety of plans available at Cell Phone Plans Finder now.

Here's another way to save on your monthly phone expenses. Do you make calls to other countries? The extra charges from your cellular carrier for this may be considerable. But by using a pre-paid international calling service you can call anywhere in the world from your cell phone at rates from just a couple of cents per minute.

Also, consider a toll free number if you have clients calling you from outside your area code. They're pretty cheap and offer their own voice mail to email and fax to email reception. That's very handy for professionals on the go.

Cheaper Alternatives to Prepaid Phone Cards

You see them displayed in racks in the drug store, grocery or retail store. Out of the corner of your eye something flashes "2 cents" and you have to turn and look. What can you possibly get today for a couple of pennies? Why, it's a prepaid calling card and the rate screams 2 cents per minute. You're tempted to pick one up just to have on hand for your next business trip or that call you need to make to Mexico. But, wait. Before you impulse buy what seems like a bargain phone card, find out why it might be the most expensive call you ever make.

Prepaid telephone cards are really popular, especially for anyone who wants to call overseas and can't bear to pay the extra charges from their long distance provider or cell phone carrier. The problem with the ones you find in stores is that their really big selling point is their convenience. Convenience to buy, that is. It's easy to grab an attractive looking plastic or cardboard card out of the rack. The big advertised rate sure looks good. There's lots of really small print on the back, but how important can that be?

You'll find it's really important once you start using the calling card. The advertised per minute rate is usually only the beginning of what you are going to be charged. In addition to depleting the balance of your card by the minutes you actually talk, you will also likely be dinged a connection fee, a minimum charge per call even if you only leave a quick voice mail, and a steady draining of your card's value after that. You see, once you start using a card it is common practice to charge a service fee per month thereafter. If you make a short call today and then put the card back in your wallet and don't use it again till next year, you may find that all your minutes are gone. They've been eaten up in maintenance fees. Suddenly that supposed 10 cent call to Mexico actually cost you $10.

Well, if prepaid calling cards you find in stores aren't such a great deal, what is? Try buying your calling cards online instead. You still have to be careful to understand the rates and fees, but a good online service such as SpeedyPin will make it easy to compare offers. With no teeny-tiny print to deal with, you can make a much better informed decision. Plus you can order and recharge your cards online at your leisure. There is often no physical card. The numbers are delivered to you via email as soon as you place your order.

Why not use a post-paid card instead? A post-paid calling card is something like a credit card for phone calls. You dial the access number, enter your pin, and make your call. There's no worry about running out of minutes mid-call. The charges are put on your credit card. Post-paid cards may charge you a billing fee of a dollar or so in months when you make calls. Otherwise there are no charges if there are no calls and no costly maintenance fees. Rates to U.S. and international destinations are very good and highly competitive with the real cost of using prepaid calling cards. Have a look at the AccuGlobe for international and domestic calling.

Another approach is to avoid calling cards completely in favor of a prepaid long distance and international calling service you can use from any phone, including your cell phone. What distinguishes Tel3Advantage is really low rates starting at 2 or 3 cents a minute to overseas destinations along with a Web-based control panel and special software for your cell phone. These features let you assign desired phone numbers to your account so that you don't have to remember access codes and pin numbers. This service is as easy to use as simply picking up your phone and dialing a long distance number. The difference is the big cost savings.

DS3 Speed Challenged By EoC

Once a company has outgrown its T1 lines, the standard upgrade has been to move to DS3 for more bandwidth. But DS3 is typically delivered over fiber optic SONET connections. That can mean significant construction costs unless your building is already lit for fiber optic services. But now a new service offers DS3 speeds over standard copper telco wiring. Can this be a money saver? You bet it can.

The new service is called EoC or Ethernet over Copper. What it gives you is higher bandwidth services, even up to the DS3 level of 45 Mbps, without fiber optic cabling. But if DS3 requires fiber optics, why doesn't EoC?

The explanation is in the technology. DS3 is a signal level definition developed for the original T-Carrier digital telephone standard. It was originally deployed over coaxial copper cable called T3 lines. But coaxial copper has given way to fiber optic cable with its much higher bandwidth capability. Nowadays DS3 is most often deployed over SONET fiber optic services. The usual SONET service starts at OC3 or 155 Mbps. But the way the T-Carrier and SONET signal levels were defined, DS3 and even DS1 (the signal level for T1) are easily multiplexed and demultiplexed onto SONET carriers.

Ethernet over Copper, EoC, is something else entirely. It's not based on any of the earlier telco standards. But it uses telco wiring. The way that works is that the Ethernet provider leases the wires running to your building from the local phone company. Only the wires are leased. There's no dial tone or other services provided by the telco. Bare lines like this are called "dry pairs." The Ethernet provider hooks specialized termination equipment at each end of the dry pairs to transport the Ethernet signals. Usually a number of pairs are connected or "bonded" so that the system has enough capacity to deliver significant bandwidth.

The mechanics of how this is done are technically interesting, but are not something that you as a user need to deal with. The service provider will install customer premises equipment at your location to provide the interface between the copper telco pairs and the RJ45 connector that provides the WAN network signal to your local area network.

Nearly all businesses are already wired with multipair telephone cables used for traditional office telephone service. Some of the wires in these cables will be pressed into service to deliver your Ethernet service. But you should know that EoC is a limited range service. In other words, you need to be located within a few miles of a carrier office or POP (Point of Presence) to take advantage of this service. The closer you are to the POP, the higher the bandwidth you can get. Bandwidths of 5, 10, 20 and up to 45 Mbps are available depending on location.

Speed is one of Carrier Ethernet's advantages. The other is cost. Ethernet services tend to not just rival DS3 pricing, but can be considerably less costly as well. You can attribute that to aggressive new competitive providers as well as the technology. You may well find yourself paying less for EoC service for point to point data connections or dedicated Internet service that you would going with traditional DS3 over SONET. That's especially true if you don't need the full 45 Mbps but require more than the 1.5 Mbps you get from T1 lines.

Will Ethernet over Copper work for your business? Find out now what Ethernet services are available for your location.

Can Hotels Afford to Upgrade Bandwidth?

Hotel and motel operators have a dilemma on their hands. Their guests have embraced Internet broadband and have become accustomed to fast Web surfing and the ability to watch streaming and downloaded videos. But hotel broadband tends to be at the lower end of the broadband spectrum, with speeds often under 1 Mbps. The logical move is to simply upgrade bandwidth to meet customer expectations. But is that even practical in this business environment? Especially when hotel guests expect broadband service to be free?

The problem is obviously cost, or at least perceived cost. If 500 Kbps average service costs a certain amount, then it is logical that 1, 2, 5 or 10 Mbps is going to cost proportionally more. All you have to do is determine by what factor you want to increase your bandwidth and then multiply your budget by that amount, right? It makes sense, but it isn't necessarily so. In fact, in at least a few cases you may well be able to get higher broadband speeds for less money. In the hotel business, that's just pure profit.

So how does one seemingly get more for less? The answer has more to do with where you are getting your broadband service and when you committed to it than the raw speed level itself.

In this fast moving world, we tend to forget that broadband Internet is a fairly recent development. Mass Internet use began with external dial-up modems. Remember when some guests would put the telephone handset on a box with rubber cups for the mouthpiece and earpiece? The next step was the dedicated port jack on the side of the phone so guests could plug-in their modem equipped laptops and dial a local access number. Then came wired broadband as a premium service and now everyone expects their room to be a free WiFi hotspot.

The point of this history review is that it hasn't been that many years since many hotels and motels signed contracts for wireless broadband installation and line service. Many of those contracts are now coming due or have just continued past the expiration date because nobody has challenged them. But broadband line services are a lot like telephone lines. You may have had only one choice when you began your service, but now there are a wealth of competitors all eager to vie for your business.

Hotel managers aren't expected to be telecom experts. Many hotels may not even have a technology expert on staff. Often, the job of installing and maintaining PBX telephone systems and WiFi access points is subcontracted to a VAR or Value Added Reseller. This VAR may also resell the line services or refer you to the local phone company. Either way, you are probably not paying the best rate possible for either your telephone or Internet services.

What's a better approach? Let an industry specialist, a telecom broker such as Telarus, Inc., assist you in finding the competing carriers that serve your location and provide you with a list of their best offers. It's a fast and easy process. Most of the heavy lifting in seeking out carriers and rates has been automated through specialized tools, such as the GeoQuote (tm) telecom services search engine. You can use this yourself online or call a toll free number for complementary assistance.

Another thing to keep in mind is that technology has advanced since broadband has made its debut. In addition to DSL, Satellite and T1 line solutions, Carrier Ethernet has become available with availability in metro areas and very attractive pricing. T1 lines can be bonded for higher bandwidths. Their prices have also come down dramatically in the last few years. The combination of more competition in the field and better search tools means you could easily be paying less for broadband service than you are now.

A Time for Entrepreneurs

Job security has become something of an oxymoron lately. Guaranteed employment situations are very rare. Even the usual assurances that if you do a good job there will be a place for you are rarer than they have been in years. This isn't the first recession that we've experienced. But this one is so remarkable it may get a name. I've been hearing the title "The Great Recession" being bandied about.

Like the similarly named depression of our parent's and grandparent's generation, there's nothing great about going through a severe business downturn. Losing a job without the prospect of replacing it is a reality for a growing number of people. You see the stories in the papers and on TV. Companies are laying off workers. It's a few thousand here and twenty or thirty thousand there. But it's every day. How soon before the grim reaper comes to visit your desk?

Unemployment is a disaster for 1 of 10 working Americans in some areas. But fear of unemployment, so wrenching and persistent that you can hardly focus on the work at hand, is an everyday reality for millions more. I've been through slowdowns, downsizings, and corporate mergers for decades and seen first hand the morale destruction that happens even to the top tier of employees. When no one can be told definitely when the next round of layoffs will come, what areas will be affected, or how deep the cuts will go, it's just human nature to fear the worst.

Probably the worst source of anxiety is the feeling of helplessness, the loss of control of your own destiny. That, I'm afraid, is the working bargain for so many people today. In exchange for providing you with a place to work, a defined hourly wage or salary, the structure of a job so you know what is expected, and a benefit package with vacation pay and at least some health care benefits, you give up autonomy and expectation that you have any equity in your position. You can go home at night and not have to worry about what "they" have to do to run the business. But your job may or may not be there in a couple of weeks.

Contrast that with the life of the independent business person. These people do have to worry about what it takes to run the business including where the money is coming from, whether or not a profit is being generated, how the bills are getting paid, and what needs to be done to keep the business viable. The entrepreneur has no more guarantee of success than an employee has a guarantee of employment. Much less in fact. But the entrepreneur does have one thing an employee doesn't. That's at least some influence over one's destiny.

The entrepreneur decides what avenues to pursue, what things to drop or do less of, what expenses to take on or avoid, whether or not to hire or let go of employees and how much effort to expend. In good times, employees heading home after 8 hours may shake their heads in disbelief at entrepreneurs who burn the midnight oil and never take a holiday. But when employees are told to go home early because there is less work to do and less pay to do it, those crazy hours of the entrepreneur start to look a bit more attractive.

Neither the situation of the employee nor the entrepreneur is the proverbial bed of roses in this environment. Both have their anxieties and their rewards. But during periods when traditional jobs are harder to find and less secure, there are an increasing number of people who start thinking about going into business for themselves. For many would-be entrepreneurs, the best way to see how the "other half lives" is to give it a try on a part-time or moonlighting basis while they still have a job. That way if you find that the demands of having to define your own work and make yourself do it is way more stressful than having a boss lay everything out for you, you'll know that you should spend your time looking for jobs rather than looking to start a business.

For those who have an independent streak or want a different life/work situation than the traditional employment model offers, I can recommend the Commission River Affiliate Program as a way to get started. It's a technology sales opportunity that works well for both part-time and full-time ambitions. The beauty of this program is that there are no out of pocket expenses required to launch your own business. Shelling out big bucks to start a business before you know it suits you is a much riskier proposition. Commission River also offers a wide range of consumer and business telecom services, plus training resources to help you get up to speed.

Basically, if you can approach business people with the idea that you can save them money on their voice and data services, or promote things like VoIP telephone, cell phones, satellite TV and broadband Internet to residential users, you are a good candidate to start generating commission checks. Of course, the more you enjoy this type of work and the harder you work at it, the more successful you are likely to be. Creative business and technical writers and developers of successful web sites are also good candidates for success in this field. So are people who already have sales or consulting experience.

Manage Your Cables Before They Manage You

Cables interconnecting technology equipment are like weeds in a vacant lot. Turn your back for very long and they've completely taken over. We all have our horror stories of rat's nest wiring that's indecipherable. You don't dare make any changes because you're not too sure exactly how things are hooked up. You just know it's working for now. But it's just a matter of time before that spaghetti bowl becomes a non-culinary disaster. Is there anything that might save the day?

Indeed there is. It's called organization. It's not necessarily the most fun job and certainly one to be resented if you've inherited someone else's tangled undocumented mess. But it needs to be done and the sooner the better. In fact, being organized from the get-go is the best plan of all.

Now, just what do you need to bring order to chaos? Fortunately there are a plethora of cable management and wire organizer products available to help you. In fact, you'll find a huge selection right now at CableOrganizer.com. Let's take a look at some of what is available and how you might press these products into service.

Nobody like an unsightly bundle of cables hanging around. Bundle is sometimes generous term. Octopus tentacles stretching here and there might be more like it. That's where raceways, conduits and cable ducts turn a messy situation into a vision of neatness. Think that because all those wires are up there above the drop ceiling that they are out of mind as well as out of sight? That only lasts until somebody has to stick a ladder up there and add a new cable run or trace a faulty connection. Don't you hate it when you push open a ceiling tile and a festooning collection of wires comes slinking down? Especially when they slink down on top of you? Don't be a victim of that! Get the cable bundling products you need to wrangle that infrastructure wiring.

What happens when you need to bring power and telecom services to a new desk. Do you just punch a hole in the ceiling and drop some wires down? Doesn't THAT make a great impression on visitors and reinforce the values of professionalism among the staff? A power and telecom distribution pole makes an affordable and fine looking solution when you need to get your services from above rather that through floor connections.

Cable identification should be a top priority if it isn't already. Don't use file folder labels or pieces of duct tape. Too tacky looking. Instead, invest in wire markers, ID cable ties, heat shrink labels, and one of those handheld label printers. Don't forget to make a log of sources and destinations for each wire, even if it's just something handwritten. Memory is too fickle and assumes that you are the only one who will ever need the information. And what are the chances of that?

Well, you've got the idea. Are you motivated to get started? Great! Take a quick visit now to CableOrganizer.com and peruse the huge selection of cable wiring, labeling, termination and bundling solutions. They've also got racks, patch cords, tools, fire protection products and test equipment, among other offerings. Organizing your cables? Hey, it's not too late for a New Year's resolution!

Fiber Is The New Infrastructure

Infrastructure rebuilding dominates the news these days, as roads, bridges, water and power systems creak and fail with age. Major investments by both the private and public sector will be required for decades to modernize the national infrastructure. But along with simply refurbishing the facilities already in place and adding new capital, such as green energy, there is another infrastructure component that needs to be put in place. That's fiber optic broadband.

Fiber optic transport for voice, data and video is no longer an elite service for carrier backbones and specialized applications. It should be treated as a basic necessity for the business of the twenty first century. Wireline was adequate for the last century. This century needs telecommunication pipes that are transparent for the high bandwidth applications that will be in demand by both businesses and consumers. A few Mbps won't do it. What is considered fast today is going to seem as archaic as dial-up Internet access in a decade or two. There's really only one technology that has the potential to meet any need we can throw at it. That's fiber optic.

But infrastructure? How can you justify something like high speed Internet service as infrastructure? Easy. Business is more and more electronic in nature. It's also more and more interconnected than ever before. Do you still send contracts and drawings through the mail? How about purchase orders? Do customers still write letters to your customer service department starting with "Dear Sir or Madam"? I didn't think so.

It's happened gradually over the last 20 years or so. First came email, then Websites, then online shopping, electronic data interchange, CAD/CAM, and WAN networks as extensions of internal LAN computer networks. Now there's increasing pressure to implement electronic medical records and electronic every other record. That doesn't mean scanning-in paper records, storing them on disk and then printing them off when you need to review or mail a copy. It means electronic from inception through the entire life cycle of use and storage. With the right tools we may soon see the long heralded arrival of the paperless office as well as the paperless hospital, factory, warehouse, school and government agency.

There is tremendous productivity to be gained by making our business systems more electronic and more interactive. But you can't do that with a creaky old wireline telecom infrastructure. No more than a modern factory can run on line shafts powered by water wheels or steam engines. Electricity made the Twentieth Century. Fiber will make the Twenty First.

There is a lot of room for government support in building out a truly universal fiber optic communications infrastructure that will reach out into rural areas and permeate every building the way twisted pair copper wiring has become ubiquitous over the last hundred years. But private industry can make a certain amount of this happen on its own. The opportunity is obvious for greenfield projects such as new industrial parks or office buildings. In fact, it is almost irresponsible not to wire these projects with fiber optic cabling throughout, along with high bandwidth connections to the Internet and competitive telephone service carriers.

Savvy developers know this now and recognize the competitive advantage of offering their clients fiber optic broadband services as well as power, light, water, gas, sewer and roads. Fiber broadband can even be a profit center if the facilities manager contracts for the service and then resells it by the Mbps or Gbps. The higher the bandwidth, the lower the price per Mbps. Buying in bulk and then reselling at competitive rates can easily net a handsome profit on monthly lease rates. To explore this possibility, all you need to do is ask a friendly telecom consultant. You'll find a toll free number and online pricing engine available at GigaPackets.com.

Reducing Call Center Costs

Call center owners and managers would love to find some way to reduce costs without reducing quality of service. This is especially important as on-shore call centers become popular for premium value customer service. Labor costs may increase with domestic personnel, but is there any way to offset these? You bet there is.

Facilities and personnel are only part of the expense in running a call center, regardless of where it is sited. A big recurring cost is telecommunications services. The larger the center, the bigger the lines coming into and leaving the facility. Pennies per minute on the phone soon become thousands of dollars and tens of thousands of dollars per month. Add to this the cost of data lines and you've got a major line item expense.

The fastest and easiest way to reduce call center costs is simply to pay less for the same quality of service. Is that even possible? It is when you optimize the value of your voice and data telecom line services. You may be lulled into thinking that you are already getting the best rates possible based on your usage volume. But are you?

Unless you've recently gone out for quotes from half a dozen to a dozen competitive service providers you may well be paying more than you have to. I'm not talking about trading down to a lower quality of service. I'm suggesting that there are high quality competitive carriers out there who are hungry for your business, especially in this economic environment. But you have to have a way to find out about them and work out the contract details.

Suffice it to say that simply signing with the incumbent local telephone company does not guarantee you the best competitive rate. If anything, they may treat your business as a captive market and offer limited if any discounts. You may well get incrementally lower rates on voice minutes as your call volume increases. But when was the last time they sat a contract on your desk that was half the cost of the last one? Ha!

So where do you find these alternate carriers and how much time and effort is that going to take? It could be a major project, or it might be a trivial effort. It all depends on how you go about it. The easy path is to work through a telecom services broker who has the tools, personnel and expertise in place to efficiently run a search specifically for your needs and location. Location is important as most carriers have limited service footprints and line prices are calculated from carrier offices to specific business locations.

The task of doing this is made easier by automated tools, such as GeoQuote (tm) from Telarus, Inc. This patented software system has been optimized to interface directly with carrier databases and develop optimum pricing, often in real time. You can give it a try yourself by simply entering some basic telephone and business address information into the GeoQuote online search form. You'll be well advised to also speak with a Telarus consultant, as they have access to special limited time offers not accessible by the search engine. You can request this through the form or call the toll free number and discuss options with a consultant at any time.

International Cell Phone Calls for Pennies

How would you like to be able to call the world from your cell phone for rates as low as 2 cents per minute?

What? Impossible! No, it USED to be impossible. Now there's a new add-on service for cell phone users that enable you to make calls from the USA and Canada to overseas locations and pay international rates as low as 2 cents a minute.

Here are some actual per minute rates for calls placed right now. Calls to China are 2.36 cents per minute. That's right, China. Remember when you shelled out a buck a minute or more for those calls. Oh, you still do? Well, then get the TEL3AdvantageMobile Plan right now before you make another call. Are you paying more than 10.49 cents a minute to call India? 2.64 cents a minute to call Mexico City? 2.4 cents a minute to call Paris? How about 6 cents a minute to call Tokyo? If so, don't you dare spend another penny on phone calls until you sign up for the TEL3AdvantageMobile Plan.

But what about your current wireless service plan? For local and domestic long distance calls just keep using it the way you have been. It's those international rates from the cellular carriers that will kill your budget. This service doesn't interfere with your wireless services. It adds to them. You only use TEL3AdvantageMobile when you want to make international phone calls and save up to 80% of the cost. Now, isn't that EVERY time you make an international call?

But can't you just get one of those cheapo pre-paid calling cards and do the same thing? Cheapo? That's what they want you to think. There's nothing cheap about their rates once you've factored in all the usage and inactivity fees they hit you with. You might see some cheap rate printed on the front of the card to entice you buy it. But then you find you don't get nearly the advertised number of minutes that you think you are paying for. There's all sorts of hidden gotchas in print so small you need a magnifying glass to read.

The TEL3AdvantageMobile plan is genuinely low cost. Plus it's a lot more convenient than using a calling card. This advanced service offers a free software download for your cell phone. With it, you can quickly make calls without having to search for access numbers or enter those incredibly long access codes. What a pain! TEL3AdvantageMobile automates all that so all you have to do is make your calls and save a bundle in the process.

If this sounds like the kind of rates you get with a VoIP service but on your mobile phone, you're partially right. But TEL3AdvantageMobile doesn't suffer from the voice quality problems that plague many VoIP services, especially when your broadband service bogs down. Call quality is excellent and there's no cord or broadband connection needed with TEL3AdvantageMobile.

Did I happen to mention the bonus minutes for signing up? Yes, you can get up to $10 in free minutes added to your account when you sign up for a TEL3AdvantageMobile account. This special offer may not last forever, so take advantage of the free minutes special to learn more and sign up for TEL3AdvantageMobile now.

GoToMeeting Really is Like Being There

GoToMeeting is touted as a business solution that can replace in-person business presentations. The concept is compelling. Add up the cost of travel plus the value of the time lost getting to and from the designated meeting spot times the number of participants and the cost of even a small get-together can be staggering. Once you discover the true cost, you really can't justify calling business meetings anymore unless they are absolutely essential. Certainly not if there is an electronic solution that can strip away all the inefficiency and leave you only with the incremental cost of the meeting itself. But is there really?

I had a chance to experience GoToMeeting for myself a few days ago. The subject was a presentation from a telecommunications vendor to a group of marketing agents. The presentation itself had the mission of introducing the company's product line, providing enough information so that agents were equipped to sell the products, and generating enough interest that sales efforts would begin almost immediately. A combination audio conference call with GoToMeeting visuals was selected as the best way to simultaneously reach this geographically diverse group of agents.

Participation was simplicity in itself. An email message invited each of us to participate by dialing a phone number and entering a conference code to connect to the audio portion of the program. I did that on my trusty Uniden speakerphone that sits on my computer table. Also in the invite was a link to click to join the visual portion of the program. Clicking that link took me to the GoToMeeting site where the system downloaded a small piece of client software to my computer. It was all automatic and took less than a couple of minutes. There were instructions to follow if something got stuck in a firewall or didn't load properly. No need. GoToMeeting fired up without a hitch.

What I saw on my 19 inch monitor was two windows. One was a blank presentation screen. The other was a control panel. GoToMeeting had asked me to enter my name and email to participate in this meeting. When the control panel appeared, there was my name in the list along with names of the presenter and other participants. A lower window in the control panel offered real-time chat messaging. In this case the message was from one of the meeting organizers who listed the phone number and access code for anyone who hadn't dialed-in yet. Other messages appeared as the presentation went on. I could have entered something to say to the group if I had wanted to.

Once the presentation got underway, the blank screen became a display of the presentation slides. With a click, I expanded this window to full screen and collapsed the control panel. Every once in a while a thought bubble message appeared on the panel announcing that a new participant had joined the meeting.

With the big screen display of the meeting slides a foot from my nose and the presenter's voice on the speakerphone, I was quickly having flashbacks to the last few times I sat in a darkened conference room listening to a similar presentation with no better view of the slide screen or ability to hear the presenter. This was better and more comfortable, as I relaxed in attire too informal for even casual Fridays in corporate America. Plus, this call was in the evening. Sure glad I didn't have to go out in the freezing air and drive ten miles just to sit in somebody else's paneled room. They probably would have provided a plate of coffee and donuts as a favor. But I was glad to sit in my warm office and munch my own cookies.

In my case, I got the full value of an hour's meeting while avoiding an extra hour's round trip through town just for transportation. That's assuming an in-house presentation. If the meeting was at a remote office or plant site, there would be a bus ride, plane trip, rental car and perhaps an overnight in a hotel just to get the same information from the same source with the same fellow participants. Now, I ask you. In this economic environment which makes more sense: Going to a meeting or GoToMeeting?

Will Cell Phones Replace Laptop Computers?

The laptop computer has grown to replace the yellow legal pad as the key mobile business tool. But laptop computers may be on the way out too. They are big, heavy and power hungry. By comparison, a 7 oz. legal pad that tucks under your arm and never needs charging starts to look pretty attractive again. The move is on to find mobile processing that has the right speed and connectivity without all the heft. Could the end result actually wind up being a cell phone?

The idea of the cell phone that does everything is compelling. Most everyone is carrying a cell phone these days. That gives you voice communications for sure. But data communications has been infiltrating the cellular world for years. It started simply enough as SMS text messaging. Then came built-in email and, finally, full HTML Web browsers.

The BlackBerry device is a perfect example of a cellular phone fine-tuned for business applications. It typically sports a good size display screen and a full QWERTY keyboard located just below the screen in a chunky candybar package. The key development that made BlackBerry the darling of corporate America is the secure "push" email service offered by RIM. Most BlackBerry devices also have the ability to read Microsoft Office documents and PDF attachments to email messages.

The BlackBerry Storm advances the technology by going with a touch screen and virtual keyboard that includes tactile feedback. The idea behind the virtual keyboard is to save real estate on the phone so that it can be redeployed as a larger screen size. A bigger screen makes Web browsing and document reading easier. In fact, at screen sizes of 3 inches diagonal or so, the phone display becomes something akin to a very small computer display.

The touch screen smartphone may well be the next generation of integrated telephone-computer mobile technology. Samsung is pressing this direction with models such as the Instinct, Delve, Behold, and Glyde. LG is competing with its Vu, Shine, and Voyager models.

What has really kick-started the smartphone revolution is the ready availability of cellular broadband service. The large carriers AT&T and Verizon have been in a frenzy to upgrade their tower sites to enable broadband data speeds of typically 700 Kbps download with bursts to twice that and, in some cases, several Mbps bandwidth. That's fast enough to easily access today's business websites and use Internet-based applications. Video downloads also become practical at broadband speeds.

But some users are frustrated by having to choose between a 7 lb laptop and a 3 oz cell phone. They would really like something in-between. That's the void being filled by notebook and netbook computers. Both are much smaller than the traditional 12 to 15 inch laptop screen size - perhaps half that. They also chuck such size and weight boosting accessories as floppy drives or even CD / DVD drives. Do you really need these while out on business calls?

Some netbooks are now coming with cellular broadband connectivity built-in rather than needing a separate aircard. You buy a data only plan from the appropriate carrier and you have connectivity in your car or at a client's office. No need to search out WiFi hotspots in restaurants or hotels, the mainstay of laptop Internet service. The other coming netbook development is the touchscreen tablet form factor. These will essentially look like large smartphones. They may even have voice capability via VoIP, but you'll wind up using a headset as you'll look a bit silly holding a netbook up to your ear.

This year is likely to see a technology battle between traditional portable computers and smartphones for mobile supremacy. Right now it looks like smartphones are going to proliferate but netbook computers may as well. After all, each has its usability advantages.

Prepaid Business Calling Controls Phone Expense

Your telephone expenses are out of control and getting worse. In boom times you can pretty much let employees make whatever calls they want, wherever they want, and talk as long as they feel like. But not now. This year you have to get a grip on calling activities and get the best rates possible for domestic and international calls.

TEL3Business has just the tools you need to manage fixed and mobile business telephone calls. Their approach is a combination of technology and rates that give managers what they need to get more for their telephone dollars. Here are some surprising features that you may not have known were available to business users.

First, TEL3Business works with both landline phones, such as the standard desk set, and cell phones. This is significant as more and more telecommunication goes wireless. But you can't just implement a wireless solution or you leave out the significant amount of business activity transacted on office phones.

Second, this is prepaid phone service. Instead of getting a bill every month and the shock of finding out how far out of budget you are again, TEL3Business begins with a prepaid account that can be set up for manual or automatic recharging. Moreover, you can give every employee their own user account with a set limit. Then you know what your maximum charges can be.

Third, this solution is not a new phone system. It is a management system that works with your current suite of telephone equipment. VoIP telephony is often presented as a way to get new telephone features. But if you are happy with your phone system operation and quality now, there is no need to tear out everything and install an expensive new VoIP phone system. By implementing TEL3Business, you can get the management tools you need to maintain tight control of telephone expenses.

Fourth, you'll pay less for long distance calls and especially international long distance calls with the TEL3Business service.Your USA calls are 3 cents per minute from the contiguous states. Go ahead and call those numbers in Canada. The rate is 2.14 cents per minute. Doing business in the U.K. You'll pay just 2.7 cents per minute to call there. How about your operations in China? Relax. The calling rate is a mere 2.14 cents per minute.

These international rates are even better than you'll get with many prepaid calling cards. Plus, cards can be a pain. There are all sorts of hidden fees and you have to enter long access codes and pin numbers before you can even make a call. None of that is true with TEL3Business. You set up your accounts and phone numbers using a Web based management tool. There is a software application you download to mobile phones to enable them to use the system. After that, it gets really easy... and cheap.

There's no hardware or software to purchase. You don't even need to change your current phone carrier. Use this service for all your calls or just those expensive international conversations.

Does this sound like a valuable service for your business? If so, learn more and sign up for a TEL3 Business solution now.

Can Copper Really Replace Fiber?

Telecommunications technology advancement has been steadily upward toward higher and higher bandwidths. Twisted pair copper has been the mainstay of telecom services since the telephone was invented. Copper pair connections are still the standard for both analog telephone lines and T1 digital lines, including ISDN PRI trunks for PBX phone systems. Copper is so entrenched in telecommunications infrastructure that services over twisted pair wiring are available nearly everywhere. Unfortunately, higher bandwidths require fiber optic cabling and fiber optic infrastructure is not nearly as well deployed. It's a shame that copper is so bandwidth limited. Or is it?

Can copper pair wiring really substitute for fiber optic transport at bandwidths above 1.5 Mbps or telephone trunks of more than 24 lines? It can indeed and is available to do so right now. Even corporate LANs based on fiber optic wiring may find that copper WAN connections make perfect sense.

So how is it possible that twisted copper pair can equal fiber optic performance? It seems so counter intuitive. The answer is bonding techniques and new modulation technology. There are also a couple of caveats. At this point, copper bandwidths are most practical up to about 12 Mbps for bonded pairs and 45 Mbps for EoC or Ethernet over Copper. EoC also has distance limitations. But even so, a majority of business needs can be currently served by copper technology that is readily available.

T1 bonded pairs offer a way to multiple T1 line bandwidth from 1.5 Mbps to 3 Mbps, 4.5 Mbps, 6 Mbps and up to 12 Mbps. The bandwidth goes up in 1.5 Mbps increments. Line cost is also incremental steps of T1 line pricing. For ISDN PRI telephone trunking each T1 phone line is independent and supports 23 outside lines plus data and switching. You simply add another T1 line to get an additional 23 phone lines. For data transmission, T1 lines bandwidth is bonded together to create a single larger conduit. With pair bonding, the multiple T1 lines act as a single higher capacity line.

Pair bonding is also part of the technology used to implement Ethernet over Copper. In this case the modulation technique is different from that specified for T1 lines, but the results are similar. MIMO or Multiple Input Multiple Output interference canceling techniques improve performance for multiple pair in the same binder.

Ethernet over Copper provides Metro Ethernet transmission up to several miles from the carrier's POP or Point of Presence. The improved modulation technology supports bandwidths up to 45 Mbps, a level comparable to DS3 delivered on fiber optic cable. Many medium and larger businesses, plus smaller businesses focused on high bandwidth services such as video production, are migrating to DS3 levels to get the performance they need. EoC now makes that possible without the construction costs required for new fiber optic installation.

Can copper replace fiber? In the long run, probably not. Eventually fiber will be installed routinely in all new construction and increasing bandwidth demands will justify retrofits in buildings not currently served. But for the near term, multiple ISDN PRI, bonded T1 data lines, and Ethernet over Copper make copper pair transmission a very cost effective solution to higher bandwidth requirements.

Preserve Your IT Budget

It's a new year and a new budget cycle. You may be flush with capital and operating expense funding, but before you rush out and start placing orders think about how you can stretch that budget beyond what you've planned. With the economy still on the rocks, you may be asked to cut line items. There may even be a freeze on spending at some point during the year. If so, you'll be glad you were able to get more value while spending less.

So how can an IT manager preserve the budget while under pressure for upgrades, maintenance and new projects? One of the easiest ways is to simply get more for the same expenditure, or pay less for the service you've planned. During boom times, that might seem a bit fanciful. When resources are in short supply, you'll have to take your place in line and pay whatever is asked or do without. But we're in the opposite part of the economic cycle now. Most companies are anxious to make any sale they can. Your requests to get more for less will be taken seriously this year.

Good strong purchasing negotiation always makes sense. But instead of just going through the motions, you now have an excellent chance of working every contract to your advantage. In some cases, new players hungry to build a significant market presence will fall all over themselves to wrench your business away from staid and unresponsive incumbents.

A perfect example is voice and data bandwidth. Not so long ago you had one carrier to deal with and pricing was pretty much take it or leave it. Not any more. You may be shocked to find that there could be a dozen or more competitive carriers anxious to vie for your business. You can pick the one that offers the most capacity for the least amount of money or negotiate for extras such as a free router.

Telecom carriers are more numerous due to deregulation and the mere presence of aggressive competitors has been driving down service pricing. There has also been something of a glut of excess capacity from the boom times of the late 90's that has needed to be worked off. But perhaps the biggest advantage to businesses has been the recent development of new search tools that can quickly locate a plethora of services that meet your exact criteria. These tools are a family of online search engines under the name "GeoQuote (tm)."

GeoQuote is the patented software that connects to carrier databases and calculates near-exact line prices within seconds. If you need T1 lines, ISDN PRI telephone trunks, or DS3 bandwidth, GeoQuote can return results to you in a matter of seconds for an online query. The Ethernet GeoQuote will show you maps of where nearby "lit" facilities are for fiber optic bandwidth services such as 10 Mbps Ethernet, 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet. There are also versions of GeoQuote specifically for SIP Trunking for enterprise VoIP and MPLS networks for connecting multiple business locations.

Beyond your WAN connectivity needs, there are plenty of opportunities to get better deals on your hardware purchases and installation and maintenance services. For that, there is another online tool called the VAR Network search engine. This free service lets you specify exactly the equipment and services you want. That request will go out to qualified VARs or Value Added Resellers in your area that wish to bid on your business. You can then negotiate your best pricing and perhaps save a significant percentage over your budgeted amounts.

Can Wireless Broadband Displace DSL and Cable?

What's allowed broadband to displace dial-up Internet access has been wireline technologies. For consumers, they are DSL and Cable broadband. For businesses, add T1 lines. But now there's a new contender that might just do to wireline broadband what wireline broadband did to dial-up. That contender is wireless.

Sure, WISPs or Wireless Internet Service Providers have been around for years without mounting too much of a threat to either the telephone or cable companies. That's because they tend to be scattered few and far between, with very small service footprints. Business wireless Internet access is mostly centered in the dense downtown areas of major cities. Consumer wireless has mostly targeted rural subdivisions where housing is dense enough to offer serious revenue potential but beyond where DSL and cable service exists.

One wireless service that has been somewhat prolific has been two-way satellite Internet service. You find dishes atop many gas stations, restaurants, car dealerships, and chain stores. These are there to support Point of Sale operations and communications back to the head office. Consumers also use two-way satellite Internet, but have been slower to adopt it than satellite television.

The newer competition that actually may have the muscle to carve out a significant chunk of the broadband market is based on cellular technologies. All of the major cell phone carriers also offer data service. But it's only within the last year or two that broadband speeds have been available to a majority of the service area. Right now there are two competing systems. They are EDGE offered by AT&T and EV-DO offered by Verizon, Alltel and Sprint. Both offer similar speeds of approximately 700 Kbps. That's similar to many DSL services and not that much below the actual speed you get with Cable during periods of heavy usage.

Cellular broadband is popular for road warriors and business users who tend to be out of the office and around town with their laptop and notebook computers. It costs about double what the consumer broadband services do and runs on cellular frequencies which have limited ability to penetrate buildings. The advent of smartphones such as the Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Storm is making cellular broadband more of a must-have option. The other new trend is toward netbooks, much smaller and lighter notebook computers that may have cellular broadband connectivity built-in.

WiFi is the true wireless service for the masses. It is now built-into nearly every laptop and notebook PC and some cell phones and even gaming consoles. Free WiFi is available in most hotels and many restaurants. It's also the home networking solution of choice. But WiFi still needs a wireline service to feed it and has a service radius of only a few hundred feet.

WiFi on steroids is how WiMAX is sometimes described, although it is a completely different technology and requires its own aircard. WiMAX has a service radius measured in kilometers and speeds measured in Mbps. In the 700 MHz band, it can easily penetrate buildings and provide home or office broadband service without the need for an outside antenna.

The competitor to WiMAX will soon be LTE, a cellular broadband standard that also offers cable Internet speeds of a few Mbps or more. It is also expected to be built-out using the 700 MHz frequencies auctioned off from the shutdown of analog television.

WiMAX and LTE will likely displace EV-DO and EDGE somewhere down the road. Both are just starting deployment, with only a few cities expected to be up and running this year. But will they obsolete DSL and cable broadband? Not for a long time. These technologies are well entrenched with sunk costs and the ability to offer lower pricing and higher speeds as competition develops. Wireless will probably grow on its own for users who are increasingly mobile. The real threat to wireline services is coming from fiber optic service that can offer speeds an order of magnitude or two above wireline bandwidths. But, then again, isn't fiber just a glass version of traditional wireline?

Red, Red, LG Vu Wine

Who doesn't like a fine wine with dinner? How about with business? Or on the go? It's totally appropriate when that wine is the new touch screen phone for AT&T.

This red wine is more full-featured than full-bodied. In fact, it's body dimensions of 4.3 x 2.1 x 0.5 inches makes it perfect to carry in pocket or bag. You read that right. This device is only a half-inch thin. But within that half-inch of high density electronic packaging is the latest in communications technology.

It starts with the large high resolution color touchscreen. No stylus needed. You just touch the appropriate icon on the 3 inch display to launch the desired application. That might be the 2.0 Megapixel digital camera that also works as a camcorder. Or it might be the AT&T MediaFLO live TV service that lets you watch live television on the go, where available. Or perhaps you'll want to access the Internet with a full Web browser that works in portrait or landscape orientation, per your selection.

There's a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard for messaging without the bulk of a physical keyboard. There's 120 MB of built-in memory plus microSD slot to add more. There's a full-featured music player, instant messenger, email, and text and picture messaging capability.

Did we mention how sleek and attractive this phone is? It has Bluetooth headset capability, but you'll be so proud to show it off you may not want to use the headset unless you need to.

What are the hottest cell phone deals available right now, including free cell phones? Use the Cell Phone Plan Finder to check out the top phones and associated wireless service plans.