Ifbyphone is offering up to 1 million minutes in free phone time per month and a new Facebook phone application to demonstrate to developers the power of phone mashups to connect the Web to voice applications.

“Phone mashups” are Web applications that combine data from more than one source into a single integrated tool accessed from any phone.

Speaking at the eComm2008 Conference being held at the Computer History Museum here this week, Shapiro said: “Phone mashups unleash the power of all phones, from your mobile phone to your landline to your VOIP phone, even old-fashioned rotary-dial phones. That means owners of small- and medium-sized businesses with no knowledge of computers can have their phones ring from the Web. Ifbyphone launches conversation starters that lead to sales.”

PhoneFusion will attend Spring VON.x on March 18 and 19, 2008 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. At the event, PhoneFusion will debut an innovative voicemail application that brings the convenience of visual voicemail to smartphones. This free, downloadable application will be available to anyone -- whether or not they are an existing customer of PhoneFusion. Additionally, the company will showcase the popular PhoneFusion One Unified Communications solution which gives small business professionals access to the same features and benefits as some of the most advanced enterprise class UC systems.

Cedar Point and NetCologne announce an agreement that marks a major milestone for Cedar Point in Europe.

NetCologne is utilizing Cedar Point's SAFARI C Multimedia Switching System for the delivery of VoIP throughout the Cologne region, where NetCologne serves more than 500,000 customers today. The deployment represents a significant expansion of Cedar Point's footprint in the German and European markets, and follows the successful trial and simplified integration of SAFARI C into the NetCologne network.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of "USA - VoIP Market - Analysis, Statistics & Forecasts” to their offering.

Until 2004 Vonage was the main provider of residential VoIP. In 2005 the lead was secured by the powerful cable TV companies and thus VoIP entered the mainstream telephony market. In 2006 the world’s largest VoIP provider, Skype, with over 100 million subscribers, was acquired by eBay and began to make stronger inroads into the US VoIP market. The 12 months to June 2006 also witnessed the entry of Microsoft and Apple and internet giants Google, Yahoo and AOL into the VoIP market. Thus VoIP is quickly becoming one of the most competitive sectors in the telcos market. Threatened with major revenue and customer losses, the wireline telcos are picking up the pace of their fibre network investments. Moreover, mega-mergers amongst the telcos, such as between AT&T and SBC in 2005, followed in March 2006 by AT&T’s proposed acquisition of BellSouth, threatens the long-term future of VoIP competition, bringing issues such as net neutrality and the need for open networks into sharper focus. In the long term, niche VoIP players such as Vonage may not survive unless they diversify into new services in the developing internet economy.

Digium plans for the second Digium|Asterisk World, a conference targeted at business executives responsible for voice and VoIP within their companies. The event, scheduled from March 18-19 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif., builds off the successful launch of Digium|Asterisk World last fall.

Digium|Asterisk World is the first Asterisk event focused purely on Asterisk for business. It will be co-located with Spring VON, the longest running and best respected IP communications event in the industry. Attendees will have access to both shows and be able to see demonstrations of the latest open source IP communications technology. The show will feature new announcements from Digium and Digium’s innovative Switchvox telephony system will be demonstrated on both days.

TalkShoe revealed a new Facebook application that offers instant community calling capabilities within anyone's Facebook profile. The TalkShoe Facebook application brings voice into Facebook, providing users with an easy way to talk to their social network.

Visit http://apps.facebook.com/talkshoeapp/content/main.faces to download the application now.

There is no need to sign-up with TalkShoe; Facebook users simply download the application to integrate it into their profile and can immediately start inviting friends, inside and outside Facebook, to join them on a Community Call.

For TalkShoe hosts, integrating the application with their Facebook profiles provides a new place to host their planned community call episodes and provide updates on future episodes, while reaching a broader audience.

Speakeasy announced the company will now allow customers to choose their broadband provider with any of Speakeasy's voice services. Speakeasy has historically required voice customers to use Speakeasy broadband service for best quality of service. This new broadband service offering was created to give small businesses more flexibility to fit their specific needs. Speakeasy's policy is different from other companies in the industry, who either require customers to use their broadband service, or only offer off-net voice services.

Speakeasy is continually looking to provide more viable communications options that meet the needs of small businesses. In 2005, Speakeasy launched its hosted VoIP service and recently announced Integrated Voice to accommodate customers who want keep their existing phone system.

Tokiva launched its open mobile communications platform. Tokiva IM-To-Call service is available immediately on leading instant messaging systems, including MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Messenger, and GTalk. Since beta launching the IM-To-Call service in January 2008, Tokiva is becoming the most popular IM buddy in the world, with tens of thousands users taking advantage of IM Tokiva on a daily basis.

Without downloading any software, registered users receive an invitation to add Tokiva to their IM buddy lists, and simply IM Tokiva to call. Tokiva calls back to the user's land line or mobile phone, and immediately connects the user to the desired number. Using Tokiva can save up to 90% of normal call costs, because the calls are carried by Tokiva's global VoIP network that has a footprint in over 185 countries.

VoiceCon previews big product and market announcements that will be made at the upcoming VoiceCon Orlando 2008. The conference content and exhibitor announcements reflect a significant market transition, as enterprise communications expands beyond voice/telephony to Unified Communications and Software-based architectures. VoiceCon Orlando 2008 will be held March 17-20 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL. Registration for the event is now open at http://www.voicecon.com/orlando.

The VoiceCon Orlando 2008 exhibitors who will be making announcements or demonstrating their new products for the first time will be growing as the event nears. The list currently includes:

Pingo reduces the cost to call Pakistan by more than 30 percent. The lower Pakistan prepaid calling card rate is enabled by RateWatcher, a Pingo feature that actively searches for opportunities to reduce costs for customers. Pingo has also announced that new subscribers can receive one hundred free minutes of calling to Pakistan by registering through the www.pingopakistan.com page, which also contains additional information on the offering.

Traditional medical alert units, often worn by seniors around their neck or wrist to call for help in case of a fall or other adverse event, were designed to communicate by way of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). After placing a telephone call, the emergency unit sends information from the home to the monitoring center to determine which emergency unit is calling and what type of help is needed. When consumers switch to digital phone service, the data can be distorted or omitted as the bandwidth of the internet service provider fluctuates, resulting in missed or inaccurate emergency reporting at the monitoring center.

Woize is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Heads of Agreement with Smart Devices limited to acquire the company. The transaction is approved by the board of directors of both Companies and is subject to satisfactory completion of all due diligence, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. Both parties have agreed to use their best endeavors to complete the acquisition on or before April 11, 2008.

Smart is a privately held UK based company engaged in the worldwide distribution of ruggedised, portable computer and telecommunications devices to end users through its web site which has an estimated 25,000 users, and through its contacts with major corporate clients in the I.T, Transport, Communications, Public Utilities and Retail sectors.

8x8's Packet8 videophone and mobile VoIP communication services has been granted U.S. Patent No. 7,339,604 entitled "Videoconferencing Arrangement Having Multi-Purpose Digital Still Camera." The patent issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 4, 2008.

The patent relates to a videoconferencing system with a modular terminal that includes a conventional digital still camera coupled to an input port of the system.

Since its establishment in 1987, 8x8 has been awarded seventy-two (72) United States patents covering a variety of voice and video communications and storage technologies.

Digital Voice launches its new Hosted VoIP platform for outdoor events. Digital Voice has entered into a strategic partnership with Red Tech of Glasgow to provide a Hosted Telecommunications platform for any outdoor event requiring Internet and Telecoms services.

Called Events Voice, and based on their successful Digital Voice VoIP Business platform, this new service represents the latest innovation in VoIP Technology and offers their customers a level of efficiency, support and reliability in deploying a function rich business phone system to any green field outdoor event.

i2Telecom has created a community for cellular phone users deploying Internet telephony, "Mobile VoIP" on www.TMCnet.com. TMCnet's web site is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. Ranked in the top 3,600 sites in the world by alexa.com, TMCnet serves more than three million unique visitors each month.

i2Telecom's Mobile VoIP community is a communications resource center for consumers and industry leaders alike which highlights fast breaking news and technology in the Mobile VoIP space. The i2Telecom page is a chance to be a part of the daily information flow including news, featured articles, videos and expert analysis.

Read more after the jump, also check out blogs from Tom Keating and Rich Tehrani of TMCnet for some good reads.