ADT Working With IP-based Phone Providers

ADT Security Services has announced that it is joining forces with cable and telecommunications providers to help ensure its security systems will continue to be able to communicate with its monitoring centers if a customer switches to an IP-based telephone service. ADT outlined a set of characteristics that this next generation of phone services providers must meet in order to be a primary method of transmitting alarm signals to ADT's 24-hour a day monitoring centers.

IP-based telephone providers Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Charter, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks have confirmed that their networks meet the characteristics required by ADT to be a primary method of alarm transmission. Cable IP-based phone services provider's calls travel over privately managed networks, rather than the public Internet used by many other IP-based phone services.

"ADT recognizes the customer benefits associated with alternative phone services including VoIP, digital phone and other IP-based phone services," said ADT's Chief Operating Officer John Koch. "We also recognize that not all of these services are created equal. The safety and security of our nearly six million monitored customers across the United States and Canada continues to be our chief focus as we review these new communication technologies and the potential differences in their ability to transmit alarm signals reliably to our customer monitoring center network."

Koch said over the past several months, ADT has brought together numerous parties from both the cable and telecommunications industries to better understand the differences among IP-based phone providers in how they set up and maintain their networks. The result is a set of phone network characteristics that ADT has taken into consideration in determining how to best serve the interests of its customers. Traditional telephone services already have acceptable characteristics in place and therefore are not affected by this change.

The characteristics outlined by ADT include whether the provider has a managed and maintained physical facilities network with major and minor disaster recovery plans in place that include specific network power restoration procedures, whether the provider makes available professional installation of its IP-based phone service that preserves primary line seizure for alarm signal transmission, and whether the provider's physical facilities network provides real-time transmission of voice signals, carrying alarm formats unchanged. If an IP-based phone services provider has not informed ADT that it meets these characteristics, ADT will continue to require its customers using such phone services to either keep their traditional phone line or to install a cellular transmission system.

Regardless of the type of phone service used, ADT always recommends that customers use an additional back-up method of communication to connect their alarm system to ADT's monitoring centers, Koch said.

"One of the key findings is that technology has moved extremely quickly regarding these phone services and how they operate with alarm systems," Koch said. "As the industry leader, we took the initiative to outline these phone network characteristics so that we can continue to provide our customers with high quality alarm monitoring services regardless of their phone service type."

BellSouth Teams with Resident Interactive for Web Portal Service in Planned Communities

BellSouth recently announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive agreement with Resident Interactive, Inc. to jointly market a community Web portal service in planned communities in BellSouth's service area.

Under this sales teaming agreement, BellSouth, together with Resident Interactive, will offer a community Web portal service, known as Digital Village Service, as part of BellSouth's comprehensive communications portfolio for planned communities that includes voice, video, high-speed data, security and Wi-Fi hotspot solutions.

Resident Interactive's Digital Village Service allows homeowners associations and property managers in single family home, apartment and condominium developments to create a more connected community. The Web portal service is a virtual representation of a neighborhood where residents can meet, form groups, make plans and link with local businesses.

"Developers are increasingly identifying community web portals as a differentiating amenity for their residents," said Phil Jacobs, president - Community Technologies, BellSouth. "The Digital Village Service is a logical complement to BellSouth's comprehensive technology portfolio and provides additional solutions to communities through a trusted source."

BellSouth and Resident Interactive will jointly market the Digital Village Service and coordinate deployment of services with community managers. Resident Interactive will provide ongoing customer service and technical user support.

"Our mission is to establish outstanding, long-term relationships with our customers and strategic partners, while delivering software with unmatched reliability and customer service that exceeds expectations in every respect," said Dennis Papalois, president and CEO of Resident Interactive, Inc. "The teaming agreement with BellSouth will greatly expand our capabilities to meet this objective in more communities across the Southeast. It is truly a winning proposition for developers and residents."

For more information, check out the press release BellSouth and Resident Interactive, Inc. Sign Teaming Agreement to Deploy Web Portal Service in Planned Communities.

Comcast Launches Horror Network and Web Site

This Halloween, Comcast, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Lionsgate, will unveil its new horror-movie network FearNet. The new offering will allow fans to watch movies through Comcast's video-on-demand service and on the Web at FearNet.com. Other elements include full-length trailers, a search engine/horror movie encyclopedia, news, a community site and a trivia game.

First announced at Comcast's video-on-demand upfront in April, FearNet's on-demand platform will serve 200 horror titles a year, with about 70 hours of programming a month, including a number of Japanese- and Spanish-language productions and blood and guts in high-definition. Titles like "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre" will be offered free to Comcast's 11 million digital cable subscribers.

Web surfers will be able to watch nine movies for free each month—for a total of 50 titles a year—as well as 100 shorts, which include original programming from directors such as Wes Craven.

According to Reuters, the FearNet launch plan was purposely designed to cater to the adults 18-34 demographic, who increasingly are watching and consuming media on demand while multitasking like never before. "This generation wants content when they want it, how they want it and where they want it," said Diane Robina, president of emerging networks for Comcast Programming Group. "To me, besides usage and revenue numbers, these channels in general will be successful if fans embrace them and like what we've created for them."

For more information, check out the Reuters UK article Comcast Corp. scares up horror broadband site or the official FearNet site.

AT&T; Named as One of the 2006 Top Companies for Minorities

AT&T has been named as one of America's "Top Companies for Minorities" by The Diversity Network, a diversity recruitment and consulting service that recognizes best-in-class companies committed to a culturally and ethnically diverse workforce. The Diversity Network will recognize AT&T among other "Stewards of Diversity" in the Oct. 30 issue of Fortune magazine.

AT&T was selected for this honor based on its achievements in three areas: diversity within its employee base; long-term commitment to supporting diversity and inclusion across business functions and management structure; and diversity initiatives benefiting customers, business partners and the community.

This honor comes on the heels of several other recent diversity achievements, including a Corporate Citizenship Award presented by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) and recognition by LATINA Style as one of the 50 Best Companies for Latinas to Work For.

"There is a good reason why AT&T is consistently recognized as a top company for diversity and inclusion," said Karen Jennings, AT&T's senior executive vice president of human resources and communications. "AT&T has a long history and a deep commitment to creating a positive work environment filled with professional growth opportunities and tailored for people who come from a wide range of backgrounds. This commitment to diversity and inclusion is at the very core of our identity."

AT&T's 50-state workforce is 45 percent female and 35 percent people of color. Women make up 44 percent of the company's managers, far above the average of most Fortune 500 companies. In 2005, AT&T spent $2.4 billion with diverse suppliers, representing 15 percent of its procurement base. In fostering diversity and inclusion, AT&T has created a better business environment, one that makes the company an employer of choice, a preferred business partner and an important contributor to the community.

ComEd Rate Stabilization Program Endorsed by Judge

According to a statement released by ComEd, the administrative law judge assigned to review a their proposal to help customers manage increasing electricity costs has endorsed the plan and has recommended full Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approval.

Under the plan, ComEd residential customers would have the option to have rate increases capped at 10 percent in 2007, 2008 and 2009, with the deferred balance plus financing costs collected over the three following years, 2010-2012. ComEd has proposed a 6.5 percent annual carrying charge to finance the deferral plan. Without a phase-in, residential customers' bills are expected to increase by an average of 22 percent beginning in January when ComEd's costs to buy power increase.

"We are pleased with the judge's recommendation as it is an important step forward in providing Illinois residential customers with options to manage increasing energy costs," said J. Barry Mitchell, president of ComEd. "Since the very beginning, ComEd has been concerned about the impact of rate increases on our customers, especially low-income customers. We developed this phase-in approach to give customers flexibility to adjust to the increase over time."

The proposal was first submitted to the ICC by ComEd in May. Modifications to the proposal were submitted in August to respond to concerns expressed by stakeholders, such as the ICC staff and the Citizens Utility Board, in rebuttal testimony. ComEd has asked the commission to act by late November or early December.

XM Radio Announces Factory-Installed Satellite Radios for Lexus LS

XM Satellite Radio has announced that the first of the all-new Lexus LS series with standard, factory-installed XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic are now available at dealerships.

The Lexus LS 460 L, long wheel base model, is arriving at dealerships factory-equipped with XM Satellite Radio's 170 channels of coast-to-coast entertainment and XM NavTraffic's real-time traffic information system as standard features. Factory-installed XM Radio is also available in the 2007 LS 460, which includes the service in its navigation packages.

"XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic are the natural complement to a car that already sets a new benchmark for technological innovation," said Steve Cook, executive vice president, Automotive, XM Satellite Radio. "That's why XM is pleased to offer Lexus LS buyers the added advantage of the nation's most extensive lineup of satellite radio programming and the broadest network of real-time traffic information."

XM NavTraffic is the first real-time traffic information system for the vehicle. Currently available in 44 major U.S. markets, NavTraffic delivers alerts regarding traffic delays, detours and road closings through the in-car navigation system, saving drivers time and fuel by helping them anticipate traffic delays.

Every Lexus LS equipped with XM NavTraffic and XM Satellite Radio also comes standard with a three-month complimentary subscription to both services.

For more information, check out the XM Satellite press release.

Study: Consumer Electronics Purchases Influenced by Internet Research

Seventy-seven percent of consumer electronics (CE) purchases were influenced by Internet research according to the joint Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®) and Yahoo! study Understanding How Consumers Use the Internet to Research and Shop for CE Products.

The study, conducted by Hall and Partners, explored the path to purchase for five CE products: cell phones, computers, digital cameras, digital music players and televisions, and found that online research time directly correlated to product price. As the price of a product increased so did the amount of time a consumer spent researching that product. The least amount of time spent researching was on cell phones at nine hours and the most times spent researching was 15 hours on televisions. For those who purchased, the average amount of time spent researching online was 12 hours.

"Of the total $32.5 billion spent on the CE products tracked in this study, online research influenced a striking 77 percent or $25.1 billion," said Senior Director of Market Research Tim Herbert, CEA. "Consumers naturally want to make informed CE buying decisions and we found they are turning to the Internet for their research. This includes search engines, manufacturer's Web sites, retail Web sites and shopping engines."

Although the majority of CE purchases are made at retail locations, the findings showed there are many reasons why a consumer would research online before purchasing in-store. Seventy-three percent of consumers said comparing prices of the same product at different stores is easy to do online and 64 percent said they preferred online because there is a wider variety of products. Forty-five percent of those who research online and purchase offline use a search engine during the information-gathering process.

The study also looked into the differences between "searchers" and "non-searchers" based on self-reported search engine usage during their research and purchase process. "Searchers," defined as those who use search to research CE goods, represent 47 percent of the offline and online purchasers surveyed. They are more educated about what they buy, increasingly likely to advocate brands by word-of-mouth and are often considered a resource of information by friends and family. They consider more brands and are 114 percent more likely to consider Internet display advertising in their research process.

"Although 'searchers' and 'non-searchers' are very similar demographically, those who prefer to use search to research and purchase CE products have a totally different mindset," said David Rubinstein, Tech and Telecom Category Director for Yahoo! Search Marketing, "Their high level of engagement and willingness to share information with others makes them an ideal target audience for CE manufacturers and retailers."

While the Internet plays a powerful research role, print media, family and friends, retail displays and other traditional sources also aid the purchaser when buying a CE product. Consumers still use these sources to learn about new brands, compare brands and products and get overviews of different categories.

"Today's information-hungry consumers turn to multiple sources. Traditional sources of information are still leveraged by purchasers in the shopping process. These include print and television ads, word-of-mouth and the in-store experience. The average consumer uses six different sources to guide their decision. Getting the right mix of sources is critical to a manufacturer's success," said Herbert.

The study consisted of a 25-minute survey of sample of both consumers who intend to and those who have already purchased consumer electronics devices. It also investigated customer brand loyalty based on manufacturer versus retailer website visits.

For more information, check out the press release.

Verizon Contiinues to Restore Services in Buffalo Area

Verizon said today that it is continuing to aggressively work on restoration efforts in the Buffalo area, following the early season snowstorm that hit the region earlier this month. With nearly 600 technicians in the field, Verizon expects to have its network fully restored within two weeks.

"While most of our customers are already back in service, or never experienced phone service outages in the wake of the storm, there is remaining field work necessary in order to fully restore our network," explained Joseph DeMauro, regional vice president for Verizon operations.

To help with restoration efforts, Verizon has brought in more than 200 technicians from other parts of New York state to assist the local teams in repairs and other tasks, such as pole replacements, installing new drop wires and splicing new cables.

"The work needed now includes repairs to service-affecting issues like low-hanging or unattached wires," DeMauro said.  "Our employees are engaged in identifying these issues, making repairs and restoring service as quickly as possible."

DeMauro noted that damaged cabling and wires may not cause a customer's service to go out, but rather may cause static during a conversation, intermittent service, or similar conditions.  Since the start of the storm, the company has completed 68 percent of this type of weather-related repair work.

Verizon is also conducting engineering surveys of neighborhoods to identify downed wires and cables, and the company is working with local agencies and the power company to identify safe work areas as well as those areas needing telecom service.   Under standard safety procedure, Verizon employees are not permitted to enter neighborhoods until electricity is restored and all safety issues associated with power outages are cleared.

As of last Wednesday, less than one week after the storm hit, all of Verizon's 80 central offices that serve the affected areas were back on commercial power.  Following the storm, 30 of the company's central offices had continued to operate on battery or generator backup power.  All Verizon central offices, which perform the essential functions of supplying dial tone and routing calls and data transmissions for customers, are equipped with backup batteries and generators that kick in automatically if the electrical power supply is interrupted.  In addition, portable generators were used in locations where commercial power was interrupted for an extended period of time.

Neflix: Global Reponse to $1 Million Prize Competition

Netflix recently announced that more than 9,900 contestants representing approximately 8,100 teams from 99 countries have signed up to vie for the $1 million Netflix Prize since the competition was announced earlier this month.

The prize has attracted competitors from more than 200 universities and numerous corporations from around the world. In addition, several government laboratories from the U.S. and other nations have joined the competition.

Netflix is offering one million dollars to the first person or team who can achieve certain accuracy goals in recommending movies based on personal preferences. The threshold required to win the Netflix Prize is a 10 percent improvement in accuracy over the current Netflix recommendation system. If no one wins the grand prize this year, the company said it will award a $50,000 progress prize to whoever makes the most significant advancement beyond a one percent improvement by October 2007. The progress prize will be awarded annually until someone wins the grand prize.

The company said only one of the 82 current submissions has qualified for the 2007 progress prize, having the minimum one percent improvement over the current Netflix recommendation system. Submissions can continue to qualify for the 2007 progress prize through October of 2007.

EarthLink and Telkonet to Test Broadband Over Power Lines

EarthLink and Telkonet announced recently that they have agreed to test broadband over power line access and Internet voice service in nine apartment complexes located in the Washington, D.C. area using Telkonet's powerline backbone.

Under the terms of the agreement, Telkonet's iWire System??? will be the platform used to enable high-speed Internet and data access to EarthLink as part of a voice and broadband Internet and home networking package that includes features such as caller ID, voicemail and three-way calling bundled with high-speed Internet access. EarthLink will market its services to apartment residents in the D.C. metro area.

"This combination of high-speed Internet, voice and home networking service is a part of EarthLink's ongoing commitment to providing more access options for customers," said Kevin Brand, EarthLink's group vice president of access. "We want to make it easy for apartment residents to save money on their phone bills and get feature-rich, high-quality high-speed access."

"EarthLink's reputation for superb customer service combined with their enhanced services, competitive pricing and the Telkonet powerline backbone makes for a very compelling product offering," said Ronald W. Pickett, president and CEO of Telkonet.

EarthLink will use Telkonet's powerline technology to offer high-speed access, Internet voice and home networking service to apartment households in the D.C. area where the cost of retro-fitting the property with new wiring for broadband is not economically feasible. Telkonet's system uses each building's internal electrical wiring to deliver the service.

The nine properties are owned and managed by the Bozzuto Management Company, an award-winning operator of residential communities and commercial properties in the Washington/Baltimore and Philadelphia market. Bozzuto provides the very best value to their customers through an outstanding level of service to both the owners of the properties and the residents who live in them.