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Cablevision Launches Click-to-Call Web Service in NY Area

NYConvergence — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:29:40 +0000

Long Island-based cable carrier Cablevision has launched Optimum Voice Click-to-Call for its customers in the NY tri-state area. Reminiscent of features found on Skype, this new service turns phone numbers on any Web page into clickable links for instant dialing. With no additional charge, users can call landline or mobile phone number in the U.S. with any active Optimum ID, compatible with IE and Firefox browsers. According to Multichannel News, customers also have the option of using Google Talk ID with the Click-to-Call service.

Available via the Optimum Voice homepage, users are required to download the Optimum Voice Plug-in for the service to work.

Multichannel News

NoNotes.com Launches B2B Transcription Service

NYConvergence — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:33:41 +0000

Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

NoNotes.com, which offers university students low-cost transcriptions of taped lectures and interviews, has expanded to service business clients with transcripts of business calls made from smartphones and landlines. The NY- and Ottawa-based startup has grown a lot since its inception four years ago, expecting to make almost $1 million in sales in 2011.

Founded by former amateur boxer, Matt Whitteker, NoNotes.com charges students $9.60 per hour of taped time to be transcribed. The company entered the B2B market with the beta launch of their business service, NoNotes Voice, six months ago, charging between $35 and $60 per hour for transcribing business calls. High profile clients, like the U.S. National Park Service, have begun using the service.

Crain’s New York Business

Overextended NYers Who Ignore Texts Risk “Flake” Label

Esther — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000

New Yorkers are renegotiating their social networks, as social norms demand that people be available at all times by phone, email or text message. Some overextended NYers are being branded "flaky" as they appear to put minimal effort into friendships and make people they are ignoring feel unimportant.

The definition of "flakiness" has expanded to waiting too long to respond to an email, because everyone knows you have a smart phone and could be writing back any moment. NYers who ignore texts and neglect to keep up with their friend's blog are also labeled flakes.

The New York Observer

Previous:

> Facebook Caps Friends List of Popular New Yorkers

Free iPhone App Provides Moving Tour of WTC Site

Esther — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:48:00 +0000

The New York Times took a look at the Explore 9/11 free iPhone app, downloaded 100,000 times, which contains a guided tour around the perimeter of the World Trade Center site,
narrated by the people who lived through that day.
The Times says that because the app resides on a small phone and features people speaking plainly about their experiences, it feels personal, and therefore powerful. "Instead of reading quotations inscribed in granite, you are
listening as someone whispers them in your ear while you cradle the
phone and strain to hear."

Explore 9/11 has an interactive timeline and a map with
photographs submitted by ordinary citizens and displayed, via
GPS, according to their proximity to the spot
where the user is standing, but The Times says these features are "less successful," than the tour.

The New York Times

Previous:

> WTC Memorial to Use Google Earth for Online Visitors

Where To Get Cell Service In NYC Subways

NYConvergence — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:23:46 +0000

Though the city recently announced that it will be building out mobile and Wi-Fi access to the city's subway platforms, amNewYork recently conducted an extensive check of all 277 underground subway stations to find where people can currently get cell service. The results yielded almost 50 stations where riders can get some service on the platforms, while in other cases, the riders were even able to get signal in the tunnels.

Manhattan was the clear winner, as stations tend to be closer to street level, while Brooklyn had the least amount of service.

amNewYork

Previous:

> Mobile/Wi-Fi Access Now Coming to NYC Subways

Storm Causes Phone and Wireless Outages in NYC

NYConvergence — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:11:00 +0000

Yesterday, parts of Manhattan lost their landline Verizon phone service and wireless service from AT&T due to an equipment failure in Verizon's network. As a result of the rough storms that came through the city over the weekend, a Verizon box that directs network traffic was knocked out, causing the telecom blackouts in parts of east Midtown and Gramercy.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

Previous:

> FiOS Services Delayed in Manhattan

Cablevision to Enter Mobile Phone Market?

NYConvergence — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:13:00 +0000

During its recent 4th quarter earnings call, Long Island based Cablevision spoke of how it is now testing a new mobile phone that works with both Wi-Fi and cellular networks. According to an article in paidConent, Cablevision could use the phone to enter the U.S. mobile market and connect with the WiFi network it is building in the tri-state area.

paidContent

> Cablevision To Put Internet On TV

> Optimum Lightpath Activates 40G in New-York
Area

How Many Pay Phones Are Left in NYC?

NYConvergence — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:45:00 +0000

Although few and far between, there are still some payphones in service on NYC's streets. The New York Times recently tracked calls made on one located on a busy block on Queens Boulevard in Queens' Kew Gardens neighborhood by the Queens County Courthouse. That phone made $52 last week.

According to the NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT), there are currently 16,358 pay phones on NYC's sidewalks, which is less than half the amount there were ten years ago.

The New York Times

Vonage Tries for a Comeback

NYConvergence — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:16:00 +0000

Holmdel, NJ based Vonage, which was once the darling of the Voice over IP phone industry in the early aughts, has since struggled to find its place and to make a profit, according to a feature story in Forbes. Once the target of lawsuits, a multi-state investigation and mounting debt, Vonage has now introduced two new services to try recapture the voice calling market.

The first is Vonage World, a package that lets subscribers make unlimited landline phone calls to 60 countries for $25 a month. The other is Vonage World Mobile, which allows user to make unlimited international calls from their mobile phones. The company is also developing smartphone applications, particularly one for Google Android enabled phones.

Forbes.com

Previous:

> NJ Companies Tap Mobile Software Development

New Area Codes and Dialing for CT Residents

NYConvergence — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:20:04 +0000

With the 203 area code expected to run out in 2010 and the 860 area code in 2011, residents of Connecticut will be getting two new area codes. Next month, a 475 area code will begin to be distributed and after the 860 code runs out, 959 will be introduced.

Along with the new codes comes mandated ten-digit dialing, which includes dialing the three digit area code for all calls made in Connecticut. Callers can start dialing the extra three digits on April 1st, but the rule won't be a requirement until the 1st of December.

Hartford Courant

T-Mobile’s Google Phone To Go On Sale in NYC

NYConvergence — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:26:36 +0000

NYC will be one of the first cities where you’ll be able to buy a T-Mobile Google phone on October 22. The G1, as it’s called, will sell for $179 with a two-year contract and it will be able to access T-Mobile’s third-generation (3G) wireless network here.

Newsday

Unionized Verizon Workers’ Contract Set To Expire

NYConvergence — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:12:57 +0000

The Star-Ledger

The representatives of the company’s unions and Verizon, however, have agreed to stop the clock as they continue to discuss issues such as worker contributions to their healthcare coverage and the elimination of retiree healthcare coverage for new hires.

The unions’ members have authorized their representatives to call a strike if necessary, but The Star-Ledger‘s Tom Johnson expects these issues and others to be resolved in a similar timeframe to 2003 when the last strike occurred. In 2003, the two sides reached an agreement five weeks after the expiration of the unionized workers’ contract.

Earlier: Verizon’s Unions Postpone Strike

> Verizon Workers Authorize Strike; Talks Continue

Verizon’s FiOS TV Services Launches Today

NYConvergence — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:07:41 +0000

Broadcasting & Cable

The service, initially available to 300,000 NYC households, will cost $94.99 for television, Internet, and phone, matching the price available to suburban subscribers. Verizon expects FiOS TV to be available to 500,000 NYC residents by year’s end.

It will offer NYC-area subscribers 100 HDTV channels,
54 of which are provided at no extra charge.

Update: Customers will have to sign a one-year contract.

> New Yorkers to get FiOS TV (c | net News blog)

> Verizon Begins Selling Cable TV Services in NYC (Metro NY)

> Cable War Looming In NYC

> With FiOS Launching in NYC, Trouble Looms For RCN

> How Prepared Is Time Warner Cable For Verizon FiOS?

Strike By Verizon Workers In NYC Possible

NYConvergence — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:55:08 +0000

Crain’s New York Business

If negotiations between Verizon and its employee unions, the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, fail to produce an agreement by the August 2 expiration of the current contract, more than 65,000 Verizon employees on the East Coast, including 15,000 in the NYC area, are expected to authorize a strike.

Wages, health
care, work rules, and protection of union jobs are at the forefront of
the negotiations for the workers, who say that rising gas and fuel
prices have heightened their resolve to secure a contract with fair
raises and no give backs on health care. Verizon’s employees are among
a dwindling group of workers that do not have to contribute to health
plans and they are determined to hold onto that benefit.