Posted by
John Dark on Mon, Aug 22, 2011 @ 01:55 PM
Cruising World Magazine Recommends Global Marine Networks' XGate software for satellite phone email, web, blogging
We're blushing after another great mention from our friends at Cruising World Magazine. In the print edition of the publication, Editor Mark Pillsbury says:
"The other key piece to the data upload and download puzzle came from Global Marine Networks, a company that provides soup-to-nuts satellite-communications products. Its
XGate software let me find and download
GRIB files, and I could send and receive emails. Better yet, the
blogging module made filling daily reports a breeze, including highly compressed photos sent via sat phone. The company's products, coupled with very patient customer-service and help desk assistance, were invaluable when it came to keeping in touch with friends, family, work, and readers for the 16 days away. I'm sure ?you could piece together all the various bits, but having tried in vain to do so on my own for several nights, I'd say don't bother to reinvent that particular wheel - GMN has done the work for you."
Posted by
John Dark on Sun, Aug 21, 2011 @ 07:13 AM
Use Twitter with your Iridium satellite phone - or XGate satellite phone email account
Twitter only continues to grow as a way to update family and friends with your travels and adventures - in 140 character bursts. While many of our customers like blogging in detail using
Sailblogs with their
Iridium or
Inmarsat satellite phones, Twitter is great for short updates. It's easy and inexpensive to update your Twitter feed using your
Iridium 9555 satellite phone. Follow the steps and you'll be tweeting soon:
Twitter from your Iridium Satellite Phone
Step 1 – Before you travel
Before you depart for your trip, visit
Twittermail.com and allow this website to access your existing Twitter account. You will be given a unique email address (xxxxxx@twittermail.com) which you will use to send your Twitter updates from the satellite phone.
You might want to test the set-up before your trip, so turn on your satellite phone, go outside and register it in the Iridium network and proceed to Step 2. (Don’t have an Iridium or Inmsarsat phone yet? Get one in our
satellite phone store at globalmarinenet.com.)
Step 2 – During your travel
Send an email message from your Iridium phone to the Twittermail.com email address. Here is how to do this:
Create a new text message (SMS) on your Iridium phone.
Enter the following in the message body: your Twittermail address[space]Twitter message. For example, “xxxxxx@twittermail.com Just arrived in port. Fair winds the whole way!” Don’t forget about the 140-symbol limit for any Twitter update.
When asked for the recipient phone number, enter *2. Proceed to sending the message. You’re done — your message should appear on your Twitter page within minutes.
Twitter Via XGate Satellite Phone Email
Of course you can send your Tweets from your
XGate satellite phone email service as well, to supplement the convenience of having satellite phone email. Similar to sending an SMS, simply enter the following in the message body: your Twittermail address[space]Twitter message. For example, “xxxxxx@twittermail.com Just arrived in port. Fair winds the whole way!” Don’t forget about the 140-symbol limit for any Twitter update.
Good luck!
Posted by
John Dark on Thu, Aug 11, 2011 @ 12:22 PM
These plans could give you, your passengers, or your crew the luxury of VSAT service with all of the advantages of Fleet Broadband.
There are two plans available. An allowance of 10GB/month standard IP data usage runs around $3,000 to $4,000 per month depending on package, both with guaranteed prices for a three-year term.?
This gives an effective price as low as $0.25 USD per GB; much less than competing services. Volume discounts are available for fleet purchasers with more than 30 active units.? Both plans charge around $0.39 USD/minute using Fleet voice calling.
Compatible VOIP service using the
GMN webXaccelerator satellite router can offer voice calls for substantially less.
The GMN webXaccelerator also offers compression which can effectively triple or quadruple the amount of data throughput.Inmarsat VLA plans require the use of a Fleet Broadband 500 and GMN webXaccelerator or other Inmarsat-approved satellite router. Fleet managers can purchase the hardware or lease the equipment to avoid any upfront hardware cost and capital expenditure.
Inmarsat VLA Required Hardware
GMN offers VLA plans with low hardware pricing for purchase or for lease. Customers with existing Fleet Broadband 500 equipment may use their own equipment.
Inmarsat VLA Plan Advantages
Low airtime pricing
- 30 cents/megabyte for data
- 39 cents/minute for Inmarsat voice calls
Uses Fleet Broadband 500 hardware
- Much more affordable than VSAT equipmentSmall footprint on deck
Enabled by GMN webXaccelerator satellite router
- Full satellite router functions give you control over your usage
- On-the-fly load-balancing and failover
- Provides Access Control for Crew Morale calling, email and controlled Internet access
Inmarsat Fleet Broadband Service
- Fast, reliable satellite data and voice service
VSAT vs. Fleet Broadband – Advantage Inmarsat
- Comparable or lower airtime pricing to VSAT service
- Comparable or faster data speeds to VSAT service
- Much more affordable hardware
- Less deck space required for antennas
- Uniform worldwide billing with no roaming fees– most VSAT plans are regional
Inmarsat VLA Service Details
Ship owners can share the allowance between two Fleet Broadband 500 terminals to double throughput or obtain up to 30GB total data access. Users can transfer the commitment terms to another vessel in the same fleet or a new vessel owner.? Inmarsat requires a 36-month commitment, but makes it easy for ships to manage their time by allowing for up to three months inactive time during the term, and early termination is only 6 months worth of fees (not the full remaining commitment). Activation requires ?Inmarsat approval for each individual VLA line.
Some types of data transfers are not permitted. This is where the GMN webXaccelerator comes in: it has the ability to manage data traffic through advanced satellite routing functions. Additionally, it can be used for load-balancing and failover between two or more terminals, creating an Internet Caf? for controlled crew or passenger access and more. Best of all, with shared caching and 3-5X compression for web browsing, you can get an effective usage amount of up to 50GB or 75GB of data.
Inmarsat VLA Blocked file types:
- Point to Point file sharing such as BitTorrent
- Unoptimised Commercial VoIP such as Skype (GMN webXaccelerator VOIP is specifically permitted)
- Broadcast or point to point streaming such as YouTube
- Virtual Private Network access
- Traffic detrimental to the Inmarsat Network
Inmarsat VLA Availability
Inmarsat VLA plans for Fleet Broadband 500 equipment, such as the Thrane & Thrane Sailor 500, is available today from Global Marine Networks.
Inmarsat VLA Purchasing Contact
John Dark
Sr. Director, Sales and Marketing
johndark@globalmarinenet.com
+1 865 379-8723
Posted by
John Dark on Wed, Aug 10, 2011 @ 05:07 AM
Dispatch from GMN Labs:
- Satellite Router for VSAT Inmarsat Fleet Broadband and Iridium OpenPort
GMN developing VOIP services for the webXaccelerator satellite router
Sometimes the future comes in tantalizing little tastes. I find this is particularly true when it comes to telecom product development. So it seemed fairly matter of course when my phone rang today. Turns out though that it was the first call using VOIP with the GMN webXaccelerator?
satellite router. While VOIP is hardly a new technology anymore, being able to make VOIP calls using the narrow bandwidth required to make it commercially viable over an?
Inmarsat Fleet Broadband system, or even VSAT system, took more than a little magic. There are several that do this, few that do it well.
Not only is the call quality excellent, but the webXaccelerator will likely represent a breakthrough on price as well - the amount of data that it looks like we'll be using is many multiples less than the existing solutions - that means a lot more conversation for your money when using Fleet Broadband, and likely means that customers can reduce their price plans when using VSAT.
The webXaccelerator is a complete satellite router, designed for VSAT and other satellite broadband installations, that lets IT managers easily configure and remotely manage the following applications:
- Create a satellite Internet caf?
- Set user-defined Access Codes to generate new revenue or control shared usage for clients, crew or passengers
- Solve installation challenges through load-balancing and on-the-fly failover with any satellite or wireless data feed
- Simplified least-cost routing
Best of all, it's reliable and affordable.
Adding VOIP services is something that has been in our product roadmap for sometime. VOIP over broadband is easy. VOIP over "satellite broadband" is another matter. We have a ways to go to commercialize the service - sorry, no pricing announced yet. But those who read about the webXaccelerator when it was?
announced last October will be pleased to hear that more good work is on the way.
Sometime ago, some nice product marketing manager got a call from an engineer announcing the first successful text message. Now, billions of dollars are spent by consumers sending messages over basically free bandwidth to the carriers - text messaging was a game changer, and one that initially came with little fanfare in offices of a wireless telco. Somehow, more than a little of that feeling of the future came to me today with that modest call announcing the first VOIP call.
- John Dark
Posted by
John Dark on Sat, Aug 06, 2011 @ 07:59 AM
We're pleased to see that Inmarsat has announced that they will be adding voice distress calling on their
Fleet Broadband service.
There's a very long history of technology aiding in emergency situations on the water (think EPIRB, Personal Locator Beacons and more recently consumer devices like SPOT and Iridium InReach) we're always pleased to see another positive step in this direction.
Inmarsat has already introduced
505 dialing service (see how those numbers look like "SOS"?), which connects you to a maritime rescue coordination centre. Inmarsat describes the new service this way: "The free-to-use service ensures that, in the event of an emergency, all non-priority telephone calls underway on the vessel's FleetBroadband are interrupted, connecting the caller directly to a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC). ?The new voice distress service requires a simple software and hardware add-on, which provides a 'red button' for one-touch easy use."
The full press release below:
LONDON,August 5, 2011/PRNewswire/ --
Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has announced the commercial availability of a new voice distress service on FleetBroadband.
The free-to-use service ensures that, in the event of an emergency, all non-priority telephone calls underway on the vessel's FleetBroadband are interrupted, connecting the caller directly to a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC). ?The new voice distress service requires a simple software and hardware add-on, which provides a 'red button' for one-touch easy use.
The new service also utilises the enhanced capability of the FleetBroadband network, as it simultaneously sends an email to the MRCC and network controllers to alert them to a call, providing additional data such as vessel name, identification and position.
The development of a voice distress service on FleetBroadband was supported by the European Space Agency and the UK's Technology Strategy Board.
Inmarsat is the only mobile satellite operator to be approved for use within the Global Maritime Distress & Safety System (GMDSS), and the introduction of a voice distress service with red button access is the first step in obtaining compliance for FleetBroadband with GMDSS.
"This is a first for FleetBroadband, and demonstrates our on-going commitment to providing essential safety and distress services for seafarers," said?Peter Blackhurst, Head of Maritime Safety at Inmarsat. "This new red-button voice distress service is ideal for vessels of all types and sizes because it's backed by a highly-reliable network that offers 99.9 percent connectivity at all times."
Thrane & Thrane is the first manufacturer to support the service with its Sailor 3771 Alarm Panel. ?Other terminal manufacturers are expected to follow shortly.
FleetBroadband users who need emergency assistance, but who don't have access to the red button voice service, can still use Inmarsat's 505 Emergency Calling facility, which routes calls free of charge to an MRCC.
About Inmarsat
Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT) is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. ?Since 1979, Inmarsat has been providing reliable voice and high-speed data communications to governments, enterprises and other organizations, with a range of services that can be used on land, at sea or in the air. ?The company's services are delivered through a global network of more than 400 distribution partners and service providers operating in 100 countries. ?For the year ended?31 December 2010, Inmarsat plc had total revenue of?US$1,171.6 million?(2009:?US$1,038.1 million) with an EBITDA of?US$696.1 million?(2009:?US$594.2 million). ?For more information, please visit?
http://www.inmarsat.com.
SOURCE Inmarsat plc