Part 1 of our VoIP product and services roundup includes: MyNetFone, Broadbandphone, Skype, Firefly, BBP Global and Chat-Cord.

There's no denying the appeal of broadband internet access and yet for a smart country Australia has been falling way behind our international counterparts.

The arrival of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 (ES2K3) is a significant event in the history of this product. First, it brings to a close the second era of the codebase. Released back in 1996 on the NT 4 wave, ES4 (there was no 1, 2 or 3) brought enterprise-level email, contact management, diary management and so forth to the Windows Server platform in a new and comprehensive BackOffice application.

Microsoft prepares to take on the portable music player industry's heavyweight: Apple. Would you believe it?

Significant competition from the likes of Optus@Home recently has given cause for Telstra BigPond to devise flat-rate pricing plans that have opened up its cable service to the residential market.

Buying a business PC, or indeed looking for a fleet of PCs for your business, can be a tricky enterprise at the best of times. While we've taken a lot of the hard work out of this for you with this guide to what's available, there are a few things you need to consider when shopping for your business.

PreviewA good attempt at all-in-one system security, fully integrated into the OS.

Superpowered and workgroup friendly with great features, but with a steep learning curve for administrators. Find out what the "other" side of the server world looks like

A compact IP telephony router with great features, but the web interface isn’t user-friendly.

A compact IP telephony router with great features, but the web interface isn’t user-friendly.

Useful for the very basics, but it’s early days for Google’s latest venture.

The form of DSL offered by BigPond is ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), meaning that the upload speed is lower than the download speed.

An impressive service, if only it was a touch more reliable.

Type: VoIP service with IP phoneWeb: www.broadbandphone.com.auPrice: $199 plus monthly charges

Type: Soft phoneWeb: www.skype.com

Type: VoIP service with ATA Web: www.myfone.com.auPrice: $149 plus monthly charges

The A7N8X Deluxe features dual-LAN ports, which allows you to connect to a broadband service and share it without the need for a separate PCI network card.

There's one thing that's immediately noticeable and annoying about the otherwise superb Xphone II: it's incredibly slow to turn on and boot up. We clocked about 72 seconds from pressing the power button to connecting to our service, with about a minute of that taken up by just booting the phone's OS.

Mobile phones are experiencing their second major evolution. Its not one of form factor, but of functionality.

A clean and fast interface, plenty of features and strong security make it a winner.