IMS Report Card and Interoperability Milestones by the IMS Forum Plugfest III Team

By Michael Khalilian
Sixteen companies participated in Plugfest III, testing the following services:

• VoIP, Instant Messaging, and FMC using femto-cells

• Video Sharing and Multimedia

• Services for Businesses and Unified Communications

• User and Application Profile Handling

• Security, Reliability and Robustness Testing for IMS Services

• Delivery of IMS Core Services to 2G/3G Mobile Devices

We can speak with increased confidence that IMS is moving forward regardless of the noise out there. Standards-compliant and interoperable IMS services are getting ready for deployment. We have seen that multiple vendors can quickly integrate and deploy service in a multi-vendor, multi-service provider IMS network. The proof is coming out of one successful Plugfest after another.

The industry is clearly beginning to seize on IMS for cost-effective delivery of new and existing multimedia IP services, and it is also feeling the pain points that come from not demanding open, standards-compliant, interoperable solutions from their vendors. Open IMS is no longer a question of if, but rather how long do you really want to wait.

Sponsors of the event included Empirix, Intel, and Sonus. Media Sponsors included IMS Magazine and Pulvermedia, Inc. Participants in this Plugfest included a cross-section of the IMS industry, in a clear example of the global reach of IMS: Acision, Argela Technologies, Aricent Technologies, Continuous Computing, CopperCom, Data Connection, Ltd. (DCL), Empirix, IPgallery (Gallery IP Telephony), Mavenir Systems, Mu Security, NE Technologies, Radvision, Reef Point Systems, Sonus Networks, Starent Networks and Tekelec.

The IMS technology is recognized to be a cost-effective (OPEX and CAPEX) “Quadruple Play” revenue generating set of applications and services. The IMS Forum Plugfests are designed to accelerate IMS deployment. The first IMS Forum Plugfest focused on basic IP voice, routing fundamentals and the interoperability of the IMS transport layer. The second Plugfest tests built on that foundation to include interoperability for VoIP, IP Centrex, IP PBX, SMS, video sharing, basic security and fixed-mobile convergence functionality.

The Forum also issued the industry’s first “IMS Report Card” addressing myths that have held back the widespread adoption of standards-compliant IMS solutions. The Report Card recounts several commonly held myths in the industry and provides proof points based on the experience of the companies participating in the Plugfests that disprove these myths. A copy of the report is available on the TMC website (www.tmcnet.com/1334.1) and also at the IMS Forum website. The IMS Forum is open to all companies developing solutions for IMS. For online registration go to www.IMSForum.org or contact the forum at info@imsforum.org.

I also point you to our IMS Open Community section where members and non-members, can connect to colleagues around the world to address technical, business, marketing and general IMS issues, ask questions and propose solutions. This is an important contribution to accelerating IMS education and deployment. The Forum is very proud of this outreach, the first of its kind in the industry, and you will be hearing more about our activities in the near future. To visit and register for the IMS Open Community, go to our website and click on Community.

For membership information, or to participate in IMS Forum working groups, plugfest and membership info, please visit www.IMSForum.org or contact Michael Khalilian at MKhalilian@IMSForum.org.

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