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It appears that my timing couldn’t be any better. Although you might
think the revival of my long-running Mind Share column was due to some
well-plotted strategy to capitalize on the new vitality coursing through the
IP telephony marketplace (I’ll admit the glimmer of such a thought did cross
my mind), it is really due more to pure serendipity.
It’s been about a year since my column last ran, and what a difference a
year makes! Just when we started thinking that we’d never shake the downturn
doldrums, a raft of new products, new services, and new major deployments —
and not least a steady stream of positive news from analysts and The Street
— have all served to provide the traction the industry has been craving.
Customers are finally buying and investments are being made again. Vendors
are even starting to boost headcount. And perhaps most importantly,
innovation and development are continuing their steady march (just look at
all the new startups entering the game).
Notes From The Field
My recent travels to industry conferences and trade shows, including TMC’s
Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO and VON, have revealed a level of
optimism and excitement — not to mention attendance — I haven’t seen since
the golden days of late 1999. This time, however, there’s a major
difference. A number of factors are finally in place to propel the
commercial adoption of IP telephony products and services to new heights —
including maturing industry products and standards, widespread broadband
connectivity, and IP ubiquity. The feeling is — unlike the irrational
euphoria during the bubble time — that This Time It’s For Real.
And while confidence levels seem to be at a multi-year high, there are
also some strong indicators to back it up. During a recent conversation I
had with Bahaa Moukadam, VP of IP Telephony Performance Analysis at
Spirent Communications, a leading
network and telephony test equipment vendor, he told me that business is
picking up smartly. As you may know, testing equipment vendors, in
principle, are great bellwethers of industry health. They usually see a
pickup a quarter or two before the rest of the industry, as solutions
vendors and service providers start to test new products and run networks
through their paces. Spirent is an especially good bellwether in this case,
as they recently introduced a comprehensive, new test platform called the
Abacus 5000 IP Telephony Test Migration System, capable of emulating an
entire VoIP/PSTN network in a single system.
Other discussions with other folks playing in different market segments
also served to boost the spirit. From IP-PBX vendors like Mitel, who are
enjoying huge success with their new solutions, to “start-up” carriers like
AT&T and their new suite of VoIP services (a huge validation for broadband
VoIP), things are certainly looking up.
Being Trendy
Another reason for Mind Share 2.0 is I really couldn’t pass up another
opportunity to share my ruminations with you, dear reader, on the important
technology trends, innovations, and notable companies, products, and
services that make up this great industry (I’ll take the rotten veggies and
“job well-dones” with equal aplomb). In this column, over the next several
months, I plan to focus on a number of leading trends that are helping to
define the industry and drive it forward. Please feel free to share your
thoughts and special discoveries, especially as they relate to IP-PBX
deployments, hosted communications services (such as IP Centrex and hosted
IP-PBX), WiFi telephony, Wireline/Wireless network integration,
presence-powered collaborative communications solutions, video conferencing
(yes, it’s there and back again), and security solutions.
Marc Robins has been involved in the telecommunications industry as a
researcher and analyst, author and publisher, and marketing executive and
consultant for more than 23 years. Marc recently served for five years as
Vice President of Publications and Trade Shows and Group Editorial Director
at TMC. Most recently, Marc launched a new consulting and marketing services
company offering an array of professional services to the IP telephony
industry, and he is also publishing a number of new information resources
for prospective buyers of the technology. Contact Marc at 718-548-7245 or
send e-mail to
robinsconsult@optonline.net.
[ Return
To The May 2004 Table Of Contents ]
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