The Ft. Lauderdale ECA Update

The Internet Telephony Conference & Expo Conference in Ft. Lauderdale this past January (January 23-26) was definitely a resounding success. The mix of conference sessions was well received and the exhibit floor handled even more traffic than in 2006. There was also a shift in the focus from previous IT Expos in that the attendees were not focused on “Is VoIP and converged IP right for my company?” but “What can we do to further enhance our converged deployment?”.

One thing that remained the same was the close working relationship between TMC and the ECA. The Ft. Lauderdale event marked the third year in a row that the ECA has hosted Reseller Live and the second year co-hosting the Disaster and Business Continuity Workshop with TMC (see review in separate column in this issue).

The three hour Reseller Live session of January 24 delivered a full array of reseller training tools. Of key interest was the shift in focus of this session from previous years. The attendees were less interested in overcoming the challenge of customer objections to implementing VoIP and more focused on pure selling skills. This is definitely great news as resellers are the feet-on-the-street and their shift in focus demonstrates that end-users have finally accepted VoIP. (define - news -alert)

Panel participants were:
Moderator: Max Schroeder, Sr. VP FaxCore, Inc.
Panelists:
Wendell Black, Vice President Sales, Oracle
Bob Nicols, AXIOM Sales Force Development
Don Gant, VP Business Development/Channel Marketing,
Iwatsu Voice Networks
Steven J. Johnson, President, Ingate Systems Inc.

The presentations were excellent, as demonstrated by the fact that the attendees stayed focused for the full 3 hours and continued to participate in the questions and answer period past the scheduled finish time. To review the presentations, visit the ECA site (http://www.encomm.org) or go to (http://www.tmcnet.com/339.1) to view them on the TMC site.

Several ECA member companies were exhibiting, participating in conference sessions and running workshops at the event. We would like to share some of their observations. Todd Walker, Sales Vice President of Iwatsu stated “Good quality traffic. Everyone’s interested in the value wheel that is where the technologies we offer can add value to their operations. It’s a great time to be in the industry:

1. Technology can deliver more value than ever before.
2. There are lots of customers needing upgrades.
3. Users and VARs are seeking help as never before.”

Todd’s comments suggest to us that activities and energy at the show reinforce the view that there’s lots of opportunity for new players with new energy.

Dialogic was back in a big way and we asked Maureen Tusim, Partner Marketing Manager, to share her views on the event. “It’s been a great opportunity to re-introduce Dialogic’s legacy customers and partners to the new depth and breadth of our offers with Eicon. We wanted to feature our partners here and we look forward to featuring our partners even more in coming events.” Maureen rated traffic as “serious.”

Cantata: Marc Costa, Program Manager OPS: “It’s been a good show. We’ve seen NSPs, VARs, and users. The attendees have been of good quality. The response our SR140 FoIP product line and our integrated media and signaling gateway (IMG1010) received at the show was tremendous. This demonstrates the acceptance of FoIP as a necessary element of any VoIP rollout and the IMG1010 as a critical component of a converged IP deployment.”

Another ECA show participant was Ingate Systems that ran a series of seminars throughout the week. The seminars were a huge success as demonstrated by several standing-room only sessions. Ingate also invited thought-leaders in the field, wellknown IP-PBX vendors, SIP trunking service providers and even customers who shared their success stories and knowledge.

“These seminars were a compelling draw for IT EXPO attendees thanks to the participation of industry leaders in SIP trunking,” noted Olle Westerberg, Chief Executive Officer, Ingate Systems. “For instance, Ericsson’s and BandTel’s perspectives on the Latin American market provided important, timely information. Our case study session with Sterling Bank offered the audience a first-hand look at a successful SIP trunk deployment.” ShoreTel, another ECA member, participated and conducted workshop demonstrations.

The interest for SIP trunking is enormous. As Rich Shockey, Director and Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff of NeuStar, Inc. and ENUM IETF working group Founder and Co-Chair aptly said, “2007 is the year for SIP Trunking.” “Another factor that contributed to the success of these seminars was the partnership between Ingate and TMC,” continued Westerberg. “TMC is an innovative media company that truly understands the importance of new technologies such as SIP trunking.”

SIP trunking is new but already a proven solution. Also, most SIP trunking deployments pay for themselves in six months or less, so keep it on your radar screen. As a closing note, the ECA would like to thank TMC for all their cooperation and support. They are a good partner in promoting industry growth and, together with the ECA, represent a strong voice for the enterprise.

Mary Bradshaw is Executive Director of the Enterprise Communications Association (http://www.encomm.org).

Max Schroeder is a board member of the ECA, Media Relations Committee Chairman, and liaison to TMC. He is also the Sr. Vice President of FaxCore, Inc. (http://www.faxcore.com).