CAT-iq is the next Big Thing. Built on top of the DECT wireless standard, CAT-iq is evolving into a plug-and-play wireless network that has licensed, “clean” spectrum for data.  You're going to see a lot of CAT-iq 2.0 gear appear over the next three years, with the first cordless HD voice phones  that will have good or better feature functionality – things like shared  address books – than their analog counterparts.

How has the acceptance and adoption of the cloud model influenced your development cycle and process?

I've heard a lot of snarky comments about “The Cloud,” but I don't think we've really begun to even scratch the surface of cloud capabilities for data centers.  Geographically distributed computing gives you levels of business continuity people have dreamed about for years at an affordable price.

I think you're going to start to see people putting data centers into rural and less-well-traveled places because the cost of building outside of metro areas is a lot cheaper, power is a lot cheaper, and there's “free” cooling once you go north or into higher altitudes.

Maybe metro data centers will get recycled into “Maker” style do-it-yourself studios because they have all that available industrial power.   Can you imagine being able to take a 3-D design and email it to the industrial “print” shop in the morning and be able to pick it up in the afternoon?  That would be cool. Not as green as some would like, but very cool.

How do you see the mobile operating system war (iPhone vs. Android (News - Alert) vs. RIM vs. WM7) playing out?

I'd broaden your question to be IOS vs. Android, rather than iPhone.  Tablets bring a new game to the table.

I think RIM will remain a steadily declining niche. RIM blew it with its tablet.  Windows Mobile 7 is not relevant because there's no tablet using it.  HP's WebOS has more relevance than WM7 because HP has a tablet out and is putting marketing dollars behind it.

I think the iPad is a fascinating study in being optimized for one person's vision.  It's a beautiful piece of hardware, there are amazing apps for it, but if you want to move something from an SD card onto an iPad, it's either a kludgy dongle or a network connection.  The mail client on it drives me nuts and I wish someone would port something decent over.

Right now, the iPad and iOS have the edge in the tablet space, but I think you'll see some erosion just from the sheer number of tablets manufacturers are throwing into the space.  Be a sad time to be in the eBook reader biz.

Is HTML5 the game changer many predict it will be?

Well, it must have some legs if Adobe is starting to push product around it.

What are you most looking forward to at ITEXPO West  in Austin? What do you see as being the biggest trends at the show?

A lot of companies lost faith in VoIP and started chasing the video rainbow.  But if you take a look at the numbers Whaleback, Vonage, and 8x8 (News - Alert) are posting, VoIP still has a lot of life left. 

I'm looking forward to see if people start get excited about VoIP and HD voice again, especially since Verizon Wireless will roll out HD voice support when VoLTE comes out in 2012.  I think you'll see more tablet applications – as opposed to iPad giveaways – in Austin.

What issues will you be addressing during your ITEXPO session and why should attendees be sure to attend?

I'm moderating two sessions and I think the “Evolving Interconnection - From TDM to IP and IMS Peering” session at 3 PM on Wednesday will be very interesting.  I think we're starting to see cracks in the service provider “dam” with SIP peering and that will open up seamless HD voice and video and telepresence.   To date, a lot of the talk has been around the need for directories and hub-and-spoke architectures, but with mid-sized to bigger service providers starting to finally move forward on SIP peering, we should see more rapid adaption.

“Why video is a must for Enterprise Communications” on Tuesday at 12:30 should be lively.  I think some video is a must for enterprise communications, but we're not ready for the everybody-has-a-desktop-camera world yet.  There's cost, there's bandwidth, there's complexity on the network and nobody's really looked at the social and workplace impact issues involved. 

Let's say everyone has a video camera.  Now, I am having a bad hair day or I spilled my drink all over my white shirt and now I have to walk down the hall past a couple of video sessions in cube land.   Not flattering for me to be on Candid Camera and likely to be distracting if I'm walking past Bob's head while he's on the video session.


Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.