September 2004

VoIP Developer Conference - A Smashing Success! (continued)

BY GREG GALITZINE

HELLOSOFT
In other show news, HelloSoft, Inc., and Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., announced the development of a complete VoIP phone software suite fully optimized for the Toshiba T6TC1XB-001 embedded controller. The T6TC1XB-001 is built on a single ARM926EJ-S processor core. The software reference design implementing the phone suite includes complex voice algorithms and protocols running on the embedded Linux OS.

The HelloVoice software suite on the Toshiba reference design is an enhanced solution including G.711, G.726, G.723.1, and G.729AB vocoders, G.168-2000 Line Echo Canceller, Voice Activity Detection (VAD), Comfort Noise Generation (CNG), Jitter Buffer, Packet Loss Concealment (PLC), DTMF Tone Detection and Generation, Call Progressive Tone (CPT), SIP/RTP/RTCP Call Signaling and Control, and multi-channel system-level framework.

TOM LOGIC
The conference also brought a number of people into the fold who had never before participated in a VoIP-related event. Tom Collins, founder of Tom Logic, (www.sniffter.com) had not previously considered the VoIP market. He decided it was time to explore his opportunities in this niche.

I asked Tom what he was hoping to achieve by attending the VoIP Developer event. “Besides learning more about the VoIP protocols, I wanted to connect with people already using VoIP who could tell me what VoIP-related features they would want in a simple, handheld network tester.”

Tom’s company manufactures the Sniffter100 network test device. The Sniffter Network Tester is a handheld, rechargeable TCP/IP network tester targeted toward broadband Internet technicians and corporate IT departments. It can be used to quickly isolate connectivity problems, and confirm Internet availability at any network jack.

Underscoring the valuable networking opportunities that vendors took advantage of the show, Tom had this to say regarding the new and exciting prospects he unearthed at the event:

“While at the conference, someone told me about the STUN protocol for identifying the type of NAT(s) between a device and the public Internet. I plan on adding a STUN client to the Sniffter to provide NAT information to the user. I also want to explore the SIP protocol further to see if there are simple tests I can do to help troubleshoot network problems.”

Overall, Tom Collins was thrilled with his participation in the inaugural VoIP Developer event. “I think it went very well! The sessions I attended were informative (and packed with attendees). I was pleased with the number of people I got to speak with, and look forward to hearing back from them.”

CONCLUSION
In the end, one of the more compelling presentations came from Anna Dorcey, director of Avaya’s DeveloperConnection program, when she spoke to the keynote room full of developers about their role in society. Echoing the sentiment of Intel’s Michael Stanford, Dorcey made clear that developers need to think about the impact their applications will have on society and in real world scenarios. Technology is about solving real needs, and developers need to design apps with that in mind.

She cited Thomas Edison, and noted that the developers at this event were all following in his footsteps, as the inventors of the 21st century. “Today’s crop of developers — certainly the audience at the VoIP Developer Conference — are creating applications that will change the way we communicate,” said Dorcey.

She summed up her presentation with a quote from IBM’s Rational Chief Scientist and IBM Fellow, Grady Booch. Of developers, Booch had this to say: “…software will touch every aspect of life and thusly developers will only grow in importance to society.”

With that said, Ms. Dorcey urged the conference attendees to take their mission seriously as their work will have a definite impact on our society in many ways.

For a first-time event, the VoIP Developer Conference exceeded expectations across the board. Conceived as a small conference with an expected attendance of just over 100 people, in a short few months, the event grew into a full-fledged conference with an associated Exhibit Hall floor populated by nearly 30 exhibitors. Total attendance topped out above 500 people. I can’t wait to get to work on the conference program for next time.

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