BY RICH TEHRANI
President and Group Publisher

Viva Las Vegas: Kicking Off CTI EXPO Fall '99

You may have noticed that I have taken a few weeks off from writing One Less Wire columns. In case you thought I was on vacation, I have one thing to say: I wish! Instead, I have been wrapped up working with the entire TMC team, developing the best communications trade show we could build.

Of course, I'm referring to CTI EXPO Fall '99 which will take place this week, December 7-9, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. You can read more about it at www.ctiexpo.com. You will be happy to know that this event will help everyone looking to choose the best products in the communications marketplace: service providers, resellers, enterprise users, call centers, and developers will delight in seeing all the latest communications products and services side by side, under a single roof.

More than 60 companies are collaborating with CTI EXPO to provide you with unique and live attractions that will enrich your understanding of the latest communications technologies by providing you information in an objective, no sales hype format. Here is a brief list of some of the participants in these free events:

LEARNING CENTERS
Participants in the following Learning Centers include:

• Linux Telephony: White Pine, Quicknet, Aculab
• Network CTI: Net2Phone, VocalData, Motorola, StarVox
• CT Media: Dialogic, Telekol (Nokia), APEX Voice, Rockwell
• Wireless CTI: Ericsson WebCom, AIRLINX, BreezeCom, Proxim
• Next-Gen Call Center: CosmoCom, Telephony@Work, Genesys
• Development/Testing: Hammer, Teltone, Brooktrout, Pronexus

NEXT-GEN TELCO IN A BOOTH
In partnership with ALTA (ATM Local Telephony Alliance), TMC will show a cost-effective Class 5 Central Office alternative. Come see the latest from Advanced Switching Communications (ASC), Newbridge Networks, TeraBridge Technologies, and VINA Technologies.

LIVE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE
See and use the latest productivity-boosting products from: PakNetX, Praxon, Picazo, Active Voice, SilCom, Teltone, White Pine, Quintus, Phonetic Systems, and BrightArrow.

LIVE MULTIMEDIA BLENDED CALL CENTER
Sponsored by CellIT. More then ten of CellIT's partners (SMED, Quintus, Knowledge Source, NWD, Manly Consultant Group, APC, ECI, FORE Systems, Dialogic, ABNET Applied Computing, and Plantronics) will showcase a working Web-, IP-, and ATM-enabled call center with 12 agents that will make and receive more than 10,000 phone calls in two days.

LIVE CRM DEMONSTRATION
Sponsored by Quintus Corp. See field sales, support, back office stations, and other products and technology working in synergistically to enable leading-edge customer relationship management (CRM).

NORTEL NETWORKS SUCCESSION TRAILER
Compare the latest next-generation network technology from Nortel Networks on display in a unique 40-foot tractor-trailer, right on the show floor!

TMC CONVERGENET
This interoperable IP telephony network will illustrate the viability of multi-vendor standards compliance in a real-world setting. Participants include elemedia, Active Voice, eVoice, Cisco, iFace, GTE, Motorola, Vsys, Netrix, PakNetX, Picazo, Quicknet, Quintum, StarVox, Tundo, Shelcad, Aspect, and Net2Phone.

INTERNET PHONE CENTER
Sponsored by Quicknet Technologies. Make free phone calls using services from a variety of the best ITSPs in the industry.

WEB-BASED UNIFIED MESSAGING CENTER
Sponsored by Telepost. Check your Web-based, unified messaging center e-mail, voice mail, and faxes. Set up your FREE account today at www.telepost.com/ct/

CONSULTANTS' CORNER
Get free advice from the industry's hottest minds, from telecom to call centers. Teligent Corp., Global Performance Corp., Lynch Young & Co., EIS International, Dee Sanford and Assoc., and MJ Wieland and Assoc.

I hope to see you there!

P.S. Don't forget. Exhibit Hall pre-registration is FREE online! Save $25 off Exhibit Hall registration at the show.

Register online today at www.ctiexpo.com/ctiexpo/f99/reg.htm.

Rich Tehrani welcomes comments at rtehrani@tmcnet.com.