September 2004

VoIP Developer Conference - A Smashing Success!

BY GREG GALITZINE

Technology industry conferences often serve as a barometer of the level of optimism and interest in a particular industry segment. If the recently concluded VoIP Developer Conference (www.voipdeveloper.com) is any indication, then the levels of interest and optimism in this space are indeed high. The inaugural VoIP Developer Conference, held on August 3–4, 2004 at the San Jose DoubleTree hotel, brought together over 500 conference delegates, Exhibit Hall attendees, keynote speakers, and session presenters to discuss what the future holds for VoIP development. The event was by all measures a resounding success.

Speaking to a full house, Chris Wood, director of AT&T’s CallVantage service kicked off the Conference by pointing out the substantial changes VoIP brings to carrier product development, for example driving networks to evolve from multiple, closed proprietary legacy services to integrated standards-based open IP architecture.

Following Chris’s keynote, Michael Stanford, Intel’s Technology Strategist, discussed the need to leverage the existing set of development tools to create new and exciting applications. By using existing tools, developers can lower the cost of creating these apps. Lowering cost drives innovation, allowing companies to increase their investment in software development for differentiation.

Both speakers drove home the message that the market is expanding and that VoIP developers have a tremendous opportunity ahead of them. As VoIP becomes more mainstream, and as the underlying enabling technologies become more readily available to the world at large, developers will continue to create new and interesting applications, delivering truly innovative methods of allowing the world to communicate.

After the keynotes, the breakout sessions began in earnest, with delegates flooding the session rooms, where the industry’s best and brightest were presenting topics ranging from Linux Telephony development, to WiFi telephony, to discussions of specific development tools and strategies. The SIP sessions were filled to capacity. The general sessions — including the HMP Versus DSP: Battle of the CPUs — were standing room only.

There was some interesting news coming out from the exhibitors in San Jose, and of course, there was quite a lot of networking going on at the event. Companies were coming together to develop new strategic relationships, and manufacturers were discovering new and exciting third-party applications for their platforms.

ETG
One fascinating company, ETG technologies (www.etgtechnologies.com) told me of discussions they were having with a couple of vendors exhibiting at the event. ETG produces a product they call OnePad Portable Media Center, a solution designed to provide telephony, multimedia content, and data through wireless convenience.

According to Phil Richardson, CEO of ETG Technologies, “Our Mobile Multimedia Entertainment and Communication solution allows the consumer to take digital entertainment from their PC with them on the go, including recorded TV shows, downloaded videos, home movies, music, and photos.”

Richardson explained to me that the discussions with the companies he met on the VoIP Developer Conference exhibit floor were aimed at adding broader VoIP functionality to ETG’s product line. I’m curious to learn how those discussions went. He also told me that ETG is currently in discussions with AT&T to develop a SIP stack for their CallVantage VoIP Service to offer with the ETG OnePad later this year.

ACULAB
Aculab, a provider of computer telephony technology for developers and systems integrators and a Platinum sponsor of the event, announced at the VoIP Developer Conference, the first commercial availability of Prosody S — its host-based media processing product.

Designed for voice messaging applications ranging from voice mail to sophisticated unified messaging solutions, Prosody S brings the core functions of Aculab’s traditional Prosody hardware, into an IP environment. Prosody S can function with either Intel or AMD processors, offering choice to developers.

Chris Gravett, Aculab’s sales and marketing director was delighted with the prospects of the new board’s availability. “With demand high from customers, we anticipate shipping product to 30 customers in the next few weeks,” he said.
On a side note, Aculab had one of the nicest booths at the show; in fact if TMC had an award for best booth, theirs would be a shoo-in for the victory.

Page 1 of 2 [Go to Page 2]