This article originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY.

Having just recently wrapped up an incredibly successful ITEXPO (News - Alert) Miami, I came away with a few important observations – other than the fact that South Beach is much warmer than New England in January.

First was the heavy attendance at the HD Voice session. I expected solid interest, but not for it to be SRO and one of the best attended sessions of the entire program. To me, it shows that the market is starting to recognize something I’ve known for years – the difference between HD and SD audio is at least as striking as the difference between HD and SD video. Once you have experienced it, it’s hard to go back to anything less.

“We’re seeing more active talk about routing HD voice calls between carriers and, the fact is, broadband carriers have to start exchanging SIP and supporting HD voice because customers are going to demand it with all U.S. carriers supporting it in 2014,” explained Doug Mohney, TMCnet contributor and HD Voice News editor.

What that means is the market is also starting to understand the value of HD – it’s not just a nice to have, but a real business asset.

“People are starting to get that time is money,” Mohney added. “Lesser quality voice calls waste time, because people have to repeat themselves or Siri has no idea what you said or the speech-to-text voice mail message makes no sense at all.”

We’ve all been there. But, if you weren’t in Miami, don’t miss Doug’s reprise of the HD Voice session at ITEXPO Las Vegas. (Check out www.itexpo.com for all the latest sessions, keynotes, exhibitors, and other opportunities.)

Second was the WebRTC session, Phil Edholm’s (News - Alert) follow-up to a fantastic WebRTC Conference & Expo in San Francisco, also SRO. If you haven’t gotten wind of the latest disruptive communications technology, you haven’t been paying attention. The open source standard enables native browser-to-browser applications for all forms of communication, extending communications to anyone with a web browser.

Its simplicity has the potential to increase use significantly not only in the desktop environment, but also in the mobile world, where users demand ease of use more than anything. With a single click on a link, delivered via email, IM, or text message, users are instantly added to calls. We’ll be hosting the next WebRTC Expo in Atlanta this June (www.webrtcexpo.com).

Third was the launch of BlackBerry 10, which technically didn’t take place in Miami, but ITEXPO was the first place it was on display. If you thought BlackBerry was dead, the constant crowds around its booth suggest otherwise. Of course, it’s because BlackBerry has finally come out with a device and OS that are worthy of the modern smartphone generation. Check out my conversation with BlackBerry’s John Cash here: http://tmcnet.com/59226.1 (and please fight the temptation to call the company RIM – it’s about time that change was implemented).

And, as you might imagine, also hot was a group of sessions dedicated to service provider revenue generation and protection, which is always crucial to success, but even more so now, considering recent research from both Gartner and Forrester (News - Alert) predicts continued growth in IT spend in all areas – devices, data centers, enterprise software, IT services, and telecom.

And of course, I have to mention the ITEXPO Miami Best of Show winners, which represent as diverse a group of technologies as any we’ve seen to date: http://tmcnet.com/59227.1., representing not only the breadth of content and product at ITEXPO, but more generally, the evolution of the communications and technology markets that ITEXPO embodies.

• Best Service Provider Solution: 911 Enable, Dialexia (News - Alert), Sansay
• Best SMB Solution: Allworx, Epygi, Gladinet
• Best Enterprise Solution: iscoord
• Best Open Source Solution: PaloSanto Solutions
• Best Mobile/Wireless Solution: MatrixComSec, Pulse Supply, Telefonica
• Best Contact Center Solution: Genesys
• Best Onsite Product Launch: Vitelity
• Best Cloud Solution: CloudConnect, Ring Central, Smart Network Solutions
• Most Innovative Solution: CloudTC, NetxUSA
• Best Consumer Offering: ABP Tech, DrayTek

These are only a few of the highlights from ITEXPO – there were many more, from the M2M Battle of the Platforms to John Scully to Microsoft, Cisco, HP, Citrix, IBM, and Gartner (News - Alert) all on one stage together discussing cloud computing. If you missed Miami, don’t make the same mistake twice – book your travel and register now for ITEXPO Las Vegas.