VoiceCon Preview: Exploring and Optimizing IP comm

Today's issue of FierceVoIP serves as a preview of the upcoming VoiceCon conference on March 22-25 which we hope will provide you with some starting points to navigate the show. Print it out, put it in your carry-on and review it on the plane on your way down to Orlando. Hopefully we will give you a few things to think about on the way and some ideas of what you might like to see or hear about in terms of booths on the show floor, discussion panels, break-out sessions, deep dives and keynote speakers.

Next week's VoiceCon conference has two focuses for its attendees comparing various IP communications platforms and customers getting the most out of the systems they've deployed. A recent report "US Business VoIP Overview: Optimization Trumps Expansion" from Research and Markets says that by 2013, 79 percent of businesses will have deployed VoIP in some fashion. According to that report, the focus of our industry will be on optimizing those systems and that is exactly what attendees at VoiceCon will be looking at.

Last year we found interoperability, telepresence, cloud computing and media phones to be some of the hot topics at the show. This year some of these trends continue and merge as the discussions become more nuanced. As telepresence becomes more widespread and in demand, how do enterprises move from interoperability within to interoperability with outside companies? Media phones tied to the desk are on the verge of being replaced with a mobility focus, moving UC software to the mobile phone and applying our IP comm advancements to further support the mobile workforce. Attending the show, participants will get to explore some key areas in the deployment and optimization of IP communications like Unified Communications, Video offerings and mobility. Conference attendees will have an opportunity to see some of the latest advances in these fields while watching some of the keynotes from Avaya, Siemens, Cisco, IBM and Microsoft should give them a clear indication of where some of the bigger companies are going.

Read on to see some of our topic highlights as well as our preview of the conference schedule and some helpful links to help you navigate the show. Perhaps we will see you next week outside the press room or wandering the show floor! -Mike