Conference session descriptions.

Large Enterprise VoIP Workshop

Discovering the Value of IP

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 12:00-12:45 pm

Advancements in IP technology have provided organizations with a multitude of communication options for sharing critical data and information. However, IP technology is not simply about the unprecedented number of communication options it provides; its true value rests in how IP can contribute to an intelligent business plan, both by cultivating financial growth and providing competitive advantages for the enterprise. This session will focus on the business objectives and advantages of installing an IP-based enterprise communication solution. The panelists will illustrate the benefits that IP presents for protecting existing network investments and improving overall performance.

How to Build Large-Scale Enterprise IP Telephony Solutions

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

Vendors are now starting to deliver their next generation IP telephony building blocks. What is it that makes these components so different from their predecessors? More importantly, how do they make the construction and deployment of world-class IP telephony solutions faster, easier, and more cost effective? Attend this fun, yet thought provoking session to discover how you will benefit by creating large scale enterprise IP telephony solutions from next generation hardware. Subjects covered will include next generation component and solution architecture, scalability, technology compatibility and challenging deployments. Thought you knew everything about enterprise IP telephony solutions? Come along and find out!

Can VoIP Meet Its Social Obligations in a Regulated World?

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

VoIP allows not only encrypted and reliable real-time conversations, but also the ability to sidestep law enforcement intercepts, provide user anonymity, and avoid tariffs and taxes imposed upon traditional telecoms providers. The presentation will discuss the current state of VoIP regulations, including enforcement access, emergency services, consumer protection, taxation structures, and more. The speaker will highlight how current and planned VoIP architectures can meet many of the frequently raised data protection and social obligation concerns as well as attempt to project the impact that existing and proposed VoIP regulations will have upon the VoIP industry and whether VoIP will remain an independent segment of the IT/telecommunications market.

QoS & Network Monitoring for Successful Large-Scale VoIP

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 3:00-3:45 pm

This presentation will explore the recent trends across large corporations in the move to VoIP as well as the role of service and IT monitoring tools and how they can be leveraged to improve ROI. Topics include the challenges of managing IP telephony and converged voice and data infrastructures; the trends surrounding managed VoIP and what many services providers are doing to support their enterprise customers; and the role of service monitoring tools in improving service reliability and reducing the cost of managing converged environments.

Mr. VoIP Goes to Washington: A Department of Defence Certification Case Study

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 4:00-4:45 pm

Deployment of VoIP in government markets holds some special challenges, particularly with the Department of Defense Department. The U.S. DoD is managing some of these challenges via a testing and certification process that is likely the most stringent within this industry. What can enterprises learn from this thorough testing? Certification by the DoD's Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) may provide a powerful indicator of VoIP solution performance in mission-critical enterprise networks. This presentation explains the testing procedures used by JITC and how their published results may be used by government and enterprise organizations who are evaluating VoIP solutions.

Enterprise/Government Solutions

VoIP: Where We're Going, Where We've Been

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 10:15-11:00 am

Join this session if you are new to the world of Voice over IP or if you feel you need a refresher course. The speakers will consider the essential technical differences between traditional telephony and IP telephony, the challenges that these differences present and the way that they can be overcome in successful real-life deployments. The rules have significantly changed and the way we think about telephony solutions must also change. This is truly a can't-miss session for attendees looking for a thorough overview.

Open Your Heart To A Beating Heart of IP

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 11:15-12:00 pm

Most of us have heard the negative arguments as to why IP solutions can't be trusted to run your business communications on--well this session is aimed at anyone with such doubts. Many early communication product propositions had the IP aspects bolted on, rather than being an intrinsic part of the design. As the technology developers have become increasingly familiar with the latest silicon and software we're starting to see the real "ground up" designs coming through, which have IP at the core and TDM connectivity as an option. This session will highlight some typical 'old and new' architectures that many of the audience need to be aware of, along with the key benefits of selecting a beating heart of IP for their communication solution.

Peer-to-Peer IP Telephony

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

Peer-to-Peer VoIP is a potentially disruptive force that is taking the IP telephony market by storm. Or perhaps, "incrementally by storm." Little by little, bit by bit, this approach to VoIP is increasingly taking hold. Proponents tell us that P2P VoIP addresses issues such as scalability, security, redundancy that are required in enterprise and service provider implementations, while supporting basic as well as innovative features. Come to this session to see what all the fuss is about.

VoIP From the Trenches: Real Life Successes

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

This panel discussion will feature several telecom dealers talking about their experiences deploying IP in a variety of industries. Among the topics they will address:

* Understanding when pure IP telephony is the best choice

* Migrating TDM users to IP telephony

* Identifying and overcoming technology hurdles

* Finding creative solutions

* Taking VoIP mobile (wireless phones, softphones, etc.)

* Calculating ROI--cost savings and productivity increases.

The Future of Enterprise Applications

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 3:00-3:45 pm

As more and more customers become accustomed to using VoIP, they'll begin to expect value-added enhancements and additional benefits, aside from cost savings alone. What types of VoIP-enabled services and applications will be developed to satisfy this demand? What will be the "next big thing" in the VoIP market? How will savvy vendors, service providers, and application developers take advantage of this capability? How will they use VoIP technology to roll out previously impossible or unheard-of applications and maximize the benefits for end users? Come to this session to catch a glimpse of the future of enterprise VoIP.

Enterprise Traffic Management Challenges

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

IT professionals have been examining their networks in critical detail to uncover hidden or latent problems since the dawn of networking, with the ultimate goal of improving delivery of mission-critical business applications. This discipline of troubleshooting has grown in importance in the age of VoIP with multimedia applications, global networks, and new protocols. This session will discuss how gaining greater visibility into the network is leading organizations to better management of their converged networks and optimized delivery of all business and voice services. Other topics will include setting QoS policies, data collection/troubleshooting, and how applications impact each other when traversing the same network segments.

Managing Your Network for High-Quality Voice

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 12:30-1:15 pm

Throwing voice packets onto a LAN and hoping for the best is easy. Deploying high-quality VoIP is a bit more challenging. This session will address the need for service quality management and how unleashing the network infrastructure, enforcing a centralized policy for end-to-end QoS, and controlling network resources on a proactive basis can deliver high levels of quality for IP communications. The session will also address related issues of bandwidth shaping and equalizing technology that are designed to enable IT professionals to manage their enterprise voice and data network.

Enterprise/Government

SESSION TBD 

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 1:30-2:15 pm

Clearing the Way for VoIP in the Branch Office--What's The Hidden Cost?

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 2:30-3:15 pm

Today, VoIP is being deployed in the branch office at a steady rate--up to 10 percent a year, according to Yankee Group. However, merging voice and data networks can cause significant problems, including bandwidth issues, a lack of networking standards and the need for traffic management solutions to prioritize voice traffic. Each of these challenges brings hidden costs that can offset the financial benefits of VoIP if not addressed properly. This presentation will discuss ways that corporations with multi-site branch office networks can utilize the latest technologies to ensure a successful VoIP deployment. Attendees will learn how to address the common challenges, such as performance, IP resource sharing, and traffic prioritization for successful VoIP implementation as well as dealing with issues such as latency and jitter with packet fragmentation 

VoIP's Role in Military & First-Responder Communications

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 3:30-4:15 pm

In the military, and any other government agency, communication is key to successfully deploying tactical and strategic initiatives in a timely manner. Getting critical information in the right hands in real time is vital to dealing with emergency situations. Unified communication technologies that combine voice, video, and data over the Internet might be the answer, especially if they have security built in. Attendees will learn about various software available to ensure secure, real-time collaboration among government, military, and first-responders nationwide; hear recommendations on what to look for when choosing a provider; and learn what the future of IP-based collaboration will look like.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

SMB VoIP Summit

Why VoIP Makes Sense for SMBs

Friday, January 27, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

VoIP is not just for big companies; it makes sense for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) as well. Presenters will educate the audience on VoIP for the SMB enterprises, covering why it is smart for SMBs, how to make smart decisions in deciding on a VoIP system, costs of implementing VoIP versus cost savings, and how it will positively impact communications at SMBs. The session will also feature several real-world case studies in different vertical markets showing the benefits of VoIP for SMBs

Considerations for Choosing a VoIP Solution

Friday, January 27, 2006: 12:15-1:00 pm

Speakers will examine the business case for purchasing either an on-site IP PBX or a hosted VoIP solution. Other points of discussion will center on discrediting many of the myths surrounding VoIP as a viable option for business owners, enabling them to see the business value and ease of converting to and using a VoIP phone system. Learn about the ease of management and economic advantages of VoIP, and the business advantages that VoIP creates. Real-world examples include how the find-me/follow-me feature associated with VoIP is much more reliable and functional for mobile workers than that of a traditional phone system, as well as how VoIP phone systems create new business intelligence systems for companies that are looking for better monitor various metrics in different parts of their operations.

Best Strategies for Leveraging VoIP

Friday, January 27, 2006: 1:15-2:00 pm

Learn the benefits of using IP telephony, the various applications that small enterprises can leverage, and the business benefits for doing so. Discuss ROI and anecdotes of how using an IP telephony system enabled these companies to help meet the demands of growth. Proposed panelists will include representatives from small businesses including a financial services firm, a retail mail order sports apparel business, and a manufacturer and distributor of men's and women's watches and clothing.

Partnering For Success: SMB Opportunities for Resellers

Friday, January 27, 2006: 2:15-3:00 pm

VoIP, once the domain of only large enterprises and, more recently, home consumers, is becoming increasingly attractive to small and medium-sized businesses. Indeed, the SMB space is still virtually untapped and presents a tremendous opportunity for resellers and service providers. Aimed at resellers who want to increase their share of the SMB market for VoIP, this session will cover selling SMBs on VoIP applications that will help them conduct business more efficiently and more profitably; taking advantage of developments in SMB network architecture; and more.

Open Source Summit

Open Source & VoIP

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 12:00-12:45 pm

Open Source--software where the source code is available for anyone to improve or modify--has the potential to change the telecom landscape forever. Already, Linux has made huge headway into this market, and the advent of open source has caused quite a stir. Developers need to know what is available in the open source marketplace and how best to leverage the freedom inherent in a distributed community of programmers to amend and adapt code for their VoIP development needs. This session will address the role of the various emerging VoIP standards and what they mean to the development of open source.

Semiconductor Design Techniques for Open Source VoIP

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

The combination of VoIP solutions and open source applications is creating disruptive industry change. The legacy telecom equipment manufacturers have to compete with datacom box makers, and using open source for the data side is a huge boost. Amidst the increase in the competition, the question remains on how best to implement open source applications with VoIP semiconductor architecture that creates a complete system solution while maintaining quality and performance. This session will look at the innovative semiconductor design techniques and challenges for combining open source applications with VoIP architecture that will enable equipment manufacturers to implement a new class of sophisticated and low-cost VoIP systems.

Open Source: Empowering the Channel

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

To level the playing field for enterprise communications products and applications, an open, standards-based approach is required to provide the requisite incentives to move the channel away from selling black box VoIP solutions from proprietary vendors. SIP is that standard for IP enterprise communications and has come a long way in terms of empowering end customers with the power to choose the right products to meet their specific application, cost point, and access requirements. Open source is the mechanism that allows the channel to reset the cost structure of enterprise VoIP equipment, enabling them to bring best-in-class, multi-vendor solution sets to market at price points unmatched by single vendors. Combining open source and SIP allows the channel to create true customer choice via interoperability at their own pace, from circuit-based communications to packet-based.

Combining Open Source and SIP to Create Real-Time Presence Based Services

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 3:00-4:45 pm

The combination of standards-based SIP and open source allows designers the ability to interconnect applications and devices across networks and devices. Leveraging embedded SIP in presence-based audio and video applications provides a solid foundation for the next generation of real-time communications and enables a built-in interoperability framework that provides maximum flexibility in terms of overall solution flexibility. Examine an overview of SIP-based technologies available, and examine the work underway in various open source communities and within the IETF. Learn how the flexibility of open source and the interoperability of embedded SIP can be used to effectively build a framework for real-time communication. Gain an understanding of the newest SIP-based, embedded technologies and open source projects that are key components expected to move presence applications into the mainstream.

IP Telephony Development

VoIP Without DSPs: Challenges & Opportunities

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 10:15-11:00 am

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) may feel themselves left out of the picture when it comes to VoIP solutions. They can look to 'VoIP enable' their legacy equipment or seek out IP-Centrex offerings, but are IP centric solutions solely within the reach of the larger corporate enterprises? Host-based media processing (HMP) provides the ideal VoIP solution for SMEs as these solutions remain scalable and easily ported to higher density products when required. On the consumer front, advancements in RISC processor technology have eliminated the need for a separate DSP core in low channel count VoIP endpoints by the introduction of RISC based SOCs These DSP-less solutions can enable the lowest system and ownership costs for VoIP devices. Come to this session to learn more about the challenges and opportunities for VoIP without DSPs.

Maximizing ATCA VoIP Application Performance

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 11:15-12:00 pm

VoIP development platforms are a constantly evolving lot. From PCI and CompactPCI to today's most advanced ATCA and microTCA-based platforms, there are so many changes that it might be tough to stay abreast of all that is happening in this fast-moving space. Attend this session, and you'll hear the presenters talk about powerful, standards-based computing solutions and hot swap and high availability capabilities for communications applications and how it all relates to your development plans.

Essential Issues in VoIP Development

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

Service providers and equipment manufacturers are so focused on quickly bringing VoIP to market, there is no uniform architecture being adopted. This poses many challenges in developing VoIP applications as developers must consider myriad network architectures when creating the hot, new applications that promise end users ultimate convenience, flexibility, and personalization. This session will discuss the key areas that will impact an application developer's ability to stay ahead of constant change in telecommunications and build the most agile and vigorous applications, including standards, reliability, scalability and more.

Triple Play Development Considerations

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

As competition increases, service providers are seeking killer applications and services to attract and keep customers. The fixed PSTN carriers are facing a decline in revenue from voice due to the increased market share being captured by mobile service providers, cable service providers providing VoIP, and VoIP service providers. This introduces new services into the networks. Since devices on all these different networks have different voice and video properties, media processing is required to enable transcoding, resolution change, and frame rate change. The presentation will discuss the requirements for providing cross-network services in cost-effective systems that allow fast ROI to service providers, thereby paving the way for mass deployment. Topics will also include network convergence issues, design, deployment, architectural considerations, service management, service assurance tools and more.

Developing IP Phones

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 3:00-3:45 pm

The VoIP market is growing, and distinct market segments are taking shape. A wide variety of IP phones and other end point devices are being developed to offer access to current VoIP services and future integrated voice/data/video multimedia applications. This session will explore the tools, technologies, and frameworks that exist in today's market for IP phone application development and the different approaches and methodologies that software vendors have at their disposal, depending on their needs for developing applications for IP Phones. Likewise, this session examines the development of enterprise and consumer IP Telephony markets, as well as the future introduction of PSTN-replacement VoIP services from the perspective of IP end points. Five-year forecasts for dedicated IP and SIP phones, softphones, as well as dual-network Wi Fi/cellular handsets are presented.

SIP Workshop

Basics of SIP

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

You constantly hear about SIP, but do you find yourself bewildered by the buzzwords and terminology? Wish someone would tell you what a SIP Proxy is, and why it might feel the need to fork? What advantages does SIP bring? Why should I move now? This "back to basics" session will take a high level look at the SIP protocol and the power it puts in the hands of application developers and solution architects. The presenters will discuss the building blocks required to put together a SIP deployment so you can talk with confidence about how the next generation of telephony products will be built!

SIP Interoperability

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 12:30-1:15 pm

SIP is a promising protocol in VoIP due to its simplicity and flexibility. For better or worse, the barriers for developing SIP-compliant devices have dropped significantly. You can find SIP products from developers who work out of their garage. For carriers who operate SIP-based networks that interoperate with this garage-baked equipment, it is crucial that they can compensate and improve the speech quality from the low-budget equipment so that the overall voice experience does not degrade. This presentation examines these SIP interoperability issues in detail and provides practical solutions for carriers who are facing speech quality issues in their networks.

SIPconnect: An Industry Initiative to Define IP PBX to Service Provider Peering

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 1:30-2:15 pm

Sometimes new product development reaches beyond the boundaries of one company and requires an entire industry effort. In early 2005, Cbeyond Communications teamed up with leading suppliers of PBX and hosted VoIP solutions to develop a standards-based approach for interfacing IP PBXs with VoIP service provider networks. In this presentation, the panel will explore the promise of enabling direct, seamless IP peering between IP PBXs and VoIP-enabled service providers. The strengths of the SIPconnect specification will be discussed as well as the opportunity to accelerate adoption of advanced IP and SIP-based solutions.

Testing SIP Services Over IP

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 2:30-3:15 pm

This session will provide step-by-step instruction on how to implement a robust SIP services testing program. From testing SIP entities, such as user agent servers, SIP proxy/redirect servers, location servers, registration servers, and application servers to SIP interconnection devices such as gateways and mediators, it is critical to test for standard compliance and signaling integrity as well as check performance under real-life and stress load conditions. Delegates to this session will have the opportunity to gain clear insight into what common pitfalls to avoid and what practical guidelines to apply in architecting a VoIP network that will deliver high-quality, high-reliability SIP-based services.

Traversing the Firewall for SIP Call Completion

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 3:30-4:15 pm

Real-time person-to-person communications are fast becoming a critical communications tool for enterprises of all sizes. With the standardization of SIP as the Internet protocol for applications such as VoIP, instant messaging, presence, and video, businesses are eager to adapt their existing hardware to accept SIP quickly, cost-effectively, and securely. Traversing the firewall is a tricky proposition when integrating SIP into any enterprise. This session will cover the basics of SIP, its history, evolution, and predictions for the future, with a focus on solutions for traversing the firewall for SIP-based communications.

Why SIP Will Dominate Enterprise IP Telephony

Friday, January 27, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

As demand for IP telephony and SIP services and implementations continues to accelerate, the public telephone network faces change. A mainstay of the global economy for the past century, it is losing ground to a network of world-wide IP communications integrated with simple, secure, standards-based, applications-rich implementations and services. There can be little doubt of the important role that SIP will play in facilitating this transition and enabling powerful enterprise applications that reduce cost, improve user productivity, and strengthen customer interactions. Some vendors will be slow to appreciate and take advantage of this opportunity. They may focus their energies on attempting to retrain the transition rather than exploring its possibilities. Come to this panel to learn more!

SIP & Session Border Control

Friday, January 27, 2006: 12:15-1:00 pm

Session border controllers are playing and ever increasing role in next-generation network design. Many service providers and carriers depend on session border controllers (SBCs) to provide peering functionality between networks. However, many SIP advocates complain that SBCs break the SIP architecture and are harmful to the overall adoption of SIP in general. This presentation will explore the role of SBCs in pure SIP networks, and analyze standard compliant ways of providing similar functionality without breaking SIP architectural rules.

Service Provider Issues Relating to SIP

Friday, January 27, 2006: 1:15-2:00 pm

As support for SIP continues to grow, creation of SIP-based services becomes a key element for developers to focus on as they scramble for market leadership. This session will provide a close look at examples of promising enterprise, wireless, and wireline applications of SIP, including Push-to-Talk, Infotainment, and the like. The speaker will also focus on the promising wireless applications enabled by SIP as well as the technology and market challenges facing the SIP community.

State of the SIP Union: Best Practices & More

Friday, January 27, 2006: 2:15-3:00 pm

SIP and the applications it supports, from management tools and interactive meetings to voice-enriched e-commerce, are continuously reshaping the way today's organization conducts business by creating increased productivity and enhancing efficiency. This session will address the ins and outs of SIP: how it operates, the advancement of SIP-based solutions, the different diagnostic and support tools that have enabled this protocol to gain such wide acceptance, best practices for deploying SIP solutions, and what the future of innovative SIP-enabled VoIP applications holds. The extension of SIP to provide innovative services and accommodate the requirements of real world deployment, where NATs, service level agreements, and regulators exist is also covered.

Service Provider Solutions

Consumer VoIP Marketing Summit

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 12:00-12:45 pm

If you're a VoIP service provider looking for information on how best to target consumers, then this session is one you can't miss! Based on significant research on consumer adoption of VoIP, this session will educate you on what you need to know about consumers, their habits, their expectations regarding service quality and price, and more. Areas of discussion will include how to price a basic service, how to price add-ons such as follow me services, unified messaging, wireless devices, roaming, and much, much more. Come learn how to get customers to your door!

Nimble & Powerful: Entrepreneurial VoIP Providers' Advantage

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

While the temptation exists to gravitate toward the "big name" carriers, smaller VoIP providers warrant serious consideration and hold the advantage of innovation and responsiveness in this emerging and undefined marketplace. While smaller VoIP carriers that are regulated and tarriffed have the needed connection to the regular telephone network, they can also serve as a nimble center of innovation for the industry. Such providers can act quickly on their customers' needs and problems, even reconfiguring services or offering new ones in response, while also offering the ability to port numbers, assign new numbers, and provide e911 services. New products and services will drive the future of voice communications--and it is the smaller players who will be bringing those to market.

Migrating to VoIP: A Service Provider Round Table

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 2:00-3:45 pm

This session will feature the industry's leading experts in a round table discussion of where exactly we stand in regards to Service Provider IP Telephony. Attendees will come away with a true sense of what's happening in the industry, with perspectives from the leading service providers exploring next-generation solutions, including the latest developments, a glimpse into the future, and some real-life implementation tales that you won't want to miss. Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions, and we'll bring the industry leaders who are best positioned to provide the answers.

Challenges of Delivering Rural VoIP

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 4:00-4:45 pm

Today's long-distance landscape can seem a bit daunting for the small independent. In a world of rapidly changing technology, impending VoIP, and mega-billion dollar mergers, competing for customers can feel like more of a burden than an opportunity. To be successful, RLECs must embrace the revenue and technology opportunities of next generation networks while protecting their existing network's revenue and stability. When intelligent media gateways are placed at the edge of legacy networks, service providers can safely and cost-effectively expand their service offerings. Come and hear about how edge intelligence creates new service opportunities for legacy rural providers.

VoIP @ Retail

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 10:15-11:00 am

Much is being made of the impact of VoIP on enterprise users in corporate settings, using the technology to gain a measure of efficiency and run a smoother operation. However, massive adoption is predicted in the consumer VoIP space, and one of the best ways to deliver to the consumer is through a retail channel strategy. This panel will take a look at retail VoIP through the eyes of hardware companies and carriers, as well as the merchandising buyers from companies like Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Frys, CompUsa, and Best Buy, and discuss the issues associated with not only selling in, but more importantly selling through. If you're looking to move your solution and reach the huge consumer market, you simply have to attend this session.

The Current State of Triple Play

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 11:15-12:00 pm

This panel discussion will look at how broadband technologies and packet communications come together to form flexible architectures demanded by the triple play services. Attendees will have the opportunity to uncover how triple play services lead to a tighter integration between the "digital pipes," service delivery, and service management layers. This session will also focus on some of the business issues facing providers such as how bundling services will change the way carriers, cable, and wireless providers will manage their expenditures and increase their revenues.

A Look at the Hottest New Services

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

VoIP is not cannibalizing the old without providing new revenue streams and increasing customer retention with differentiated services. Smart service providers will add Wi Fi apps to quickly expand their VoIP offering into the cellular market. Conferencing small groups on VoIP is a must. New apps will work with all telephony network types, including VoIP, legacy PSTN, and Wi Fi. Conferencing will be offered as an add-on to an existing plan, as a premium service, through prepaid channels, or as an ad-hoc stand-alone service, providing a solid and long-term revenue stream.

These are just two examples of some hot new VoIP applications that are hitting the marketplace right now. This session will explore new ways for carriers to increase profit, arbitrage VoIP and cell rates, increase service coverage, and expand service minutes--all with differentiated services.

IP Solution Architectures for Deploying Video Services

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

In traditional video infrastructures, one network element did both the service logic for an application (e.g., video conferencing) and the media processing for it (e.g., video mixing, video play and record, etc.) For audio, the softswitch architecture successfully broke that monolithic platform into an application server and a media server, with the former handling just the signaling and the latter just the media streams. The value of this decomposition is now slowly being felt in the video space, where the H.323 MCU, containing both service logic and media processing, is still king. This session will discuss the drivers for a separate, multi-service IP media server, how it supports all voice and video services, and how it can be controlled using SIP and associated protocols to deliver cost-effective, scalable IP-based video conferencing services.

Developing Carrier P2P VoIP Applications

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 3:00-3:45 pm

Peer-to-peer SIP communications promise greater network efficiencies and simpler operations. However, this same enabling technology raises a major business issue for large VoIP carriers who manage multilateral interconnection among a large number of service provider domains, namely: How does the inter-exchange VoIP carrier realize the benefits of peer-to-peer communications within the telephone business model which requires secure inter-carrier routing, access control, and accounting (call detail records). One solution to this problem is based on the Open Settlement Protocol (OSP). This presentation will attempt to educate SIP developers on how to implement OSP in applications so service providers can securely manage and bill for peer to peer communications.

Open Systems & Network Equipment Design

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

ILECs, CLECs, and cable providers are continually rolling out new IP-based voice services aimed at residential and business markets. In turn, the market for VoIP communications equipment is rapidly expanding to meet the needs of these new service deployments. Open standards solutions are driving innovation, cost reductions and technology advances in the VoIP communications equipment market. Solutions based on CompactPCI, PTMC, and emerging standards such as AdvancedTCA allow OEMs to outsource key subsystems or fully integrated platforms that deliver lower-cost access to the latest technologies and a faster time-to-market. Solutions based on open software standards, such as Linux, provide OEMs with access to a wide range of open source applications and a platform for developing innovative applications and software-based features. This panel will discuss the role of open standards solutions in driving market growth.

Security/Surveillance Over IP

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 12:30-1:15 pm

Video security and surveillance systems are undergoing a transition, moving away from their analog roots to embrace fully digital, IP-based technology. The benefits of moving to IP are many, including advanced compression/decompression techniques that reduce the need for storage capacity, the ability to view the location under surveillance from any point on the network, and more. This session will serve as an introduction to the world of security/surveillance over IP. If you're looking to deploy this type of solution, this is truly a can't-miss session.

Measure Twice, Cut Once: Predeployment Testing

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 1:30-2:15 pm

In today's new world of enhanced applications and services, costs savings, and productivity increases. All these are prompting network operators to converge voice, data, and video applications onto common IP-based networks. However, all these benefits could disappear without comprehensive predeployment testing of equipment, network configurations, and the impact of multiple services on the performance of one another. This caution may be applied especially to VoIP. Thanks to user expectations built up over decades, the ultimate test of voice services lies with delivering five-9's availability and toll-grade performance the first time and every time. This presentation will explore the benefits of converged network predeployment testing, including optimizing network performance, maintaining security, driving cost efficiency, and increasing productivity and profits.

Quality of Service State of the Market

Thursday, January 26: 2006: 2:30-4:15 pm

Once upon a time, VoIP subscribers did not expect PSTN-like QoS. Today, QoS has moved to the forefront due to changes in the legacy interconnect model--the dramatic growth in international VoIP, the transition of incumbents to IP, and the appearance of new players offering IP services. In addition, more Tier 1 carriers are using IP to transport voice traffic between destinations. This presentation will examine the factors that affect VoIP QoS, such as latency of VoIP, bandwidth, network reliability, and jitter. The session will also attempt to answer these questions: How will carriers ensure voice quality will meet or exceed customer expectations? How is voice quality measured? What are equipment manufacturers doing to improve voice quality?

Build or Buy: Challenges of VoIP Deployment

Friday, January 27: 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

The market pundits proclaim, "Today, anyone can become a VoIP service provider." Clearly it's not so simple as buying an ATA and partnering with a CLEC. Or is it? The challenges for broadband service providers deploying VoIP abound. This session will discuss the various pieces necessary to deliver a robust broadband telephony service that rivals incumbent phone service. Should you build your network from scratch? Or can you partner your way to success?

ENUM: The Theory is Done, Now It's Time for the Practice

Friday, January 27, 2006: 12:15-1:00 pm

It can be said that ENUM weds traditional phone numbers and the Internet for VoIP under the ENUM standard, which allows VoIP to use the DNS for signaling. But like any good marriage there are significant adjustments that need to be made. Most current DNS technology suffers from scalability issues. Similarly, the long DNS names of ENUM work poorly when run on DNS servers tuned for short names. Customer data privacy is also a concern. But the marriage can be saved, it just requires attention to the needs of both parties. This session will explain to carriers what they should be putting in their ENUM RFPs, describe the traps of practicality, and demonstrate the ability of practice to match theory.

Video Quality Monitoring

Friday, January 27, 2006: 1:15-2:00 pm

As content providers and network operators continue to migrate more of their live programming to IP networks, they have expressed a need for more visibility into how their networks are performing. IP video monitoring applications are increasingly being called upon to detect problems with the video streams during transport over packet-based networks. Errors such as IP network jitter, packet loss, excessive latency, out-of-order packets, and other visible disruptions can impair the performance of the video and adversely affect the user experience. The presentation will cover some of the strategies that network operators need to consider to isolate and correct those problems quickly.

Number Portability for a Growing VoIP World

Friday, January 27, 2006: 2:15-3:00 pm

Effective number portability for VoIP is a critical precursor to more widespread VoIP adoption and, if done correctly, it will enable VoIP carriers to generate revenues more quickly. But, in order to bring about the promised benefits, the porting of numbers to VoIP carriers' networks must be simplified. This presentation will explore the current challenges of number porting for VoIP, and discuss recent market developments that are promising to smooth out this process, thus collapsing the time needed to convert a customer's status from "new" to "billable." Attendees will learn the unique characteristics of VoIP number porting as well as new market advances that help to bridge the gap between the traditional landline and IP worlds.

IMS Summit

Introduction to IMS

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 12:00-12:45 pm

The IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) specification has taken the industry by storm, promising access-agnostic multimedia services and fixed/mobile convergence. As IMS gains momentum, service providers are rapidly evaluating and converting network architectures in order to experience the cost savings, time-to-market and added capabilities that IMS promises. This session will take a closer look at IMS service infrastructure and components, providing an overview of the critical components that will deliver on IMS' potential.

How Will IMS Affect the Enterprise?

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

Fixed mobile convergence for the enterprise is more than just dual-mode Wi Fi to cellular handoff. Instead, service providers need to focus on delivering additional value in the form of new services that cross network boundaries to simplify today's communications experience, enhance productivity, and deliver cost savings. This session will discuss how solutions should go beyond basic network roaming and handoff to deliver the quality of service that users expect from mission critical voice, regardless of the network. Going forward, presence-enhanced communications that can be driven from integrated group and contact lists across any device will take converged communications to the next level, leveraging the emerging IMS service architecture within the enterprise domain, particularly as it relates to rapid service delivery and personalization, open systems and services, the integration of rich media into IP applications, and the convergence of mobile and fixed networks for enterprise users.

Delivering Services in an IMS World

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

This session will educate the audience on IMS architecture and the benefits, challenges, and service delivery implications for this exciting service infrastructure technology. IMS architecture can support a large variety of diverse IP-based services including push-to-talk, color ring-back tones, speech activated dialing, unified messaging, media transcoding, and multimedia conferencing. Speakers will also discuss a pragmatic migration to IMS, including the benefits of integrating VoIP and mobile services, as well as the multiple services involved in true mobile call convergence.

IMS & Security

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 3:00-3:45 pm

IMS is emerging as the technology that will enable service providers to move beyond the limitations of today's cellular mobile architectures. Not only that, but IMS is rapidly becoming a key element in the development of next-generation networks, both fixed and mobile, potentially giving it a central role in all future networking, not just in wireless networks. This session will address how carriers can provide authentication, integrity and security for all traffic from the multi-mode handset to the network. Among the challenges and uncertainties that must be resolved if IMS is to realize its full potential, the speaker will examine the security impact on the business case for IMS, the types of attacks that may crop up, network vulnerabilities and more. This session will also address the evolving requirements for session border controllers within an IMS environment with special attention being paid to standards body activity, deployment scenarios, and management options.

A Look Ahead: The Future of IMS

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 4:00-4:45 pm

It's become clear that IMS will play a major role in the ongoing convergence of wireline and wireless networks. And operators who are keen to build next-generation services on all-IP infrastructures to save costs and increase the speed of service delivery are already taking their first steps to developing an IMS strategy. But what will the future hold? What challenges and opportunities will we face as we move towards convergence? Come to this session and find out.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

IPTV Summit

Introduction to IPTV

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 10:15-11:00 am

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is the delivery of television or video content broadcast over broadband IP networks, such as those provided by fiber deployments to the home, cable, or DSL. Increasingly, IPTV is being bundled with other services delivered over the broadband pipe, such as voice and high-speed data. This session will serve as your introduction to the world of IPTV as well as services such as video on demand. Attendees are guaranteed to walk away with a greater understanding of the opportunities afforded by this growing technology.

Building the IPTV Service Delivery Infrastructure

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 11:15-12:00 pm

IPTV poses unique challenges for service providers who need to field equipment that allows them to deliver high-quality, time-sensitive video content to hundreds of thousands of subscribers. From core network elements through edge/aggregation devices and video head-ends all the way through to set-top boxes, service providers need to be able to offer their customers a quality experience. This session looks at the elements that go into creating an end-to-end IPTV network.

The Future of Advanced IP Services

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

As IPTV deployments continue to increase in number and move beyond the early adopter stage, service providers face the challenge of driving new revenue while controlling their operating expenses, effectively managing their network bandwidth and leveraging their existing assets to stay competitive. This session will examine the future of open-platform, advanced TV services (e.g., HD, PVR, H.264/MPEG4) and other value added applications (e.g., voice services, messaging, gaming, advertising, etc.). It will also explore the opportunity that telecommunications firms have in their existing (and often unused) assets (internal data and external IP-based content) and how these can be used to drive additional revenue and reduce subscriber churn rates.

Current State of IPTV

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 2:00-3:45 pm

IPTV is making headlines all over the world with stories of modest deployments and plans to expand service to the masses. This session will take a look at the current state of the industry, through a panel discussion with some of the leading equipment makers and service providers serving this nascent market. We'll hear what's real and what's not, as well as what we can expect in the near future as IPTV gains traction.

VoIP Peering Summit

The State of VoIP Peering

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

Get an overview and introduction to VoIP Peering. Hunter Newby of [tel.sup.x] will review the state of VoIP Peering today. He will give history, analogies, and examples of what is happening in the industry to support the claim that voice peering exists and is having a significant impact on the economics of communications. He will stress that cost savings and not "technology for technology's sake" is driving VoIP implementation. Subsequent issues to be addressed will include the so-called "threshold issue" (i.e., are VoIP service providers and enterprise VoIP network managers comfortable peering their voice traffic over the public Internet?).

Technical Issues of VoIP Peering

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 12:30-1:15 pm

VoIP Peering makes sense from a business perspective, but what about the technical details that will get us to the promised land? Technical issues include successful resolution of regulatory concerns such as e911 for VoIP; SIP versus H.323 and the state of each protocol in the network; ongoing interoperability issues between older H.323 gateways; and carrier signaling issues, such as access costs of SS7 and SS7 services. Attendees to this panel discussion can expect to leave with a working knowledge of what it will take to achieve a successful VoIP peering implementation.

VoIP Peering Business Case Studies

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 1:30-3:15 pm

Take a look at several economic business cases for various groups that should consider VoIP Peering:

* RLEC and CLECs: It's time to get the lead out! Start peering your VoIP traffic today.

* MSOs: you're looking for a way to peer and a governing body to manage it. Learn how you can achieve what you're looking for.

* VoBBs: Many of you peer already. Spread the word and drive down costs while taking revenues from the incumbents.

* Enterprise network operators: Many businesses are already peering their VoIP traffic. Hear the proven case studies and improve your bottom line.

VoIP Peering & Session Border Control

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 3:30-4:15 pm

Session Border Controllers (SBCs) offer a wide range of services and security features that address issues caused by boundaries of trust, administration, and policy between service providers. The clash between these boundaries and the peer-to-peer model envisioned by VoIP protocol designers promotes the development of SBCs to and essential function in full-scale commercial deployment of VoIP and integration into the existing PSTN. Come focus on the challenges, requirements, and solutions available for network to network interface for multimedia networks. Topics include routing, policing, security, gateway, billing, and other relevant functions.

Fixed/Mobile Convergence Summit

IMS as a Catalyst for FMC 

Friday, January 27, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

IMS provides a standards-based IP services infrastructure for 3G Wireless Networks. This session will focus on how the IMS architecture can support a large variety of diverse IP-based services including push-to-talk, color ringback tones, speech activated dialing, unified messaging, media transcoding, and multimedia conferencing. The panel will also discuss IMS network elements and how new services, such as mobile call convergence and wide-area synchronization, will be delivered utilizing these components. We'll also discuss how the network evolves and how new elements can be bridged to existing elements to consistently provide key services during the convergence process. Wireline and cable service operators also are now looking towards the IMS as a standards-based architecture for delivering their next generation IP-based services, resulting in an unprecedented opportunity to achieve service convergence across traditionally disparate network technologies.

Challenges of FMC Service Assurance

Friday, January 27, 2006: 12:15-1:00 pm

As the number of mobile and VoIP subscribers grows, service providers are finding ways to extend the reach of mobile services to home and office WLAN zones. With this capability, subscribers will be able to move from their WLAN access points at home to the macro cellular network when traveling and then back to the WLAN connection in their office. As service providers make this transparent coverage available to their customers, they need to look for integrated billing and OSS solutions across the cellular, WLAN, cable and DSL, or PON domains. In addition, billing, service provisioning, management systems, emergency services, customer care, and QoS across the heterogeneous networks also will need to be considered. This presentation will highlight the challenges that solution service providers face with regard to how converging systems affect service delivery, billing, and revenue assurance.

In Control--Managing and Controlling Calls over Fixed and Wireless Networks

Friday, January 27, 2006: 1:15-2:00 pm

Competition among carriers has led to increased customer churn, increasing costs and lowering overall profitability. But this churn also presents unprecedented opportunity for carriers that can effectively build a service delivery network that spans networks and access types. Mobile, fixed, home and business locations all represent connectivity points for most people. To deliver a service that enables the carrier to connect to the person, and not the device, would have tremendous value and encourage customer loyalty in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The opportunity is not without significant challenges. How do carriers deploy services not only across their own disparate networks, but across their customers various access devices, and how do they deliver a seamless service when the call must traverse another operator's network? Given the network interconnection issues, how do carriers deliver service level agreements with the types of QoS required being demanded by customers? This panel will discuss the importance of call control over both networks and the value call control will bring to carriers.

Dual Mode Market Outlook & Review

Friday, January 27, 2006: 2:15-3:00 pm

Wireline and wireless carriers alike are currently exploring the market for fixed/mobile convergence, which allows subscribers to use special two-radio phones to connect to either cellular or WLAN services, depending on best availability. With this technology, users can enjoy a single set of services regardless of their network, with special mobility technology enabling the seamless transition between networks. Networks must support multiple access types from one common core in order to provide profitable, fast, low-cost, bundled services to consumers. All of these factors are pushing wireless and wireline convergence. These issues must be resolved for wireless and wireline service providers to remain competitive. This panel discussion will examine the issues involved in migrating from separate networks to converged networks.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Conferencing & Collaboration

Introduction to Collaboration & Conferencing

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 12:00-12:45 pm

Organizations are waiting for the "killer app" that will help their employees to embrace VoIP, much the same way that the spreadsheet drove the business adoption of the PC. IP-based collaboration tools just may be that killer application, leveraging the familiar environments of Web, voice, data, and video conferencing, while bringing companies the huge cost savings associated with VoIP. This session will cover examples of how companies are pulling together their ongoing converged network initiatives with the savings opportunities available in IP-based conferencing and collaboration to drive the adoption of VoIP.

Adding Video to Enhance the Collaboration Experience

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

Desktop video conferencing will take video conferencing from today's static systems, where expensive equipment is located and reserved for the select few, to a dynamic environment where people can initiate and join calls from IM clients on PCs and 3G mobile terminals. Unfortunately, challenges abound. This session will detail applications like video conferencing and show how companies are using this technology to achieve substantial productivity gains while reducing costs. The panelists will also address the evolution of video and explain the implications for business.

Adding VoIP to Web Conferencing & Collaboration

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

Web conferencing and collaboration has improved productivity, reduced travel costs and even brought conferencing costs down. VoIP helps by adding the voice component, allowing users to participate in conferences via phone, PDA, PC, or other device, extending the functionality of VoIP and conferencing, enabling rich media experiences across devices and networks. Key to providing a complete solution is a VoIP soft client, or VoIP-enabled application that will enable high-quality real-time voice communication between users of the application. Making a sound investment in a flexible framework that includes quality-enhancing algorithms will guarantee faster time-to-market and a sound total life-cycle cost, given the amount of redesign, support, and maintenance any quality issues would otherwise generate. This discussion will cover these and other issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully offer voice capabilities.

IP-Based Collaboration Tools for Teleworking

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 3:00-3:45 pm

Federal, state, and local governments alike are offering various incentives to groups to implement telework programs. Converged, IP-based collaboration tools enable teleworkers to keep in close contact with their colleagues and managers with features such as live video, telephone-quality audio, instant messaging, joint editing, secure file storage, and application viewing, while the presence capabilities in many enable managers to see when their teleworkers are online for quick communications. The panel discussion will provide tips and tricks on both finding a technology provider and handling the common obstacles to effective implementation and management.

Presence & Unified Communications 

Tuesday, January 24, 2006: 4:00-4:45 pm

IP-based conferencing is certainly not your father's conferencing solution. It converges real-time voice, Web, and collaboration tools over a single packet-based network, creating a new, productivity-enhancing user experience. IP is turning conferencing into a one-click, on-demand, desktop-centric paradigm. Users will be able to tap into a rich new range of conferencing services, such as presence- and location-based information about conferences, click-to-call scheduling, instant messaging, and document sharing. This session will discuss the experiential differences between traditional PSTN conferencing and the new world of unified IP conferencing. Discussion will focus on recommendations for better preparing users to take full advantage of the technology's workplace productivity gains.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

IP Contact Center Summit

Benefits of VoIP in the Contact Center

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 10:15-11:00 am

With the versatility that VoIP offers, contact centers will now have the opportunity to redefine themselves. By breaking out of the traditional telephony boundaries and utilizing the benefits of VoIP, contact centers can engage in more dynamic dialogues and value-added interactions. Branch offices, as well as back offices, become part of the overall customer service delivery channel. In this session, we will explore these opportunities and discuss the things that an organization needs to be thinking about to take full advantage of the opportunity that VoIP delivers.

Essentials in Evaluating IP Contact Center Solutions

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 11:15-12:00 pm

Increasing demand for 24X7X365 service, workforce globalization, open standards, and rapid technological innovation have all converged to set the stage for the IP contact center. And while IP solutions offer great potential when it comes to extending the contact center across the enterprise, the marketing hype surrounding the advent of VoIP can set organizations up for disappointment if they jump in head first without truly considering the practical implications. In this session, we will uncover a series of "essentials" that a truly effective IP solution should have--and examine real-world examples that put these essentials to the test. Learn from the experience of successful implementations how to overcome your technology challenges and take advantage of the cost savings, increased flexibility, and enhanced productivity an IP contact center delivers.

Keeping the Customer First

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 1:00-1:45 pm

The next decade of customer care will feature everything from true multimedia contact solutions to seamless multi-site integration to dynamic use of varying service models, including self-service, that are optimized for specific customers. In this session, attendees will learn about real customer deployments and how the latest IP-based routing software improved their business, as well as the important technical issues required of next-generation routing and how the latest IP systems solve fundamental routing challenges. The speakers will provide real-world business cases about the challenges faced by their customers and how deploying an IP-enabled, software-only system allows them to address the challenges by focusing on improving their contact routing capabilities.

IP Contact Center Shootout 

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 2:00-3:45 pm

Come hear a group of industry leaders debate and discuss the relative merits of their IP Contact Center solutions and the overall state of the IP Contact Center industry. This double session promises to be a lively, engaging look at what the industry leaders have to say about their products and their competition. This unique opportunity enables interested parties to get live information directly from the "horses' mouths" as attendees will be given an opportunity to ask the panel their own insightful questions. Past shootouts have covered topics as diverse as the benefits of transitioning to IP in the contact center, offshoring, remote agent strategies, and more.

WIFI Telephony Summit

Introduction to WiFi Telephony

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

As more companies investigate the costs and benefits of wireless communications, they face a number of questions specific to deploying 802.11. This session will discuss many of these issues, including network security, delivering enterprise-specific features throughout an 802.11 network, technical considerations when integrating 802.11 into an existing converged infrastructure, and vendor-neutral practical applications.

WiFi VoIP: From Installation to Implementation

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 12:30-1:15 pm

Come learn about WiFi in a VoIP application, from installation to successful implementation. Discuss network assessments (making sure the wireless network is ready for voice), advantages of WiFi, and troubleshooting your VoWiFi system. Other topics of conversation will include advantages of WiFi, types of wireless phones (mobile, softphones, mobile/cellular combos), and the future of WiFi. The speaker will provide successful case studies and give an example of a successful VoWiFi install.

Application Performance Requirements for VoWiFi Network Design

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 1:30-2:15 pm

Are wireless networks and technologies mature enough to deliver voice? It's certainly easier to successfully deliver data than voice. Data can be rapidly transmitted without worrying about the effect of network delay, latency, or QoS. WLAN providers, equipment manufacturers, network designers, and operators must now prove that WLANs and wireless handsets can meet the strict network performance requirements required for high-quality delivery of voice. To achieve acceptable voice quality, they must understand relevant performance requirements that affect the network's ability to manage voice and other real-time applications. This presentation will discuss performance requirements and the emerging standards that are being developed to support voice.

Deploying WiFi Telephony in the Enterprise

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 2:30-3:15 pm

Economics and performance are pushing WiFi telephony to the forefront of successful technologies in the workplace. Companies are not only saving money by deploying voice on WLANs, but also increasing revenues by boosting productivity in employees across the workplace. Employees benefiting from WiFi telephony's mobility are collaborating better with coworkers, responding faster to clients and overall improving performance. This session will provide attendees with invaluable tips for successful WiFi telephony deployments in the workplace. With careful planning, WiFi telephony can be used for converged applications that will continue to benefit the workplace well into the future.

Technical Challenges to WiFi Deployment

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 3:30-4:15 pm

Are wireless networks and technologies mature enough to deliver voice? It's certainly easier to successfully deliver data than voice. Data can be rapidly transmitted without worrying about the effect of network delay, latency, QoS, etc. WLAN providers, equipment manufacturers, network designers and operators must now prove that WLANs and wireless handsets can meet the strict performance requirements required for high-quality delivery of voice. To achieve acceptable voice quality, they must understand relevant performance requirements that affect the network's ability to manage voice and other real-time applications. This presentation will discuss performance requirements and the emerging standards that are being developed to support voice.

NEW!

Voice Communities Summit

How to Add Voice to Your Web Community

Friday, January 27, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

Voice-Enabled Communities are on the cusp of becoming ubiquitous. The potential to add applications and derive revenue is just too great to stop this from happening. This session will explore the necessary components that go into a successful voice deployment. Topics will cover the hardware and software elements needed in such a solution as well as the back end provisioning solutions needed to create a voice enabled community.

A Look at the Voice Community Market

Friday, January 27, 2006: 12:15-2:00 pm

The whole concept of voice-enabling communities is in its infancy. There are hundreds of thousands of communities on the Web from information sites to dating services to blog sites. The next phase of growth in these communities will be voice enablement. We will see the ability to click to call other people in a community as a service that many communities allow. This panel will address the leading trends and opportunities that voice enabling an online community can deliver.

Profit From Voice Enabling Your Community

Friday, January 27, 2006: 2:15-3:00 pm

Voice is the next phase of the Internet. eBay's acquisition of Skype is certainly proof of that. We can and will voice-enable anything and everything. We will do this because voice is the most natural interface we have and we will do this because there is money to be made by doing it. Most importantly, after eBay voice-enables every product and service they have, we will do it to be competitive and to meet customer demand. Come to this session to see beyond the hype and learn about the fabulous opportunities that exist to profit from a voice-enabled community.

E-911/Regulation

VoIP Regulatory Update

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 10:15-11:00 am

This session will serve as an update on VoIP regulatory and compliance issues. Attendees can get up to speed on the latest situation regarding the support of CALEA, E911, and taxation issues. Recent FCC rulings will be explored and the ramifications for the industry will be addressed. Some topics covered would include where carriers stand in their ability to support 911, wiretapping, and the touchy issue of taxing the regulated providers to pay to support these initiatives.

E-911 Technical Session

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 11:15-12:00 pm

This session will take an "under the hood" look at the technology behind E911 and how VoIP service providers will be able to offer a reliable, working service, allowing consumers to reach emergency personnel in a time of need. This session will also discuss the technological advantages of using a VoIP-based solution in times of crisis such as the recent hurricane strikes that damaged traditional telecommunications networks. If you need to know how today's solutions work, and how they might work in your network, you need to attend this session.

ECA: Enterprise VoIP Regulation Issues

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 1:00-2:45 pm

Addressing Sarbanes-Oxley Mandates in an IP World

Wednesday, January 25, 2006: 2:00-2:45 pm

As an increasing number of consumers and businesses look to leverage the benefits of IP technology, service providers and enterprises need to pay close attention to meeting the stringent reporting and disclosure mandates set forth in the Sarbanes-Oxley act. This presentation will explain the regulations of Sarbanes-Oxley, how it impacts service providers and vendors in terms of billing requirements, delivering secure communications, maintaining proper reporting activities, compliance procedures, and other key elements. The session would also focus on various strategies service providers and enterprises can deploy to ensure that they meet the compliance mandates of Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as point out some of the more common mistakes vendors make when seeking solutions to meet Sarbanes-Oxley.

Mobility Summit

VoIP Mobility Applications

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

Connecting the mobile workforce by providing solutions that address business continuity, mobility, and telecom cost control will empower employees to maintain communications effectiveness under any outage or disaster situation and proceed with "business as usual." Essential to maintaining communications is uninterrupted access to company applications, communications tools, and essential content that's located on the Internet and intranet. Identify and address business benefits and the expected productivity payback of expanding access to the corporate network using wireless devices and mobility applications.

Presence & Converged Mobility

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 12:30-1:15 pm

One of the most significant benefits to implementing converged mobility technology is the unprecedented ability it affords users to detect, report, and react to events and information as they occur. This session will highlight the operational benefits that organizations can gain from the implementation of presence and converged mobility. Presence offers the capability for business professionals to finely tune their channels of communication with a unified system for managing contacts and messages; converged mobility allows access to company information without regard to physical location. Combined, these technologies provide a company's customers, partners, and employees with powerful tools to more quickly and efficiently manage and complete their responsibilities.

Building the Business Case for WiMAX

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 1:30-2:15 pm

The challenge to build a compelling and sustainable business case for WiMAX will first be met under the stealth of Wireless Fixed Access with Fixed Operators, WISPs, as well as possibly some new, non-traditional providers. Soon after, WiMAX vendors will be frantically migrating to the promise of mobility with 802.16e to realize even further market potential/penetration in 2006. This session will discuss the challenges ahead to ensure the adoption and acceptance of WiMAX. Such challenges include migration path requirements, fixed/mobile convergence opportunities, time-to-market pressures from other technologies for mobility, and the standards versus proprietary battle to deliver on the difficult mobility requirements.

VoIP Mobility Reality Check

Thursday, January 26, 2006: 2:30-4:15 pm

The VoIP explosion is underway. VoIP is now unleashed to be viable solution for wireless and WiFi users. Mobile professionals can incorporate VoIP communications wherever they connect. This panel discussion explores the transitions in telecom, examines VoIP's current trend towards supporting mobile users, and addresses implications to consider when implementing a mobile VoIP solution. Special attention will be paid to the subject of softphones and truly mobile VoIP applications. Come to this session to learn about the true state of the VoIP mobility market.

VoIP Security Summit

Back to School With VoIP Security

Friday, January 27, 2006: 8:30-9:15 am

This panel discussion featuring the Associate Director, Enterprise Communication Systems at the University of Cincinnati, will address what is required for a robust, secure IP telephony network. The panel will be able to discuss and answer the following:

* What are the steps in having a secure, IP telephony network?

* What does an enterprise need to be aware of before rolling out a converged network?

* How can an enterprise protect itself against the growing number of vulnerabilities that may attack the VoIP infrastructure?

The University of Cincinnati recently installed a secure, converged network that, in one month, blocked more than 1.5 million assaults. Come hear this compelling tale of a real life deployment and what the University went through to achieve secure scalable VoIP.

Challenges of Enterprise VoIP Security

Friday, January 27, 2006: 12:15-1:00 pm

With ever-increasing sophisticated means of intrusion, viruses, and worms, network administrators cannot focus on safeguarding traditional channels on the network. Along with the increasing number of large-scale VoIP deployments, administrators also need to look at their VoIP network as a point of potential attack. Managing computer and data network security is a tough challenge--and it will continue to get tougher. VoIP equipment is based on computers and data networks; by adopting VoIP, you are adopting all the security problems inherent in computer systems and data networks. However, with proper planning and attention to security details, you can prevent, detect, and react to security problems in an efficient manner. This presentation will open your eyes to see beyond traditional "security" tactics and the importance of safeguarding the entire network, especially in the new vulnerable area of VoIP.

Service Provider Security Concerns

Friday, January 27, 2006: 1:15-2:00 pm

One of the biggest hurdles when it comes to the successful deployment of VoIP at any level is security. This is particularly true when it comes to replacing carrier-grade systems with VoIP. Many carriers have now committed to moving to VoIP in the next few years, but to ensure the same reliability as PSTN, they need to take a serious look at all aspects of security in their VoIP deployment. While VoIP security is a technical issue, the consequences of taking a reactive approach to VoIP security or of dealing with an attack are truly business problems that can't be ignored. This session will include: an overview of the types of threats and attacks faced by VoIP, such as theft of service, eavesdropping, and service availability attacks, with a special focus on new and emerging threats as well as a look at why traditional data security technologies don't provide the answer and the unique requirements of VoIP security.

VoIP Mobility & Security

Friday, January 27, 2006: 2:15-3:00 pm

Extensive VoIP deployment is imminent in wireless networks. Dual-mode mobile phones are now providing voice services using VoIP over WiFi when available, and cellular elsewhere. And as mobile phones are upgraded to the IMS standard, VoIP will be ubiquitous even over wide area cellular networks. But wireless VoIP is vulnerable to a host of security headaches that threaten to slow or stop the technology's adoption. This session will discuss the need for and approaches to preventing the unauthorized use of the VoIP network; protecting the privacy of VoIP users; protecting VoIP network infrastructure assets and endpoints from various VoIP specific Denial of Service (DoS) attacks; SPAM; and other risks.