DiVitas aiming to speed up the pace of FMC, mobile-to-mobile convergence

Convergence & VoIP This newsletter is sponsored by ShoreTel eBook: IP Telephony from A to Z Get the book on VoIP, from vendor evaluation and selection to ensuring reliability and security. Whether you're considering a rollout or you've already deployed, you'll quickly get up to speed on the most important IP telephony issues and factors. Network World's Convergence & VoIP Newsletter, 06/27/07 DiVitas aiming to speed up the pace of FMC, mobile-to-mobile convergence By Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick Following up on the fixed-mobile convergence topic we covered last week, we had a chance to discuss FMC trends with Vivek Khuller, president and CEO of DiVitas Networks. DiVitas is focused on helping to “unwire” businesses communications using mobile-to-mobile convergence. The company’s MMC solution leverages technologies like Wi-Fi, open source software and smart mobile devices to extend business applications over wireless LANs, hot spots and cellular networks. It is also appliance-agnostic. One concept Khuller advanced was the idea of “corridor warriors” – suggesting that even workers who typically spend most of their work hours in the office can also benefit from FMC/MMC. He cited a 2006 Yankee Research report that estimates about 75% of corridor warriors are limited to a desktop phone and don’t have access to mobility. But based on his company’s ROI modeling, an MMC solution can achieve an operating cost benefit to even office assistants and IT staff in as few as three to five months — including the cost of the premise-based MMC infrastructure and mobile handsets. When speaking of handsets, Khuller noted that one particular challenge for an FMC/MMC enterprise solution is integrating so many variants of mobile handsets. A handset supplier’s mobile device product life is typically six to 12 months, and the shelf life of a business mobile handset is, on average, less that 24 months. Consequently, any solution supplied to the enterprise must quickly adapt to new handsets, new software revisions, and support multiple operating systems like those supplied on a Microsoft, Linux, or Symbian base. Khuller suggests that sustaining cost-effective upgrades in a dynamic handset environment coupled with the ongoing changes in the Wi-Fi, IP-PBX, and cellular networks is a complex task, and a task that requires a sustainable underlying approach to development. Executive Guide - VoIP: No Turning Back Discover how real-work enterprises are deploying VoIP via several case studies Click here for more information. Our analysis: As with many technology lifecycles, it looks like the introductory innovations for FMC/MMC will likely happen first within enterprise premises-based solutions. Once some of the technology challenges are resolved and carriers start to lose market share to private solutions, maybe the carriers will finally pick up the pace of FMC/MMC deployment.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. For more detailed information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter, connect to Webtorials, the premier site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and market research. Taylor can be reached at taylor@webtorials.com Larry Hettick is an industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in voice and data. He is Vice President for Telecom Services and Infrastructure at Current Analysis, the leading competitive response solutions company. He can be reached at lhettick@currentanalysis.com This newsletter is sponsored by ShoreTel eBook: IP Telephony from A to Z Get the book on VoIP, from vendor evaluation and selection to ensuring reliability and security. Whether you're considering a rollout or you've already deployed, you'll quickly get up to speed on the most important IP telephony issues and factors. ARCHIVE Archive of the Convergence & VoIP Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007