January 11, 2008
By Rich Tehrani
President and Editor-in-Chief
IP Communications Continues to Evolve
By Rich Tehrani
President and Editor-in-Chief
Touchstone (News - Alert) Technologies has been supplying test and measurement equipment and services for communications since 1989. The company, led by CEO/CTO Mark A. Stacy serves a roster of customers that includes the likes of AT&T, Bell Canada, Cisco, Ericsson (News - Alert), Intel, JITC, Juniper Networks, Lucent, Motorola, Polycom, Siemens, Sonus Networks, SPRINT, Verizon and many others.
I caught up with Stacy who shared his thoughts on the future of the IP
communications industry as well as what his company is up to.
communications industry as well as what his company is up to.RT: What has been your company’s biggest achievement in 2007?
MS: We have entered into a successful field trial for our new 100% software-based global IP communications monitoring solutions. For us, this trial has enabled us to prove our technology on a global carrier-class network which, to say the least, is difficult at best to reproduce in a laboratory environment. For our customer, this enables them to provide SLAs and back-office integration for their IP network into existing legacy reporting and billing systems. The major advantages of our product over existing solutions are: lower cost, higher capacity, easier deployment, and enhanced remote management capabilities.
RT: What can we expect to see from your company in 2008?
MS: We are unveiling several new solutions targeted at technology integrators for pre-deployment preparedness assessments and post-deployment verification. We are also initiating an open online community for our WinSIP users where people can exchange device testing profiles, codec implementations, and just share tips and tricks on how to effectively “shake-out” systems prior to release.
implementations, and just share tips and tricks on how to effectively “shake-out” systems prior to release.RT: How do you see the communications market evolving?
MS: IMS centralization of subscriber preferences and settings, richer media experiences, and of course all things video.
centralization of subscriber preferences and settings, richer media experiences, and of course all things video.RT: How have presence, SIP and video changed your business?
and video changed your business? MS: There are a lot more moving parts to test now than there were ten years ago!
RT: How do you think the future of the market looks?
MS: Depending upon the ability to keep regulators/politicians at a distance, extremely bright. Technology is always pretty compelling…
RT: Are you growing more quickly in the U.S. or abroad?
MS: Too close to call, it’s about 50-50.
RT: Do you see the large service providers like Verizon (News - Alert), AT&T and cable companies as allies or enemies?
MS: As customers!
RT: Is open source software changing your corporate strategy?
MS: It gives us more to consider from a technology standpoint, but it doesn’t really have that big of an impact on our vertical market.
RT: How about hosted solutions?
MS: Not really in our domain…
RT: What do you think the communications market might look like in five years?
MS: Widespread adoption of VoIP, IPTV, and interactive collaboration services. It’s also likely that “video telephony” or “personalized conferencing” may begin to appear on set-top boxes…
, and interactive collaboration services. It’s also likely that “video telephony” or “personalized conferencing” may begin to appear on set-top boxes…MS: Our initial public unveiling of Net Observer, our new voice and video monitoring solution as well as our suite of testing solutions.
RT: What sorts of companies should come to your exhibit?
MS: Carriers, resellers, integrators, developers, and anyone who may have a need for pre or post-deployment testing.
RT: Why should customers choose your company’s solutions?
MS: Our solutions are very powerful yet extremely easy to setup and use. They are also significantly more cost-effective than our typical competition; also because we treat each customer as if they are our only customer.
RT: Please make one surprising prediction for 2008.
MS: Rich Tehrani is elected President of the U.S. on write-in ballets!
Rich Tehrani is President and Group Editor in Chief at TMC (News - Alert). In addition he is the Chairman of the world’s best attended IP Communications event, Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO.
Mark your calendars! Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO — the first major IP communications event of the year — is just days away. It’s not too late to register for the event, which takes place in Miami Beach, FL, January 23–25, 2008. The EXPO will feature three valuable days of exhibits, conferences and networking that you won’t want to miss. So what are you waiting for? Sign up now!
