Our vision

The evolution from TDM to IP interactive communications introduces significantly more communication service choices and application possibilities. More choices and possibilities require more control at the borders between IP networks to assure interoperability, security, quality and regulatory compliance.

A future of increasing choices and possibilities

Unified service evolves—any device, any one, any time

Historically, we have primarily used standalone, device-specific services:

  • Fixed line & mobile phones for voice
  • PCs for presence & instant messaging
  • Mobile phones for text
  • Room systems for interactive video
  • TVs for broadcast TV and video-on-demand
  • PCs for data applications

Our communication services are now becoming integrated or unified in the form of presence-enabled voice, interactive video, IM and collaboration. They will become accessible from any device—smart phone, tablet, PC/laptop, TV screen. Within enterprises, this service will become tightly integrated with Web 2.0 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Business Process Management (BPM) applications, further increasing efficiency and effectiveness of our communications and collaboration. Ultimately, these unified services networks must become interconnected and interoperable, extending reach to anyone, anywhere, any time.

“Service provider” choices are increasing

Traditional facilities-based service providers, both fixed-line and mobile, will offer unified service to all market segments—residential, business and mobile—just as they did for voice. Large enterprises will continue to provide services to their own employees using their own infrastructure for some period of time. Over- the-top service providers offer additional choices often differentiated by price and functionality. In fact, most of us consume multiple services every single day. The service we select for any particular communication depends upon several factors:

  • Whom we are communicating with
  • What we are discussing
  • Where we are and the device and network we have access to
  • When we want to communicate
  • How we want to communicate—voice, IM/text or video

Cloud services will dominate

Most voice and data service infrastructure today is already in service provider clouds. This includes mobile, residential, IP Centrex, SIP trunking and the over-the-top services. Within most enterprises, the IP PBX and Unified Communications (UC) servers will vanish from enterprise locations since it doesn’t matter where servers physically reside in IP networks. Only the largest, communications-critical enterprises will build their own cloud. The right network offering high bandwidth, QoS, identity and privacy assurances will be critical to ensuring high-quality, highly available and trusted services.

Network transport choices will increase

The best-effort, untrusted Internet will always be available as a transport network providing ubiquitous reach for over-the top service providers and enterprises to exploit. As an alternative, managed service provider networks are interconnecting with one another today, creating a “Federnet” to provide high-quality, trusted transport services between both federated enterprises and subscriber groups. The explosion in bi-lateral interconnect relationships between service providers, peering exchanges, the initiatives of the i3 Forum and the GSMA IPX are all proof points underlying the Federnet concept. Ultimately, a Federnet 2.0 will emerge to enable the over-the-top providers and their subscribers to leverage managed, high-quality, trusted service provider networks.

Mobile access will dominate

All around the world, our mobile phone either is or is rapidly becoming our only phone. 3G, LTE and WiFi access to all services and applications from all devices is clearly the future. While tethered device connections are terminal (e.g. dead), high-bandwidth wired aggregation and backhaul networks are essential.

“IP”—identity & privacy—become critical for IP networks

We inherently trust the PSTN to deliver our calls and faxes to unknown individuals at our banks, brokerages and retailers. We feel secure in providing our social security number, account numbers and credit card numbers to these unknown individuals in our communications. Replacing the PSTN with IP communications networks will require trusted mechanisms for guaranteeing identity, reliable communications delivery and preserving privacy when needed.

More choices requires more translation & control at IP network borders

A future of more choices and possibilities will require more control at the borders between IP service and transport networks to assure interoperability, quality, security and regulatory compliance. More specifically, nine realities related to IP interactive communications delivery necessitate this control:

  1. In IP, we trust no one
  2. Addresses and identities will forever be a collection of heterogeneous schemes
  3. SIP is not a single protocol, nor the only protocol—H.323, HTTP, XMPP
  4. Codecs will never converge to a couple—one audio & one video
  5. Unlimited bandwidth, QoS and signaling resources will forever be a myth
  6. Some sessions are more important/valuable than others
  7. No one will be allowed to do anything they want
  8. IP regulatory compliance requirements will increase
  9. “Service provider” business models will never be homogenous

Find out how Acme Packet is leveraging our vision to create solutions that provide more translation and control at IP network borders for: