In her presentation, Shalini will provide IDC's perspective on the factors shaping convergence with the end objective of delivering a seamless experience. In order to fulfill the dream of Fixed-Mobile convergence, the industry is heavily dependent on a strong cohesive ecosystem. The presentation will provide IDC's view on how this ecosystem is coming together to meet the enterprises' needs. 2007-2008 is an important period for fixed-mobile convergence as SIP emerges and enterprises gradually become more comfortable with WLAN and IP based communication. Will IMS be the linchpin for enterprises FMC? With the emergence of Unified Communications, what are the new dynamics for FMC particularly with respect to extension to cellular? The presentation will bring to you FMC related trends among early adopter enterprises in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan). Lastly, the presentation will explore the principles of an operator's Service Delivery Platform, whether they can be applied to meet an enterprise's IT and telephony requirements within the context of Dynamic IT.

Telecommunications deregulation and the explosion in data traffic and service revenues are forcing carriers to re-examine their approach to providing voice and data services. The challenges presented by the shift from voice to data dominance will affect the profitability and long-term viability of carriers of all stripes, from incumbents to recent market entrants. What are the challenges, risks and rewards facing them? What would the industry trends be and how would the regulatory and business environment affect them?

Convergence is when the user could communicate and access to information and/or entertainment services, with consistent quality of service regardless of location, the device used, or the underlying network over which those applications run.

In his presentation, Kelvin will speak of the various factors that inhibit the the progress of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). He will also share his take on the FMC future for the enterprise – the positioning of converged communications as a service, and not just a technology.

Prominent service provider standards bodies (3GPP, 3GPP2, ETSI, CableLabs) have specified security as fundamental in their next-generation Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) architectures:

• Unlicensed Mobile Access
• IP Multimedia Subsystem
• Picocells and Femtocells
• IMS over WiMAX
• Wireless LAN Access.

Operators will need to address the full set of session-oriented convergence control functions (e.g. access termination, privacy, security, policy management, QoS) that the diverse FMC standards require:

• Mobility – deploy access control solutions for all industry standard-specified FMC architectures (i.e., IMS BGF & P-CSCF, Wireless LAN PDG, UMA and other functions)
• IP – meet high-performance and massive scalability requirements for handling FMC-based, VoIP and always-on multimedia services.
• Personalization – built-in session-aware intelligence and policy control for customized, per-subscriber services.

A typical FMC subscriber will have multiple devices (laptop, mobile phone, PDA, etc.) simultaneously registered, multiple always-on applications (VoIP, instant messaging, IP TV, web browsing, video messaging and/or gaming), as well as always constantly changing registrations when roving between CDMA/GSM and WiFi/WiMAX connections.

This presentation will outline and investigate what operators will need to be aware of as they enter the FMC world of next generation networks and IMS.

The combination of IP networks and ubiquitous connectivity has created a world that seems much smaller today than it did in the past. Many organizations have introduced new tools to communicate better across the extended enterprise. But these tools alone aren't enough to truly harness the power of the extended enterprise. To achieve this, companies need to deploy an intelligent communications strategy that combines traditional communications and collaboration tools with business applications. Find out how the Avaya unified communications strategy brings together all the collaborative tools that users need, providing an integrated unified interface across their different devices and interfaces.

Understandably, IT managers are concerned about how to approach FMC and what are the right choices for early returns on FMC investments. Join the discussion on the strategies that will help your organization maximize the gains from FMC adoption and avoid pitfalls. Voice your concerns and opinions and get valuable viewpoints and recommendations from our expert panel consisting of IDC Analysts and other noted Industry experts.