FEATURES
Investing In Service Creation
Gordon Townsend, net.com
Communications ASPs
must differentiate themselves from RBOCs by offering new, innovative
services. Rapid service creation will be the path to success.
Communication Solutions Expo Fall 2000 Best
Of Show
We're proud to honor
the best and brightest of Communications Solutions Expo Fall 2000.
The Convergence Breakthrough
Mary Bradshaw, MMTA
Following up to her
article in our October issue, Mary Bradshaw explores how channel
partnerships can lead to successful, beneficial business relationships.
How To Win In E-Business
Daniel A. Carmel, Selectica
For businesses,
transitioning to the Internet platform comes with its own set of special
requirements. But by using the knowledge of your existing enterprise, you
can transform your business.
The Standards Advantage
Allan Zander, Mitel
Standards such as
H.323, Megaco, SIP, and MGCP are intended to simplify the implementation
of voice over IP and other next-gen services. Without them, there can be
no reliable communications between disparate systems. With them, corporate
communications becomes simpler, more efficient, and more accessible.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Breaking News
Letters To The
Editor
Corporate Solutions
Carol Drzewianowski, Managing Editor
Next-gen unified
messaging products do more than just organize of your correspondence in a
single in-box. Increased functionality allows your messages to come to
you.
Interactive Commerce
Dan Callahan, Associate Editor
Many companies host
separate Web sites and call centers. Now, they can no longer afford
parallel developments of Internet and voice-accessible data. ASPs and
e-commerce sites will soon merge the call center and the Web into one
unified platform, turning any phone into a portal.
Next-Gen Networks
Kevin Mayer, Editorial Director
With the rapid
development of communications technology, distinctions between application
and architecture types are provisional at best. Trade-offs between
so-called open approaches and proprietary designs seem less relevant as
open approaches improve, addressing critical requirements such as system
scalability, flexibility, high availability, and quality of service.
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PUBLISHER’S OUTLOOK
The Procrustean Bargain
Rich Tehrani, Publisher
These days, the quality
prized most highly and proclaimed most insistently is interactivity. But
do we deliver more or less interactivity than we promise? Or do we deliver
exactly what we promise, though in a way that undermines the spirit of the
promise? The question is worth asking, since we do sometimes oblige others
to accept implicit constraints on their interactions, and these
constraints may have less to do with their convenience than our own.
EDITOR'S OUTLOOK
Telephony Goes... Webstream
Kevin Mayer, Editorial Director
While Web-inspired
speculation is as engaging as ever, it also raises doubts. These doubts
may be resolved, however, by voice-capable packet-based infrastructures
and communications solutions. Once confluent with telephony, Webstream is
mainstream, and vice versa.
TOM KEATING'S CC:
Use The (Work) Force, Luke
Tom Keating, Executive Technology Editor
Never underestimate
the importance of good customer service, especially when your customers
are a single click away from your competitor. This month, Tom Keating
provides his top 10 tips for choosing the workforce management solution
that will best suit the needs of your contact center.
REVIEWS
Celsian Technologies' Momentum U80 USB DSL Modem
Polycom's ViaVideo Version 1.0
MAX Internet Communications' i.c.Live VCS
DEPARTMENTS
Inside Networking: Web Switching
For High Performance E-Business
Tony Rybczynski, Nortel Networks
Web switching is
not only critical in the reliable delivery of scalable content and
transaction services today, but will also play a key role as the it moves
to omnimedia collaboration. The Internet's hyper-growth for e-business has
given rise to a number of issues that Web site infrastructure designers
must address.
Compass: Content Distribution:
The Next Frontier
Jeff Lawrence, Intel Network Communications Group
Distributing
multimedia content on the network provides a new challenge. In his column,
Jeff Lawrence explores the development of content distribution
architectures.
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