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It's just what you have been waiting for - the 76-page show directory for ITEXPO which will give you lots of needed information regarding the show (Sept 1-3 in LA) . Virtually everything you need is in here - sponsors, floor plan, exhibitor list, TMC University, Trixbox training, Ingate's SIP trunking workshop, Reseller solutions day, keynotes, Asterisk Training, WiNOG, Sipera SIP Security, Wireless Broadband training, M2M, Smart Grid Summit, 4GWE, agenda and Q&As with industry thought leaders. Get it while it's hot and download it to your smartphone or laptop/netbook so you can refer to it often.

Be sure to check out all of the exciting news happening at ITEXPO. In order to get up to date news be sure to bookmark the show news page and check out the three show dailies which have already been produced. Check this page often to stay up to date.

August 20 show daily: SIP security, next gen IMS, VoIP boosts small biz, smart grid progress, Brightcom, Octasic, SIP trunking seminar, Digium open source Asterisk workshop, Terry Matthews keynote, cash for phone system clunkers etc.

August 25 show daily: Smart grid as global trend, mobile communications, Amdocs, 4G, mobile devices, consumer unified communications, Cbeyond and pretzels, Spanlink, wholesale and enterprise VoIP.

August 27 show daily: home energy management/smarthome, networking alternatives, open-source communications in Europe, Multi-Tech, WiMAX dead again, telepresence worth $4.7 billion, fax over IP survivability, SIP trunks

In an effort to keep you up to date on the conversations online regarding ITEXPO, here are some of the latest items on the web I have been tracking.

Over at the DIDX blog there is a discussion of a broadband stimulus workshop at ITEXPO.

On Sys-Con there is a release about ITEXPO - specifically content targeting resellers and a panel I am hosting called "creatively" Reseller Day Workshop.

On TMCnet there is an article which describes an interview between me and Sipera's Adam Boone discussing his participating in ITEXPO, thoughts on the economy and SIP security.

I also ran across an article containing an interview with Columbia University professor Henning Schulzrinne regarding his thoughts on the smart grid which ties into the Smart Grid Conference taking place at the same time as ITEXPO in the LA Convention Center - Specifically Tuesday, September 1^st.

One final bit of news is that MultiTech is a sponsor of the collocated Machine to Machine or M2M conference and this is interesting to me as I have seen MultiTech evolve over the decades from a company which was a strong player in modems, then VoIP then broadband wireless products and they are now playing in the rapidly expanding M2M market. The M2M conference begins September 1, 2009 in Los Angeles as well.

Be sure to come to the most important communications and tech event of the year and bring colleagues -- there is so much to keep up with and I want to make sure you and your organization are able to absorb as much useful information as possible.

I ran into Dan York the Director of Conversations at Voxeo and had a chance to talk with him about his company's Prophecy 10 software which was running 2,000 calls on 20 netbooks at the recent SpeechTek 2009 in NYC. As Dan explains, a combination of better software and Moore's Law allow these small netbooks to really become efficient multichannel IVR processors. As he points out, imagine what they can do on more powerful computers. Here is the video below for more and an article with details. You can see Dan at ITEXPO next week in Los Angeles if you want to learn more.
 

The photo below may or may not accurately depict the following event

I just received this email which I thought I would pass along to my readers and attendees. Just so you know, if you want me to promote your event at the show you can just drop me a line ASAP. Thanks.

RingPlus, Inc. (Booth 321) is having their Exclusive Launch Party on Sept. 2nd after closing day of the ITEXPO Conference. We are currently one of the exhibitors for this year's conference and wanted to first invite you to attend and also invite the attendees of the conference to attend as well. 

The event is free and would love to share it with fellow conference attendees.

TMC blogger Peter Radizeski has some brief but important comments about the comparison between a gym membership and hosted unified communications. Get the full scoop here and also learn why Peter correctly (you knew I was going to say that ) advises you on the importance of attending ITEXPO next week in Los Angeles.


Sure, UC might not help with your waist line but it will definately help your bottom line

The cash for clunkers program sponsored by the US federal government is now over but you can still benefit from the cash for phone systems clunkers idea I mentioned a few weeks back. As a reminder, using services like SIP trunking, VoIP and IP communications you can save tens of thousands if not millions of dollars (euros, yen, etc) on phone and conference calls. There is an official cash for phone system clunkers web page now with links to important references such as ITEXPO which is the global gathering place for all things IP communications.  

As a reminder ITEXPO is next week (Sept 1-3 in Los Angeles) and it is the equivalent of an automotive supermarket (yes, communications in this case) where you can meet with all the vendors who save you money by replacing your old equipment. In many cases they can replace the "clunker" with something which is hosted meaning zero CAPEX costs.

I should mention others in the communications space have their own "cash for clunkers" programs. Case in point is Grandstream's Cash for PSTN clunker program that they implemented with Megapath. Megapath is running a promo in which they will offer a $250 dollar credit for VARS or End users who purchase Grandstream's PBX. 

Both companies are exhibiting in ITEXPO so be there to connect and learn more. In the auto industry you get a "cash for clunkers" offer once in a lifetime. In the telecom space we do it every day.

It is almost here - one of the largest global events in communications - ITEXPO West 2009 taking place in Los Angeles September 1-3 2009 at the LA Convention Center. Networking is one of the best reasons to come to any event and in order to properly figure out who you should meet with at the show and which sessions and booths you should visit, we have conducted interviews with many of the companies coming to the show so you can get an idea what people are thinking and moreover help align the expertise of others with your needs. The goal of course is to help all attendees make good use of their time at the show.

With that I posted links to interviews one and two and now here is the third installment. I hope you find them useful.

We have been seeing a surge of registrations for TMC's ITEXPO, the hotel room block has been oversold for over a month and we feel the industry getting more excited than ever for ITEXPO - the ultimate event which brings global buyers and sellers together in the communications and tech spaces. Carriers (wired and wireless), enterprise decision-makers, resellers, developers and industry all will be at the show in numbers close to last year. It is virtually impossible to determine show attendance in advance but based on the numbers I saw in the registration database this morning, we could have a show at least as busy as least year if not even busier.

Remember that earlier this year TMC had a record show in Miami - ITEXPO East 2009. The event was up 15% in attendance thanks to you and it was the most qualified mix of visitors ever according to exhibitors.

This is the show's tenth anniversary and the 20^th show! Our goal is to make every one better than the last and it seems based on the numbers we have so far this ITEXPO will be as good as all the other ones which draw purchasing decision-makers from over 110 countries each year.

For more, here are comments (video) from Michael Genaro Executive Vice President of Operations at TMC and below is an email which I sent to TMC's readership earlier today.

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I Keep Finding More Reasons to Attend ITEXPO:
Smart Grid and M2M Conferences; Avaya Social Networking

One week out from ITEXPO West 2009 in L.A., and each time I visit the show Web site, I see more and more  compelling reasons to make a trip to LA for the show.

Here are three more collocated events where you can learn and network - all in an effort to expand your
business and take advantage of growing segments of the communications market.

1. Smart Grid Summit Conference

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Sponsored by Redline Communications - Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Just added to the program a few weeks ago, The Smart Grid Summit is the first event of its kind to address the unprecedented opportunity coming from the intersection of two core building blocks of our
economy - utilities and communications.

The Smart Grid Summit is devoted to a sector poised for the same fundamental transformation that telecom  experienced with the advent of IP communications.

Come understand the role that IP communications technologies will play in how the Smart Grid evolves - not  just for making utilities more efficient, but also for enabling the Smart Home and a new generation of  communications innovations.

2. M2M Evolution Conference

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Free one-day conference sponsored by MultiTech Systems - Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Telemetry has been changing to take advantage of the Internet, where WAN and LAN systems were points of aggregation in the past, today's machines benefit from the ability to connect worldwide. And as the machines continue to look to network, the wireless world represents a large growth opportunity for data communication.

Today, machine to machine solutions are driving data demand with tight vertical integration for specific industries like healthcare, refinery or transportation or supporting the general IT needs and cross industry requirements associated data centers, facilities and security.

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The Social Enterprise - Are you ready for it?

Free Workshop and Reception for all ITEXPO Attendees Monday, August 31, 2009, 7:00pm - 9:30pm - Westin Hotel

This is where you can learn how to integrate Facebook, Twitter and other platforms into your enterprise and customer communications.

You will have a chance to listen to and meet Paul Dunay, the author of "Facebook Marketing for Dummies", and get a chance to check out Avaya Labs innovations.

Social media is becoming a more important element in corporate marketing and communications and I really give  Avaya tremendous credit for choosing to educate companies on the topic.

As an added bonus the event will conclude with some handcrafted ales from the Bonaventure Brewing Company.

Here are more details and event registration.

OK, let's recap. Here is the complete list of Top Reasons to Attend ITEXPO that I've circulated over the past two weeks.

There is a great resource page on the ITEXPO site with links to the pages describing every event, workshop, session, keynote and reception at the show: What's Happening at ITEXPO

• INTERNET TELEPHONY is TELEPHONY; and IP Communications are Communications
• New! Sipera's UC Security Workshop
• TMC University Courses - Microsoft OCS and Network Security
• Free Reseller Solutions Day Workshop
• New! Avaya's Social Enterprise and Contact Center Workshop
• Free Keynotes: ShoreTel - Aspect - Paetec - Alvarion - Clearwire - Interactive Intelligence
• Ingate's Free SIP Trunking Workshop
• Meet More Than 250 Important Vendors
        Exhibitor List
        Speaker List
• NEW! Three Collocated Conferences - 4GWE, Smart Grid and M2M Evolution
• New Jeep Giveaway
• Sir Terry Matthews to Keynote ITEXPO & 4GWE Conference - Wednesday, September 2, 2009
• Asterisk Training
• Fonality trixbox Open Communication Certification (FtOCC)
• Wireless Broadband Training
• Smart Grid Summit
• M2M Evolution Conference
• Avaya's Social Networking Workshop

The complete conference brochure has just been updated to include all of the newest content.

Use this link to Register now.

While at ITEXPO, please visit our sponsors on the exhibit floor:

Platinum Sponsors: Applianx, AudioCodes, 8x8, Inc, Fonality, VoltDelta,

Gold Sponsors: NetSapiens, IntelePeer, Touchstone Technologies, Telco Bridges,

Utilizing the Global IP Solution's VideoEngine, Yahoo! Messenger will now support free video calling to all Yahoo! Messenger users. Over 133 users worldwide can now take advantage of Yahoo! Messenger 10 which includes high-quality video I witnessed a few weeks back. I took some footage below of the service and was very impressed with what I saw at GIPS San Francisco headquarters.
 

GIPS has been a leader in the audio and video CODEC space and I still remember sometime around 2001-2002 when I met with them at ITEXPO in San Diego to hear their PDA CODECS which allow for VoIP on mobile devices. This was pretty big news at the time and it took a short while for the company's solutions to catch on after that point.

From what I saw, the video quality of this new Yahoo! solution is better than Skype - even in HQ mode. But I make this point with some hesitation as it is not fair to compare two different services if you don't see them side-by-side. Besides the point of this news to me is not who might have the best quality today, it is that the video market is indeed heating up and there is now more competition in the market which is always a great thing.