As you may know I speak at Comptel next week. Here is a release I received today about the event and the IMS forum. I thought it worth sharing:

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IMS FORUM EXECUTIVES TO SPEAK AT UPCOMING COMPTEL PLUS;
HOLD QUARTERLY MEETING OPEN TO ATTENDEES

Leading Industry Group to Exhibit at COMPTEL PLUS Booth 424, as well as
Provide Expertise, Insight on Emerging Industry Demand For Network Convergence, Bundled IP Services and Applications

Fremont, CA (March 14, 2006) – The IMS Forum, the industry association recognized as the Voice of IP Convergence, today announced that it is hosting a meeting open to all attendees in Room Annie B, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, on Monday, March 20, 2006, from 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM, at the upcoming COMPTEL PLUS Conference & EXPO in San Diego. In addition to exhibiting at booth 424, the Forum announced that Chairman Michael Khalilian, Marketing Committee Chair Farshid Mohammadi (General Manager, UTStarcom), Marketing and Technical Advisor, Manuel Vexler (CTO, CopperCom), member Sara Hughes, (Director of Product Management of Tekelec), and member Matt Byrd (Director of Product Marketing, MetaSwitch) will be leading and participating in panel discussions at the conference as well.

The mission of the IMS Forum is to accelerate the adoption of IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) by providing an environment for discussion and resolution of real-world implementation issues, such as interoperability and standards-based architectures in the application layer. Through its "plugfest" events, the Forum provides companies the means with which to operate cost-effectively, and to accelerate their respective product development cycles. Of particular note, is that the Forum will also provide consultancy and expertise to the industry on best practices and approaches for IMS rollouts, interconnectivity and convergence.

"With VoIP proliferation continuing at a very aggressive rate, it has become quite clear that we are going through a major transition toward IP multimedia convergence and are witnessing the dawn of a new era of communications driven by bundled services, applications, multimedia content delivery, and telecommunications convergence," said Michael Khalilian, chairman and president, IMS Forum. "In addition to being a valued IMS Forum partner, COMPTEL is regarded as one of our industry's most prestigious events, and therefore serves as the perfect venue for our Inaugural meeting, and to discuss our mission, vision, goals and membership benefits to a significant contingency of telecommunications professionals."

"We welcome the IMS Forum as a partner, and value their efforts to educate the industry on the benefits and significance of this emerging technology," said Terry Monroe, COMPTEL's Executive Vice President of Business Development. "COMPTEL PLUS is designed to help attendees and exhibitors increase their sales pipelines, and as IMS is clearly in the nascent stages of development, it's critical that we have the means to educate attendees on its potential."

The IMS Forum meetings and executive speaking schedule COMPTEL PLUS is as follows:
Monday, March 20
IMS Forum Meeting – open to attendees, 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Room Annie B

Tuesday, March 21
IMS: Separating Fact from Fiction, 9:45 AM –10:45 AM
Randle Ballroom A
o Session Leader: Manuel Vexler, VP, IMS Forum, CTO, CopperCom
o IMS Forum Presenter: Sara Hughes, Director of Product Management Tekelec
o IMS Forum Presenter, Matt Byrd, Director of Product Marketing, MetaSwitch

VoIP Migration: Enabling Services and Applications, 9:45 AM–10:45 AM Randle Ballroom D
o Session Leader, Michael Khalilian, IMS Forum President & Chairman, BoD/CTO (eLEC/VoX Communications)
o IMS Forum Presenter: Farshid Mohammadi, General Manager, UTStarcom

The IMS Forum is comprised of service providers, solutions providers, system integrators and government agencies translating industry standards into revenue generating services. Our members develop cost-effective technical frameworks for converged IP services over wireline, cable, 3G, WiFi and WiMAX networks.

ABOUT THE IMS FORUM
The IMS Forum is a global, non-profit industry association devoted to interoperable IMS services and solutions. The mission of the Forum is to accelerate the adoption of IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) by providing an environment for discussion and resolution of real-world implementation issues relating to interoperability, best practices, and standards-based architectures in the application layer. In addition, the Forum will provide consultancy to the industry, service providers, and vendors on best practices and approaches for IMS rollouts and interconnectivity. For additional information or to join the IMS Forum, please visit www.IMSForum.org.