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Are you headed to warm Miami Beach next week, for the ITEXPO? Join Ingate and the leading voices in SIP trunking for the "SIP Trunking: Everything You Need to Know" seminars - free for all ITEXPO attendees.

This season we have some exciting new sessions:

Session for Carriers with J. Arnold & Associates. The SIP Forum and Other Leaders
A new session, "Just for Carriers: SIP Trunk Intensive Workshop," will feature an in-depth analysis on SIP trunks to address the unique needs of this audience.

The ROI of SIP Trunking
Case studies detailing real-world deployments will illustrate how SIP trunks deliver a significant return-on-investment.

Technology Survival Roadmap
J. Arnold & Associates will present a Technology Survival Roadmap session discussing opportunities for today's economy.

Security Seminars, Live Demos, "How-To" Sessions on Deployments
Security sessions with VOIPSA will discuss VoIP and SIP trunk security. Step-by-step, interactive whiteboarding seminars with Avaya and BandTel will illustrate the what, why and how of SIP trunking architecture as well as the ITSP perspective. A SIP Trunking Boot Camp for "Basic Training" on SIP trunk installations, led by Ingate, is free for all attendees this season.

Live demonstrations, during which participants will set up a SIP trunk in 20 minutes or less on-site, will also be featured.

Attendees can earn a SIP Trunking Professional Certificate by participating in the Professional Development Program on the first day of the Show.

SIP Forum SIPconnect Workshop
A SIP Forum Best Practices Workshop: Building Interoperable SIP Trunking Solutions with SIPconnect, will also be featured.

Confirmed Speakers include Airespring, Avaya, BandTel, Bandwidth.com, BBTelsys, Cbeyond, Digium, Iwatsu, Kool Smiles and ShoreTel. Thought leaders from J. Arnold & Associates, The SIP Forum and VoIP Security Alliance (VOIPSA) will also participate.

The complete schedule can be found here.

Free VIP passes can be obtained here.

All sessions will be held in Room B114/115 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, February 2-4.

See you there!

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Demand for SIP trunks is on the rise - yes, even in this bad economy. Why? Because SIP trunks make good financial sense now, providing economic relief to a company immediately, and later down the road.

Based on our numerous customer deployments, we see SIP trunk installations paying for themselves -meaning, the entire installation of a new IP-PBX, phones, network upgrades and the Ingate solution - in less than a year. One recent installation resulted in a 40% reduction in telephony costs. Empirical evidence from other installations confirms these results.

How can this be so?

SIP trunks reduce costs by:
• Eliminating the need to purchase expensive BRIs (Basic Rate Interfaces) or PRIs (Primary Rate Interfaces) allowing the user to buy just the capacity they need.

• Making it possible to cost-efficiently use SIP trunks from multiple service providers. By routing calls to the cheapest service provider based on country codes, for example, significant savings can be achieved.

Once SIP trunking is deployed and the network upgraded to support it, a business has everything it needs in place to start using other SIP applications - paving the way to Unified Communications.

Learn more at the Ingate SIP Trunk Seminars, to be held at the ITEXPO in February in Miami.

A sneak peek:

• CASE STUDY - The ROI of SIP Trunking
• SIP Trunking and Security
• Beyond POTS Replacement
• Just for Carriers: Intensive Workshop
• Enterprise Infrastructure and Service Provider Perspective sessions

Season's greetings,

Anders

These are interesting times for every player in the IP communications space. SIP trunking has really been taking off, making enterprise VoIP easier to adopt - and more cost-effective - than ever before. Carriers and IP-PBXs are seeing this growth opportunity, and enterprises are today eager for information on the what, why and how of SIP trunking.

It is an exciting time for me as well. I recently joined Ingate as CEO, and let me tell you there is much happening not only on the SIP trunking front, but in the SIP-based IP communications industry as well. I had the opportunity to meet a great many new colleagues recently at the ITEXPO in Los Angeles. Partners, customers, VARs, end-users are all eager for solutions that address security, that make deployments easier, and that future-proof their networks. More and more carriers are moving into the SIP trunking segment, and they need information - as well as solutions - to help them build their businesses and to reach as many IP-PBX brands as possible.

I am thrilled to be a part of this industry, and to join Ingate. The company is leading the charge in developing solutions that enable trusted SIP communications, SIP trunking, remote SIP connectivity etc. I wanted to take this opportunity in the Ingate blog to introduce myself and provide my perspective, that of a newcomer excited about this burgeoning industry.

My background is from the carrier side of the business. I recently served as chief executive officer and member of the board for Zitius Service Delivery AB, a leading broadband communications operator in Sweden that I co-founded in 2003. I also held a pivotal leadership role at Alcatel Nordics (now Alcatel-Lucent), where I led the Broadband Communications Division as general manager, based in Denmark. I steered Alcatel Nordics through post-merger integration activities after the company acquired Newbridge Networks A/S, a leading Canadian broadband and telecommunications equipment manufacturer. More about my career can be found in he "About Me" section above.

We will be continuing this blog with new, frequent updates. Of course we are always interested in your perspectives - if there is a topic you want addressed (or would just like to chat), please drop me a note anytime.

- Anders (anders.eriksson@ingate.com)

Unified Communications (UC) is an important concept that can take your enterprise to the next level with regard to efficiency, of achieving the very most in cost savings from your communications expenses. And, contrary to popular rumors and scare stories floating around, UC can be very secure if you protect your network and the communication with the appropriate technologies and equipment.

UC is the integration of many forms of communication, including fixed and mobile voice, and Internet based applications such as email, IM, VoIP, presence...you get the idea. While this sounds complicated, the goal of UC is to simplify communications so that everyone can be reached anywhere, anytime, via the mode of communication that's most helpful for them (for instance if I'm in a meeting, I'll get your email on my cell phone, and you'll see I'm unavailable for a phone call on the presence application running from your desktop).

Unfortunately there are those among us leveraging the "hype" surrounding UC to scare end users into believing that something that seems so complicated must inherently be insecure. This is not so.

The first step toward deploying any UC architecture is to plug your phone into the Internet. VoIP is the stepping stone to UC, and even smaller businesses can implement VoIP using very easy-to-install SIP trunking equipment. This is also a cost-effective way to adopt VoIP and, ultimately, UC applications.

With the right SIP trunk trio in place -- ITSP, IP-PBX and SIP-enabling edge device - you can be up and running with a SIP trunk in a matter of minutes (we did it in 15 at the ITEXPO in Miami this past January). Most ITSPs are offering SIP trunk services now; if you need help, contact your local VAR (one focused on convergence solutions).

As for VoIP, security for Unified Communications can be achieved with the right equipment protecting your network. Maximize the security benefits of SIP with the right edge device - far too often, in SIP trunking solutions we see enterprises connecting their PBX directly to the Internet which jeopardizes their network security.

The edge device should not only ensure security, but also handle interoperability issues among all of the various equipment, service providers etc. Incompatibilities can become security risks quickly. Addressing them proactively drastically reduces your exposure.