The following is a portion of my April 2006 Internet Telephony Magazine Publisher’s Outlook:

I have been on a trade show tour recently and I can’t tell you how excited I am to have chosen the VoIP industry as my home. There are more new products and innovations being announced daily and, everywhere you look, there is boundless optimism. More importantly, we’re seeing real sales and profit from not only the vendors to the VoIP market, but the customers themselves.

I am seeing a revival in the contact center industry as well and companies like Mitel and Inter-Tel are announcing new contact center initiatives. These companies weren’t traditionally entrenched call center players, but they are increasingly getting into the space.

In addition, IMS is taking off. I recently attended an IMS Forum meeting and it is exciting to see the level of optimism that exists in this space. Some of the companies to watch for in IMS are Sonus, Nokia, and Nortel, who are all jockeying for leadership position.