Dear Fellow IMS Forum Members and Friends:

Completed in this round of testing were multi-vendor security and the inter-working between Home Subscriber Service (HSS) devices and the multi-vendor IMS core. In addition, IPSec and CSCF access security testing with multiple vendors proved that the basic security functions are all working as intended. The Plugfest also put inter-working with legacy 3G networks through its paces, and determined that vendors are successfully implementing AKA, the IMS-specific SIP specification, consistently.

In addition, the Forum issued the industry's first "IMS Report Card" capturing proof points from the Plugfests that refute a number of misperceptions and falsehoods that have dogged the widespread adoption of standards-compliant IMS solutions. A copy of the report, is available at: http://www.imsforum.org/ims-report-card

We will announce the final Plugfest III results in Boston at the Fall VON show in the VON Theater in the Exhibit hall on the VON Show Floor at the following days and times:

- Tuesday, October 30th - 3:15pm - 4:15pm, and
- Wednesday, October 31st - 2:15pm - 3:15pm

The IMS Forum had an opportunity to communicate our successes in an Open House at Plugfest III, which was attended by prospective partcipants, executives from current participants, members of the media and analysts. Read more about it below in the Marketing Group Update.

Please take a moment to look at our new website, which has been updated with a brand new look and feel.

In particular, I want to point you to our IMS Community page where Forum members, those involved in various IMS working groups, the IMS Linkedin group, our industry colleagues around the world as well as the interested public, can participate in active, mutually beneficial discussions. The Forum is very proud of this outreach, the first of its kind in the industry, and you will be hearing more about our activities in the near future. We look forward to seeing you at VON.

Regards,

According to the study, "Service Provider Plans for Next Gen Voice & IMS," service providers see the top benefits in offering FMC services as increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) and keeping traffic within the network.

Over half the service providers Infonetics interviewed plan to have a full IMS solution deployed in at least some part of their network by 2010. However, a significant number say they have no plans to deploy a full IMS solution.

"Despite the fact that 71 percent of the service providers we interviewed for a similar study last year expected to use IMS architecture in 2007, we cautioned that providers likely were being optimistic with their uptake plans. With this year's study, we now have concrete evidence of IMS adoption shifting out: just over a quarter are using IMS in 2007 and less than half plan to do so in 2008," said Stéphane Téral, principal analyst at Infonetics for service provider VoIP, IMS, and FMC.

Q & A with Sagi Subocki, Products Manager, Head of IMS Segment, Technology Business Unit, RADVISION^®


IMS Forum: What are some of the keys to IMS success in the industry?

Sagi Subocki: RADVISION believes that a significant key to success is the development of and compliancy to the IMS standards. This means the ability to ensure interoperability between all of the network elements and the client side on the protocol and service levels. This ensures an easier deployment for service providers and vendors trying to bring out new services and applications.

Another proof of IMS success is the ability to provide any service anywhere at any time. This ensures smooth evolution to IMS and leads to a quicker and smoother ability to add new IMS services.

But compliancy to the IMS standards is not easy. IMS standard compliancy is complex. There are many new requirements and additions to the current standards in order to be IMS Compliant. In addition, as the standards are relatively young, they are evolving and there are many new additions and changes being brought in constantly. These changes impact everyone - the vendors and the operators, and their infrastructures and devices. Many times we have seen that new standards are not backward compatible. Complicating it even more, we also see new network entities and new protocol requirements per different access networks.

A key factor to success is also the adoption in different networks domains (Mobile, Fixed, Cable, WiFi...) that will evolve IMS from an island to a real cross silos architecture. But, we have to keep in mind that there are variants related to each of the domains which present real challenges to IMS equipment vendors.

We have witnessed many changes and additions to the standards to fill in gaps at the infrastructure, interface, and service levels. For example, we can see that TISPAN and PacketCable are also adopting 3GPP specifications and adding their own requirements for IMS compliancy, in addition to 3GPP and 3GPP2. Today, the objective is to consolidate all specifications into one common IMS standard. Other networks are adopting IMS as service architectures including WiMAX, HSPA, EPS, DOCSIS and more. In order to succeed in keeping up to date and to continue to be compliant as the standards evolve, it is important to use development tools which are constantly keeping up to date with the latest changes and that can be easily upgraded.

We at RADVISION believe that we have the responsibility as an industry leader to be involved in standards development, interoperability testing and adherence to standards. This helps us provide "future-proof solutions" and a clear standards-based roadmap to help our customers navigate easily in this landscape.

IMS Forum: What challenges do you see in the market?

Sagi Subocki: Challenges in the market include the fact that there are many new network entities and new protocol requirements. There are multiple types of different access networks, each behaving differently. New standards are constantly being added to and revised. There are numerous standard bodies, each with unique requirements and goals.

To remedy this situation we believe along with the IMS Forum that Interoperability must be tied to mass deployment and test plans need to be developed and adopted by industry. It is also important to develop an IMS end-to-end services certification process.

IMS Testing is another challenge. Developers that are working on new IMS network elements and/or application need to test their product. As there are not many IMS networks available, a solution is needed in order to emulate an IMS environment that developers can use for testing.

Also, as IMS is adopted by many access networks, end point developers face a challenge of developing client solutions that can work with different access technologies. And so client development environments should take this challenge into consideration.

IMS Forum: Describe your company and its role in IMS.

Sagi Subocki: RADVISION is the industry's leading provider of products and technologies for multimedia communications over IP, 3G and now the emerging next generation networks like IMS - enabling high definition videoconferencing, converged video telephony services, and scalable desktop-based visual communications. We offer a broad and complete set of quad play software development tools. These include a full line of protocol stacks, frameworks, and testing solutions for developers of voice, video and data over wireless IP communications devices and network equipment. These tools are helping to usher in the deployment of IMS. The technology behind our toolkits is the foundation for Radvision's portfolio of carrier grade video networking infrastructure products.

Listed on NASDAQ, the company was founded in 1992 and has over 450 employees and over 600 customers worldwide. There are two main business units: the networking business unit and the technology business unit of which I am a part. The technology business unit focuses on software development tools and toolkits for multimedia over IP, 3G and IMS. The networking business Unit focuses on IP videoconferencing and 3G network infrastructure for enterprise and service providers.

We have a comprehensive IMS suite that developers use to meet the IMS challenge easily and in a cost-effective manner, called RADVISION's IMS Express^TM. The suite provides full compliancy with all of the protocols used in IMS such as SIP, RTP, Megaco and DIAMETER. We also have a specific framework for IMS servers, another suite for the development of clients and the complimentary ProLab^TM IMS testing solution. Our toolkits are made to be "future proof" and are easily upgraded by the customer to be compatible with the newest standards.

IMS Forum: Are there any other critical benchmarks that need to take place in this IMS evolution?

Sagi Subocki: As I said in the beginning, the development of IMS standards and interoperability is essential. RADVISION is involved with many different groups to help and lead the process. RADVISION belongs to and active in numerous standards bodies such as, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), PacketCable, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the Java Community Process.

In addition to our membership in the IMS Forum, RADVISION participates in interoperability testing events run by such organizations as the Global Certification Forum (GCF), the SIP Forum and the International Multimedia Teleconferencing Consortium (IMTC). We chair the IMTC's IMS Activity Group, an activity group for IMS client interoperability testing. We take interoperability very seriously and we see the IMS Forum as an essential partner of Radvision for IMS interoperability.

The IMTC of course is involved in a technical cooperation with the IMS Forum. A very positive example of progress is the accelerating cooperation we are seeing among these groups. For example, the IMS Forum and the IMTC have entered into a technical partnership for end-to-end testing. The IMS Forum focuses on the core network infrastructure, applications and services and the IMTC works primarily on clients and handsets.

IMS Forum: What has your membership in the IMS Forum accomplished for your company?

Sagi Subocki: For the network to move to the next level of convergence, compliancy to standards and interoperability is required. IMS comprises a whole new set of network and service standards. The idea is that at the end of the day, everything will be standard and interoperable. To make sure that you are truly interoperable, you must take part in interoperability testing.

The IMS Forum is helping the industry in promoting interoperability testing and certification. The IMS Forum provides a platform where different players come together and move the industry forward. As more players come forward to do interoperability testing, it will accelerate the adoption of IMS. RADVISION benefits from these activities because successful interoperability contributes to adoption of IMS which in return means an expanded use of our IMS software development solutions. What we have found is that most applications and services tested worked in the Plug Fest lab and were interoperable also on the complex protocol extensions like IPSEC. This is good news as it seems that troubleshooting interoperability is less complex that what you may think!

To have your company considered for a profile in the Q & A section of this newsletter contact the newsletter editor at pr@imsforum.org.

To participate in at any of the following working Groups email info(at)imsforum.org

Technical Working Group Concludes Successful Plugfest III

Reporting from the test event floor, the Group reported that Plugfest participants continued progress towards testing a multi-carrier IMS network scenario, with real IMS-based applications running over the networks. There was a large leap forward in the number of devices supporting AKA authentication and IPsec. New players in the Diameter protocol space supported the Cx interfaces and several new Plugfest participants brought new features to test, including new applications and legacy inter-working functions. Full results of Plugfest III will be released next week at the Fall VON show.

Marketing Working Group

Plugfest III featured an Open House which welcomed media representatives and industry analysts to the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory. Capping a year's worth of multi-vendor interoperability testing, the Open House included lab tours, Plugfest access, and presentation of the first IMS Forum's first "IMS Report Card." Sonus Chief Technology Officer Vikram Saksena gave the opening keynote at the Open House. This was followed by a presentation of the IMS Report Card and then a lively discussion on IMS progress, challenges and future areas for IMS testing.

Categories addressed in the IMS Report Card include myths and misperceptions around the IMS core, IMS applications, deployment, legacy network integration, complexity, interoperability, business case, key features, SIP integrations and standards. For example, in answer to the charge that the network architecture is lacking, the Plugfests have demonstrated the reality: Plugfest II successfully deployed an IMS network capable of serving over 250,000 active subscriber lines, the maximum allowable by the hardware tested, all in the space of one week's time. Regarding the view that IMS deployment is so complex as to be a barrier, Plugfest II deployed working end-to-end services deployed in a multi-vendor IMS network within 48 hours. The report notes that although the IMS standard itself is complex in as much as it dictates workings between components, at its core IMS comprises only two simple protocols, SIP and Diameter, which are well understood.

The Report Card asserts that progress toward IMS deployment is real and touchable, as proven by our Plugfests at the University of New Hampshire's objective Interoperability Test Lab environment. IMS as a technology is beginning to mature and while work on important issues such as standards continues to evolve, the good news is that IMS technology has many leading technology companies delivering real products, services and solutions today.

The marketing group is pleased to note that the IMS Forum has participated in several recent industry events in Sept. and Oct., including:

• Sept. 25 - 27: WiMax Conference, Chicago, IL

  • Panel Discussion - "When Worlds Collide WiMAX and IMS"

  • Panel of Judges for the Best of WiMax World USA 2007 Awards, sponsored by XCHANGE magazine and Trendsmedia, the events and publishing division of the Yankee Group. The awards recognized leaders in the development and deployment of WiMAX technologies.

• Oct. 7 - 10: Telephony Live, Dallas, TX

  • Speaking Session on October 7 "The Promise (and Threat) of IMS"

• Oct 15 - 19: IMS Forum Plugfest III, UNH-IOL

• Oct. 16-18: ISPCON, San Jose, CA

  • Speaking Session on Oct. 18: "Is IMS A Necessary Step on the Road to Web 2.0?"

• Oct. 23 - 25: CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment, San Francisco, CA

• Oct. 23 - 25: TelcoTV, Atlanta, GA

  • Speaking Session on October 25: "Screen Convergence - How Do You Get There?"

• Oct. 25 - 26: Third Annual IIT VoIP Conference and Expo, Wheaton, IL

  • Speaking Session on October 26: "IMS - Porting Telephony to an IP Infrastructure"

• Oct. 29 - Nov. 1: VON 2007, Boston

  • Speaking Session: Presentation of IMS Forum Results

    • Tuesday, October 30th - 3:15pm - 4:15pm

    • Wednesday, October 31st - 2:15pm - 3:15pm

The IMS Forum® is a global, non-profit industry association devoted to interoperable IP Multimedia Subsystems and NGN services and solutions. The IMS Forum’s mission is to accelerate the interoperability of IMS applications and services, enabling enterprise and residential consumers to quickly benefit from the delivery of quadruple play voice, video, internet and mobile content over broadband cable, wireless and fixed networks. The IMS Forum is the initiator and organizer of IMS Plugfest™, the industry’s only event focused on IMS services interoperability verification and certification.

IMS applications and services comprise residential VoIP, entertainment including IPTV and gaming, IP Centrex / IP PBX and unified communications for business including fixed-mobile converged services, videoconferencing and web-collaboration.

The IMS Forum Plugfests, typically held every 3 to 4 months, bring together dozens of industry-leading IMS vendors from around the world, all of whom build real, full-featured, IMS networks during the test event.

If you are interested in joining the IMS Forum, Plugfests or in participating in any of the working groups or marketing programs, please contact us.

Members are leading and shaping the future of IMS. Joining the IMS Forum enables members to:

• Verify and certify interoperability, reduce costs and accelerate time to market.
• Participate in technical working groups focusing on service creation and applications for IMS architecture framework as well as IMS deployment issues.
• Gain additional visibility through the IMS Forum's Speakers Bureau, public relations and marketing programs.
• Showcase member companies at major telecom, cable, and wireless events in North America, Asia, and Europe.
• Receive current market and technology information through newsletters, reports, white papers and conferences.
• Gain access to an informed professional network of industry consultants and accredited experts.

The IMS Forum’s pace of participation in several upcoming industry events continues.

• Nov. 5 - 8: Telecoms Signaling World Forum, Central London, UK

  • Speaking Session on Nov. 7: "Managing The Signaling Services That Are Enabled In IMS Networks"

• Nov. 7: IMS MMD Show, Dallas TX

  • Speaking Session on November 7: "Why Is IMS Necessary on the Road to Web 2.0? Understanding the Role of IMS in Enabling Carriers to Compete in Tomorrow's Telco Environment"

  • Speaking Session on Nov. 7: "How Can Carriers Support the Co-existence of New and Traditional Services on an IMS Platform? Exploring the Best Strategy for Service Development"

• Nov. 27- 29: Next Generation Network, Services & Devices Management Summit (IQPC), San Francisco, CA

  • Speaking Topic: IMS Interoperability for Next Gen Networks

Showcase Your Expertise and Leadership: Call for Speakers

The IMS Forum invites members to join its exclusive Speakers' Bureau. Member companies have an excellent opportunity to market their companies and senior executives while representing the IMS Forum at future trade shows and conferences. To inquire about this please contact pr[at]imsforum.org.

IMS Forum to Announce Plugfest III Results at Fall VON 2007

The IMS Forum will announce the results from Plugfest III at the Fall VON 2007 (www.fallvon.com), October 29 – November 1 in Boston. The Fall VON Show will address critical IP Communications issues, and provide attendees with superior conference content, unmatched networking opportunities and the opportunity to maximize the applications made possible by IP Communications technologies, including; IP Voice, FMC, Wireless mobility, IPTV, presence and positioning. As a member of the IMS Forum you are entitled to conference discounts and free Expo Pass.

Management World Americas 2007, November 4-8, 2007 at the Adams Mark Hotel & Convention Center in Dallas, is the largest trade show and conference in the Americas dedicated to issues surrounding the management of telecom, media & information services. The show is aimed at service providers, vendors, systems integrators and industry experts who focus on rolling out and managing new and complex communications services over next generation networks. IMS Forum member discount code: PXF4UM.

NexGNet – November 27-29, San Francisco, CA

America’s Next Generation Networks, Services & Device Management Summit. Helping you keep pace with Telecom expansion and establish best practices for successful Network Deployment strategies. Key industry experts will share their forward looking thoughts on IMS/FMC including a realistic analysis of the profitability of the services created by IT/Telecom/Media convergence. As a member of the IMS Forum you are entitled to 20 percent discount.

IMS MMD Conference

At the IMS MMD Conference to be held November 6 – 7, 2007, Informa Telecoms & Media are bringing together US/Canadian representatives of the hole IMS community to explore and resolve the commercial and strategic challenges that lay ahead at this year’s IMS MMD event.

Recent IMS Forum press titles:

The following highlights some recent press coverage of the IMS Forum:

"The Nomadic Consumer: Rethinking Work And Play," By Manuel Vexler

Business Communications Review, September 26, 2007
This article discusses converged services by analyzing the demand side of communications services from a nomadic worker-consumer perspective. Correspondingly, it examines the supply side by analyzing the architectures proposed for converged services delivery. Read more >>

Webinar: "Challenges and Solutions in IMS Development," Presented by RADVISION

Pulver Media Webinar
This Webinar, originally broadcast September 19, 2007, covers the fundamental processes of IMS network element development and the inherent challenges developers face. Speakers discuss the underlying components required, from the basic building blocks of IMS protocol toolkits to the intricate details of application deployment. Speakers are Asher Shiratzky, chief technology officer, RADVISION Technology Business Unit; Sagi Subocki, product manager, RADVISION Technology Business Unit, and Manuel Vexler, vice president, IMS Forum. Learn more >>

Have a request? We welcome your feedback on this newsletter. Contact us.

Press Contact: pr@imsforum.org
Newsletter Editors: Gina Marinilli, Cathy Clarke, CNC Associates