Todd Landry, SVP if Product Management with Sphere Communications is talking about web services in the enterprise in this session.

Todd's tlking about the state of convergence and where we're at today. Realtime mdeia on IP along with data is where we've come to. Now we're looking at how to converge them onto application engines.

Another whole layer is convergence with other enterprise business applications. CRM, human resources, and ERP all becme interesting when blended with telephony services.

Converged communications is the capability to integrate at different layers than just telecom. They're still failry separated into silos. People have multiple communications devices and soft phones. New capabilities like realtime directories giving presence information, conference ccall setup and media integration empower the end user. Users can now do things like set their forwarding information and parameters.

What happens when a user can set the number of rings before calls go to voice mail? Identify calling stations that get routed to mobile phone? Integrate video? Convergence integrates the power of multiple platforms that offer service capability in a unified environment rather than discrete applications or services.

SOA, the Services Oriented Architecture, is headed to opening up the services of one application for sharing with another application altogether. This isn't just VoIP. It's service integration through software across multiple applications. Telephony software can not like a business application, and interact with other business apps.

Many of the functions that the big hardsware enterprise pbx provided can now be done in software. That's the key to opening up servcices within IP. We can do new things when we integrate business applications instead of focusing on technology.

Converged Communications --> Converged Applications

Specialized applications become standard applications. Users don't need to change context from one application to another. The nd use shouldn't have to shift the context of the application they're working in. We need to open up the services to allow that to all happen behind the scenes.

"I never would have considered that we could do such a thing." -- Chief Architect at SunTrust Bank. Had never thought about real in depth integration.

Service Oriented Architecture - Informaitoin resources are available to other participants in the network as independent services are accessed in a standardized way.

The world breaks up into web services providers and web services consumers. Very XML/SOAP oriented.

In communications, the web service provider is something like and IP PBX providing web services. Since it's a software application on the network, other applkications can begin to access those services.

In the abstract, the IP PBX "speaks" SIP or H.323 or MGCP to end user devices. But it also speaks SOAP/XML/WSDL framework to other applications. There's a telephony device-oriented layer and an abstracted services layer. Services are opening up in an abstracted application-centric way.

For development work, simulation tools become a critical piece. It's impossible to build a real production lab to test in that environment. For web services development, services like telephony from a VoIP system are performed in a simulated enterprise PBX, Simulation tools have become very important.

Communications Web Services are the call control element of functionality. P_resence, text chat setup and call history are good examples.

Adminstration Web Services address applications that might need to modify user configurations or system configurations.

He showed some examples of different models that applications might use to capture change information related to realtime events.

Some real application examples -
Web browser based interface is the simpplest example. Can display state information to users. Easily show presence state with click-to-dial capability A simple enter-rise telephone directory environment.

Another is the mobile device that can run thin client or browser based apps These make it asy to authenticate as a mobile WiFi user and display state information based on that IP connectivity. The mobile device simply becomes a think client using web services on the network. Again directories and presence state are prime examples. Since it's all HTTPS, there's no media setup, protocols, etc. This is basic web-served information.

Web collaboration is another example where we do things on the traditional telephone in conjunction with a workstation and application services. Whether it's a bridge demonstration or application sharing to perfrom some joint work, the potential for improved efficiency with full integration is immeasureable.

For large enterprises, think about the whole nasty process of adds, moves and changes for new employees and people shuffling from cube to cube. That's historically a huge labor effort. Imagine the HR ystem that interacts with network and telephony services to automagically configure telephony services for new employees.

Converging business applications is absolutely where we are headed.

This session set the stage well for tomorrow. Most sessions run an hour or thereabouts. There's a roundtable session on Presence and Availability. That's a hot topic and I'll try to record the session to see if I can perhaps podcast it for folks who couldn't be here. We'll see how that goes tomorrow Worst case, I'll type madly so I can blog it during the session like I've been doing.

----- What may have been the nicest part of this presentation was Todd's obvious knowledge and comfort with the technologies in play. This wasn't a company promo in any way. He mentioned what they do but this was realyy a strong technical session with a focus on communications web services at the technical level. His deft handling of questions and obvious comfort with the broad scope of web services and telephony services made this a great session,

Kudos to Todd!

----- There are two keynotes coming this afternoon to wrap the day. I won't be blogging those as they're big sessions in the ballroom. Then a reception. Still later, a birthday dinner for Andy Abramson. I don't know how much more I'll post here from the conference today, but more tomorrow for sure.