Phones tested for ability to communicate
TIA calls for 'new culture of openness'
A new culture of openness is needed in the telecoms industry for customers to believe in convergence, the Telecoms Industry Association (TIA) warned last week.
The TIA began phase 2 of its IP PBX interoperability test project last week, after completing preliminary tests.
These tests will identify which features and functions can be supported when using digital private networking systems to connect new IP PBXs and a range of legacy PBX systems using time-division multiplexing.
The market needs convincing that new phone systems will work with each other, according to Alan Cobb, director general of the TIA.
"We've already tested compliance standards, but manufacturers have different interpretations of a standard," he said.
"Standards often mean the lowest common denominator. What comms managers really want to know is whether their old systems will be able to talk to the new systems, and whether all the valuable features work."
The TIA plans to publish the results of interoperability testing between all the major systems.
Ian Guest, marketing manager at Philips Business Communications, said: "Some industries, including finance, are characterised by frequent acquisitions so they will want to know whether different systems can be brought together to work with each other. For most vendors it's not a massive marketing consideration."
Guest admitted that ultimately, telecoms vendors would prefer a situation where merging companies are forced to buy a whole new PBX.