Convergence Futures - 7 : Future Private Network Convergence
We were just talking about commercial carriers. Now let's focus on the corporate, or private, network. In recent lessons we've defined convergence as the converging of voice and data, applications, and support staff. But the future will also start to see more of the convergence of technologies into one solution. For instance, we first learned what a bridge is, then we learned about a router. Now, the telecommunications industry has the ability to merge these two devices into one.
As a society, we've been interested in convergence for a long time. Not only because it saves money, but because it makes things easier. For instance, in our homes, TVs and VCRs converged into one easy to use entertainment center. So have TVs and DVD players. Looking farther back into the past, so have washers and dryers, stoves and ovens, even hot and cold water. Two different systems converging to work together. You get the idea.
Now let's take this a step further. You've learned what a VPN is, but did you know that manufacturers are now embedding VPN capabilities into a data switch, which also has built-in router functions? Going a even a step further, manufacturers have also embedded voice over IP services into the switch as well, so now you have a device that is a bridge, router, VPN, and voice over IP solution all in one.
What's next? Perhaps manufacturers will add a call center application, or support for wireless phones. This trend will continue as long as customers demand a more cost-effective way to integrate services in their networks.
And it's not going to stop there. The future of convergence for voice allows all IP PBX features to be extended across entire networks transparently, which means the remote office worker and the teleworkers will have all of the same resources. No matter where they are located, they can access these resources as if they were sitting at a desk at the company's headquarters. That sounds simple enough, but what's even more exciting is the fact that consumers and organizations are demanding that these services be embedded into more of the wireless devices they use everyday: PDAs, cell phones, and so on.