VoiceCon: Reporter's notebook

Customers anyone?

We got hit up by some three dozen vendors leading up to VoiceCon who wanted to give us their schtick. We declined, but invited them to set us up with any customers they might have on hand among the 4,500 attendees. Only three vendors - AnchorPoint, Metreos and NEC - didn't slink away. Makes you wonder how many IP telephony users there really are...

Dirty Laundry

Billed as the "VoiceCon Great Debate:One Vendor or More?", the show's head-to-head battle between Cisco marketing honcho Rick Moran and Nortel CTO Philip Edholm fizzled out (neither company would take the bait and argue that customers should rely on a sole vendor). But things did heat up when the analyst panel finished grilling the vendor reps and the Cisco and Nortel executives were asked to zing each other. Before Moran can even spit out his question Edholm blurted out "Boxers," anticipating a question over which variety of underwear he preferred. To which Moran retorted "TMI" (too much information). And to which the audience responded with a collective sigh, relieved that Edholm hadn't said thong.

Career opportunities

For those VoiceCon attendees who just can't take any more talk of QoS and SIP, other conventions being held in the vicinity might offer options for a career change. In the Disney Dolphin Hotel, VoiceCon is sharing quarters with the Utility Construction conference. Just down the road at the Coronado hotel is the International Society of Explosives Engineers' 31st Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique.

*****

Buoyed by the popularity of its winter VoiceCon conference, BCR Tuesday announced a new VoiceCon event scheduled for the fall in San Diego.

VoiceCon Fall will be held Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, and like this week's VoiceCon event in Orlando, will be focused on IP telephony for enterprise networks. Avaya, Cisco and others have already signed on as participants, show organizers say.

This week's event will attract about 4,500 people, up 25% from last year, according to conference organizers. VoiceCon is now in its 15th year.