If company announcements are any indication, the NXTcomm2007 trade show held last week in Chicago was very successful with fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) and unified communications a key focus. Today, we’d like to highlight a few announcements that caught our attention.

* NewStep Networks and fg microtec, announced that their joint efforts to enable Nokia handsets to interoperate with multimedia applications for 2.5G, 3G and WLAN mobile phones, has led to field trials with major service providers. NewStep also announced that is had completed interoperability certification for Paragon’s latest GSM/VoWLAN dual-mode handset.

* Aepona is aiming its Voice Call Continuity (VCC) product for service provider OSS and BSS back-office systems integration, offering scalability, service interaction and intelligent rating and charging.

* Verizon introduced three FMC services: Wireless Office, PBX Mobile Extension and Mobile Conference Connection. Announced features include a single phone number that simultaneously rings to an office, home and cell phone; a unified mailbox that consolidates voicemail from multiple devices; and instant conference calls that can be organized and initiated with just a few clicks on any Research in Motion BlackBerry or Microsoft Windows Mobile smart phone or PDA.

* Covad is adding Mereon Unified Messaging to its Covad ClearEdge Voice Services, allowing users to manage all their voice, fax or e-mail messages from a single mailbox. According to their statement, Covad’s enhancements will provide “customers with customizable, easy-to-use features such as auto-attendant, single number for voice and fax, and enhanced support for distribution lists and greetings.”

Next time: Discussions with DiVitas Networks about FMC ROI and solving FMC and mobile-to-mobile convergence complexity.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.