The influx and adoption of innovative IP-based communication platforms has forced service providers and large enterprises to reevaluate their networks and invest in technologies that help them evolve alongside the changing marketplace.

For many companies, the answer is SIP trunking services and premise-based session border controllers, which help organizations take advantage of next-gen communication services without having to completely overhaul their network.

To develop further insight into this thriving market, TMC CEO Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) recently reached out to Mykola Konrad, director of product management at Sonus Networks, a provider of scalable TDM to IP and IP to IP solutions. Konrad and the rest of the Sonus team will be on hand at ITEXPO West 2011, the world's premier communication conference and expo, which kicked off this morning at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.

Konrad said that the most interesting trend in the space is the explosion of over-the-top voice/video applications like Skype. The steady adoption rates of these bandwidth-hungry applications are putting unique demands on service providers and enterprises, which have responded by aggressively investing in SIP-based technologies, said Konrad. The increased demand for UC applications has furthered this push.

After exploring the enterprise and service provider markets, Konrad touched on a few hot topics in the technology space in general, including the mobile operating systems war and the introduction of Google+.

Konrad speculates that Blackberry maker Research in Motion is finished, but is holding out hope for Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform. As for Google+, he sees it being a game-changer in foreign markets that have yet to adopt Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter on a wide scale, but doesn't see it being a major player in the U.S. social media market.

Check out the complete interview below, or stop by ITEXPO West this week in Austin to hear more from Konrad and the Sonus team.

How has your market evolved over the past year and what trends have fueled those changes?

While the evolution to IP/SIP is far from over—something like 80 percent of fixed lines in North America are still TDM—I’d say the more interesting trend is the rise of over-the-top voice/video applications like Skype. I think service providers are still trying to figure out how to evolve around what’s increasingly becoming an app-based economy. Enterprises, on the other hand, are aggressively investing in SIP-based technology since they understand that their future depends on integrating apps like Skype into their networks.

What do you see as the next disruptive force in technology and how will it impact your market or business?

Over-the-top (OTT) applications in general, and Skype in particular, will change the way that enterprises view voice services and service providers view their core business. While some service providers may not adapt in time, I think you’ll see the industry leaders use this opportunity to drive more innovation in their networks and ultimately deliver more value.

How has the acceptance and adoption of the cloud model influenced your development cycle and process?

Since the cloud market is still evolving, we’ve found that trying to identify market pain points in mid-evolution has ironically been a barrier to the development process. That said, we’ve already adapted some of our existing solutions like the ASX Feature Server to take advantage of cloud-based deployment models, in this case as a Voice as a Service platform.

What is the most common request you are seeing from your customers? How is your company addressing these demands?

From an enterprise perspective, we’re seeing a big demand for SIP trunking services. The move to Unified Communications is driving that demand, since SIP-based communications is an integral part of UC. More and more enterprises are beginning to see the value of a premise-based session border controller, and so we’ve moved aggressively into the enterprise SBC space in recent months.

There has been talk of Facebook coming into the mobile marketplace with its own devices, and LinkedIn just rolled out a new HTML5 mobile app. Do you expect we will see a push towards universal solutions or customized mobile devices as we move forward in social media?

When it comes to forecasting new markets, I usually look to past explosive growth markets for analogies. I think the best analogy for the mobile space is the personal computer market of the early 90s. So I see customized mobile devices giving way to universal solutions, much as the integrated PC gave way to today’s Wintel world.

Besides phone calls, mobile is now sharing bandwidth with video and machines. What do you predict will be the mix of traffic in the future?

That’s an interesting question. While I see the number of machine communications exceeding the number of video sessions, a single video call eats up a lot more bandwidth. So, in the short term, I’d say video will be the dominant bandwidth hog, but in the long term machines will consume more bandwidth as more machines come online.

Will Google+ become bigger than Facebook and Twitter (News - Alert)? Why or why not?

I see this as a battle drawn along geographic lines. In North America, for example, Facebook and Twitter have created a very powerful network effect that will be hard to overcome. In the rest of the world, however, Google+ has a good chance of displacing them.

As businesses continue their move toward virtual workforces, how are you meeting the need for increased mobility?  What barriers are keeping others from adopting mobile strategies?

Well, increasing mobility is at the core of what we do: we build networking equipment that allows enterprises to easily extend voice and other SIP services to remote offices and workers around the world. The biggest barrier we see is cost. Enterprises are reluctant to “rip and replace” their existing communications network without a compelling ROI story behind it. That’s why we offer hybrid solutions like session border controllers that support TDM traffic. In that way, enterprises can take advantage of SIP-based applications like fixed-mobile convergence while still getting value from their legacy PBXs and gateways.

How do you see the mobile operating system war (iPhone vs. Android vs. RIM vs. WM7 vs. HTML5) playing out?

RIM looks done. The iPhone should continue to be a solid market player for the foreseeable future, with a 20-25 percent market.  In my opinion, though, it comes down to WM7/Nokia (News - Alert) and Android/Motorola. I wish I had a crystal ball, but I do think the Windows Mobile platform has a good chance of coming out on top.

Is HTML5 the game changer many predict it will be?

No, although I do think it will help improve user interfaces and allow for more standardization on browsers. I still see phone-specific apps as the norm, however, at least for the next few years.

What are you most looking forward to at ITEXPO West in Austin? What do you see as being the biggest trends at the show?

I always look forward the most to connecting with other people in the industry. From a technology perspective, though, I’m excited to see some of the new real-time applications that will deliver on UC’s potential.

Who should visit your booth at ITEXPO and why?

Enterprises interested in session border controllers, SIP trunking and replacing their PBXs with a much cheaper SIP-based solution should definitely stop by and see what we have to offer. And I’ll be there, which is reason enough to visit.

Sonus Networks (News - Alert) is a Platinum sponsor of ITEXPO West 2011. To find out more about Mykola Konrad and Sonus Networks, visit the company in booth #801 at ITEXPO West 2011. Happening now in Austin, TX, ITEXPO is the world’s premier IP communications event. Mykola Konrad is speaking during “Enterprise SBCs: Extending Beyond Interoperability.” Robert Bradley, product manager of Security Solutions at Sonus is speaking during “The Next Generation of Voice Security.” Fardad Farahmand, director of Systems Engineering at Sonus, is speaking during “Evolving Interconnection – From TDM to IP to IMS Peering.” Don’t wait. Register now.

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Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell