Dialogic's Moynihan Dishes on the Latest in Tech & How to Stay Ahead of the Curve

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

Dialogic (News - Alert) has a long history of enabling communications media processing for new development communities. Today the company offers a large portfolio of telephony infrastructure and developer enabling products that range from softswitches, gateways, SBCs, telephony and fax boards, and media servers. These products are sold to service providers, enterprises, contact centers and developers.

The company recently won a 2015 INTERNET TELEPHONY Product of the Year awards for its PowerMedia XMS media server and its I-GATE PRO 4000 media gateway, which supports IP-to-IP transcoding in SIP and H.323 and supports IP hairpins. And late last year Dialogic garnered a 2014 Best of Conferencing Award at WebRTC^v Conference & Expo, where the company demonstrated a multiparty video conference load-test using the Dialogic PowerMedia XMS in an exercise that validated the product’s advanced mixing, recording, transcoding, and interworking capabilities in a high-load conferencing environment.

TMC recently interviewed Tim Moynihan, vice president of marketing for Dialogic Inc., to learn about his plans for ITEXPO (News - Alert) Miami later this month and to get a sense of what he sees as new and important in communications technology. Here’s an excerpt.

How have technology innovations changed how you work in the past two years?

Moynihan: The products making the biggest impact on our business in the last two years are our PowerMedia products that deliver on the IMS framework and MRF that we have been talking about for years and have finally started to make a huge impact.

In terms of productivity, what is the most useful app you use on a regular basis?

Moynihan: The most useful app I go to on a regular basis is LinkedIn (News - Alert). I use it multiple times daily to share information, collaborate, and prospect for sales. It’s no wonder there are 300 million users globally.

Which is the best mobile device on the market?

Moynihan: I’m a big fan of the Apple (News - Alert) Watch. It helps me navigate and calendar my messages, so it’s user friendly and goes with me everywhere.

Do you own and use any other wearable tech products? 
 

Moynihan: Yes, I use a wearable product, Fitbit, that is helping me lead a healthier and more productive lifestyle.

How useful can wearable technology be in the enterprise?

Moynihan: Wearable technology can be useful in the enterprise if it keeps you healthy and organized as the previous two examples I cited illustrate.

How often do you use video for business communications?

Moynihan: So far, I use it sporadically. Sometimes it’s good to use it to see remote employees. I typically use this when I’m participating in a WebRTC call.

How is WebRTC enhancing communications today, and what is its potential in the longer term?

Moynihan: The key with WebRTC is not having to download a client. This simple concept can be a big deal. First of all, it simplifies the interop and constant upgrading required with a specific client. But ultimately, because a url can launch a voice and/or video call, for the enterprise it means potentially better and faster customer service. For the service providers, it enables telco apps over data that potentially they can own. It enables better competition toward the OTT players who have eaten into the value-added service applications.

What else is your business doing in terms of using unified communications? 

Moynihan: We use Lync in our business. It has enabled better and faster communication because of the presence feature. You can call someone when you know they are available, for instance, and it has cut down on emails and leaving messages. When messages are left, accessing them is also easier. Recently, we have added transcription to the message and while it’s not perfect, you can certainly get the gist of the message, so frequently you can read an email and not even have to listen to the message. Another key benefit has really been with conference calls and sharing documents. Dialogic, like most businesses, does not have all of [its] employees in a single location. So when we do a staff meeting or a gate review or whatever kind of meeting, we can share information [with] all participants listening and joined on Lync. This enables a much more seamless meeting experience for all.

What do you think of Microsoft’s decision to rebrand Lync as Skype (News - Alert) for Business?

Moynihan: It makes sense marketing wise to do this, and some combination of Lync and Skype was expected. But when you see this name, you will actually think you are getting Skype. So you will expect Skype and expect it look like and work like Skype. I suspect it will depend on the user interface and the customer experience. To many people, Skype works better. For instance, we use Lync at work and sometimes I switch to Skype since it works better. Is this still going to be the case with the Skype for Business? Otherwise, this could hurt the Skype brand.

What does the recent trend toward high-profile network breaches tell us about digital security and digital asset protection?

Moynihan: Through voice biometrics we are about to reach a tipping point. Multi-factor identification and multi-factor security is necessary so that we can be vigilant in keeping our information safe and protecting our digital assets.

Looking back at 2014, how would you characterize the change that has taken place in the technology landscape?

Moynihan: The innovation pace is tremendous in all fronts from the consumer to the network. On the consumer side, we’ve seen video and mobile play a larger role. To me, this is evidenced by larger mobile devices. It’s all about the video with them. We’re also starting to see analytics play a bigger role. Wearables are an example of that. On the network side, we see innovation being driven by capex limits. This has enabled the rise of NFV and software-based networking products. 

What is the most interesting or exciting technology announcement or enhancement of the year?

Moynihan: I think this was actually at the end of 2013, but the Amazon drone. There are a lot of implications with this, some good and some bad. It’s very interesting.

What are you looking forward to at ITEXPO Miami?
 

Moynihan: At ITEXPO Miami I’m looking forward to catching up with my global colleagues and networking. I’m eager to share what I’m doing at Dialogic and the interesting technology we are offering to service providers and application developers. I’m pumped and looking forward to connecting!

What is your session about and why should attendees make sure your session is on their ITEXPO to do list?
 

Moynihan: My session is a panel about hot trends for service providers, and attendees should be sure to catch it at ITEXPO because they’re not going to want to miss what we are about to show and tell them about what’s coming up so that they can stay ahead of the technology curve. It will be information packed, fun, and informative.

For more on all the latest technology and trends happenings, be sure to register to attend ITEXPO, the business technology event that brings together service providers, enterprises, government agencies, resellers, vendors and developers to demo, discuss and network all the latest innovations changing the marketplace. ITEXPO is being held January 27-30, 2015, at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Florida.   Stay in touch with everything happening at the event -- follow us on Twitter. 

Edited by Maurice Nagle