Over the last few years Internet Telephony has moved from a hobbiest toy or a experimental curiosity to a main stream part of Telco Network deployment. This talk will take a look at work within the Intelligent Network research lab within Hewlett-Packard Labs to enable the convergence between IN and IP Networks, of which Internet Telephony has been a prime example. We will look at what is motivating this convergence, what are the effects on the Network design, network protocols and what are the effects on end user services.
The IN network has a very different design philosophy to the Internet and a very different heritage. Bringing these two networks together we will argue, will revolutionise communications giving a range of services and flexibility that wasn't previously possible with IN.
We will finally look at what new services are now available from the more innovative operators, and a vision of what might be the service in the future.