IPICS targets emergency UHF/VHF services, however, there’s an the connection each time.
enterprise Push-to-Talk angle that takes in VoIP, TDM and cell The phones use the 2.5G packetized
phones. Do some lateral thinking and an interesting opportu- data channel and the service can be
nity for mobile network operators opens up. employed at the same time as regular
circuit-switched 2G calls. But there is a
At the end of October Cisco an- functionality will come at a later date. downside: an enterprise would need to nounced IP Interoperability and Col- This includes video (see the miscreant); buy new P2T phones for all relevant em-laboration Systems (IPICS) as “a new GPS (display the location of trucks and ployees and if the 2G devices aren’t broke emerging technology,” but as News Editor vans); and IM messaging (with conver- that’s unlikely to happen.
Doug Mohney pointed out a few days sion from text to speech). Now for some lateral thinking: if a
later in a www.vonmag.com Web Exclus- mobile operator offers an IPICS service
ive, “public safety sectors have been An Opportunity for Operators to enterprises then they would obtain
deploying IP-based systems to bridge dis- Cisco’s justification for the enterprise an- P2T functionality on all legacy devices.
parate radio networks for several years.” gle comes from the cost of managing and It would scale across the enterprise, but
That’s a fact; when questioned later Cisco maintaining the UHF/VHF systems. This only when the employees were divided
didn’t deny it, but put the spin on the way task is normally outsourced, but IP is the into groups; however, that’s the way peo-
the technology has been applied and the glue that brings these disparate devices ple work. Emergency services are closed
depth/breadth of the solution. Okay. Let’s and networks together. IPICS therefore user groups but IPICS enables interoper-
put the ethics of aggressive marketing allows management and maintenance to ability, so it’s not a real issue.
aside and look at that ‘depth and breadth’ be done in house, using the regular IT In addition, a hosted service by a mo-
and then see how it can and will be ap- network management system. bile operator could handle the enterprise’s
plied to the enterprise sector. The opportunity for mobile network own security and emergency; i.e. replace
As well as enabling interoperability operators comes from P2T being promot- the dedicated UHF/VHF service, thereby
between different UHF and VHF Push- ed as an IMS service. The fact that IMS introducing economies of scale.
to-Talk (P2T) systems, the solution also platforms are in trials but have not been
brings in VoIP, TDM and Cellular phones. commercially deployed indicates that this Will it happen?
To be specific, it gives regular voice, video is marketing hype; however, there’s more Not in the near term. IPICS is being tri-
and data devices a P2T capability. Cisco to this service than walkie-talkie commu- aled and commercial deployment is un-
isn’t saying how it’s done, but the demo nications. likely before the second or third quarters.
worked and trials are underway. So, al- P2T is a differentiated VoIP service–it is The early adopters will be government
though the emphasis at the launch was not a substitute for existing cellular ser- agencies, airports, seaports, etc. But it’s
on homeland security and the ability to vices. IP technology and packet switching technically feasible and mobile operators
coordinate the response to natural disas- enable more efficient use of radio resourc- need new revenue streams and to create
ters, there is an enterprise angle too. es, which are reserved for the duration of differentiated offers. An enterprise-wide
The business case comes via the inte- talk spurts instead of for an entire call service for large enterprises could be a
gration of the enterprise’s operations and session. This translates into much lower very profitable proposition and one that
emergency management systems. For ex- charges: only talk time is billed, so two or minimizes churn.
ample, in a hospital the ambulance radio more parties can stay ‘online’ for hours. Stranger developments than this have
system would be integrated with the front At the same time it is very profitable for taken place in recent months, so why
office and it would also provide notifica- operators–a real win-win scenario. not? V
tion to doctors and nurses. A retail op- P2T is set to become a useful service in
eration could integrate sales support with the business sector; e.g. it can be used for Bob Emmerson, our European Editor, co-
inventory management, shipping and remote problem solving where an expert authored with Jeff Pulver the book, Run
loading. This capability is being marketed in one location can provide advice when- Your Organization in Real Time. He can
as “push-to-talk everywhere.” Additional ever needed: there is no need to remake be reached at bemmerson@vonmag.com.
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