The IMS Forum, a global, non-profit industry association devoted to interoperable IP Multimedia Subsystems services and solutions, is getting ready to present its first-ever IMS Plugfest series of events. The goal of these events, which will run through 2008, is to promote interoperability amongst applications, services, components and end-user devices running on IMS networks and to establish industry-recognized certification for products that have achieved the highest level of interoperability.

The first of these events – which are open to both IMS Forum (News - Alert) members and non-members - will be held Jan. 15-19, 2007, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab in Durham, N.H - one of the industry’s premier centers for testing and proving cutting-edge networking and data communications products. Software developers, equipment vendors and service providers will be able to test a range of applications and services - including voice services, fix-mobile convergence, presence, instant messaging and hosted IP PBX - across mobile, WiFi, DSL and cable networks.

In addition to building a universe of fully interoperable IMS-capable products, the tests will also be used to help the IMS Forum build a reference test network for testing future IMS services and platforms. The events will also play a key role in the development and implementation of the Forum’s strategic “roadmap” for building standardized test practices - this for the purpose of accelerating time to market and ROI for service providers.

“The new IMS networks will be defined by service innovation and interoperability,” said Akshay Sharma, research director for carrier network infrastructure at Gartner (News - Alert), in a press release. “Communications carriers are looking for innovation — and that means the freedom to choose best-of-breed hardware and software solutions. The IMS Forum Plugfest portfolio of service-level conformance testing should deliver the kind of compelling end-to-end interoperability testing that carriers demand.”

Michael Khalilian, IMS Forum chairman and president, and CTO of Pervasip, said finalizing the test plan for the January event “is a significant milestone and provides a solid foundation for our current IMS services interoperability in addition to future IMS Plugfests.”

Among the IMS Plugfest sponsors, test plan contributors and participants are Ditech Networks, Empirix Ixia (News - Alert), InterOperability Lab/University of New Hampshire, GlobalTouch Telecom, Mu Security, NE Technologies, Inc./MARBEN, Reef Point, Sonus Networks, Tekelec, Tektronix (News - Alert), Trendium, Valid8, and VoX Communications.

The IMS Forum, formerly the IPCC (and formerly the Softswitch Consortium before that) aims to accelerate the adoption of the IMS standard, as defined by the 3GPP, by “clarifying architectures, interconnectivity and management systems to meet real-life service deployment; driving alliances among industry forums; establishing joint working groups; steering major industry events; and influencing standards bodies and adopters to ensure a confluence in the industry.”

In a related announcement, VoIP test solutions provider Empirix – a platinum sponsor of Plugfest - announced today that it will be providing its Hammer DEX development platform as a tool to be used by developers and equipment makers during the event. According to a press release, the platform will be used to conduct a variety of device and service interoperability scenarios.

In addition to verifying fixed and mobile voice services, Hammer DEX will also be used to test presence, instant messaging, hosted IP PBX and VoIP supplemental services over multiple networks, such as 3G Mobile, WiFi (News - Alert), wireline and cable broadband. The platform will be used to evaluate certain functions including voice call generation, SIP session emulation, IMS core device emulation and IMS session monitoring and troubleshooting – and will also be used to demonstrate the interoperability of registration and call scenarios covering a number of fixed and mobile environments. Several of these scenarios, such as third party registration and the registration of service subscription, have not been tested at past interoperability events.

“As one of the founding members of the IMS Forum, we’re excited to be so heavily involved in the organization's first Plugfest event,” said Gordon Beith, senior product manager at Empirix, and an active contributor to the IMS Forum, in a press release. “The IMS Forum is playing a significant role in helping to move the industry along toward rapid IMS adoption, and having this event at the UNH-IOL is a perfect fit given their success in hosting other multi-vendor carrier-class events.”

For more information, visit www.imsforum.org.

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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.