Every year I speak at the International Avaya User’s Group Converge conference. Next week, Converge2015 is being held in Denver, Colorado and I am presenting seven (yes, seven) breakout sessions. I work hard researching my topics and enjoy meeting fellow Avaya users while helping spread the good word about Avaya’s products and technologies.
If you are going to Converge2105 (and I really hope you are), stop by one or all seven of my sessions. I expect some to be standing room only so come early for a good seat.
Session 404: WebRTC for Beginners — Sunday 1:45 to 2:45
You have undoubtedly heard about WebRTC and understand that it has to do with real-time communications to and from a web browser, but do you really understand what it entails and how it will revolutionize our industry? This session will help demystify WebRTC in terms of what it is, what it requires, how it works, and who will use it. The building blocks of WebRTC will be discussed in a way that both programmers and non-programmers will learn something useful. Additionally, you will learn how Avaya is addressing WebRTC and how you can implement this new technology in your enterprise.
Session 701: Undercover SIP Part 1 — Sunday 3:00 to 4:00
Session 702: Undercover SIP Part 2 — Sunday 4:15 to 5:15
SIP has been around for over 10 years, but can you truly claim to understand what is going on underneath the covers? Do you have a good understanding of SIP message types and response codes? Would you feel comfortable trying to solve a problem between two SIP telephones? This session will take you deeper into the SIP protocol than perhaps you’ve ever gone. While geared toward a technical audience, all the important facets of SIP will be explained in ways that are easy to understand and, more importantly, remember.
Session 706: Building a Secure SIP Network — Monday 1:00 to 2:00
As you transition your communications systems to IP and SIP, security needs to be high on your list of priorities. Are you looking to add mobile SIP endpoints? Are you aware of the different ways to secure SIP traffic and media? There are a lot of different SBCs out there to choose from. Do you know which make and model is the right one for what you are trying to accomplish? This session will help you understand SIP security as well as assist you in choosing the SBC that best meets your needs. If you are about to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a SIP infrastructure, you owe it to yourself and your enterprise to attend this session.
Session 709: A Cornucopia of Codecs — Wednesday 9:30 to 10:30
Are you confused between the vast arrays of different media codecs out there? Do you know the difference between G.711, G.729, and G.722? Do you know why you would choose one over the other? Are you familiar with newer codecs such as Opus and iLBC and are you aware of their growing importance? This session will not only educate you on what codecs are available to use, but also how they fit into the larger picture of unified communications, mobility, and session management.
Session 710: The Road to SIP — Wednesday 2:00 to 3:00
SIP has been around for over a decade, but companies still struggle with how to go forward with a SIP strategy. Hopefully, they understand why they need to move away from TDM into the multimedia, multimodal world of SIP, but there is a great deal of confusion as to how. This session will explain the various tactical approaches to a SIP architecture as well as identify the steps an enterprise would take to transform their communications system into a unified communications multimedia engine.
Session 405: Creating Your Own Applications with Avaya APIs and the new Engagement Development Platform — Wednesday 4:30 to 5:30
Avaya provides great Unified Communications and Contact Center foundations along with pre-built products, but what if these don’t offer exactly what you need for your business? You may need to consider Avaya’s extensive software development kits (SDKs), application programming interfaces (APIs), or the new Avaya Engagement Development Platform to create your own custom applications. Think about the possibilities. Custom application development can take an idea, coupled with action, and solve specific business problems. Consider the use of presence and the ability to offer your top customers access to your resident experts via web chat. Or perhaps you want to utilize the presence of other applications and tie into the control of live contact handling. You may even be ready to WebRTC-enable your contact center and need a robust, easy-to-use development platform. Join us in this presentation to talk about the features and integration points that Avaya exposes and how you can use them to create applications to address your specific business needs. We’ll also share some live examples of applications that have been developed using these SDKs, APIs, and advanced interfaces.
Tao, Zen, and Tomorrow 
On behalf of the IAUG conference planning team, thank you for your willingness to share your knowledge with our members. I’m looking forward to seeing you in Denver next week!
Thanks, Bill! I look forward to this every year. I am not sure that signing up for seven sessions was the smartest thing I’ve ever done, though. 😉