Finally it should be mentioned that the IMS would allow truly convergent services, for example ClicktoDial and Website Push as an answering machine.

DMR: VoIP is beginning to penetrate markets apart from corporate networks and is moving on from the status of early adopter market in the private customer segment. Particularly in mobile networks the operators are viewing this with concern as they see their lucrative income source in danger. Which influence will IMS have on the ‘extension’ of VoIP into mobile networks and what effects will this have on turnover and the need to defend it within the value chain?

Prof. Magedanz: VoIP will enter the mobile network markets with or without IMS. The main driver which the operators must take advantage of in the end is cost efficiency due to the use of a single IP network technology. The IMS must be seen as an ‘experiment’ to get early control of VoIP. The IMS QoS value proposition, guaranteeing priority for voice and video services over download users in the mobile networks, is important here. If bandwidths increase enough then the IMS will not be needed. But this is going to take time. With the 3G flatrates other VoIP providers are going to serve mobiles. E-plus is just the forerunner. Also the integrated UMTS/WLAN smartphones are going to lead the way towards the opportunities that are opening up.

DMR: You and your team are working intensively on the development of IMS platforms. What is the strategic importance of this subject in terms of the telecommunications network environment and value creation in the branch, and what recommendations do you make to network operators on the one hand and VNOs on the other?

Prof. Magedanz: IMS represents a Next Generation Service Delivery Platform and can thus be seen as the successor to Intelligent Networks. At the same time the telecommunications world has changed drastically due to the Internet. In this situation the IMS should be seen – alongside the related technical innovations – as a framework for the secure and controlled provision of IP-based, personal multimedia services, and is thus in the focus of interest for all actors in the convergent markets worldwide. We can thus assume that it is of long term relevance.

The Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS has been working on convergence in telecommunications, Internet, consumer electronics and IT for more than 17 years. We carry out industrial research in the areas Next Generation Service Delivery Platforms and VoIP infrastructures. As an independent player we are able, alongside implementing technology analyses and feasibility studies as well as proof of concept implementations, to provide so-called "testbeds", which we make available to our clients. At the beginning of 2004 we decided to set up the first, and to date only, open IMS Testbed in the world (Open IMS Playground@FOKUS). The large number of clients from throughout the world (operators, suppliers, integrators, users) documents the global relevance of this subject most convincingly. At this point I could go on for hours and hours. Instead I would like to issue an invitation to your readers – visit our IMS Playground. There you can get a real "feel" for the IMS technology and its potential.