News Archives

October 09, 2009

How close is convergence?

Convergence is the new consolidation in telecommunications. As recently as 2006, Morningstar Advisor, reported a lack of integration among carriers. That was then; this is 2009.

Convergence or bundling of services is the new packaging model for data networking and telecommunications. While it’s advertised today on TV, in print and online as innovative, Microtech-Tel has been doing it for years.

Economies of scale can be achieved by locating all of one’s telecommunications services in one place vs. sourcing the necessary services from multiple vendors. Three years ago, the Morningstar article fast-forwarded to imagine the types of integration we might we see. One area offering huge potential is integrated phone service. A user could have one unified cordless handset that ran on an Internet connection delivered over a landline to a wireless network at home or in the office. It would be capable of automatically switching to a cellular network when an Internet connection was not available. This would allow users to have one handset and one account capable of handling all of their calls, all of the time. It would also mean that everyone would have one unified account for add-on services such as voicemail without having to go through a third-party provider at an additional cost. In theory at least, if a customer got everything through a single carrier, implementation of such a network should be less trouble prone. Another area is Internet access. In the same way that we could see seamless hand-offs in telecom from one network to another, the same thing is possible for Internet connections.

Microtech-Tel’s bundling of end-to-end coverage for small- to mid-size businesses includes Managed IT Services, Network Services and Telecom Services. The future is here.