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July 17, 2014

IMTC Merger with UCIF Puts Focus on Unified Communications and WebRTC


The recent merger of International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium (IMTC) with the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF) has far-reaching implications for the world of enterprise communications. The two standard bodies, which will operate under the IMTC umbrella, bring together decades of experience working with interoperability and technical standards.

The unified group will also examine new technologies like WebRTC, according to Anatoli Levine, president of IMTC. Levine sat down with Crossfire Media’s Carl Ford at the recent WebRTC Expo in Atlanta to discuss the newly merged standards body’s current and future plans.

“The benefit is that we will now become one forum and we have more resources to do the work for the industry and to continue promoting interoperability,” he said of the merger with UCIF. “IMTC is expanding into areas like WebRTC. So all the WebRTC vendors who have products who are interested in interoperability with all of the enterprise-grade communication infrastructure are more than welcome to join IMTC.”

The merger also brings Microsoft back into the IMTC fold. As a founding member of the organization 20 years ago, the company moved over to the UCIF when it was founded in 2010. Joined by HP, Polycom, Logitech and Juniper Networks, the companies worked together to maximize UC interoperability. Now that UC standards will be back under the IMTC umbrella, Levine said he doesn’t expect any overlap since each organization has been doing unique work.

And while the IMTC just wrapped up this year’s SuperOp! event in May, they can count on Microsoft Lync products being featured at upcoming events. Levine added that he isn’t sure how prevalent UC will be at the next event, and will depend on the readiness of the various technologies that need to be tested.

In any case, WebRTC is certainly an item of interest for the IMTC, and the consortium has a WebRTC Interoperability Activity Group focused on the standard. The group mainly looks at interoperability issues related to desktop, desk phone, mobile device and other device uses of the technology and is particularly interested in enterprise WebRTC. 




Edited by Alisen Downey
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