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Tandberg's new Video Communication Server has two notable features: the FindMe call forwarding application, and call control and firewall traversal that support Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) as well as H.323.
First things first: the SIP traversal capability is good news, the only question being what took so long. If you line them up side-by-side, H.323 may win-out over SIP - and Skype may be anti-SIP and anti-H.323 - but everyone from Google to Microsoft to the open-source VoIP community is SIP-friendly.
"When I hear about SIP and videoconferencing, frankly, I think, 'big deal'," says Nora Freedman, senior analyst in the enterprise networks group at IDC.
The SIP/H.323 traversal is a step toward interoperability, but videoconferencing, and particularly the higher-end world of telepresence, is still a world of silos.
"We have a strategic relationship with HP," says Mike Roussey, product marketing manager of infrastructure products at Tandberg, "and the intent and direction is to enable Tandberg systems on the HP network, but this is a work in progress."
Roussey was specific in positioning Tandberg as moving toward interoperability for videoconferencing as opposed to telepresence.
"Each of these solutions is very proprietary," says...