MetaSwitch Customers See No Limits

Sixth annual conference provided limitless networking, technical deep dives and industry insight for a record 635 attendees

 

MetaSwitch Forum 2009, Las Vegas, NV: April 9, 2009. MetaSwitch today wrapped up its record-setting sixth annual MetaSwitch Forum 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. With a Vegas-styled theme of "No Limits", the event was created specifically for MetaSwitch's customers and partners to come together to discuss and solve industry challenges, and meet and network with MetaSwitch executives.

More than 600 Forum attendees packed 30 educational sessions, including "Getting All Mashed Up in Vegas", "Dealin' with the Feds" and "The Final Cut: Behind the Scenes of a Major Switch Migration", and crowded the expo floor that featured 35 partner exhibits.

"The record attendance at the Forum this year is clear proof that the MetaSwitch Community is strong, growing and positive about the future. This sense of a community of innovators, meeting in a relaxed, educational setting, truly is the hallmark of the MetaSwitch Forum," said John Lazar, CEO for MetaSwitch. "We focused hard this year on shaping every session to be as valuable as possible, so that attendees leave with practical ideas that can immediately impact their businesses, as well as insights that will help them shape their long-term business strategies."

Keynote speakers at the event included: Anthony E. Zuiker, Creator and Executive Producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Kevin A. DeNuccio, Vice Chairman, Redback Networks and new member of the MetaSwitch board; and Dennis G. Huber, Chief Technology Officer, EMBARQ. MetaSwitch executives including John Lazar, Graeme MacArthur (GM, Carrier Division), Chris Mairs (CTO, Carrier Division), and John Palombo (SVP Customer Support, Carrier Division) gave an update on the company's business success, strategies for continued growth and technology innovations.

"MetaSwitch has done a superb job of bringing together leading experts to exchange ideas about how the industry should move forward," said Carol Wilson, editor-in-chief for Telephony. "Seeing the companies represented at the MetaSwitch Forum illustrates how MetaSwitch has positioned itself as a strategic partner to both its service provider customers and its vendor ecosystem."

Event sponsors included Aastra Telecom, Acme Packet, ADTRAN, Calix, Cisco, Cordell, NeuStar, Occam Networks, Polycom and Varaha Systems.

Of the several announcements made during the event, one of the most significant was the launch of an online MetaSwitch Innovators Community, a business social network combining development resources with an open source community. "In a sense, you can think of this online initiative as an extension of the fantastic experience we have shared this week with our customers and partners," said Palombo.

Also at the event, the MetaSwitch User Group Board, made up of current MetaSwitch customers, held its annual meeting and elected Bill Sandiford, chief technology officer and co-founder of Telnet Communications, and Ken Sumrall, network operations manager for MegaGate Broadband, as new members. In addition, the User Group announced the election of John Springer, manager of information technology at Inland Telephone, as Board Chairman and Srikanth Gomattam, manager of product and VoIP engineering at One Communications, as Vice Chairman.

"I believe that MetaSwitch will continue to excel because it gives and receives constructive feedback from the User Group in order to strengthen its relationships with customers," said Springer. "I am honored to serve the user community in this capacity and I look forward to collaborating with the members to accomplish our objectives."

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch is a leading provider of carrier systems and software solutions that are powering the migration of communications networks to open, packet-based architectures. Hundreds of network operators worldwide depend on its Carrier Division for reliable, scalable session control, media gateway and application/feature server solutions to enable compelling revenue-generating services. Its Network Protocols Division, marketed under the Data Connection brand (www.dataconnection.com), develops high performance, portable software components that are integrated into the products of the world's leading communications equipment manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.metaswitch.com.