Combining voice and data networks is an idea that has been gaining ground. An upcoming MA special report, to be published in the magazine later this month, cites research which shows that 45% of surveyed companies either have deployed or are deploying IP telephony, with another 30% evaluating or piloting the technology.
The benefits of taking advantage of this technological convergence -- which consists of voice communications, e-mail, and faxes -- are many indeed. From a corporate management standpoint, it could mean one less network to pay for. Savings can also be found in using an IP network to bypass long distance telephone charges. In addition, advantages could accrue by consolidating capabilities for monitoring equipment, better collaborating with workers, and more accurately measuring productivity.
So will manufacturers be accessing these converged, multi-function networks with one mobile device? Will we still need traditional handset telephones and fax machines in addition to our increasingly sophisticated cell phones and Blackberries? Or will something new come into the market that will compel us to move to a new device paradigm?
Last week, Apple gave us a peak at what may be coming. While it is true that Apple's new iPhone is a consumer device, it could portend things to come in manufacturing as well. Apple says iPhone -- the press release announcing the product sports the headline "Apple Reinvents the Phone with iPhone" -- combines three major functions. They are: a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and an Internet communications device with "desktop-class" e-mail, Web browsing, maps, and searching. When it becomes available later this year, iPhone will also have EDGE and Wi-Fi wireless technologies for data networking.
Underneath the covers, though, is something of even greater importance: a new user interface that enables a user to access the iPhone's functionality through multi-touch display keys. New user interfaces such as the one in iPhone underscore an effort underway in many parts of the IT industry to create a better experience for users by emphasizing ease of use, simplicity, and multi-functionality. I don't think there is any coincidence in the fact that the quest for better interfaces and easier usage is coming at the same time that many technologies, such as voice and data, are converging. Companies and individuals really want one system for their needs.
But will we actually end up with one? Will there be one system for industrial applications as diverse as your backbone ERP system, your CAD and PLM systems, even your logistics systems? The passage of time will reveal the answer, and part of the answer will depend upon human behavior.
In the mid-1990s when the Internet was picking up steam, some believed that Web access and television would combine and be used in a single system. That hasn't happened, and both continue to develop separately. Another example is the telephone itself. Most businesses and individuals and households continue to have both traditional handset systems and cell phones. Although we might at some point in the future, we haven't yet given up the more reliable land line systems in favor of using just a cell phone.
For myself, I'd be happy to get rid of the older system; I'm just waiting for reliability and quality issues to be solved. Someday we all may be carrying an iPhone-like successor both for our personal needs and to conduct business in the industrial market. Today, that vision may be unfolding before our eyes.