Convergence of communications

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This article is about Convergence of communications. For other uses of the term Convergence , please see Convergence (disambiguation).

Convergence of communications, in varying and unfortunately not yet standard phrasings, is the goal of having all types of human-to-computer and computer-to-computer communications converge onto (i.e., all run over) a common infrastructure using Internet Protocol version 4 or Internet Protocol version 6.

It is neither necessary, nor desirable from a security standpoint, that they all run over the public Internet. All of these services can be restricted to other than the Internet, such as intranets or extranets.

This definition of convergence does not attempt to standardize the applications themselves. Instead, it includes the technologies that enable application-specific communications to be transmitted over standard interfaces to information delivery systems using Internet Protocol, Session Initiation Protocol, and similar protocols and interfaces.[1]

Converged services may use custom software (e.g., private branch exchange) on a purpose-built router, or a general-purpose computer.

  • Digital Rights Management [r]: Legal and technical techniques used by media publishers in an attempt to control distribution and usage of distributed video, audio, ebooks, and similar electronic media. [e] essential to some of the new services
  • Universal emergency telephone number system [r]: A single, short telephone number, such as 911 or 112, which will connect the caller to a dispatcher capable of determining the need for ambulance, police, fire or other emergency services, and arranging for the service(s) to get to the location where the problem exists [e][2]
  • Telemedicine [r]: The use of electronic communications to enable providers to diagnose, provide information, and deliver health services when they are not available for on-site service delivery [e]

References