IM and IMS and Ubiquity...

I'm currently analysing the major IM standards (XMPP, IMPS, SIMPLE) in order to understand levels of interoperability (gateways permitting). It's hard to keep switching from OMA specs to IETF specs. They're very different in form and format. My head is sore...

On top of which, today I participated in a seminar to understand the generic IMS Application Server platform offered by Ubiquity. Their product is very interesting and exciting. It allows for rapid creation and deployment of IMS AS applications using Java. The whole approach is very similar to Web programming except that one has to grasp SIP call flows and IMS service models, which are more complex than HTTP message flows.

Ubiquity's product comes with a number of service modules (I forget the correct terminology), including Instant Messaging and Presence (although it is not a Presence Server out of the box). It seems a straightforward process to build an IMS service that integrates into a presence and IM environment within a wider set of IMS presence-enabled services.

The emergence of SIP as a major applications "tool" in the IMS world is worthy of detailed explanation from a software/services perspective, as opposed to the common telecoms-biased treatment. Certainly, I should add a chapter (at least) on this to any revision of my "Next Generation Wireless Applications" book.

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