We missed seeing you face to face this year at the 16th Annual IIT Real-Time Communications Conference, We missed the conversations during lunches and breaks; we missed the questions during the talks and in the corridors; we missed hanging out together at our sponsors and exhibitor booths.

But, protecting the health and well-being of our speakers, staff, partners and colleagues in industry and academia was our top priority, and we were glad to be able to use the real-time communications methods offered by Hopin to share the content and expertise of our premier, global thought-leadership event for industry and academic experts in the rapidly evolving field of real-time communications.

We hope that by the second week in October, 2021, we will be able to host a hybrid event and to see you all face to face in the not-too-distant-future!

Videos of this year’s talks as well as the presentation slides provided by many of our speakers are now available!

• The presentation videos are available as a YouTube playlist on the Illinois Tech YouTube channel.

• You can also access the videos and the presentation slides via the Speaker page of the conference website. To access this content from the Speaker page, scroll to an individual presentation and click on the title, to display the presentation abstract. At the bottom of each abstract will be links to view both the presentation slides and the presentation videos.

A big thanks to our dedicated team of track chairs for making IIT RTC Conference 2020 a success!With their expert guidance and hard work the conference expanded its emphasis on the art, science and technology that support the field of Real-Time Communications. Presentations examined the current status of the industry, explained emerging technologies, and introduced new ideas and methods that will shape the future.

Big thanks as well to our Conference Sponsors without whose support this unique conference would not be possible!

Looking Ahead: We are already planning the 2021 Conference. The tentative date is October 10-14. Please let us know if this date conflicts with any events that might make it difficult for you or other members of the RTC community to participate. Contact Carol Davids, ([email protected]) , Warren Bent, ([email protected]) , Tom Costello, ([email protected]) or Vijay Gurbani ([email protected]) to share this and other information about the dates or content of next year’s event.

The IIT RTC Conference is a globally recognized collaborative event, where industry and academia connect. Leveraging its unique academic setting, this annual conference brings together technical professionals and business executives from the data and telecommunications industry, standards bodies, policy and regulatory institutions, and academic educators and researchers to promote an open exchange of ideas to lead future development in the rapidly changing field of real-time communications.

Stay tuned to our Conference website and mailing lists for further updates. Or follow us on:

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When: Tuesday October, 13

Where: Virtually on Hopin – Register now at no charge!

Speech technology has changed the nature of our daily interactions. From voice assistants to conversational bots, speech and artificial intelligence technologies give way to amazing opportunities for business applications as well as academic research.

Natural language understanding (NLU) is foundational to voice-powered technology. When this technology is performing at its best, the user experience is natural, fluid, and efficient. When it breaks down, the results can be frustrating. Despite recent advances in the field of AI, most conversational technologies still require a high degree of design skill to make this technology useful and effective, but there remain many challenges that impede optimal human-computer voice interaction. 

This track brings attendees up-to-date on current and emerging NLU technology, analyzing how state-of-the-art technology is applied and the potential implications when it fails. We will cover concepts related to conversational AI including, but not limited to, optimization and implementation of NLU engines, conversational design, voice biometrics and authentication, as well as best practices for the collecting, generating, and annotating of voice data. This track will highlight recent developments in NLU, challenge the operational impact of emerging technology, and identify opportunities for growth and improvement in the field of VoiceTech.

Track Highlights

AI for Using Voice Effectively – Kristen Summers, IBM – Track Keynote

Promise & Challenges of Voice Biometrics & Authentication – Dan Miller, Opus Research; Lisa Michaud, Interactions, LLC; Dana Shalev, NICE; Matt Whipple, LumenVox; Roanne Levitt, Nuance Communications

HAL: A Conversational AI Agent for Smart-Home Automation  – Nikhita Sharma, Vail Systems

How Conversational Messaging has been Accelerated by the Pandemic – Paul Sweeney, Webio

Elevating brand engagement and loyalty through voice – Rupal Patel, VocaliD

A Voice for the Voiceless: Building an Open Source and Affordable Speech Assistant Device – Travis Smith, Illinois Institute of Technology 

About the Conference

The IIT RTC Conference is a globally recognized collaborative event, where industry and academia connect. Leveraging its unique academic setting, this annual conference brings together technical professionals and business executives from the data and telecommunications industry, standards bodies, policy and regulatory institutions, and academic educators and researchers to promote an open exchange of ideas to lead future development in the rapidly changing field of real-time communications.

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Stay tuned to our Conference website and mailing lists for further updates. Or follow us on:

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When: Thursday October, 15 

Where: Virtually on Hopin – Register now at no charge

Today’s application developers create embedded voice, video, and messaging applications of all kinds that use the ubiquitous IP-enabled wireless networks, smartphones and tablets that have become the norm. These applications provide a much richer, contextual experiences than were possible in the past.

At the same time, programmable networks are giving rise to a new class of developer, network engineers armed with the ability to programmatically interact with the networks they administer. Programmatic interfaces enable network engineers to automate the creation of new network services, rapidly accelerating real-time network creation and service activation functions. These interfaces also enable the monitoring and scaling of  existing network services in real time to meet the rapidly increasing demands of the applications that run on top of them.

This evolution makes it possible to build, deploy, and operate new communications services quickly and with relative ease. It increases the number of communications developers and ushers in an era of “programmable real time networks” that are focused not only on technologies such as 5G and virtualization through NFV/SDN, but also on a growing set of intersections with natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain distributed ledgers, and many others.

This track will focus on the technologies behind the shift to programmable real time networks, the new skills required for the emerging class of network developers. We will discuss how these technologies are democratizing the way developers and network engineers create value and solve problems in disparate verticals. We will also delve into the intersection of voice, video and messaging technologies with other disciplines to examine potential threats and opportunities as developers and customers define new cutting-edge services and create new, disruptive applications.

Track highlights include:

The Communications Fabric: 5G, COVID-19, and a vision for the future – Anne Lee, Nokia Bell Labs – Track Keynote

FABRIC: Tightly Weaving a Better Internet  – Anita Nikolich, UIUC

5G and Beyond  – Chris Mayer, Solstice Technical Consulting, LLC; Arvinder Anand, Ericsson; Paul Norkus, Nokia Bell Labs

Network Slicing – A Distinguishing Feature of 5G Wireless – Dr. Suresh Borkar, Illinois Institute of Technology

About the Conference

The IIT RTC Conference is a globally recognized collaborative event, where industry and academia connect. Leveraging its unique academic setting, this annual conference brings together technical professionals and business executives from the data and telecommunications industry, standards bodies, policy and regulatory institutions, and academic educators and researchers to promote an open exchange of ideas to lead future development in the rapidly changing field of real-time communications.

Follow us

Stay tuned to our Conference website and mailing lists for further updates. Or follow us on:

Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook

This year the rollout of Next Generation 911 networks progressed.  WEW are moving toward the inclusion of the features and functions that 21st century communications devices and networks can provide. 

PSAPs continued to navigate their way through local migration politics and funding issues, while some carriers moved forward delivering an initial core backbone. 

Then came the Pandemic of 2020. The commercial world seized, and even Public Safety was stricken with the closure and mass evacuation of some centers. Much like disasters of the past, the world didn’t stop revolving, we simply adapted to new methodologies, some being a bit unconventional but, workable. This brought about a forced adoption of new policies, modified rules, and the first implementations of the ‘work-from-home’ PSAP. Challenges still existed, but work-arounds were developed, and implemented. The new innovators became those who could adapt to new technology and an on-the-fly solution to problems getting the job done with the resources in front of them.

This year’s track will build on the technologies discussed in the past, but present them in the context of real-world use cases. Ideally this will provide information about what worked and why, but more importantly, what didn’t work, and why not. 

Join us for some remarkable revelations, on the very track where the seed concept of the Additional Data Repository was planted and flourished forming one of the core elements allowing legacy PSAPs to migrate to the next generation of public safety services, and beyond.

This track will continue to highlight new technologies and challenge the operational impact of new concepts. We will discuss the best practices required for Next Generation emergency services in both the public and private sectors. NG911 is now in play, but are we ready?

Track Highlights

• NextGen Emergency Communications and the FCC – Lisa Fowlkes, Federal Communications Commission – Track Keynote
• Delivering NG911 Functionality While the Network is Built – Mark Fletcher, 911inform, LLC; Brian Anderson, Avaya; Cody GrandPre, 911inform, LLC; Kevin Kito, 911 Secure; Nick Horelik, RapidSOS
• Enabling connected buildings through next generation 911 connections – Cody GrandPre, 911inform
• Federal Communications Commission NG911/E911 Regulatory Update – David Furth, Federal Communications Commission
• Bridging the Gap for Enterprise NG911 Location –  Kevin Kito, 911 Secure
• The Birth of NG911 Services and the Network that Supports Them –  Nick Horelik, RapidSOS
• NG9-1-1 From End to End – Bill Mertka, Verizon; Brandon Abley, NENA; Brian Beckwith, Intuitus; Michael Hooker, T-Mobile; Fabricio Velez, Nokia 
• Building Towards NG911 – Michael Hooker, T-Mobile

About the Conference

The IIT RTC Conference is a globally recognized collaborative event, where industry and academia connect. Leveraging its unique academic setting, this annual conference brings together technical professionals and business executives from the data and telecommunications industry, standards bodies, policy and regulatory institutions, and academic educators and researchers to promote an open exchange of ideas to lead future development in the rapidly changing field of real-time communications.

Follow us

Stay tuned to our Conference website and mailing lists for further updates. Or follow us on:

Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook

Registration is now open for the North America location of TADHack Global 2020! For the 7th year running, TADHack Global will be the largest telecom-focused hackathon in the world. Previous hacks include programmable telecoms (voice, video, messaging), internet of things, cloud computing, robotics, machine learning, speech and face recognition, mobile payments, enterprise communications, decentralized web, blockchain, encryption, open source, and many other technologies. See the blog TADHack Global 2019 Winners for more information. It’s great to see the whole industry working together to build a global community around telecom app development. 

This Fall, TADHack Global will run over the 10th – 11th October (Saturday-Sunday), and is transitioning to a remote format to accommodate hackers from throughout North America. 

To win one of the many cash prizes simply create a hack that uses the global sponsors’ technologies. This year, in additional to the Global Sponsors: Simwood, Sangoma, and Avaya, we have two North America location sponsors: Intelepeer and Symbl.ai. You can find all their developer resources on the North America Developer Resources page of the TADHack website, as well as watch the Sponsors Developer Resources Webinar    

Whether you are a developer, an enterprise, a vendor or a non-coder, TADHack is here to help you…

• Get educated on the power of telecom app development – no coding skills necessary to attend!
• Create hacks (prototypes) using telecom technologies to solve local or global problems that matter to you
• Get your innovative service / platform / idea promoted and presented to the global industry
• Meet the global community of telecom app innovators
• Learn about the APIs, WebRTC, communications service platforms, cloud communications, decentralized / distributed web, and many other web- and IT-centric service platforms
• Compete for your share of the $24K global prize pool.

Whether you’re a hacker, hustler or hipster (developer, business-type or designer); TADHack is for Everyone!. You’ll learn about adding programmable telecoms to your apps, services or business; be able to share your experiences with others; do some “coding”; and potentially create a winning hack that makes a difference in your community. Check out the North America location and register to reserve your place!