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VoIP certification center planned

With Taiwan now the world's largest manufacturer of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) announced yesterday the establishment of a certification center to ensure the quality of made-in-Taiwan VoIP products.

ViTA Forum, initiated by the ITRI and seven private companies, aims to set up a certification system to enhance quality and conformity of a host of VoIP products, ranging from IP and video phones to gateways, routers, switches and related applications.

The seven companies include Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Digital United Inc (數位聯合電信), Accton Technology Corp (智邦科技) and D-Link Corp (友訊科技).

Vita means life and vitality in Latin, and "ViTA" could be an abbreviation of "VoIP Taiwan," said Paul Lin (林寶樹), general director of ITRI's Computer and Communications Research Labs (CCL), at yesterday's launching ceremony.

Lin has been elected chairman of the forum.

"The VoIP industry is booming, and Taiwan without a doubt has a great opportunity in the market," he said.

The output value of Taiwan's VoIP products climbed from NT$8.5 billion (US$261.64 million) in 2003 to NT$12 billion in 2004 and NT$15 billion last year, the highest in the world, he said.

One range of products being developed by local manufacturers is Skype-enabled devices as the popularity of peer-to-peer Internet telephony service grows worldwide.

Manrique Brenes, a Skype engineer, said last month that half of the 60 companies that obtained product certification from Skype last year were from Taiwan.

As a result, the company is considering setting up a product certification center in Taiwan, he said when attending a forum at Computex in Taipei.

Even though Taiwan plays an important role in the industry, the absence of a product standard could hamper future development, Lin said.

The forum also plans to develop the "ViTA" logo into a globally recognized certification brand to help manufacturers market their products worldwide and raise market presence of made-in-Taiwan VoIP products, Lin said.

It plans to establish a testing lab for the products by the end of the year with certification services to be provided including conformance, voice quality and interoperability, said Chou Sheng-lin (周勝鄰), CCL's deputy director.

Security, performance and other categories will be included in the testing regimes next year, he said.

By the end of next year, the lab hopes to certify 80 VoIP products, Chou said.

Up to 50 employees are expected to be recruited for the certification center by the end of this year, and another 150 next year.

Chou said the center would welcome foreign manufacturers help in establishing international standards for the products.
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