In keeping with the current communication-convergence trend, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) has announced the BlackBerry Mobile Voice System, which links the BlackBerry mobile communication device to desk phones. Leveraging improvements in the BlackBerry Device Software, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and Ascendent Systems' Voice Mobility Suite, the new offering lets users access corporate phone functions, such as transfers and extension dialing, on the BlackBerry. According to RIM, the user's caller ID is extended to the mobile device, and the system can be configured to ring both the user's desk phone and the mobile at the same time. This is an example of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), where erstwhile stand-alone networks and network end-points operate hand-in-hand. RIM competitors such as Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. are rolling out their own FMC offerings; network-gear vendors like Avaya Inc., and carriers such as Bell Canada and Rogers Communications Inc. are also considering FMC services.

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