An industry-wide coalition, known as the Service Availability Forum, formed in December 2001 to fortify services and applications running on what it said is a currently overburdened global communications network. Founding members of the forum include Motorola, Tempe, AZ; Intel, Santa Clara, CA; and Nokia, Finland, among others.

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The focus of the Service Availability Forum is service and software application dependability. While some recent industry initiatives focus on the speed and features within evolving communication systems, the Service Availability Forum hopes to create and promote the open standards that will build the foundation for on-demand, uninterrupted landline and mobile network services.

The aim of the Service Availability Forum is to make the content, communications, and transaction services delivered over the evolving packet-based communications network as dependable as the services delivered over the legacy circuit-switched phone system. The goal of establishing the Service Availability Forum open interface specifications is two-fold: 1) eliminate frustrating service headaches such as lost connections, late voicemail delivery and slow data transmissions; and 2) reduce cost and accelerate development of the design and manufacture of communications network components and services.

For businesses, the Service Availability Forum open interface specifications are designed to make technology innovation easier, faster and less expensive. The forum expects to deliver its first interface specification within one year.

For more information or to inquire about becoming a member, visit www.saforum.org.