What Does Network Convergence Mean?
Network convergence refers to the coexistence of three networks within a single network: video transmission, a telephone network and data communication.
In response to rapidly growing customer demands, network convergence has become the backbone of any digital Internet activity. Web surfing, quality analysis, testing, VoIP, video and audio conferencing and e-commerce all use network convergence to engage with the public and business groups.
This term is also called media convergence or triple play.
Techopedia Explains Network Convergence
With all the demands and requirements of end users, network convergence has become a great challenge for network engineers and developers. The biggest challenge is sharing bandwidth. When consumers exchange data, the network can become overwhelmed. To avoid this, it is important that the network is designed in a professional manner, that appropriate devices and hardware are installed, and that the network is configured in the best way possible.
However, the ultimate goal of transitioning to network convergence is to save on IT operational overheads and costs. The best example of this is the convergence of statistics networks and call center networks in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. In the market, there are many service providers offering this type of solution. It is the lower cost and higher degree of flexibility and reliability of network convergence that has led the enterprises to adopt this system.
