One line or two?

Those two lines leading from your office wall ? one goes into your computer, and the other into your phone ? soon could be replaced by a single cable that transmits both voice and data. The buzzword is "convergence," and agencies are increasingly gearing their contracts to consolidate voice and data services.Government organizations such as the city of Bend, Ore., are finding that converged networks can help save money, simplify infrastructure and enable plenty of whiz-bang features.But while the opportunities for integrators are great, so are the perils: Telecom firms also want to provide convergence services as value-adds to help sell their bandwidth. Will AT&T be an integrator's chief competitor or premier partner in this newly converged marketplace? Staff Writer Joab Jackson sought answers to this and other questions from government and industry officials developing and using new convergence technologies. His cover story, "Come Together," has the details.