Internet Telephony Magazine Digital Issue May 2007

Polycom_InternetTele_0507.pdf 4/9/07 4:42:22 PM

CMY

K The Zippy Files By Richard “Zippy“ Grigonis

Group Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, Giving Birth — Rich Tehrani ([email protected]) and Other Strenuous Activities

EDITORIAL Group Editorial Director, Greg Galitzine ([email protected]) Executive Editor, Richard “Zippy” Grigonis ([email protected]) Some impending births have got our attention Associate Editor, Erik Linask ([email protected]) these days.

TMC LABS Executive Technology Editor/CTO/VP, Tom Keating First, that venerable maker of wireless and wireline hardware and software “building ([email protected]) blocks,” Aculab (news - alert) (http://www.aculab.com), has announced a bold new product line for the converged networks of both enterprises and service providers. ART/DESIGN Creative Director, Alan Urkawich Called ApplianX, it includes a range of voice and video IP gateways, SIP trunking Graphic Designer, Lisa Mellers gateways, media servers and related equipment. ApplianX (news - alert) is based upon Aculab’s own innovative Prosody X technology, which itself was an editorial topic of EXECUTIVE OFFICERS mine. Nadji Tehrani, Chairman and CEO Rich Tehrani, President The ApplianX hardware’s form factor is the familiar 19-inch rackmount, which Dave Rodriguez, VP of Publications and Conferences nestles quite comfortably in racks brimming with existing infrastructure equipment. Kevin J. Noonan, VP of Business Development Up to 4 E1 or T1 trunks can be housed in 1U “pizza box” sized-server and 80 trunks Michael Genaro, VP of Marketing in a cPCI, carrier class chassis. Tom Keating, CTO, VP The first two ApplianX products to roll off the production line are the ApplianX IP ADVERTISING SALES Gateway and ApplianX VoiceXML Media Server. The ApplianX IP Gateway comes Sales Office Phone: 203-852-6800 Senior Advertising Director — Eastern U.S.; with 1, 2 or 4 E1 or T1 trunks that support various E1 and T1 protocols, plus the Canada; Israel PBX integration protocols DPNSS and Q.SIG. The ApplianX VoiceXML Media Anthony Graffeo, ext. 174, ([email protected]) Server is a standards-based media service platform for service center and enterprises Advertising Director — Midwest U.S.; that can be connected to either TDM or IP networks. The media server can execute Southwest U.S.; EMEA; Europe Allan Brown, ext. 278, ([email protected]) applications written to VXML 2.0 and CCXML 1.0.

Advertising Director — Western U.S.; APAC Bob Johnson, 978-337-3828, ([email protected]) The ApplianX product line is notable in its use of scalable, high availability config- urations, which makes it suitable for even the largest carrier class service providers and SUBSCRIPTIONS enterprises. Configuration and administration is done with an integrated HTML web Circulation Director, Shirley Russo, ext. 157 ([email protected]) server for remote configuration and monitoring, and there’s support for the usual sus- Annual digital subscriptions to INTERNET TELEPHONY®: free pects of SNMP, RADIUS, CDRs [Call Detail Records] and event logging. to qualifying U.S., Canada and foreign subscribers. Annual print subscriptions to INTERNET TELEPHONY®: free, U.S. qualifying readers; $29.00 U.S. nonqualifying, $39.00 Canada, $60.00, foreign qualifying and nonqualifying. All orders are payable in advance in U.S. As for the second birth, we at TMC must confess that we’re the mother, father and dollars drawn against a U.S. bank. Connecticut residents add applicable sales tax. For more information, contact our Web site at midwife! Last month, Rich Tehrani announced in these pages that TMC would be www.itmag.com or call 203-852-6800. publishing a bold new magazine, Unified Communications. For those of us who remember the “killer app” hoopla of “unified messaging” back in the 1990s, it’s grati- EXHIBIT SALES Sales Office Phone: 203-852-6800 fying to see that the technology has been quietly evolving (thanks in part to IP, more Global Events Account Directors stable operating systems and cheap broadband connections) and has progressed to the Companies whose names begin with: point where the field deserves a magazine of its own. A-G or #s: Maureen Gambino ([email protected]) H-P: Chris Waechter ([email protected]) But this will be a magazine unlike any other. Whereas the form factor of the Q-Z: Joe Fabiano ([email protected]) ApplianX is the tried-and-true 19-inch rackmount, the “form factor” of Unified Conference Sales Manager, Frank Coppola ([email protected]) Communications will be, in the word’s of the Monty Python troupe, “something completely different”. That “something” takes into account the primacy of the digital and ABOUT INTERNET TELEPHONY® web incarnations of today’s magazines. In fact, it’s a “something” that may end up Internet telephony is revolutionizing telecommunications through the convergence of voice, video, fax, and data, creating unprecedented influencing the whole magazine industry. opportunities for resellers, developers, and service providers alike. INTERNET TELEPHONY® focuses on providing readers with the information necessary to learn about and purchase the equipment, software, and services necessary to take advantage of this I’m sure you’re itching to learn more - and as we get closer to our July launch date, technology. INTERNET TELEPHONY® readers include Yours Truly will reveal more details about TMC’s latest and most exciting creation. IT resellers, developers, MIS/networking departments, telecom departments, datacom departments, telcos/LECs, wireless/PCS providers, ISPs, and cable companies. Richard Grigonis is Executive Editor of TMC’s IP Communications Group.

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 1 Experience the Allworx difference!

Allworx products are different in ways that matter most to customers: Award-winning products designed • Lowest installed cost in the industry exclusively for • Most feature-rich system small businesses • Smoothest transition to VoIP • Easiest to install, use and administer

To learn more, see a demo or become a reseller, call 1-866-ALLWORX x249 or visit www.allworx.com/9

Allworx 071441->Internet Telepho1 1 3/6/07 4:04:33 PM Contents Cover Story

The IP Communications Authority Since 1998TM Volume 10/ Number 5 May 2007

IN EACH ISSUE 8 Publisher’s Outlook Explosive Small Business Communications Growth By Rich Tehrani

COLUMNS 20 Inside Networking P is for People in Telephony By Tony Rybczynski

22 Next Wave Redux Why There’s No Internet QoS and Likely Never Will Be By Brough Turner

24 Mind Share 2.0 GotVoice Juices the Voice Mail Marketplace By Chris Gatch and Marc Robins

26 For the Record 66 SMS May Be Your SOS 5 Tips for Selecting a Hosted VoIP Provider By Kelly Anderson

28 VoIPeering FEATURE ARTICLES Cutting Out the Middleman 52 Enterprise Peer-to-Peer Communications By Hunter Newby By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis 56 SIP’s Role in Enterprise IP Telephony 30 Enterprise View By Pat Rudolph SIP Trunking: Is It Right for Your Enterprise? By Steven Johnson 58 QoS Comes First By Duby Yoely 32 Regulation Watch 62 Delivering QoS for End-to-End VoIP Service Quality Will Somebody Please Fix Intercarrier Compensation By Jay Malin, Ph.D. By John Cimko 64 Hosted IP Telephony Solutions By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis 34 Packet Voice over Wireless NEW Securing Enterprise VoWiFi 68 Streamlining Service Creation COLUMN By Michael Stanford By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis 72 Delivering Reliable Quality of Service 36 Disaster Preparedness By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis VoIP and Continuity Planning - Is VoIP the Answer for 76 Enterprise Mobility Your Organization? By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis By Rich Tehrani & Max Schroeder DEPARTMENTS 38 Tech Score 1 The Zippy Files Can an Asterisk-Based System Scale Out? 12 Industry News By Jeff Hudgins 42 Rich Tehrani’s Executive Suite: Level 3’s Myrle McNeal 44 Product Round-up: Hosted VoIP Service Providers 46 Special Focus: Global VoIP 40 Nitty Gritty 48 Case Study: Enventys turns to AltiGen Diversified Technology’s New Blades 50 Case Study: A Case of Night and Day By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis 79 VoIP Marketplace 79 Ad Index 80 The VoIP Authority

4 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index 25202_0

T:8 in S:7 in

imagine a communications system that blends all technologies into one

Imagine an all-in-one solution that lets you start with just-what-you-need. The Samsung Offi ceServ™ 7000 Series offers VoIP, analog voice, wireline, wireless functionality and full data capabilities including fi rewall, VPN and an enterprise class router/switch. Then it blends all those capabilities into an easily upgradeable modular design that ensures your Offi ceServ will still be your solution when your small- or mid-sized Offi ceServ 7400 business becomes large-sized. With the Samsung Offi ceServ 7000 Series, it’s not that hard to imagine. www.samsungBCS.com/OS7000series

PREPARED BY CCA - New Jersey CMY K Project #: STA-1657 Division: STA Approval Job #: PP070085 File Name: BCS Blender_PP070085_A Client: Samsung Software: InDesign CS2 C.D.: ______Product: BCS (Blender) Fonts: Helvetica Neue A.D.: ______Description: Product–ENGLISH T.S.: Amy Friend 1.201.229.6038 C.W.: ______Date: 03.28.07 A.D.: Han Kim 1.972.761.7260 A.E.: ______Headline: imagine a communications... C.W.: Brian Gross 1.972.761.7290 Pub: Internet Telephony (May 1) C.D.: Tom McManus 1.201.229.6060 P.A.: ______Communication News (May 1) P. A.: Noelle DeCoro 1.201.229.6083 RS: ______Phone + (May 1) P. M.: Dan Eigen 1.201.229.6072 S ___ PDF__ %___ Space Description: Page 4C Magazine A.E.: Michael McClure 1.972.761.7820 PRF: ______Size: Trim: 8"W x 10.75"H Trim: 7"W x 10"H 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 25202-001-00 What’s On TMCNET.com Right Now TMCnet (www.tmcnet.com) To stay current and to keep up-to-date with all that’s happen- TMCnet EDITORIAL ing in the fast-paced world of IP telephony, just point your Group Editorial Director, Greg Galitzine browser to http://www.tmcnet.com for all the latest news and analysis. With more than 16 million page views per month, Assignment Editor, Patrick Barnard translating into more than 1,000,000 visitors, TMCnet.com is Associate Editor, Stefania Viscusi where you need to be if you want to know what’s happening in the world of VoIP. Associate Editor, Mae Kowalke Here’s a list of several articles currently on our site. Associate Editor, Spencer Chin Contributing Editorial, David Sims, The Benefits and Uses of Hosted Contact Center Solutions for Municipal Government Municipal governments play an important role in the fulfillment and upkeep of their town’s and Cindy Waxer, Susan Campbell, citizens’ needs. To maintain and ensure successful governing, it is essential that all interactions Anuradha Shukla, be as effective as possible. http://www.tmcnet.com/657.1 Niladri Sekhar Nath, Divya Narain Cable Operators: Do You Know Who Your Business-Serviceable Prospects Are? TMCnet PRODUCTION How can cable operators more effectively sell their residential services if they knew - at the Director of Web Production and Online Services, instant a customer call came in - whether that customer was serviceable. That way, customer Manuel Lirio service agents wouldn’t spend valuable time pitching products their company couldn’t deliver and the customer wouldn’t walk away frustrated. Webmaster, Robert Hashemian http://www.tmcnet.com/658.1 Web Developer, Hsin Yang Lu Security Practices for Enterprise Internet Telephony Web Designer and Analytics Manager, Laura Parisi Most enterprise VoIP traffic is transported over private IP networks. Many companies are excit- Web Designer, Maxine Sandler ed by the prospect of carrying voice over the public Internet as well. Internet telephony promis- es numerous functional, global reach and economical benefits - but Internet traffic is also sub- Web Designer, Karen Milosky ject to a wide array of threats. Assistant Web Designer, Darvel Graves http://www.tmcnet.com/659.1 Asterisk on Apple TV Tutorial Advertising Traffic Manager, John Sorel The Asterisk 1.4.2 on AppleTV “soup to nuts” tutorial is courtesy of Steven Sokol from Sokol & ([email protected]) Associates, Inc., who was the initiator behind this project when he proposed a “bounty” on loading Asterisk on Apple TV and which was successfully won by Jeff Gambera (aka l0rdr0ck). MARKETING http://www.tmcnet.com/660.1 VP of Marketing, Michael Genaro Is John Chambers the Jack Welch of Tech? Creative Director, Alan Urkawich Cisco’s incredible strength comes from its ability to leverage its strong brand and enourmous Marketing Manager, David Luth salesforce to sell virtually every sort of product in telecom and datacom. This report makes it seem like the outlook for the competition is bleak. Marketing Manager, Jan Pierret http://www.tmcnet.com/661.1

FINANCE Controller, Kevin Kiley TMC’s Whitepapers of the Month Accounting Manager, Frank Macari Visit TMCnet’s Whitepaper Library (http://www.tmcnet.com/tmc/whitepapers), which provides a Senior Accountant, Renata Bednarz selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies, and other documents that are free to registered Accounts Coordinator, Mary Hodges users.

READER INPUT Securely Enabling VoIP Remote Users The Need For a Comprehensive VoIP Security INTERNET TELEPHONY® encourages readers to contact us Solution with their questions, comments, and suggestions. Send e-mail Enterprises of all sizes are deploying VoIP as a simple, cost-effective means to implement voice (addresses above), or send ordinary mail. We reserve the right to services across their organizations. However, the Internet is an insecure means of transmitting edit letters for clarity and brevity. All submissions will be considered data because there are opportunities for modification and eavesdropping. eligible for publication unless otherwise specified by the author. http://www.tmcnet.com/662.1

IDENTIFICATION STATEMENT Update: Latest Lessons Learned from WiMAX Trials INTERNET TELEPHONY® magazine (ISSN: 1098-0008) is WiMAX is short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It is a standards-based published monthly by Technology Marketing Corporation, One technique for delivering high-bandwidth connectivity over extended distances. Due to the rising Technology Plaza, Norwalk, CT 06854 U.S.A. Annual print subscriptions: free, U.S. qualifying readers; $29.00 U.S. nonqualifying, interest in WiMAX as a networking technology, AT&T has conducted field trials, and gained $39.00 Canada, $60.00, foreign qualifying and nonqualifying. valuable knowledge and insights that can help with network design, planning, and installation. Periodical postage paid at Norwalk, CT and at additional mailing http://www.tmcnet.com/663.1 offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: INTERNET TELE- PHONY®, Technology Marketing Corporation, One Technology Plaza, Norwalk, CT 06854 USA. TMCnet’s Channels and Global Online Communities provide the latest, most comprehensive INTERNET TELEPHONY® is a registered trademark of Technology Marketing Corporation. Copyright © 2007 Technology news, analysis, and case studies for all your IP Communications needs. Marketing Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission of the publisher is prohibited. TMCnet’s Call Recording Channel Call Recording is needed today more than ever due to increased legal requirements, security REPRINTS AND LIST RENTALS concerns, and training needs. SMBs and large enterprises both find themselves with call For authorized reprints of articles appearing in INTERNET TELE- recording needs, and several companies are now focusing more attention on their needs - PHONY®, please contact Reprint Management Services at 1-800- especially in the SMB space, which is receiving increased attention across the board. Visit the 290-5460 • [email protected] • www.reprintbuyer.com. Call Recording Channel for the latest news, features, and case studies. Sponsored by Telrex. For list rentals, please contact Glenn Freedman at [email protected] http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/call-recording or call 516-358-5478, ext. 101. TMCnet’s Internet Fax Channel Businesses are under ever increasing pressure to reduce costs, and one potential for doing just A Technology Marketing Publication, that lies in better control over their telecom expenses, which is why Telecom Expense One Technology Plaza, Management (TEM) is gaining increased exposure. Visit the TEM channel for the latest stories, Norwalk, CT 06854 U.S.A. news, and interviews, explaining how your business can benefit from such a solution. Phone: 203-852-6800 Sponsored by Rivermine. Fax: 203-853-2845 and 203-838-4070 http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/telecom-expense-management/

6 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index GlobalTouch Telecom is the award winning provider of private label hosted VoIP solutions. We offer all aspects of the technology including IP-PBX, Residential 1. Fully Hosted VoIP-in-a-Box offering Services, SIPFax, Softphone, and all network 2. Roll out your own white-labeled services (DIDs, CRM, Billing, LNP, 911) and solution in 60 days or less termination to any telephone in the world. We 3. All technology owned and developed deliver a complete turnkey Voice and Video in-house solution so that you can focus on what’s most 4. DIDs in 12,000 Global Rate Centers important – your customers. 5. LNP that works 6. Low CAPEX/OPEX for quick access to To learn more please visit us at: new profits www.globaltouchtelecom.com or call +1 888.422.3500 7. Residential and Enterprise Solutions 8. Fully compliant 911 and E911 offering 9. Integrated TDM/VoIP for guaranteed QoS 10. Modular Solution “As much as you want and as little as you need” Publishers Outlook By Rich Tehrani Explosive Small Business Communications Growth

oftware defined radio (SDR) systems are somewhat of a holy grail in technology as they use software to shift frequencies and modulation Sschemes while utilizing multipurpose underlying hardware. In a perfect world you could use software defined radio technology to receive cellular calls, WiFi, bluetooth, GPS, AM/FM, Sirius, XM, HDTV, etc. Imagine if your smartphone used all the communications house, Vanu can instantaneously take advantage of Moore’s modes above with need for just a single processor - wouldn’t that law without having to do additional development work. just be amazing? Of course this will likely be possible some day This cost savings is passed along to the carrier and in addi- but for now there are hardware components which handle each tion the provider now knows they are able to upgrade the base of the above functions. In many cases multiple functions can be station when needed to support yet another standard. So far combined on a single integrated processor module or chipset. Vanu has shown they can operate a combined GSM, CDMA and iDEN base station through SDR technology. If SDR was ubiquitous today we wouldn’t worry much about the various new flavors of 802.11 such as A, G, N, etc… Why? The benefits of working with Vanu Inc. seem to be endless Because our devices would all be software-upgradeable, allowing from lower power consumption to lower cost to future-proofing us to take advantage of the latest wireless standard without the your investment. Still a major service provider may not feel like need to forklift our existing access points and devices. they should bet the farm on a small company as they need to make sure their suppliers are around for the long haul. For wireless service providers the problem is even bigger as base stations are very expensive and forklifting a base station is a daunt- But then again when you consider Vanu is a software coming prospect. But with newer and more efficient wireless technolo- pany you begin to realize the company has much less at risk gies continuing to be developed how do you combat the ever- compared to typical hardware manufacturers. growing cost of throwing out the old ands supporting the new? Where SDRs are especially attractive is at a company like One way is to consider SDR for you base station via the tech- Sprint where they need multi-mode radio base stations. In nology being developed by Vanu Inc. (news - alert) The compa- addition the femtocell market could be another place where ny was founded in 1998 by Dr. Vanu Bose the son of Dr. Amar SDR makes a great deal of sense allowing an enterprise or Bose who made a name for himself in high-end audiophile home to support a number of different wireless standards. products ranging from headphones to home theatre and commercial systems. The rural telco market is a further area where SDR can help providers deploy low-cost wireless networks. To that end, the Vanu develops software-defined radio solutions for wireless Massachusetts-based SDR company announced recently it service providers and similar to the world of HMP (Host will partner with Globecomm Systems (news - alert) to pro- Media Processiong) you use the CPU as your DSP. For those vide turn key-based base station solutions while allowing the of you who are familiar with the DSP resource board market latter to focus on the hosted switching service. you know companies like Dialogic and Aculab make HMP solutions today that once One wonders why there just required proprietary boards. aren’t more companies in the SDR space. I would expect about 20 But leaving HMP and head- One wonders why there just aren't more players to be pumping out prod- ing back to the world of SDR, ucts by now. Is the technology too Vanu’s Anywave Radio Access companies in the SDR space. I would new for others to take the plunge? Network software runs on Linux expect about 20 players to be pumping out The concept has been around for boxes with Intel processors. fifteen years but perhaps CPUs products by now. have just recently become powerful Vanu’s company uses a single enough to do a good job. underlying software architecture to generate a variety of wireless Could this be a technology communications modes. that languished for a few years like VoIP (define - news - alert) and one vendor is needed to shake up the whole market. I One major benefit to a software approach based on off-the- don’t hear too much about SDR from the major telecom equipment providers so I wonder if there is a downside I shelf hardware is the dramatic decrease in cost achieved when haven’t considered. compared to fixed function, proprietary systems. As a software

8 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

Publishers Outlook

Vanu seems to be acquiring customers in niche markets and world and video developers still have to grapple with proces- one would imagine they are talks with the major players. I sor intensive applications which benefit from fixed function believe a single tier one service provider announcement is all hardware and DSP resource boards. that is needed to really make SDR a more popular term like FMC or IMS. Until then, we will have to focus on Vanu and This may explain Dialogic’s CEO Nick Jensen’s passion the handful of other players in the space and wait for one of about video. In my frequent conversations with Nick, he them to shake things up. exudes excitement as he talks about the opportunity in video. It isn’t TV over the Internet that excites Nick, but bidirection- Software Defined Radio should certainly shake up the telecom al video streaming. landscape and make things interesting by, well, redefining the rules. Nick tells me that 2G phones were used to send videos and pic- Redefining Dialogic tures but 3G will take advantage of live video for gaming, video gaming and ringtones. He goes on to say that Singapore and Speaking of redefinitions, the “new” Dialogic has taken on Japan are way ahead in these areas and Europe is catching up. The a more comprehensive technological persona. U.S. is behind this curve still but will catch up eventually.

The communications development world used to revolve The way Nick sees it, video ringback tones will be hosted around Dialogic. Ten years ago you virtually were compelled by a company for a fee and the videos will play based on the to buy a DSP resource board from this company or one of its Caller ID of a caller. He sees the teen and consumer markets smaller competitors if you wanted to develop an application as the drivers for this sort of service. such as unified messaging, voicemail, IVR, speech, recognition, ACD or just anything else. From there his vision is that video greetings will become popular and a person - let’s say a high-value customer - will be In fact, for a number of years VoIP gateways were sold greeted with a customized voice or video greeting when they almost exclusively based on DSP resource boards. Larger tele- call. This is a way to make customers feel more welcome and com equipment providers would repackage systems with indeed this is similar in concept to having a gracious host or these boards through an integrator and claim the resulting hostess seat you at a restaurant. gateways as their own. He also sees video playing an important role in the future I have taken many plant tours at industrial computer com- of dating and social networking sites. Moreover in the video panies where I had to promise not to disclose the logos I saw space he sees the need for certain games such as poker, bridge throughout the plant. These were typically gateways under and chess to have video support as people playing these games construction with boards from NMS or Dialogic. want to see each other.

In the late 1990s, while Dialogic was enjoying a nice time He also sees a potential for video rooms on auction sites atop the enabling technology perch, the company received where you can see other bidders. In online virtual auction an offer from Intel it just couldn’t refuse. The processor king houses you will be able to simulate a live auction experience. had the hope of integrating Dialogic’s core technology with Obviously there was some discussion here about the Skype acquisition by eBay. Intel processors allowing HMP (Host Media Processing) solutions which were optimized for Intel’s chips. In addition, Nick also believes the enterprise space will see video adop- Dialogic played a nice role as part of a growing communication and voice and speech applications will be upgraded to tions division within Intel. support video. Nick thinks people will want to work for com- Last summer Dialogic (news - alert) was spun back out of panies who use video in this fashion and throw out the notion Intel and was purchased by Eicon Networks who subsequently of synchronizing meeting minutes with one another. So he changed the name of the combined company to Dialogic. even sees video as a way to attract and retain talent! The announcement was a source of major buzz at TMC’s VoIP When you are mobile you have things worth showing. A Developer Conference - now called Communications Developer foreign airport, a theme park, a skyline, sunset, sunrise, (http://www.tmcnet.com/voipdeveloper). I was in a standing animals, everything and anything. In fact I recently wrote a room only session as the news was presented to the anxious devel- bit that touched on video touring as another area of poten- opers. tial growth. IT

A great deal has changed over the years and perhaps most Nick thinks that in about six months, Dialogic will be even further importantly you can now develop applications without the along in video - he even used the term “major player” in providing need for DSP resource boards. video building blocks to companies who in turn will be building tomorrow’s leading edge video applications. It just so happens Nick VoIP has changed the way the communications develop- will be keynoting Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in Los ment market works and now you can build voice applications without DSP resource boards or even HMP-based solutions. Angeles (http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference) in about five months. I invite you to register now for this event which takes place But while voice development has become somewhat easier Sept 10-12 and make sure you are there to listen to Nick’s evolving and less expensive to accomplish, video is still a different vision of the video opportunity in communications.

10 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

Cant_IMG1010.IntTel.2.8.07 2/5/07 11:05 AM Page 1

Weigh Your Options.

Competition

IMG 1010 Media & Signaling Gateway

The IMG 1010 media and signaling VoIP gateway is the only solution built to lighten your capital and operational expenses. Combining the most built-in capabilities and the highest 1U port density makes the IMG 1010 the easiest carrier-grade VoIP gateway to purchase and manage — all while simplifying your installation and accelerating your ROI. Weigh the Options IMG 1010 Competition Integrated SS7 ✓ ? IP-to-IP Transcoding ✓ ? Easy Scalability ✓ ? Worldwide Support ✓ ?

To weigh them for yourself, visit www.cantata.com/1010options

© 2007 Cantata Technology, Inc. ) t http://www.itmag.com - aler Patton’s Increases Hosted ) t VoIP phone maker VoIP mm tt oo ee cc nn which makes high-quality .. .. rr Snom’s (news ) - aler mm mm ee t mm mm kk oo oo oo oo aa cc cc .. cc cc kk .. .. ll mm nn xx mm aa SIPxNano nn ii oo mm tt - aler oo tt ww gg pp oo ) ii rr cc Subscribe FREE online at t aa ii uu nn .. ee ii aa rr pp aa ss tt ...... ww ww ww ww ww ww (news ww ww ww ww ww ww - aler , ww ww ww ww ww ww // // // // // // small businesses // // // // // // PBX designed for :: :: :: :: :: :: with under 30 exten- pp pp pp pp pp pp SIPxNano - a tiny IP tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt platform which hh hh hh hh hh hh http://www.tmcnet.com/615.1 (news VoIP Phone Maker VoIP Products Now Interoperate with AuPix Releases New IP-based Desktop Videophone Platform AuPix Reignmaker (news business video- phones, has released a new videophone is said to deliver better frame rates and improved video The quality. platform, based on Texas Instruments’ DaVinci tech- repre- nology, sents a blending of DSP performance and SoC integration to deliver high-quality video to the desktop at affordable prices. snom announced its products are now interoperable with Patton Electronics Company’s sions. VoIP Presence VoIP Atlanta-based Reignmaker of the Communications is one providers many hosted VoIP that has been making significant inroads since it made the com- mitment to enter the market back has acquired Reignmaker in 2003. Now, CyberSouth Networks and Swfttel Corp. data coverage in homes and small office build- in homes and small data coverage be directly integrated ings. The femtocell can existing RAN via a broad- into the operator’s enhanced band connection, thus delivering voice and data service without any hassle. http://www.tmcnet.com/614.1 http://www.tmcnet.com/613.1 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index | Go to of Contents Go to Table Unveils 6- Video collaboration Avistar provider, Communications announced the release of a new software solution, v9.1 to AvistarVOS provide users with

) t mm oo Unveils CDMA cc .. Intros New Desktop ) t mm ) - aler t aa mm Adds Dual ee oo rr ) cc tt t .. ss rr - aler dd aa kk tt - aler nn dd ss .. ii aa rr xx vv tt - aler gg aa rr ...... ww ww ww RTX has made radical RTX ww ww ww ww ww ww // // // // // // :: :: :: pp pp pp tt tt tt tt tt tt hh hh hh http://www.tmcnet.com/611.1 line SIP Phone Grandstream Networks has unveiled the GXP2020 enterprise SIP phone. The GXP2020 provides high voice a compre- clarity, hensive set of advanced call features, multi-language support, security protection, automated provisioning and broad compatibility with leading SIP platforms. Videoconferencing Software and simplicity. increased deployment flexibility at making it easier The new solution is aimed with the ability to provide mobile workforces to utilize enhanced visual communications regardless of the endpoints in use. http://www.tmcnet.com/612.1 AirWalk (news Grandstream (news http://www.tmcnet.com/610.1 RTX (news Avistar (news Line Capability and PBX-like Features to DUALphone 3088 for Skype improvements to its DUALphone 3088 for Skype, adding support for three additional handsets as well as In PBX-like functionality. fact, the company claims the DUALphone 3088 is ideal for home-based businesses looking for an inexpensive phone system which enables both and traditional PSTN calling. VoIP Femtocell for Homes, Small Enterprises 3G IP radio access network company AirWalk Communications has unveiled a femtocell for CDMA voice and http://www.tmcnet.com/609.1 Each NEWS item can be found in its entirety on TMCnet. on in its entirety can be found NEWS item Each to the URL browser your Point wish to read. story the you above

NEWS ) t lines, is now avail- and AX Tenor AF Tenor - aler May 2007 May mm ® oo cc (news .. ee cc mm nn Hosts VoIP ServiceHosts VoIP to provider of advanced oo ee Delivers Visual ) ) Addressses VoIP cc gg t t .. mm rr tt ) ) t oo ee t ee mm mm vv cc nn .. oo oo nn ee ee cc cc oo tt .. .. nn - aler - aler ii cc ll aa TELEPHONY ll mm mm rr - aler - aler aa mm uu uu Streamline Networks is offering ee

ii rr ll tt aa uu ee nn dd ii ii tt ee cc rr rr uu aa tt (news aa pp nn ss ii tt qq ...... , ww ww ww ww ww

ww ww ww ww ww Natural Convergence’s Natural Convergence’s ww ww ww ww ww // // // // // // // // // // INTERNET :: :: :: :: :: pp pp pp pp pp tt tt tt tt tt ENTERPRISE tt tt tt tt tt hh hh hh hh hh http://www.tmcnet.com/606.1 a hosted VoIP communications solution to the a hosted VoIP SMB market throughout Massachusetts by using Boston’s SMBs Boston’s VoIP products and technologies, has products and technologies, VoIP announced a new application suite designed specifically for the small business segment, called IPsmartSuite, which will address the particular needs of varying types of small businesses, at a price point that it affordable and with a solution that is manageable for companies between 5 and 50 employees. Streamline (news Small Businesses: An On-premises VoIP Solution for You IPcelerate Quintum (news http://www.tmcnet.com/605.1 Taridium (news Mobile Voice Mail to IP PBX Customers Mobile Voice mail to its has added visual voice Taridium mobile interface, allows users to access which any number of their office IP PBX from home SIP phone, devices - mobile device, a TDM phone - and desktop IP phone, or even mail solution. includes its unified voice enables The visual voice mail component the web brows- accessing voice mail through checking er any mobile phone, including missed calls. silhouette product. The company is also edu- cating the SMB market on the simplicity of a solution. hosted VoIP Continuity in PBX Branches that the has announced Quintum Technologies survivability the function, first introduced in able on the digital Tenor DX and BX VoIP DX and able on the digital Tenor MultiPath Switches. Quintum addressed the need to assure business continuity in branch office locations in the event that connectivity to the main IP PBX or IP Centrex is lost. http://www.tmcnet.com/608.1 http://www.tmcnet.com/607.1 12 ITSIP0906Ad 8/28/06 11:46 AM Page 1

Optimize Business Yours, Not Theirs The Inter-Tel® 7000 Redefines Business Communications.

Replacing old technology with new solutions allows you to operate more efficiently and drive revenue growth. But will your investment continue to deliver, outpacing the threat of obsolescence? A communications solution from Inter-Tel will. We offer the next-generation communications technology today that others can only promise for tomorrow.

The Inter-Tel 7000 multimedia communications system embraces the future of business communications. Built on open-ended, SIP-standards-based architecture, it allows you to leverage the business tools that make the most sense for your business, when you need them and as they become available. It’s freedom of choice — both today and tomorrow — from the proprietary technology other vendors would prefer you remain locked into.

Why compromise? The Inter-Tel 7000 delivers the solutions you require today, the options you expect for tomorrow and the investment protection you insist upon always. The choice is clear — with Inter-Tel your business is Always ON.

To locate an Inter-Tel Authorized Provider near you, please visit: www.inter-tel.com

© Inter-Tel, Incorporated 2006 • 7300 West Boston Street, Chandler, Arizona 85226 • 480.961.9000 NEWS Each NEWS item can be found in its entirety on TMCnet. SERVICE PROVIDER Point your browser to the URL above the story you wish to read.

http://www.tmcnet.com/618.16 Communications Suite ties together telephony, VoIP Peering Provider VoEX Builds Three http://www.tmcnet.com/621.1 mobility, messaging and enterprise-class pres- New Interconnection Hubs M5 Takes Unified Messaging to the Next Level ence in a system that is affordable for SMBs. VoIP peering company Hosted VoIP provider M5 Networks (news - http://www.esnatech.com alert) has partnered with SimulScribe (news - http://www.iwatsu.com VoEX alert) to offer M5Scribe, which offers cus- (news - tomers the option alert) con- of receiving tran- http://www.tmcnet.com/625.1 tinues to scribed voice mails DragonWave’s Inexpensive Horizon Compact build out via email, with an Wireless Carrier Ethernet System its global attached audio file, (news - alert) Carriers wanting to deploy should they need to managed network. The company announced WiMAX 4G personal broadband solutions, or it has extended the network into three of the listen to the message at a later time. This some other wireless next-gen service, but who world’s largest interconnection hubs: 60 option will allow are faced with a backhaul bandwidth problem, Hudson in New York, Equinix in Chicago, and executives, mobile can now find relief in the form of a small (9- Telehouse in London, using switching solu- employees, any users, in fact, additional inch-square) indoor/outdoor wireless Carrier tions from Sonus Networks. options for checking voicemails, as the mes- Ethernet backhaul platform called the Horizon http://www.voex.com sages can be delivered to any email account. Compact, from DragonWave. http://www.dragonwaveinc.com http://www.m5net.com http://www.simulscribe.com http://www.tmcnet.com/619.1 Juniper Networks Enables http://www.tmcnet.com/626.1 Mobile Operators to Expand http://www.tmcnet.com/622.1 Cisco’s Enhanced XR-12000 Router and Service Offerings WOW! Offers TV Caller ID: Converged Multi-Service Blade Brings Virtualization A number of new features and Services Move Mainstream to Service Providers enhancements have been In a bid to differentiate itself in the market, Cisco Systems (quote - news -alert) has introduced by Juniper WOW! Internet, (news -alert) Cable and Phone made some enhancements to its Networks (quote - news - has announced the XR-12000 platform to enable more alert) for its Steel-Belted deployment of Integra efficient delivery of resource-hun- Radius SIM/AKA Server that 5’s (news -alert) new gry services such as TelePresence. enables mobile operators to TV Caller ID applica- Cisco’s virtualization and hardware reduce operational complexi- tion. With the new TV upgrades will bring greater ty and increase potential Caller ID application, flexibility, quality and high revenue opportunities. The the name and number availability to the world of new version is a key part of of incoming calls are both service providers and Juniper’s Session and Resource Control displayed right on a users TV the customers they serve. portfolio and delivers SIGTRAN support. screen before the phone even rings. http://www.cisco.com http://www.juniper.net http://www.wowway.com http://www.integra5.com http://www.tmcnet.com/627.1 http://www.tmcnet.com/620.1 Sipera Enhances VoIP Security for IMS Tatara and ip.access Partner on Femtocell- http://www.tmcnet.com/623.1 Sipera Systems’ (news -alert) IPCS 520, Based FMC Solution Personalize With Video Ringback Tones designed to protect both subscribers and the serv- Tatara Systems (news -alert) has been working With all the attention paid to video applications ice provider’s infrastructure from application-level on several new femtocell and with video capture enabled on many mobile attacks, now incorporates features to ensure partnerships, devices, video mail was also only matter of time. secure deployment of dual mode phones and the among them Telenity, (news -alert) however, takes it all to a associated infrastructures. Sipera combines vari- new level, combining the ringback tones and ip.access, which ous real-time security features, like anomaly video with its video ringback tone service for 3G develops femto- detection, filtering, behavior learning, and verifica- networks. Users can now define music videos, cells (as well as tion, into one device. picocells), and news clips, or personal video messages as their http://www.sipera.com ringback tones. the newly agreed http://www.telenity.com partnership http://www.tmcnet.com/628.1 between the two UTStarcom Introduces GSM Capability to Its http://www.tmcnet.com/624.1 All-IP Wireless Network Platform companies will Esnatech and Iwatsu Team Up on Unified UTStarcom (news - alert) has introduced GSM integrate Communications Solution for SMBs ip.access’ (news -alert) SMBs using communications solutions from capability on its MovingMedia 2000 end-to-end Oyster 3G femtocell with Tatara’s Mobile Esna Technologies (news - alert) and Iwatsu all-IP wireless network plat- Services Convergence portfolio, offering mobile Voice Networks (news - alert) have gained a form. MovingMedia 2000 providers access to SIP-based IP networks to new level of integration. The two companies enables mobile operators to extend their coverage. announced the merging of their Telephony offer CDMA-based voice and http://www.tatarasystems.com Office-Linx (Esnatech) and Enterprise data services over IP to end http://www.ipaccess.com Communications Server (ICS, from Iwatsu) solu- users. tions into a single platform. The new Enterprise http://www.utstar.com

14 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index The Perfect Fusion of Performance and Flexibility

The beauty of gymnastics is realized when strength and agility are combined with style and grace. Alliance Systems engineers adopted this approach when designing the new AX-1000 high-performance 1U appliance. It leverages a modular design in a small footprint that offers flexibility of components and the ability to customize the enclosure to differentiate your brand in this competitive marketplace.

Leveraging a seamless modular enclosure, OEMs and ISVs can select a variety of features to deploy VoIP gateways, network security appliances, or other single-purpose infrastructure applications. This flexible approach ensures tremendous cost savings over other manufactured hardware by providing the flexibility to choose only the components needed to optimize your application.

The AX-1000’s flexibility comes in a variety of flavors, from front and rear access, Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® to Celeron® processors, AC or DC power, a full-length PCI-X or PCI-Express expansion slot, single or dual hard drives, to multiple operating system support and extended warranty upgrades.

Visit www.alliancesystems.com/flexible to explore all your options.

800.977.1010 | 972.633.3400 | www.alliancesystems.com

The Alliance Systems logo is a registered trademark of Alliance Systems, Ltd. Intel, Xeon, and Celeron are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. NEWS Each NEWS item can be found in its entirety on TMCnet. WIRELESS Point your browser to the URL above the story you wish to read.

http://www.tmcnet.com/592.1 Wireless URL Categorization Engine. The new http://www.tmcnet.com/599.1 Starent, Airspan Deploy Mobile engine features a special ThreatSeeker tech- BlueAnt Wireless Intros BlueAnt Supertooth WiMAX nology that classifies URL’s and filters them Light Starent Networks for blocking or allowing accesses. BlueAnt Wireless has (news - alert) http://www.websense.com introduced the and Airspan BlueAnt (news - Networks http://www.tmcnet.com/596.1 alert) Supertooth (news - alert) Radcom Unveils QTrace for 3G Mobile Net Light Bluetooth will jointly deliv- Operators Speakerphone, er an end-to-end Network test the latest addition to its hands- 16e Mobile WiMAX network and service free speakerphone technology offering solution. Starent’s Access Service monitoring stylish design, easy to use features and Network (ASN-GW) Gateway and solutions no installation requirements, including fea- Home Agent (HA) will be incorporated with provider tures like DSP for noise & echo cancellation, Airspan’s MIMO-based 802.16e-2005 HiperMAX Radcom (news -alert) has introduced Qtrace up to 15 hrs. talk time or 800 hrs. standby, full and MicroMAX Base Stations for Mobile WiMAX to enhance its Omni-Q network and service duplex and more. http://www.blueantwireless.com network deployments. quality management system. QTrace facilitates http://www.starentnetworks.com real-time troubleshooting and emergency call http://www.airspan.com detection by enabling call searches across http://www.tmcnet.com/600.1 multiple sites. http://www.radcom.com Jabra Unveils Convertible http://www.tmcnet.com/593.1 Bluetooth Stereo Headset Microsoft Unveils Deepfish Verizon Wireless and Jabra Those faithful mobile users who dared to use http://www.tmcnet.com/597.1 Mobile VoIP Provider Truphone Letting US (news - alert) have announced the Internet on their mobile and agreed that Customers Make Free Calls the Jabra BT8010 convertible they deserved a better treatment, now have (quote - news -alert) Mobile VoIP provider Bluetooth stereo headset with their prayers answered. With Microsoft (quote Truphone announced that U.S. customers with a personalized phonebook - news -alert) plunging deep into the world of WiFi-ready Nokia smartphones will be able to and caller ID. The multi-func- mobile Internet with a mobile web browser make free international calls to landlines in tional Jabra BT8010 can be called Deepfish, surfing the Internet on your 40 countries throughout April, May, and turned into a fully functional mobile may finally start being real fun. June. This is effectively an extension Bluetooth stereo headset for listening to music http://www.microsoft.com of the company’s with the addition of a separately purchased current price stereo earpiece. http://www.jabra.com http://www.tmcnet.com/594.1 promotion Google To Go? LG Electronics Pre- (ending on Installs Google Apps March 31), http://www.tmcnet.com/601.1 Enhancing the fusion of mobile during which D-Link Boosts technology and Internet services, customers have been Performance for wireless handsets manufacturer able to make free mobile Wireless VoIP Users LG Electronics (news - alert) and VoIP calls across the D-Link (news - alert) has Internet giant Google (quote - U.S. and Canada. made available smaller form factor versions of news - alert) have inked a global http://www.nokia.com its notebook ExpressCard adapters and desktop partnership to pre-install all PCI Express adapters, both of which also incor- Google’s services on one million porate the latest draft 802.11n technology. Both new products provide increased speeds to LG mobile phones. Initial ship- http://www.tmcnet.com/598.1 ment to U.S., Europe, and Asia Intervoice (news - alert)Strengthens Unified home or business wireless networks, while at is expected by second quarter of Communications with Launch of Next- the same time, extending the range of the solutions through the integration of wireless N stan- this year. Generation Voice Portals http://www.lge.com dards. http://www.google.com Imagine being able to use your web-enabled http://www.dlink.com 3G mobile phone to browse and book an air- line flight by viewing flight schedules and seat- http://www.tmcnet.com/602.1 http://www.tmcnet.com/595.1 ing assignments on a touch screen and then AuthenTec Unveils Biometric Fingerprint Websense Enhances Security for Wireless clicking to choose a flight, speaking your seat- Sensor AuthenTec (news - alert) has launched Internet Users ing selection and receiving a text message the AES1710 biometric fingerprint sensor for Websense Wireless, a division of Websense with the option to connect to a live agent to the wireless market. According to the compa- Inc., (news - alert) finalize your flight. This is what Intervoice is ny, the fourth generation biometric fingerprint which provides bringing forward in its latest step toward uni- sensor meets critical performance standards Internet filtering fied communications. necessary for widespread mobile commerce and enterprise http://www.intervoice.com (M-commerce), security and convenience security soft- applications for full featured phones, and ware, has intro- smart phones. duced the http://www.authentec.com Websense

16 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Project1 3/19/2007 4:30 PM Page 1 NEWS Each NEWS item can be found in its entirety on TMCnet. OTHER INDUSTRY Point your browser to the URL above the story you wish to read.

http://www.tmcnet.com/585.1 DEVELOPER NEWS http://www.tmcnet.com/581.1 Intelliverse Allies with WebEx, Jabra, and Connect One Launches Secure Serial-to-Wi- Creative on SMB Communications Fi Module As a part of its Talking Planet Business and http://www.tmcnet.com/578.1 Connect One (news - callEverywhere hosted VoIP platforms Sangoma Offers Affordable T1/E1 Card alert) has released Intelliverse (news - alert) will offer the WebEx (news - alert) Sangoma Technologies (news - alert) Socket iWiFi, a secure announced the A101D single port E1/T1/PRI WebOffice solution, serial-to-WiFi embed- Creative (news - card with carrier-grade echo cancellation. Said ded device server that alert) Webcams, David Mandelstam, CEO of Sangoma: “It is quickly and easily and Jabra (news - significant because, for connects devices run- alert) headsets. the first time, medium ning machine-to-machine (M2M) applications The company size offices will be to 802.11b/g wireless LANs and protects them points out those able to offer true from network attacks. The new device uses SMBs rely on their communications networks carrier-grade Connect One’s iChipSec CO711AG IP commu- voice quality. The to help them reach out nication controller chip. and collaborate with smallest systems have had http://www.connectone.com remote locations to access to enhanced audio by using do business. our A200D cards that provide hardware echo cancellation right down to two channels, SIP NEWS Leveraging the new while the larger systems needing two T1/E1 partnerships, Intelliverse will enable SMBs to http://www.tmcnet.com/582.1 ports (46 to 60 voce channels) have had the Micromethod Launches SIP Presence Server choose the components that work for their same support using our A102D card.” Micromethod Technologies (news - alert) has needs and keep them easily connected to their http://www.sangoma.com launched the SIPoint server, comprising a SIP multiple offices, customers and partners— proxy, registrar, XCAP functions, and SIMPLE while giving them the capabilities and features presence engine. By using SIP Instant of one large office, the compaies said. http://www.tmcnet.com/579.1 http://www.intelliverse.com Alcatel-Lucent Driving Fast Optical Nets Messaging and Presence Leverage Extension http://www.webex.com The recent OFC/NFOEC conference in Anaheim (SIMPLE) technology and providing a core set http://www.jabra.com http://www.creative.com gave Alcatel-Lucent (news - alert) the stage to of routing, presence, and resource management present several papers the telecom giant is con- functions, the SIPoint server can be applied to ducting in an effort to develop future high-speed wide array of real-time VoIP communication http://www.tmcnet.com/586.1 networks able to applications and services. Sonus Networks Acquires Zynetix to Expand http://www.micromethod.com transmit voice, Wireless Portfolio data, and video sig- Sonus Networks (news - alert) has nals. The company envi- http://www.tmcnet.com/583.1 announced a definitive sions future optical net- SIP-based IP PBX Demonstrates agreement to acquire pri- works transmitting Compatibility with Microsoft’s UM Solution vately held Zynetix Ltd., Software-based IP PBX developer pbxnsip (news higher and higher designers of GSM infra- - alert) has announced its software has been structure solutions. amounts of data - proven interoperable with Microsoft Exchange According to Sonus, inte- in many terabits 2007 Unified Messaging (UM) platform. Not only per second - over does this mean customers can connect to grating Zynetix technology optical fiber. This Microsoft’s platform, which dominates the busi- with its IMS portfolio is a would make it pos- ness market - many PBX vendors require a gate- critical step in developing sible, for instance, way to connect with Exchange 2007 UM - but it Sonus’ wireless portfolio of to transmit data also means that businesses can communicate 3G and GSM next generation using SIP connectivity, saving expensive network from more than 600 DVDs solutions addressing the bandwidth. demand for carrier-class, end-to-end IP based per second. http://www.pbxnsip.com http://www.alcatel-lucent.com networks. Sonus is seeking to accelerate the wireless IP-Voice market as part of its long- http://www.tmcnet.com/580.1 term growth strategy. Dialogic PCIe Boards Certified by Intervoice CHANNEL NEWS http://www.sonusnet.com http://www.zynetix.com Recognizing the need to ensure its media http://www.tmcnet.com/584.1 boards are compatible with evolving technolo- AudioCodes Completes Purchase of CTI http://www.tmcnet.com/587.1 Cisco Acquires WebEx to Extend Reach in gies, Dialogic Corporation (news - alert) Squared SMB Market announced that its recently unveiled PCIe AudioCodes, (news - alert) a leading develop- Cisco Systems (quote - news - alert) has DMVB boards have now been certified for and er of Voice over Packet technologies and Voice acquired WebEx, (news - alert) a supplier of Network products, has completed the acquisi- are deployed in Intervoice’s Media Exchange on-demand collaboration applications, as the tion of CTI Squared, (news - alert) a provider Platform. The boards are now embedded in a network company seeks to extend its vision of enhanced data and voice messaging and key element of Intervoice’s (news - alert) mar- for Unified Communications, particularly with- communications platforms to service keting strategy. in the SMB market. providers and enterprises. http://www.cisco.com http://www.dialogic.com http://www.audiocodes.com http://www.webex.com http://www.intervoice.com http://www.cti2.com

18 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index NEWS Each NEWS item can be found in its entirety on TMCnet. Point your browser to the URL above the story you wish to read. OTHER INDUSTRY

http://www.tmcnet.com/588.1 embrace industry-wide change is being Five9 Intros On-Demand Call Center announced by Altitude Software, (news - Packages for Small Businesses alert) a provider of independent contact cen- Five9, (news - ter solutions. The Altitude uCI 7.5 software alert) a provider of suite includes Altitude IP Contact Center on-demand call functionality and streamlines IT investments center solutions, and optimizes human resources to provide has introduced two businesses with a SIP-based multimedia call center pack- contact center solution. ages designed for http://www.altitude.com small businesses. The Five9 Call Center Suite Small Business Edition, which includes the Small Business Edition and Five9 Inbound http://www.tmcnet.com/590.1 Call Center are aimed at providing small busi- Intervoice and RSA Improve Telephone nesses with an affordable way to significantly Banking boost both sales and customer service levels. In a bid to assist financial institutions’ con- http://www.five9.com tact centers with the need for multifactor authentication for their telephone banking environments as well as provide enhanced IP CONTACT CENTER NEWS functionalities like speech technologies, Intervoice and RSA, (news - alert) The http://www.tmcnet.com/589.1 Security Division of EMC, have announced an Altitude Software to Unveil New Contact agreement to integrate their offerings. Center Solution A new contact center solu- http://www.rsa.com tion aimed to boost a center’s ability to http://www.intervoice.com

Subscribe FREE online at www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 19 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Inside Networking By Tony Rybczynski P is for People in Telephony IP Telephony is inevitable, but just because you can do something, should you? uccessful deployment of IP Telephony starts with defining your business goals, and establishing a cross-functional team which is aligned with these goals. If Syou think of IP Telephony as dial tone replacement or a voice packet as just another packet, you will likely be unsuccessful in both business and technology senses. If you think of IP Telephony as a real-time application with users who have very high expectations for performance, reliability and security, you are on the right path. Given that IP Telephony brings together end user service functionality and IP networking, organizational and skill set convergence is very important to successful deployment of IP Telephony.

The End User is King The network engineering group expertise needs to be extended to cover IP Telephony Communications Servers, the voicemail or Some enterprises jump into IP Telephony without addressing unified messaging servers, and contact center servers; as well as of its realities. Learning on the job may move the yards, but could gateways to the public network. WAN services including CO just as well result in cost overruns due to poor planning, failed trunks (e.g. based on PRI) need to be engineered to ensure the implementation and service disruptions, and dissatisfied users. user Quality of Experience is met, SLAs need to be managed The old adage that “nobody even got fired for going with a across virtual private networks and billing accuracy needs to be leading vendor” doesn’t apply to IP Telephony, particularly if verified. Other new responsibilities include VLAN administra- the dissatisfied user is a business decision maker or CXO. tion, and ascertaining PoE and UPS requirements in wiring clos- ets (for powering of IP sets even under failure conditions). Getting everyone on the same page with an IP Telephony initiative starts with an understanding that a key metric is user The operational group likewise is impacted by convergence. satisfaction. The user in this case could be the end user him or This starts with being a key stakeholder in the roll-out and herself or the business owner (e.g. a hotel manager), who planning of IP Telephony, providing a valuable perspective on wants calls to be handled in a manner that is consistent with testing, diagnostic and operational requirements. This not business processes and operation. only includes the running of the converged infrastructure but also supporting help desk services for lines of business, end A systematic approach is to address the needs for specializa- users of IP desktop and WLAN phones and of soft clients on tion in IP Telephony across various parts of the organization, PCs, laptops, tablets and various mobile platforms. Another recognizing that smaller enterprises may not have dedicated important dimension is managing voice carrier solicitations, personnel to provide these functions. contracts, departmental charge back and toll fraud prevention.

Not surprisingly, it starts with the user perspective. The A Workplace Vision Enabled Through a enterprise needs to establish a voice application specialist, Technology Vision accountable for ensuring that user requirements are met, training needs are fulfilled and the customer’s voice is heard. This Successful execution of an enterprise IP Telephony strategy function would ensure that the required feature/functionality depends on people, in two dimensions. The IT organization (including numbering plan, call coverage and attendant func- needs to take full advantage of networking skills in the traditional data group and end user understanding in the traditional teleph- tionality) is delivered, not just when deployment is complete ony group. This is a significant cultural shift that drives the estab- but also during the transition. It would also ensure that busi- lishment of trust across two previously silo’ed groups, which had ness needs are addressed, including regulatory and business con- not worked together, while enabling new career development tinuity. Added responsibilities include setting up pilots, pro- paths for employees. Furthermore, the converged IT organization gram tracking and communications with client groups, as well needs to engage the client groups and lines of business that will as customer satisfaction tracking, Wired and wireless telephones be the direct beneficiaries of IP Telephony. After all, with IP and mobile and desktop clients must be matched to user needs, Telephony and more generally Unified Communications, a tech- including desktop convergence across telephony and PC envi- nology vision needs a complementary workplace vision that ronments. Consideration must also be given to ancillary devices embraces mobility and productivity. IT such as voice recording, transcription devices, kiosks, facsimile, headsets, and alarm lines. Finally, the voice application specialist Tony Rybczynski is Director of Strategic Enterprise Technologies at should work with users to determine which display-assisted Nortel. (quote - news - alert) He has over 20 years experience in the applications (e.g. directories, conference call management and application of packet network technology. For more information, please various forms of alerts) should be provided on IP phones. visit http://www.nortel.com.

20 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Project1 4/12/2007 9:23 AM Page 1 The Next Wave Redux By Brough Turner Why There’s No Internet QoS and Likely Never Will Be

K, I got your attention. Of course, service level agreements are widely available and that’s one form of quality of service (QoS). But the popular mean- Oing is certain packets get priority over other packets and there is no such prioritization on the Internet backbone and very little anywhere in the Internet.

QoS at the Core of the Internet Typical residential access links are narrow pipes where the cost of purchasing more capacity is prohibitive, if it’s possible Prioritization only matters when links are saturated. Once at all. On the other hand, we can control the routing policy you get beyond the access network, every link in the Internet for what goes out on the link by deploying an appropriate res- - local, regional, national or international - is carrying multi- idential router at our end of the broadband access link. As a plexed traffic from many, many users. Multiplexing many, first approximation, one would like to give priority to VoIP bursty flows results in relatively predictable traffic. Traffic vol- packets (and gamers may want to give priority to specific umes vary by time of day, but links don’t saturate, except as a multi-player games). Simple priority is a good first step, but result of poor engineering or other link failures. Either case may not be enough on slow links. generates a rapid response from any ISP that expects to remain in business. Slow links have an added problem due to large packet serialization delay. VoIP packets are typically less that 150 bytes In short, except at the edges; i.e., the access network, Internet while a web page or email is typically delivered in ~1500 byte links may be heavily loaded but are not saturated. Combined chunks. At 250 Kbps, a 1500 byte packet takes ~50 millisec- with relatively high capacity links, this means typical delay vari- onds to pass over the link. If a VoIP packet arrives just after a ations are fractions of a millisecond and packet loss is negligi- 1500 byte packet has started, it doesn’t matter that the VoIP ble; i.e., best effort is good enough even for low latency applica- packet is priority to be sent next, it will have to wait for the tions like voice telephony. Except during major failures, the current packet to complete. Intermittent 50 ms delays are effect of QoS in the Internet backbone is negligible. handled by a jitter buffer at the other end of the VoIP connection, but only at the expense of an additional 50 ms of Consumers won’t pay a premium for performance delay. If the uplink is slower than 250 Kbps, serialization improvements they can’t see! They might be induced to pay delays are even longer. for a brand (after all, people pay premium prices for branded water), but as yet no such brand has emerged. And if one Luckily this is one place where priorities work and can be does, consumers will be paying for that brand, not for QoS imposed. Indeed most consumer VoIP devices incorporate technology per se. simple priority and some include the ability to fragment large packets (so as to reduce serialization delays). And, because it’s Broadband Access Links useful for both VoIP and gaming, this functionality is showing up in popular residential routers from Linksys, Netgear The one place in the public Internet where limited, and the like. highly specific QoS measures make sense is at the consumer end of an asymmetric broadband access link. Typical Brands Can Command a Premium, But Internet residential DSL connections offer a few megabits per sec- QoS Never Will ond (or less) to the home, but only a few hundred Kbps from Individuals can benefit from the home to the Internet. simple priority queuing at their Unlike links between core end of a broadband access link. routers, traffic on such access Individuals can benefit from simple But they are not going to pay for links is very bursty and bursts benefits they can’t see, so we’re can saturate the link. If there priority queuing at their end of a unlikely to see prioritization are no active peer-to-peer broadband access link. from ISPs. Operators interested applications then, most of the in premium services should focus time, little or no traffic flows on branding and perhaps on on most residential broadband facilitating simple priority queu- connections. Suddenly, some- ing in the access network. IT one sends an email with an attached file or photo which saturates the outgoing link for many seconds as several Brough Turner is Senior VP of Technology, CTO and Co-Founder of megabytes of data go out at perhaps 250 kilobits (~31 kilo- NMS Communications. (news - alert) For more information, please bytes) per second. visit the company online at http://www.nmscommunications.com.

22 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Introducing TRANSip™ technology, exclusively from REDCOM, ■ INTEGRATED SIP CALL CONTROLLER a comprehensive transformation solution that provides exceptional ■ MEDIA GATEWAY & MEDIA GATEWAY CONTROLLER interoperability. ■ POWERFUL IP FUNCTIONALITY ■ SEAMLESS COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN IP & TDM New SLICE™ 2100 with TRANSip technology: ■ SUPERIOR PROTOCOL & MEDIA SUPPORT a stackable, fully integrated VoIP solution in a 1U platform. ■ ACCURATE DATA COLLECTION FOR IP & LEGACY SUBSCRIBERS SLICE 2100 with TRANSip is the world’s slimmest, rack-mountable, ■ FLEXIBLE & PRIORITY ROUTING multi-use switching system. Integrating a SIP based VoIP Call Manager and a feature rich Media Gateway, SLICE 2100 o ers the network and user features of the REDCOM HDX. SLICE 2100’s distributed architecture provides exceptional system reliability and availability.

See us at NXTcomm ’07, Booth # 4576

+1.585.924.6500 PHONE +1.585.924.6585 FAX [email protected] E MAIL www.redcom.com

MADE IN USA © 2007 REDCOM Laboratories, Inc. TRANSip and SLICE are trademarks of REDCOM Laboratories, Inc. REDCOM and the REDCOM logo are registered trademarks of REDCOM Laboratories, Inc. Mind Share 2.0 By Marc Robins GotVoice Juices the Voice Mail Marketplace

ust when people started dissing voice mail, saying how they don’t check their messages all that often and you should just email them (or SMS or IM them) Jif you want them to get back to you - and this from people in the “voice” business, including some editors-in-chief of voice-centric technology trade publications - along comes a company that helps to breathe new life into the space.

GotVoice (news - alert) (http://www.gotvoice.com) - a com- email. There is no software to install and users don’t even pany launched in 2003 but just coming out the gate with its need a phone to access messages. service (it needed several years of development to make it so seamlessly transparent and easy to use) - has come up with a GotVoice service highlights include: new free voice messaging service that allows consumers to manage their mobile, home and work voice messages online, Access Voicemail Anytime, Anywhere: GotVoice checks from a single, unified web interface. multiple voicemail boxes, such as home, mobile and work boxes, up to 24 times a day, then delivers messages to a user’s Actually, such changes have been afoot in the enterprise email or makes them accessible at the user’s personal GotVoice voice messaging space for some time now, thanks to the Web page. Users can also create and send messages using their slow but steady burn under unified messaging technology. PC or phone. But I can’t tell you how many times in years past I’ve heard people say, “This is the Year of Unified Messaging!” - only Send, Receive and Create Voice Messages without a Phone: to be quite underwhelmed by the offerings or the tepid GotVoice allows users to send, receive, and create voice mes- adoption by the marketplace of even well-developed enter- sages without the need for a phone. Users can create messages prise solutions. Problem was, businesses didn’t want to pay with their voice or use a quick text-to-speech feature. what the vendors were asking, and the benefits were a bit too fuzzy for many. Organize, Save, Forward : GotVoice makes it easy to organize, save and forward important messages, just as with GotVoice, however, has the potential to popularize so-called email. It’s easy to sort through important messages and for- unified messaging to the masses - and truly invigorate the ward them to multiple recipients all at once, without addi- market for all types of UM solutions - including those of the tional call forwarding charges. Enterprise ilk. The developers hail from RealNetworks, Microsoft, Starwave, AT&T, and Corbis, and really seem to Silent Sending: GotVoice gives users the option of sending have come up with an easy, yet elegant mash up of the Web voice messages without causing the recipients phone to ring - and voice messaging. great for late night messages, traveling in a different time zone, or moments when you just don’t want to talk. The company’s “secret sauce” - a competitive advantage that will be hard for others to replicate in a short time - is that it One Message, Many Recipients: Simply record a message spent four years learning how to seamlessly integrate with all using your PC or phone, and distribute it to up to 200 contacts. major cell phone carriers, residential lines including those offered by cable and VoIP providers, and corporate voicemail Personalization: GotVoice makes it easy to create personal- systems - with no carrier or work-place involvement. ized greetings and outgoing messages. Add your favorite MP3 music to your voicemail greeting, choose a custom celebrity GotVoice combines the ease of email with voice messaging, voice greeting or select background tracks from an audio and the company claims that it is the only messaging service library. that allows users to visually take control of their voicemail without requiring a new number, a forwarded call, or text The Fun Factor: GotVoice reminds users that voicemail can messaging services. also be fun. Create your own message by recording your voice over your own music. Users can also forward favorite or funny In fact, the service doesn’t require users to make any voicemails to friends, while preserving precious messages from changes whatsoever to their normal phone use. To provide the loved ones. IT highest level of flexibility, GotVoice leaves messages on the Marc is Chief Evangelism Officer of RCG (Robins Consulting original voicemail system, so users can check their voicemail Group), a leading marketing, communications and business devel- as they always have, if they choose. Whether users opt to opment consulting firm 100% dedicated to the IP Communications receive voicemail via email or at their personal GotVoice Web industry. For more information about RCG, visit page, GotVoice enables them to easily send, receive, create http://www.robinsconsult.com, email [email protected], or and store all of their voice messages-in the same way they use call 718-548-7245.

24 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

For The Record By Kelly Anderson SMS May Be Your SOS

here is a silent enemy of personalized services, multiplexed service bundles, and the consolidation of multiple providers. This isn’t the risks any- Tone speaks about on CNN and it is given little if no air time by Wall Street Analysts. If it is even mentioned by a company it is a footnote in a quar- terly report. Unfortunately, with the little attention it receives, it will prove to be one of the most important and successful indicators of whether consumers can trust the company and will accept them as their ongoing service provider.

Subscriber Management (or SMS) is defined as a combina- Needless to say, after the year left on her contract, she tion of hardware, software, and human interactions that help switched to another provider. organize and operate a company’s business - but it is far more than that. The SMS contains all customer relevant informa- A large-scale study was released in 2004 using the American tion and is responsible for keeping track of placed orders, Customer Satisfaction Index, and stated that the 28 large-scale credit limits, invoicing and payments, as well as reporting mergers that happened between 1997 and 2002 were unsatis- reports and statistics. This has been an increasingly difficult factory to 50 percent of their customers. Even after two years, task for operators. customers that hadn’t left were still significantly more dissatisfied than they were with the previous company. SMS has faced many new challenges in the new communications market. Engineering and process challenges have I have a feeling that the wide-range marketing plans for plagued the efficient management of subscriber information. mergers and new product timelines and not going to wait for This trend is caused by subscribers picking up more and var- IT tasks like the migration and monitoring of data, network ied services from one provider that are offered through varied devices, and systems. So is there an industry plan around the networks, and also by the recent mergers. Large-scale migra- alleviation of issues surrounding the monitoring and service tions of customer data are major operational projects in the issues surrounding multi-faceted networks, large-scale merg- aftermath of the merger. Not only does the difficulty begin ers, and the mismatch of data new, disparate products? with merging together two formats from disparate systems and network control tools, but also the synchronization of dif- There are several industry groups concerned with the topic ferent data elements and incompatible detail of data - causing of diverse networks, user experience, and customer impacts more than a few headaches and long hours for IT and engi- to mergers. This is where the solution to this industry-wide neering departments through the merger process. problem could be alleviated by using standards. One of the things IPDR does is to create consistency in getting data I happen to know of a true life consumer story of what a from the network in the required time, provide that data to merger looks like when systems and networks are not in whatever end system need for that data downstream. Data is synch. My friend Brenda was a victim of the one of the major such a crucial issue for today’s operators that have complex wireless mergers last year. She was perfectly happy with her IP-based services, so putting the joining two companies with service when the merger hap- different monitoring needs on pened (actually it was about six top of that makes a lot of sense. months later when the name on The seamless (at least to the the bill changed and they start- consumer) migration of net- ed answering the phone differ- Creating a data plan and implementing works needs to allow a consoli- ently). Her service consisted of that using a flexible and accommodating dated view of data and consumer a four phone family plan that usage and behavior. Creating a made her average bill about protocol is a winning strategy. data plan and implementing that $180 a month. Her teenage using a flexible and accommo- daughter asked for one of the dating protocol is a winning new hot pink phones for her strategy. As president of birthday. The specific phone she IPDR.org, I invite providers wanted showed up on the web- who provide complex services to site and Brenda went to order it. Much to her dismay, the take a look at the IPDR Service Specification and protocol phone was not compatible with her service (signaling issue), (http://www.ipdr.org). It may just make a future decision to and, she couldn’t even switch her plan over to that service merge a lifesaver for your customers. IT type because she had to “live” out the terms of the contract (which was another year) with the current service. Not only Kelly Anderson is President and COO of IPDR.org, a collaborative was her data not in the database of the customer representa- industry consortium focused on developing and driving the adop- tive she called, but her contract was not even transferable. tion of next-gen service usage exchange standards worldwide.

26 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index ring 9 ad_v3.qxp 4/17/2007 2:15 PM Page 1

Ring 9 provides business grade telephone services utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Ring 9 VoIP services offer high quality business grade communications solutions. Our extensive feature set allows businesses to increase efficiencies and create seamless nationwide telephone networks, thus increasing productivity and profitability while also reducing capital expenditures. Ring 9 enables customers interested in: • Upgrading phone systems • Enhancing business productivity • Starting new businesses • Moving to new locations Advanced VoIP and business features such as: • Hosted PBX phone features • Local phone service • Innovative conferencing • Outstanding service

Ring 9 Powers Your Communications! VoIPeering By Hunter Newby Cutting Out the Middleman

rbinet, “the leading provider of solutions to simplify the exchange of digital communications,” has taken a step into the turbulent ocean of business-model dis- Aruption with its recent announcement of PeeringSolutions for the U.S. domestic market. Arbinet solutions “simplify the exchange of digital communications in a con- verging world”. This does not specifically mention, or limit them only to voice, but their current primary focus is the exchange, transaction management and managed services which streamline performance and improve profitability of voice services for Members. Those members include, Telecom Argentina, Telefonica Argentina, Columbus Communications Jamaica, Telefonica Chile, Telefonica Peru, Telmex Chile, and Verizon Dominicana to name a few. The sea-change from arbitraging minutes to peering endpoints may be gradual, but the direction is polar.

As their press release explains, “PeeringSolutions allows U.S. Domestic today. The exchange of IP traffic over a common Ethernet switch fabric carriers, including competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), cable is multi-lateral, or open to all and settlement free. There is no cost from and mobile operators, to peer and exchange traffic with each other one network to the other for transit. Paid-Peering also exists in the ISP regardless of their network technology.” This in and of itself is a great world. The technical exchange doesn’t change, but the economics do. service because translations and trans-coding will haunt us all for as long Paid-peering is less expensive than transit, but more than free. as there are competing vendors and technologies. Beyond this initial level of mediation the service goes to the root of calls by performing number There are multi-lateral voice peering services that exist today as well matching. As the release states, “Arbinet queries each inbound call and they facilitate a completely free exchange of voice traffic between attempt against a database supported by the SPIDER Registry and sends the endpoints of the network operator participants. This is essentially routable calls via its switches to terminating Members based on instruc- an extreme position to take from the perspective of some CLECs and tions from this database. Settlement for these calls is determined and other endpoint owners that still make money on minutes, and the agreed upon by the providers, with a variety of settlement options Arbinet service helps them ease into the future by allowing them to set including traditional paid settlement and bill and keep agreements, a rate to terminate a call to any one of their endpoints. One technical allowing carriers to maintain full control of the economics of their busi- benefit of this functionality, as Joe Ambersley stated, is the high call ness.” This type of call rating is also known in the industry as “seller-sets” quality from direct call routing. Here is where the business model dis- and basically uses ENUM in a Least Cost Routing (LCR) fashion. ruption comes in and it gets really interesting.

There are some real benefits and interesting dimensions to this new If those service providers that possess endpoints all begin to contribute offering that essentially get summed up in a quote from the original press their numbers and query the Registry for outbound calls, at some point a release that was provided by a member of the executive team at PaeTec. majority of all calls between “minutes” carriers becomes direct and essentially on-net to each other. Clearly there are quality benefits to this, but what happens to the IXCs, the “long distance arbitragers” that Arbinet’s “Joe Ambersley, Executive Vice President, PAETEC business was founded on? They get cut out. It’s just like how transit Communications (news - alert) Vice Chair/Treasurer of COMPTEL providers get cut out when ISPs and other IP networks peer directly. commented, ”PeeringSolutions gives a competitive carrier a simple way Whether it is paid-peering, or true multi-lateral, those that control the to establish and manage paid peering relationships with other carriers in endpoints are the “landowners” essentially and the middlemen go away. the U.S. and internationally. The carrier maintains control of its pay- ment terms for terminating minutes and benefits from the high call This technology and overall industry change comes as no surprise to quality generated by direct routing to and from other paid peering Arbinet and as Cliff Radziewicz, Vice President Business Development members. In addition, the competitive carrier eliminates intermediary for Arbinet stated, “We are proactively addressing this business model sea- carrier termination fees, improving its cost structure. PeeringSolutions change and therefore will be able to better control our destiny. Most serv- also eliminates expenses associated with carrier access billing (CABS) ice providers, regardless of type, will still need help with TDM/VoIP con- and provides interoperability between TDM and VoIP networks, deliv- version, routing decision tools, interconnection infrastructure, and settlement during and after the transition to a peering world, and Arbinet will ering the benefits of VoIP peering today without requiring costly net- be ready to serve them.” Where that leaves Arbinet with their existing work upgrades.“ customer base depends largely on the speed at which the new service develops. The faster “all” the numbers and associated positive hit rate The first thing that stands out is that this service offering is “paid- increases in the registry the faster the middlemen IXC’s decline. This is peering”. This is interesting in terms of its efficiency and the econom- not to say of course that all endpoints will become on-net in the future, ics of minutes. Since the Arbinet Members are largely in the business so there will always be the need for IXCs in some form, but it does prove of generating revenue from minutes they continue to look for ways to that owning the number, or identifier, for the endpoint on a network is protect that revenue and eliminate costs from the network to increase the value and power for operators going forward. IT the overall margins. This makes a lot of logical sense. Hunter Newby is chief strategy officer for telx. (news - alert) For Peering implies a free exchange of traffic. This assumption comes more information, please visit the company online at from the legacy definition of peering in the ISP sense that still exists http://www.telx.com.

28 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index 058988070004_0025.pdf 3/19/07 8:26 AM Page 1 Enterprise View By Steven Johnson SIP Trunking: Is It Right for Your Enterprise? IP trunks offer businesses a unique opportunity to rapidly reduce their communications expenses, while leveraging the benefits of IP communications. They create Sone converged network for both data and voice, increasing a business’ flexibility and future-proofing against an ever-changing communications environment.

A SIP trunk is the use of SIP to set up communications Delivery And Quality of Service over the Internet between a customer location and an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) which transfers the SIP Although the IP pipeline can carry much more traffic than calls to the PSTN. Unlike in traditional telephony, where a traditional connection, it is important to employ proper bundles of physical wires were once delivered from the service quality of service (QoS). Voice and video are very susceptible provider to a business, a SIP trunk is a logical connection to delay, which means that some QoS procedures should be in from one point to another over the public Internet. place to guarantee priority delivery of these packets vs. other information downloaded to the converged network. The Benefits of SIP Trunking Despite some perceptions to the contrary, the core network SIP trunking eliminates the need to purchase BRIs (Basic of the Internet is often not a bottleneck today. The last mile Rate Interfaces), PRIs (Primary Rate Interfaces) and local PSTN and the customer network can be. With the right QoS priori- gateways. This means that capacity can be increased without the tization and admission control at the enterprise edge, this expense of adding another full E1 or T1 and without upgrading issue can be eliminated. the hardware to support the additional connections. Security SIP trunking also reduces costs by eliminating the need for sep- arate voice and data connections, and expands the potential for Using a firewall that’s specifically designed to handle SIP communications convergence using both voice and data together. communications will provide the best defense against unwanted activity. Full SIP proxy technology allows for A further advantage is that by outsourcing PSTN connec- advanced filtering, verification and routing, as well as dynam- tivity calls may be terminated close to the called party, result- ic control of the opening and closing of media ports. Some ing in reduced long distance charges. products offer encryption of the signaling using Transport Layer Security (TLS) and of the media using Secure RTP The Need for Standards (SRTP) or other algorithms.

SIP is the standard of choice for IP communications today Authentication with the service provider is also critical. and has been adopted by the major PBX and phone vendors While some IP-PBX equipment can support this natively, oth- and service providers. Connecting to a service provider net- ers cannot. A full SIP proxy firewall or other edge device may work is further improved by use of the SIPconnect(SM) stan- offer this capability as well. dard. This set of best practices was developed by the SIP Forum to ensure a seamless connection between the enter- Another security-related issue is redundancy. A fully SIP-capa- prise and the service provider. SIPconnect meets a critical ble firewall or customer premises device can provide a robust need by eliminating many of the unknowns and incompati- system for securing full VoIP redundancy, as traffic can be rout- bilities of interfacing two ed to a back-up carrier if the primary carrier is unavailable. networks for delivering quality voice and other services. Summary SIP trunking... Infrastructure SIP trunking offers enterprises the benefits of converged [eliminates] the need to communications and saves substantial expense by eliminat- purchase BRIs, PRIs or A relatively small investing the need to purchase BRIs, PRIs or PSTN gateways. It ment is necessary to benefit also reduces expenses by terminating calls closer to the called PSTN gateways. from the use of SIP-based party. A robust enterprise solution combined with a SIP communications and to trunk from an ITSP realizes the promise of safe global connectivity, over the Internet, so long envisioned by the voice enjoy the cost savings that over IP pioneers. IT accrue from using SIP trunks. For the enterprise, converting to VoIP usually Steven Johnson is President of Ingate Systems. (news - alert) involves the purchase of an IP-PBX, IP phones or soft For more information, visit the company online at clients, and a SIP-aware firewall or edge device to maintain http://www.ingate.com security while admitting VoIP traffic.

30 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

Regulation Watch By John Cimko Will Somebody Please Fix Intercarrier Compensation he FCC has been trying to do something about intercarrier compensation (IC) for at least six years. Progress has been slow. Almost everybody agrees Tthat the system is broken. But nobody can agree on the best way to fix it. What exactly is the intercarrier compensation problem? And why is the recover their network costs associated with terminating traffic. issue important to VoIP providers and their customers? The most recent IC reform plan submitted to the FCC - the “Missoula Intercarrier compensation is a system by which carriers pay each Plan,” so named because meetings to develop the plan were held in other for use of their respective networks and facilities to originate and Missoula, Montana - purports to bridge the gap between these two camps terminate communications. IC princi-pally consists of access charges by moving toward a more unified rate structure, but also by setting up (payments from long distance carriers to local carriers) and reciprocal three rate tiers for small, medium, and large local carriers. But crit-ics of compensation (payments between local carriers). Before the AT&T the Plan argue that it fails to overhaul market-distorting universal service dives-titure, most of these cash flows took place within the Bell subsidies and, according to Vonage, fails to eliminate the “disparate, asym- System. Regulators and carriers fashioned rate structures that included metric rate regimes for compensation related to traffic termination.” long distance rates that subsidized local exchange service to subscribers in rural and other high-cost areas. After divestiture, the FCC adopted What does all this mean for VoIP? So far, although a recent FCC an access charge system that replaced some of the Bell System’s internal decision (which has been appealed) requires that interconnected cash flows, and that continued subsidies for local exchange services. VoIP providers must contribute to the federal universal service fund, VoIP has not been directly affected by the IC system. This is be- The problem with intercarrier compensation is that its subsidies cause current FCC rules exempt IP-enabled service providers from and rate structures have not worked well in a competitive environ- paying access charges and, as the VON Coalition has explained in ment marked by the rapid growth of new tech-nologies. IC rates are FCC pleadings, VoIP providers are permitted to originate and termi- uneconomic because they’re generally based on embedded costs, nate calls as business providers “or through the use of local carriers, instead of forward looking costs that would better promote efficient paying cost based rates based on reciprocal compensation.” provision of service. Worse, the rates are set at different levels, depending on the type of traffic being carried, the type of carrier But all this may change if the FCC adopts a new system that handling the traffic, and the geographical jurisdictions where that applies to interconnected VoIP providers. The agency is focusing on traf-fic originates and terminates. These variations in rates for essen- three goals for IC reform. The new rules should promote economic tially the same service have distorted the market, hampered competi- efficiency, which is necessary to advance competition and new tech- tion, and slowed the adoption and deploy-ment of new technologies. nologies. Also, IC reform must preserve universal service, enabling carriers to con-tinue serving high-cost customers and to expand into Almost all stakeholders agree that the current IC system cannot be sus- unserved or underserved areas. Fi-nally, artificial regulatory distinc- tained much longer. But most of these stakeholders are fighting over the tions between technology platforms, categories of pro-viders, and dif- best way to fix the problem. A key element of the dispute involves ferent types of traffic must be eliminated. Failure to achieve this goal whether the current system, which is grounded in the circuit-based public would risk retaining discriminatory aspects of the present system, switched telecommunications network, should be preserved with some thus hamstringing competition and harming consumers. modifications to make rates more uniform across services, carriers, and jurisdic-tions, or whether more radical steps should be taken in order to embrace the movement toward IP-based telecommunications networks. Decisions the FCC makes in pursuing these goals could have a significant effect on VoIP providers. Three issues will be important. Some industry players in the former camp argue that the IC system First, VoIP providers should be concerned if the FCC postpones a should be revised to fix rate inequities and thus mitigate arbitrage global overhaul and instead adopts piecemeal measures to shore up problems, but that termination rates (to-gether with subscriber line the current system. These band-aid measures could impose burdens charges and universal service support) must be used to protect the on VoIP without any countervailing benefits. As the VON Coalition revenue streams of high-cost incumbent local carriers. They argue that has argued, there needs to be “overall, complete reform.” any changes to the current system that would interfere with these carriers’ recoupment of investments in expensive infrastructure would Second, VoIP (define - news - alert) providers would benefit from a new system that banishes inequitable rate structures in favor of uni- threaten universal service to rural and other high-cost cus-tomers. fied rates based on forward-looking costs. As Vonage has con-tended, if VoIP providers are required to pay compensation to terminating Proponents of a more sweeping overhaul favor a “bill and keep” sys- carriers, then this rate should be the same as the rate paid by all orig- tem in which all car-riers would recover their network costs from their inating carriers. own customers. Carriers terminating calls originated by other carriers would no longer receive compensation from those carri-ers. Advocates Finally, if the FCC does bring interconnected VoIP providers into of this approach argue that the current system does not give local carri- the new IC system, then a key issue will be whether the FCC, if it ers any incentive to reduce costs and bring operating efficiencies to their retains termination rates, ensures that VoIP providers are compensat- networks, because they don’t have to rely on their own customers to ed for traffic that originates on the circuit-switched network and is terminated by VoIP providers. IT

32 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index The missing piece to the complicated CSR puzzle.

Call recording and review are the most effective and efficient ways to ensure your customers receive high quality treatment and accurate information. How your business manages customer “touch-points” will determine the overall success of your call center. ECHO™ provides the vehicle for focused customer experience management through real-time monitoring and agent performance evaluations. These bundled applications along with Teleformix’s industry experience make ECHO™ the ideal recorder for any customer looking for a competitively priced, feature-rich recording solution. Based on IBM® hardware and software solutions, ECHO™ includes System x™ hardware, Tivoli® Storage Manager, IBM Information Management Software, Rational WEB Developer and WebSphere® Application Server. • Browser-based recording, quality monitoring and CRM platform • Synchronized voice and screen recordings • Screen Capture file footprint requires a total of only 1 - 2 Mb in size for the average four minute conversation, including audio and video • “Over-the-shoulder” screen clarity • Screen Capture • Unlimited scalability, Express and Cluster solutions • Service Oriented Architecture • Enterprise Integration Enablement

Record. Evaluate. Monitor. Archive. 1-800-513-4000 • www.teleformix.com

™ Teleformix™ is an IBM® Business Partner that has demonstrated success in delivering solutions to meet the needs of call center customers. ECHO runs on IBM on demand infrastructure including Tivoli® software, WebSphere®, System x™ and Linux®. This proven technology is tailored to address the business and IT needs of companies like yours. To find out how you can leverage IBM’s on demand technology for success, visit: www.ibm.com/software/data IBM, the IBM Business Partner emblem, Tivoli software, System x and WebSphere are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the ® United States, other countries, or both. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries. Packet Voice over Wireless By Michael Stanford Securing Enterprise VoWiFi

ireless LANs are intrinsically more vulnerable than wired LANS; in the words of hacker Johnny Cache, WiFi device drivers “. . .have the distinc- Wtion of exposing a connectionless layer 2 attack surface to all devices in close proximity.” A survey of networking and business technology organizations released in July 2006 by Gartner showed that “60 percent of respondents do not believe they have adequate security for their wireless environment.” But the explosive popularity of WiFi indicates that for many users the trade-off is worth it. And the trade-off may not be as bad as people apparently fear.

As with so many security issues, the vast bulk of real- 2006 BP (British Petroleum) reported that it had moved world WiFi vulnerabilities are due to lack of basic hygiene. 18,000 of its 85,000 client PCs to this “deperimeterized” A wireless network that properly implements the authentica- model, leaving them connected directly to the Internet even tion and encryption provided by 802.11i is effectively when they are located in the office. The movement is also immune to casual attacks. influencing corporations that are not formal members of the Jericho Forum. Toyota Europe is on the record as an But the mobile working style encouraged by WiFi means advocate of deperimeterization. that PCs must be able to connect to the corporate LAN from anywhere on the Internet. This requirement is amplified by The obvious counterargument to the idea of deperimeteri- Fixed-Mobile Convergence, with the expectation that you will zation is to combine the hardened clients and hardened server be able to make a voice call through the corporate PBX no farms with the hardened perimeter and get the best of both matter where you are in the world on any WiFi network. worlds, with “strength in depth.” But this brings us back to Similarly, it makes sense for a corporation to let visitors access the realm of trade-offs. The most zealous advocates of the Internet through the campus WLAN. This implies some deperimeterization point out that firewalls promote a false kind of open access facility for corporate WiFi networks. sense of security, that they are a barrier to rapid service Furthermore, in this day of increasing outsourcing of IT func- deployment, expensive to maintain, and that if each network tions, your corporate IT services are as likely to be located on node is adequately secured, then firewalls constitute redun- a server farm in Oregon as on your company premises, so the dant system complexity. concept of a “Local” area network is being diluted on the services side as well. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. Market forces are making it an increasingly urgent issue. WiFi equipped Putting these notions together, we come up with a seductive notebook computers are rapidly displacing desktops, and dual notion: all our client devices have to be hardened to the point mode phones will soon add hundreds of millions of wireless where they can safely sit on the open Internet, and the inter- clients to enterprise networks worldwide. All these clients will nals of our corporate LAN have be highly mobile, and expect full access to corporate services to be hardened to the point via the Internet. IT where it can handle potentially hostile devices on the premises. Our servers may not be on our Michael Stanford has been an entrepreneur and strategist in Voice- ...isn’t it redundant to premises, and our services may over-IP for over a decade. His strengths are technical depth, busi- not be on our servers. So isn’t it ness analytic skills and the ability to communicate clearly. Michael shelter our corporate redundant to shelter our corpo- has founded, run, and successfully sold two software companies. LAN from the Internet rate LAN from the Internet The first (Lucid Corporation) developed software for hand-held with a secure perimeter? computers; the second (Algo Communications) developed applica- with a secure perimeter? tion software for telephony. Algo was ultimately acquired by Intel, This is the radical idea pro- where he subsequently spent six years as a senior manager, ending posed by the Open Group’s up as the Director of VoIP Strategy for the Digital Enterprise Group. Jericho Forum (www.open- group.org/jericho/index.tpl). In his current consulting practice, Michael specializes in Voice over IP Needless to say, it is a highly on wireless networks, both WiFi and WiMAX. The October, 2006 issue controversial proposal. But the Jericho Forum has an of Internet Telephony Magazine recognized him as one of “The Top 100 impressive list of members, some of whom who have Voices of IP Communications,” and the November 2006 issue of VoIP already started to walk the talk. For example, in February News named him one of “The 50 Most Influential People in VoIP”.

34 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index With over 20 years of expertise in building the most robust communications systems around the world, Dialogic now offers the broadest product family of IP-based open systems solutions. From ready-to-deploy media gateways, to market leading multimedia processing software, Dialogic products continue to create a legacy of innovation. Dialogic empowers you with the ability to leverage a worldwide industry leading sales and support organization that understands your needs and wants to work with you.

Plan beyond tomorrow with today’s market leader!

To find out more about Dialogic call 800.755.4444 or visit us at:

www.dialogic.com Disaster Preparedness Continuity Planning 101: A Continuing Educational Series By Rich Tehrani & Max Schroeder VoIP and Continuity Planning — Is VoIP the Answer for Your Organization?

n 2005, more IP telephony systems were shipped than TDM (Time-Division Multiplexed) phone systems. Yet despite the acceptance and thousands of installations Iworldwide many companies and individuals are still not clear on what they have to do to implement VoIP. Is their network ready? This is a key point as having a network that handles a complex data workload does not guarantee that it is fully ready for VoIP.

3Com has been changing the way businesses speak since it brought the depth of the plan is to ensure the integrity of the nucleus. For example, first IP-PBX to market in 1998. More recently, IBM (quote - news - a failover site with the same architecture and populated with the same alert) and 3Com (quote - news - alert) have made several announce- data as the primary site will probably generate the same results. A sec- ments including a March 30, 2006 announcement outlining plans to ond consideration is that maintaining voice communications is essential offer the 3Com VCX™ suite of IP telephony solutions on IBM’s “all-in- in many time-critical disaster scenarios. The concept of true multi-site one” System i business computing solution. The March 26, 2007 follow- survivability is that all telephony features, not just the basics, should up was a delivery announcement of the above bundle so it looks like remain viable in the event of a WAN failure. Taking advantage of the 3Com is still moving technology forward. additional bandwidth for VoIP creates new challenges in delivering a high level of QoS within a legacy data network. Companies need to We decided to contact Michael J. Leo, Director, Convergence consider deployment options and solutions including security that will Marketing for 3Com to get his views on the subject of what makes a net- continuously provide acceptable bandwidth for time-sensitive applica- work both VoIP-ready and in compliance with a business continuity plan. tions. Providing traffic prioritization and bandwidth shaping for VoIP traffic needs to be considered mandatory to have quality voice traffic. RT: Rich Tehrani • MS: Max Schroeder • MJL: Michael J Leo RT: Once past the minimums, what advanced security measures RT: Michael, what would be your simplest example of what char- need to be evaluated? acterizes a voice-ready network? MJL: IP telephony voice traffic must be shielded from eavesdrop- MJL: I can condense it down to 3 critical characteristics: ping and introduces additional device types. Plus shielding attacks originating inside the network. Therefore, many organizations must Promoting Simplicity - Simple-to-manage is a plus for any network but expand beyond the standard perimeter defenses and desktop a voice-ready network also needs to be able to scale as the business grows antivirus software. Organizations with wireless connections also must which requires an intrinsically simple architecture. integrate Wi-Fi protections into the security mix.

Ensuring Quality - The latest codecs now position IP phones as Lastly, all of the above must be balanced against network and having audio quality surpassing analog or non-IP digital phones. application performance, quality of service, reliability and bandwidth However, the network must deliver sufficient bandwidth to attain utilization levels. The most prudent course in migrating to VoIP is to business-level clarity and immediacy. do a full audit when still at the concept stage. Stage two is to develop a voice transition strategy that includes costs and budget constraints, Guaranteeing Security - Many companies are unaware that a VoIP the impact of possible downtime on users and interoperability with network is prone to the same security vulnerabilities as their data net- other telephony equipment. works. Both at the application and Infrastructure levels since the VoIP systems are typically running on common operating systems and net- Again, we see that planning for a disaster or business interruption can working protocols, including SIP. Along with the constant protection be achieved successfully, cost effectively and as an integral component of of both Application and Infrastructure it is just as important for the day-to-day business operations, if done properly. With today’s IP solu- security component to provide resilient QoS for voice traffic. Users tions even the cost is within the scope of most enterprises. IT also need to be aware that network threats are not always coming from Max Schroeder is a board member of the ECA, media relations outside their networks. In fact, over 70% of today’s treats are coming committee chairman, and liaison to TMC. He is also the Sr. Vice from inside their networks. You need to provide overall security protec- President of FaxCore, Inc. (news - alert) tion for known and yet to be disclosed “unknown” (Zero Day Threats) for both your wired and wireless networks. Rich Tehrani is the President and Group Editor-in-Chief at TMC and is Conference Chairman of Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO. MS: Perhaps you can expand on the security guarantee aspect of VoIP in business continuity architecture. If your organization has an interest in participating in the TMC/ECA Disaster Preparedness Communications Forum, please contact MJL: The first step in any business continuity plan regardless of the [email protected] or [email protected]

36 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index 10916 Corp AD 206.375x276.225 ITM AW 21/12/06 11:59 Page 1

Why hear, view, browse and be mobile tomorrow...

...when you can experience tomorrow today? Tech Score By Jeff Hudgins Can an Asterisk-Based System Scale Out? aptel drivers and Asterisk® software have come a long, long way since their initial release and continue to grow and improve every day. We now see a tremendous Znumber of solutions being deployed that run on Asterisk software. One question that has been raised concerns the scalability of the end solution. So let’s explore the concept of a straightforward VoIP gateway solution and how its scale and flexibility are addressed.

The Hardware Layer The Solution

The release of Intel’s 3000 chipset is aimed squarely at the entry- Integrating the hardware, OS, and application layers into one plat- level server market. It supports single-socket systems but can handle form now provides a scalable Asterisk based solution. The figure Pentium D and Celeron D as well as Intel’s 3000 series dual and quad- accompanying this column shows how an ISV or OEM can imple- core processors. Platforms based upon this chipset can also support up ment a complete turn-Key VoIP Gateway appliance based upon an to four DIMM sockets and up to 8 GB of DDR2 memory. With all AsteriskNow (rBuilder-based) platform. of these options, there is ample room for application developers to tune and scale their code for a variety of VoIP gateway functions.

In addition to the server component chip set, provisions are also available for plug-in third-party cards to interface to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Industry-leading board manufacturers such as Aculab (news - alert) (http://www.aculab.com), Dialogic (news - alert) (http://www.dialogic.com), and Digium (news - alert) (http://www.digium.com) all offer driver support for Asterisk. These cards offer a broad range of protocol support and can scale up to 8 T1/E1 interfaces, if needed.

The Operating System Layer

Asterisk is a complete IP PBX software solution that runs on a variety of operating systems (OS) including Linux, Mac OS X, Open BSD, FreeBSD, and SUN Solaris. A typical Asterisk based VoIP gateway would likely be configured with a Fedora Core or similar operating system. Final Score The scale-out of an Asterisk-based system is certainly achievable, but The Application Layer you better be working with industry players that can ensure your success.

In the past, developers purchased an Asterisk Developer’s Kit which Marty Wesley adds: “With the adoption of rBuilder, one of the first included a TDM board with two modules installed. Developers then things Digium saw was a drop in the number of support calls related to built their applications working with the Asterisk platform. The recent problems with the installation or configuration of Linux. Previously, release of AsteriskNowTM appliance simplifies server application scale- Digium experienced up to 40% of their support issues that were unrelat- out by eliminating the hassles of installation, configuration, debug, and ed to the Asterisk application. Secondly, Digium was able to offer maintenance. AsteriskNow is a Software Appliance that contains every- AsteriskNow as a free trial appliance as a lead into their enterprise-grade thing you need - the Linux OS, Asterisk, the AsteriskGUI, and all the Asterisk Business Edition. The ease of consumption of AsteriskNow has other software - to build a complete solution, such as a VoIP gateway led to intense interest and trial in the product, averaging over 5,000 system. The Asterisk software can be easily configured with a graphical downloads a week. The software appliance model opens the door for interface. Additionally, the burden of OS kernel versions and package enterprising VARs to offer specific versions of Asterisk-based appliances. dependencies are eliminated. Asterisk can be combined with many other business systems to offer more complete business solutions.” So how was the software appliance created? Digium turned to a company called rPath (news - alert) (http://www.rpath.com) and their In the end, combining a software appliance with a robust hard- rBuilderTM product in order to build the AsteriskNow software ware appliance provides Value Added Resellers and End Users a solu- appliance and Asterisk Business Edition appliance. According to tion they can leverage right out of the box. IT Marty Wesley, Senior Director of Marketing at rPATH, “rBuilder proved to be the easiest way to build the appliances, turning what Jeff Hudgins is VP of Engineering at Alliance Systems. (news - was several weeks of manual work into a couple of days. In addition, alert) For more information, visit the company online at the application now contains field update capability which comes http://www.alliancesystems.com. standard in the rPath Appliance Platform.”

38 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Ideamcom Ad.qxp 4/10/2007 3:36 PM Page 1 Nitty Gritty By Richard “Zippy“ Grigonis Diversified Technology’s New Blades ’ve been following Diversified Technology, Inc. (DTI) of Ridgeland, Mississippi since their FTS900V Telco System appeared in 1995. (It was a Ivertical rack mountable, fault tolerant, IBM compatible computer chassis designed for installation in Telco rack mounting frames used in central offices.) Unlike California-based embedded hardware vendors, DTI has its main facility in the most picturesque countryside of Mississippi, not far from the great man- sions built in the antebellum South.

At the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose in April 2007, DTI demonstrated that the CompactPCI (cPCI) form factor has not entirely been eclipsed by the newer, heftier AdvancedTCA (ATCA). DTI unveiled a high performance, low power cPCI Blade based on the Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® Processors. Designed the CPB4712, it’s the latest and most powerful bade in DTI’s CompactPCI line, examples of which will soon be appearing in VoIP and media gateways to industrial environments and data control centers. Such a powerful cPCI blade means that DTI customers can now upgrade their existing installations rather than scramble to do a forklift upgrade and install ATCA equipment. DTI’s CPB4712 Dual-Core CompactPCI Blade. First up is the ATS1936 Switch Blade, a low-cost 10 Gbps Ethernet switch. It naturally complies with PICMG 3.0 R2.0 ECN002 and PICMG 3.1 Option 1 and Option 9. The DTI demonstrated that ATS1936 features three AMC sites for OA&M, firewall, and encryption applications. Interestingly, Diversified provides sepa- the CompactPCI (cPCI) form rate control and data planes by separating the Base and Fabric factor has not entirely been networks. The ATS1936 provides 1 Gbps Ethernet switching on the 3.0 Base Fabric and the 3.1 Expansion Fabric provides eclipsed by the newer, heftier 1Gbps/10Gbps Ethernet switching. Both networks support Layer 2 switching as well as Layer 3 routing and IPV6. Single AdvancedTCA (ATCA). piece price: $5,245.

DTI’s other latest ATCA offering is the ATC6231, a dual- core Second Generation AMD Opteron™ processor-based Node Board for next-gen telecom apps such as wireless The CPB4712 features either the low voltage or ultra low access/edge, telecom fiber transport, media gateways, voltage, high performance Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® softswitches, and Internet IP-based applications. The processors at speeds ranging from 1.67 GHz up to 2.16 ATC6231 comes with the 2nd-Generation AMD Opteron GHz with 2 MB L2 cache. The blade is based on the Intel processor Model 2210, with 2 MB L2 cache and support for 3100 chipset with a 667 MHz front side bus. You can load up to 8 GB of memory per processor interface. It uses a high up to 4 GB of memory on two PC-2700 SO-DIMMs. Also I/O bandwidth HyperTransport technology link interface, onboard are dual 100/1000 Mbps Ethernet ports routed Broadcom HT2100 and HT1000 server-class chipset. There’s according to PICMG 2.16, one 10/100/1000 Mbps also a standard 2.5-inch SAS micro hard drive for storage, Ethernet port available at the front panel, one PMC/XMC along with 10/100/1000Mbps dual port Ethernet controllers site (64-bit/133 MHz and x4 PCIe), High Speed USB, and and one AMC.1 site for user configuration (connectivity to the a serial port. Single piece price is $1,795. Quantity dis- AMC Site is x8 PCI-Express with Common Option to SAS counts are available. drive and Ethernet). The board also features 16 MB of persist- ent through reset SRAM for error logging and redundancy. The appearance of the cPCI-based CPB4712 doesn’t mean Single price is $4,645. IT that Diversified has forgotten about ATCA. Far from it. DTI recently introduced two new ATCA blades at the MVA confer- Richard Grigonis is Executive Editor of TMC’s IP Communications ence in San Diego in February 2007. Group.

40 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Packet8 Ad_v2.qxp 10/17/2006 3:32 PM Page 1 EXECUTIVE SUITE With Rich Tehrani Featuring: tant for a few reasons. As a wholesale Level 3’s Myrle McNeal provider, it gives us better reach to the enterprises that our wholesale customers are trying to reach, and business VoIP Rich Tehrani’s Executive Suite is a monthly feature in which service providers, in particular, are very leading executives in the VoIP and IP Communications indus- interested in that metro footprint. For try discuss their company’s latest developments with TMC pres- other wholesale customers, it helps us in ident Rich Tehrani, as well as providing analysis on industry that it puts us a lot closer to traffic news and trends. aggregation points, which, in the past, were primarily central offices, but now are increasingly also cable head-ends as well as wireless towers. There are a lot of different places that the traffic is coming here is no question that VoIP (define - news - in. The depth of the metro footprint is alert) adoption among both businesses and very helpful in that respect. consumers continues to surge. But with all the T Also, our voice capability is much, hype surrounding VoIP offerings and the constant much stronger than it has ever been. As a announcements about increasing customer figures, result of the consolidation of the what many might find surprising is that, in terms of Broadwing and Level3 networks, we can pure percentages, the number of VoIP users is still now offer a network that is on par with Myrle McNeal, quite low. For service providers, however, that pres- the reach and quality of the networks pro- Senior Vice President, ents an ongoing opportunity, though, which many are vided by the legacy inter-exchange carriers. Level 3 Communications The difference is that ours is also very, taking advantage of. very capable of handling VoIP and SIP.

Among the chief characteristics of a burgeoning industry is a high RT: As a leader in the VoIP busi- rate of the birth of new companies, followed by consolidation, which ness, where do you see the industry is what the IP Communications space is now witnessing. Level 3 heading? Communications (quote- news - alert) has, with a number of signifi- MM: In the part of the business cant acquisitions in the last year-and-a-half, including WilTel where you and I tend to live, we take Communications and Broadwing Communications, established itself VoIP for granted - it’s what everyone among the drivers of industry consolidation. does. But the fact is, that the whole of the telecom industry has still not embraced or Rich recently spoke with Level 3 Communications’ Senior Vice fully converted toward SIP, and there are certain parts of the business where TDM President of Voice Service Provider Markets Myrle McNeal about the is still the primary way of doing business. opportunities that abound in the flourishing voice services market, and specifically about how Level 3’s acquisitions will benefit the com- The point is that we recognize that and pany as it seeks to capitalize on those opportunities. are working very diligently to help customers who are interested in making the RT: Level 3 has completed a num- in VoIP services. With the acquisitions, transition to do so in a deliberate and low ber of large acquisitions in the last 18 we are also a much, much stronger risk manner. In certain parts of the indus- months. Has the company’s direction wholesale provider with regard to video try, like in the contact center space, many or vision changed during that time? and data service as well as metropolitan customers use IP-based hardware but, for services. All that said though, the core all intents and purposes, are really not MM: I’d say generally the vision has expectation still remains the same. extensively using VoIP-capable networks. not changed. When we started the We’re pushing things along there and company, we stated that our goal was to RT: How have these acquisitions helping our customers understand how to build the most cost efficient network affected your ability to service your implement VoIP. We are also launching and support it with the most cost effi- wholesale customers? capabilities that make that transition sim- cient operations. Our goal, in that pler. It’s easier if you can straddle the respect, remains the same. MM: In general, our ability to service fence, which we’re capable of doing: We wholesale customers is better than it has can support customers on either platform What has changed, perhaps, is the ever been, and there are a variety of rea- and make it easy for them to transition. breadth and the capability that we can sons for that. First of all, we now have a offer related to that goal. Initially, our metropolitan fiber service or lip service The other trends that we’re seeing are core strengths were in IP services, and in 116 metro markets that serves about that the business implementation of we’ve developed a great deal of strength 6,100 on-net locations, which is impor- VoIP is probably lagging behind the

42 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index EXECUTIVE SUITE With Rich Tehrani consumer market by a few years. If you in backbone assets allowing us to oper- that probably is not particularly well look at when Vonage and the cable ate more efficiently. That is also the known. One of our customers, who companies began their announcements advantage of combining those networks, uses Level 3’s underlying VoIP capabil- about launching competing voice servic- since it allows us to operate the three of ities - primarily our local inbound es, they really began hitting stride prob- them much more efficiently than we services - where we offer telephone ably a year or 18 months ago, perhaps could separately. So, we’re driving scale number service and inbound local call- even as far back as two years or further. and efficiency, which ultimately results ing, works in conjunction with a wire- in lower costs for our customers. less partner to offer a very specific On the business side, though, we wireless service offer. believe the market is considerably more fragmented. There are no dominant Essentially, as a combination of a players, which creates a great wholesale There’s a great wireless provider and Level 3, our cus- opportunity, or for a business- or enter- tomer and our customer’s customer are prise-focused VoIP provider to win sub- opportunity and good able to offer what amounts to a national stantial market share with a great value wireless offering - basically a cell phone proposition. What we are finding is that growth ahead of us in service - targeted at senior citizens who our customers go to small businesses who the enterprise space... are looking for simplicity in the way are used to paying extraordinarily high that they actually use their cell phone. rates for traditional services, and they are So they offer a telephone that has spe- surprised at how much money they can cial characteristics, like bigger buttons save and how well VoIP services work and and easier calling plans like prepaid, as how well they meet their needs. There’s a RT: Speaking of cost efficiency, well as other services. great opportunity and good growth ahead how is Level 3 helping providers cost of us in the enterprise space. effectively deliver voice, video, and data I don’t think most folks view Level 3 over converged networks? as a player in that space, but we do RT: What does this growth trans- have an application where our unique late to, regarding your core network, MM: Many people predicted there VoIP capabilities fit very well into a and what is the specific traffic type to would be no more investment in specialized application that is being which you attribute the growth? telecommunications, but we continue to actively and broadly marketed on a invest very heavily in the business. We national basis. MM: We report our service revenues are investing heavily in technology at as core versus non-core revenues, and we the transport layer, at the IP layer, and RT: Where do you see Level 3 in expect the core revenues of the company in the voice network. I would guess that the next three to five years? to grow by roughly 17% this year, driven if you compare that to other companies, primarily by voice services. While we, there are probably not many companies MM: I think Level 3 is going to go obviously, are seeing a substantial uptake making the same substantial invest- where we have always predicted it in the use of IP-based high bandwidth ments in their landline voice networks would go; it just hasn’t gotten there as services, the revenue growth from the at this point. quickly as we would have liked. We company, in the near term, still comes continue to see demand for band- largely from the voice side of the business. We tend to invest in technology, not width growing at a substantial rate, for technology’s sake, but because tech- driven by increases in disaster recovery We are also well-positioned in the nology ties back to the original goal, applications and increased video dis- small business space with a very active which is to drive cost-efficient opera- tribution. All of the things that con- and established business partner pro- tions. When we see a new technology sume bandwidth are on a substantial gram that helps VARs and our other that allows us to deliver equal or better upward trend. I think that will drive providers succeed in the SMB market. service at a lower cost, we are very substantial growth for us over the next So, we’re in a good position to continue aggressive about implementing that two to five years. to drive voice growth there as well. technology in our infrastructure so that we can continue driving the underlying If you layer on top of that the VoIP RT: You’ve also acquired some fiber. prices and costs for services down over business, which, in our estimation and How will that particular set of acquisi- time. We believe that also stimulates according to various research groups, tions help you in the competitively? demand and makes the business better is growing at a rate of 80-100% annu- for all of us. ally nationwide, there’s still substantial MM: The acquisitions of the fiber growth opportunity for us in the voice networks that we picked up from RT: Can you give an example of business as well. We are very well- WilTel and Broadwing benefit us in sev- an innovative application that Level 3 positioned for that as new parts of the eral ways. First, it extends the reach of supports with its various services? market begin embracing VoIP, which our network and provides us additional is where some of our voice strengths diversity and greater depth. As a result, MM: There are a couple of interest- lie and where we think we are unique- we simply have just a considerably more ing ones, but let me talk about one ly qualified.

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 43 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Up Round

Hosted VoIP Service Providers There was a time, not long ago, when the longevity of the host- The hosted model is particularly enticing to the SMB because it ed VoIP market was questioned by many in the communications offers a low-priced way to gain IP PBX features, so even the small- industry. But that was largely on the assumption that large busi- est company can put on a big business face. Hosted VoIP provides nesses, for the most part, had little interest in a hosted solution, effective communications mechanisms for mobile workers, ensur- opting instead, for an on-premises solution they could fine tune to ing they can stay in touch while away from the office. It also lim- their liking. And to a large extent, that assumption was accurate. its overhead, since no on-site staff is required to maintain the system, and there is no hefty infrastructure investment. The list con- But, like all good products, it needed time, and it needed the tinues, but in the end, hosted solutions are about meeting the right target audience. And indeed, there was one very large cus- needs of the SMB market - both cost- and feature-wise - without tomer base that had historically been underserved. For some breaking their budgets. providers, the SMB customers were too small, yet those that were willing to approach the SMBs typically had a solution with a price The following is a listing of hosted VoIP providers, each looking tag considerably higher than the SMB could afford. So the catch to grow its share of the hosted VoIP market. We encourage you to was to create a solution that provided the features of an enterprise- use this list as a starting point for your search for a hosted VoIP class system, but at a price point in line with a smaller business. provider. There are many differing offerings, some better suited to your particular needs than others, so be sure to contact these Thus, the hosted VoIP market was conceived, and just like any providers for additional details. child, it grew. Indeed, it has recently experienced a considerable growth spurt, as many service providers have realized the substantial opportunity presented by the sheer size of the SMB space.

Accessline Communications Cox Communications Natural Convergence Sprint http://www.accessline.com http://www.cox.com www.naturalconvergence.com http://www.sprint.com

Acredo Technologies DSL.net Net2phone SunRocket http://www.acredo.us http://www.dsl.net http://www.net2phone.com http://www.sunrocket.com

AdvantageVoice DSLi O1 Communications Time Warner Telecom http://www.advantagevoice.net http://www.dsli.com http://www.o1.com/ http://www.twtelecom.com

Apptix Exquisite Global Networking Packet8 Velocity Networks http://www.apptix.com http://www.exgn.net http://www.packet8.net http://www.vel.net

Aptela Global Phone Corporation Pandora Networks Verizon http://www.aptela.com http://www.gphone.com http://www.pandoranetworks.com http://www.verizon.com

AT&T GotVMail PingTone Versature http://www.att.com http://www.gotvmail.com http://www.pingtone.com http://www.versature.com

Bandwidth.com HIP Communications Qwest Communications VirtualPBX http://www.bandwidth.com http://www.hip.ca http://www.qwest.com http://www.virtualpbx.com

Broadcore Innoport Reignmaker Communications Vocalocity http://www.broadcore.com http://www.innoport.com http://www.reignmaker.net http://www.vocalocity.com

Broadvoice Inphonex ReVoS Vonage http://www.broadvoice.com http://www.InPhonex.com http://www.revos.com http://www.Vonage.com

Cablevision M5 Networks RingCentral XO Communications http://www.cablevision.com http://www.m5net.com http://www.ringcentral.com http://www.xo.com If you are interested in purchasing CallTower MediaRing Ring9 reprints of this article (in either print or http://www.calltower.com http://www.mediaring.com http://www.ring9.com PDF format), please visit Reprint Management Services online at http://www.reprintbuyer.com or contact a Covad Mendax Speakeasy representative via email at: http://www.covad.com http://www.mendax.com http://www.speakeasy.net [email protected] or by phone at 800-290-5460.

44 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

Global VoIP: Market Evolution or Revolution?

By Ofer Gneezy

here’s a photo I like very much that seems to capture the current companies whose main business focus was never voice service, a diverse group capa- state of global VoIP. Taken by a securities analyst, it shows a ble of leveraging large brands like Tfrozen food section in a grocery store in Germany. In the center WalMart, Best Buy, eBay, Google, Yahoo, of the picture is a freezer case, and above it, the analyst has added an and Apple to become potentially powerful arrow and text that reads, “Frozen peas”. Also there - within arms’ reach telecom market players overnight. of the vegetables - is a display of shrink-wrapped VoIP service packages The technology and capacity of this which the analyst has highlighted with an arrow and accompanying text expanding field of “emerging carriers” has that simply reads, “Voice”. grown dramatically. On the other hand, traditional carriers have experienced dete- This rather humorous scene illustrates anticipates worldwide VoIP subscription rioration of their market share. the profound changes that are underway rates will grow from roughly 45 million in Telegeography research has shown that in international telecommunications. In 2006 to more than 250 million by 2012. access lines for incumbent local exchange addition to seeing new types of voice serv- carriers (ILECs) steadily decreased from ices and features enabled by IP and the It’s clear that a massive migration to IP 1Q 2003 through 3Q 2006. In less than Internet, the entire definition of a “phone is well underway and the traditional tele- three years, ILEC access line capacity was company” has been turned on its head. com landscape has changed forever. When down roughly 12 to 20% across the VoIP is achieving mainstream acceptance consumers face the choice of “Voice or board. Punctuating this, a Wall Street to the point that we’re buying it off-the- Iced Peas,” it seems clear that this is more Journal story in January 2007 reported shelf at the supermarket. That’s quite a than a market evolution, it’s a revolution. that Deutsche Telecom had lost two mil- development considering that little more lion access lines in 2006 alone. than a decade ago the entire industry was New Version, New Visions defined almost exclusively by the big Welcome to Voice 2.0 and Telco 2.0, a incumbent telcos such as AT&T, Verizon, Due to the rise of VoIP, traditional tel- new version of telecommunications servic- BT, China Telecom, France Telecom and cos now share the stage with names es delivered by a mix of evolving tradition- other usual suspects. However, VoIP unheard-of or non-existent in the mid al carriers and emerging new players. Yet, (define - news - alert) has spawned a new 1990s. An example is our company, iBasis, it is from the latter group that new visions class of telephone company utilizing IP as which in just ten years went from start-up are quickly giving birth to the latest servic- a communications platform, the “poster to carrying more than 12 billion minutes es, which are only possible through IP. child” of which is Skype. Today, Skype of international voice minutes annually - When a consumer uses Google to search adds 300,000 users a day; it’s a mark I enough to be ranked among the 10 largest for Chinese food, then can simply click on doubt any traditional carrier has ever carriers of international voice. Even more a map of purveyors to call in an order matched. As for the future, ABI Research surprising has been the involvement of without ever leaving their desktop, clearly one person’s vision has made another’s dream come true. Likewise, the latest version of Skype (news - alert) automatically turns every phone number on a web page into a “click to call” button for Skype subscribers. I don’t know about you, but my desk phone has never done that for me. It’s these types of simple to use yet revolu- tionary services that continue to drive further VoIP adoption.

Migration Nation

VoIP began in the deep recesses of the core of the global network and provided cost savings for international long distance providers by enabling them to bypass the

46 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index as a cost of attracting advertising revenue. In Germany, Google and Deutsche Telecom recently battled over a related matter, and for now, Google will pay Deutsche Telecom a fee for basically using its “pipes.” The Wall Street Journal also reported in February 2007 that Cingular is now sharing with Apple a portion of monthly revenues derived from users of the Apple iPhone.

Economic challenges loom, particularly at the retail level, but, they do not really threaten VoIP’s prospects any longer. It is difficult, if not impossible, to put down a revolution when the groundswell is so comprehensive as to create a market supported by business, government, technology innovation, and most importantly, consumers. Traditional telcos realize that IP is the established settlement regime. During Telecom Italia, and Telia Sonera are rolling future and they are adapting, too. After those early years, pioneers (including out commitments to all-IP networks. all, history shows that failing to evolve iBasis) developed the proprietary tech- Carriers of all types, from Tier One often results in extinction…which nologies and expertise needed to deliver incumbents to voice over broadband reminds me of another of my favorite the high quality VoIP service carriers and providers to mobile network operators, are photos, which happens to be of a piece retail consumers required. Spurred by the increasingly pursuing the benefits of VoIP. of furniture in my home. widespread adoption of broadband Internet access, VoIP spread from interna- In Japan, the government has mandat- When iBasis was founded in 1996, tional long distance through domestic ed that domestic TDM networks be we purchased a number of time division long distance markets and out to the edge replaced with integrated IP-based nets; multiplexing (TDM) switches, of the network to provide local service to incumbent operators KDDI Corporation $300,000 behemoths that were then consumers and enterprises. and NTT have said they will be “all IP” essential for interconnecting to estab- by 2008 and 2010 respectively. Already, lished carriers. Technology advance- Today, largely through aggressive and VoIP comprises 15% of all fixed-line ments soon enabled us to “go switch- creatively viral marketing, providers phones in Japan. In the U.S. it is estimat- less” and we decommissioned the units ranging from cable television operators ed that 9% of households have some as quickly as we could. We were able to to emerging entrants such as Skype and kind of VoIP service running. IDC pre- sell the first switches we removed, but Vonage to Internet giants like Google dicts that residential U.S. VoIP sub- by the last one, the market for used and Yahoo are establishing a new order scribers will grow from 10.3 million in TDM equipment had disappeared. Even for retail communications services. 2006 to 44 million in 2010. France a listing on eBay produced “no takers.” Telecom recently stated that VoIP The migration of voice communica- accounted for 40% of consumer fixed Times have indeed changed, but tions to IP is clearly in full swing. traffic in that country during 2006. even so, the TDM switch does contin- Whether it’s with cable operators, ue to serve a purpose. As the most CLECs, independent providers, or Throughout global telecommunications expensive coffee table in my home, it’s Internet properties, the number of con- - whether you’re looking at equipment pur- a constant a reminder of the continu- sumer subscribers to VoIP services is chases, subscriber levels, industry and gov- ing VoIP revolution. IT growing. But that’s not the whole story; ernment initiatives, whatever - it’s clear that in the enterprise, IP PBXs are outselling the reign of the “IP nation” has begun. Ofer Gneezy is President and Chief Executive conventional PBXs by a significant mar- Officer of iBasis (http://www.ibasis.com), a gin. Spending on IP phone systems, Evolution and Revolution leader in international long distance, VoIP, and equipment and services is estimated to prepaid calling cards. As co-founder of iBasis increase at an annual growth rate of VoIP is shaking another cornerstone (news - alert) in 1996, Gneezy is a true IP 28%, and the demand for enterprise of the global telecommunications indus- telephony visionary and recipient of voice gateway ports is also growing. try by questioning the very basis of the Pulver.com’s Industry Pioneer Award. Today, traditional telecom business model. Who iBasis carries over 12 billion minutes of international voice minutes per year, serves more The migration to VoIP is not a geo- pays whom and for what in the IP age? than 500 carrier customers, and operates a graphically isolated trend. Around the VoIP network reaching encompassing 100 world, major carriers, including KPN, BT, For example, Internet properties like countries and over 1,000 direct routes. Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Google and Yahoo can use voice service

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 47 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Case Study

Enventys turns to AltiGen

Out With the Old nventys is a product design and marketing firm with the goal extensions, and include 4,500 hours of voice mail storage, an integrated confer- of being a singular solution for product development. It focus- ence bridge, call recording functionality, Ees on the end-to-end process, from ideation to distribution, mobility solutions, auto attendant fea- developing simple, yet effective strategies for launching new products tures, SIP trunking support, and more. or developing existing ones. Being at the forefront of leading edge According to Foreman, the installa- product development with many prominent Fortune 100 companies tion went remarkably smoothly. In fact, as well as start-ups - Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, Verizon the only hiccup, if it can even be labeled Wireless, and Siemens, to name a few - it is easy to see why it also felt as such, was that Enventys had to be completely wired - there had to be a Cat it needed the latest in communications technology. 5 cable to each office. Enventys was using an “old” PBX sys- a competitive product at a very reason- “But that’s a small price to pay to tem - it really wasn’t very old at only able price, but with the features and have that kind of capability,” consoled five years, but perhaps the more appro- flexibility Enventys was keen on acquir- Foreman. “It’s nice to have flexibility, priate term would be outdated PBX sys- ing. and to be able to change call routing tem that simply was not able to meet its schemes and make adds and changes. evolving needs. In With the New So, having decided that AltiGen was For once, I feel like we’re in control of our phone system.” The company’s founder, Louis the way to go, Enventys bought two Foreman, explained that, while the exist- MAX 1000 systems, which together give Enventys even has two remote ing telephony platform didn’t have any- the company room to expand to as employees - in Asia - whom they have thing terribly wrong with it, neither did many as 96 extensions. Currently, it has added network extensions for, so, it offer all the features he would have about 60 in use, but, as Foreman noted, despite being thousands of miles away, liked, and which he knew were available growth potential factored into the deci- they can easily interact with main office from newer IP-based phone systems. sion to deploy an on-premises solution. personnel and gain the benefits the MAX1000 offers. Considering the Alternatives The MAX1000 is an all-in-one system that performs most of the functions Enventys considered the hosted Assessing the MAX1000 model, but decided it was too big - many systems require two, three, or According to Foreman, three of the especially with its current growth rate. even more appliances to handle, which most beneficial features of the system - In addition, the company was willing to not only adds to the cost, but also the and the three he uses most frequently - make the investment in on-premises maintenance requirements. Each are call forwarding, the conference equipment that would provide more MAX1000 supports as many as 48 bridge, and Outlook integration. control as needs changed.

“We make decisions based on efficiency rather than on cost,” said Foreman.

So, after looking at six or seven alternatives - all the key players in the space, according to Foreman - Enventys chose AltiGen. AltiGen (news - alert) offered

48 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Erik K. Linask

but at an added cost. The nice thing, says extra phones that employees can take “These are the features that have Foreman, is that AltiGen includes the with them when traveling. They mere- proven to be time saving and efficien- bridge in its system, which make it a very ly need to plug them into a network cy boosting features for me,” said easy solution to like. And of course, the connection, and they instantly have Foreman. “There also are all the fea- Outlook integration, which can display connectivity, as though they were still at their desk. tures that are taken for granted these information on the monitor based on the days - kind of like power locks and air incoming call. Foreman says that he does- Though it has only been using the conditioning on a car. They just n’t gain the full benefits of this, since he is MAX100 system for about a month, it come with them. Instead, it’s the new not in sales, but the feature enables users to is evident the Enventys is patently things that we’re excited about.” instantly see all pertinent information pleased with its choice. Not only does about a caller, making interactions more it meet its needs with regard to features The call forward feature, he says, is pleasant and more efficient. and ease of use, but it is also scalable among the most important features today, should the company need to add a third since it enables forwarding to a cell In addition to the functionality of unit. One thing is certain: this proves phone, allowing you to react to incoming the system, AltiGen’s phones themselves that there is on-premises equipment calls as though you are at your desk - have “a nice look and feel to them.” available for the SMB space that is both even though you might be on a train, in a Though people are beginning to use feature rich and affordable. IT hotel, or shopping for an anniversary gift. headsets more and more, and answering calls via their computer monitors, the phones look nice in a modern office Erik Linask is Associate Editor of INTERNET Most of the other options Enventys con- environment and are completely func- TELEPHONY, IMS Magazine, and SIP Magazine. sidered had a conference bridge available, tional. In fact, Enventys purchases two

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 49 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Erik K. Linask A Case of Night and Day Coldwell Banker Meadow Realty Goes Hosted

Darkness Falls he more a communications system becomes a small business’ lifeline, the faster the business tends to realize it is time to Tlook for a new system. When business owners start saying things about their existing systems, like, “I’m just not happy with it,” it’s inevitably time to make a change. That was just what Mike Alamia, bro- of Mitel IP phones, which are certified for quently out of the main office, the call for- ker owner of Coldwell Banker Meadow use with the silhouette platform. Alamia warding features now available to them are Realty in East Meadow, NY, thought pointed out that he had the option of leas- a tremendous productivity enhancer, since about his old phone system. In fact, he ing or buying, but that the purchase price they are always accessible at their office had been through several different house- is low enough that, unless you are extreme- number. Importantly, since there is no on- hold name phone systems, and they sim- ly tight on cash, it makes sense to buy, site IT specialist, Alamia says its good that ply were enabling effective communica- especially since there is often used equip- the features are extremely easy to use. tions for his 12-person real estate office. ment available for about $100 per phone. He needed greater functionality and relia- “They are a joke - if I can do it, any- bility, so that he and his team could focus “I would have surpassed the pur- body can,” he said. “In fact, I wouldn’t on selling homes, not the phone system. chase price in about 10 months,” com- know how to make it any easier.” mented Alamia. “I needed more on-hold and jump What’s more, there is nothing for lines,” explained Alamia. “I didn’t want Silhouette Casts a Big Shadow Meadow Realty to maintain. There is a anyone to ever get a busy signal when So, now that he has been on the silhou- support system in place, with someone they call the office.” ette platform for about a year, he is con- always available, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is crucial for a seven vinced he made a decision that has had a day a week business. Daybreak: Hosted VoIP Shines tremendous positive impact on his busi- Bright ness. He has six lines, plus a fax line “I simply pick up the phone and, Alamia proceeded to “call everybody (which is imperative in the real estate busi- regardless of what it is, it gets taken care under the sun,” in search of new equip- ness), and another six jump lines - all for a of,” said Alamia. ment, with little luck. His luck changed, very low initial investment. The company however, when his Broadview Networks’ is truly pleased with how the system has In fact, outside of buying the phones, the local sales representative dropped by for a performed: “It’s got all the bells and whis- only thing the firm had to do was bring in routine visit (the office was using tles. It’s incredible, truly,” said Alamia. a T1 line, which Alamia says he wanted to Broadview for its Internet service). Upon do anyway, simply to be able to keep up hearing Alamia’s concerns, the rep pro- With the new system, Meadow Realty with technology - which he has also now ceeded to introduce Mike to Broadview’s has added call control flexibility. The done by implementing a hosted VoIP sys- hosted service, which is powered by phones can ring at one desk, at all the tem. Is he happy with his decision? Ottawa, Canada-based Natural desks, or some combination of the two; Convergence’s silhouette platform. on-hold messages can be easily swapped “I would recommend the system to a out; the company even emailed a per- family member,” he boasts. “Everything silhouette provides VoIP (define - news sonalized message that was immediately is great about it, including the rates. In - alert) capabilities to end customers with added to the system. fact, they were able to lower my month- no on-premises equipment to install, ly expense by about $400.” other then a router, an Ethernet switch According to Alamia, the call quality, (both of which are most likely in place for compared to his old system, is like the As it turns out, that fateful day, a lit- the LAN and Internet connection any- difference between night and day. With tle more than a year ago, when his local way), and IP endpoints. Natural the old system, he claims he had trouble sales rep stepped in at just the right Convergence focuses its solution to meet hearing clients, and they had trouble time, turned out to be a business chang- the needs of small businesses with hearing him. Now, he says, “the call ing experience for Mike Alamia and his between four and fifty seats. quality is remarkable. I no longer have small real estate office. IT people continually asking, ’What?’” Upon signing up with Broadview, the Erik Linask is Associate Editor of INTERNET real estate company purchased a number In addition, with realtors being fre- TELEPHONY, IMS Magazine, and SIP Magazine.

50 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Project1 5/2/2007 9:32 AM Page 1 Enterprise Peer-to-Peer Communications hances are that the first “peer-to-peer” (P2P) communications application you ever encountered had nothing to do Cwith VoIP. Instead, it was probably one of those systems for exchanging files (particularly music files) over the Internet without going through a website, such as Napster, Gnutella or KaZaA. Such applications create a sort of meta-network riding atop the Internet or other IP network, converting your PC into a “node” on the net- scads of products and solutions in this work that acts as both a client and a server, enabling users to con- area, such as Peerio Core, an advanced middleware for P2P networking; Peerio, nect directly to other nodes and trade media files. (Think of a wired a reference design for a P2P telephone version of a WiFi mesh.) The plug-and-play simplicity of P2P - not device; Peerio Call Control, an XML- to mention its low cost - makes it very tempting to adapt it to con- based implementation of key PBX fea- sumer and even business voice applications, particularly for smaller tures; Peerio FWT, an open-source businesses that can’t be bothered with the expense and expertise TURN protocol implementation; Peerio Biz, a white-label P2P feature-rich soft- needed of deploying and maintaining a more sophisticated IP PBX. phone; and GNUP, a lightweight web- Indeed, Frost & Sullivan’s report, “North American Enterprise Peer-to-Peer activated callback bridge and billing Telephony Solutions”, reveals that desk phone manufacturers, and software software package. small businesses and “micro enterpris- application developers so as to enhance es” with less than 20 users constitute the visibility of P2P products. One interesting freebie competitor to 89% of the total number of establish- Skype is the Global Village Internet ments in North America and still The inherent simplicity of P2P VoIP phone service (news - alert) remain hugely underserved by telecom can be very seductive. After all, at times it (http://www.globalvillage.com) a divi- solution providers. The report says that seems that just about everybody in the sion of Boston-based Zoom P2P telephony solutions “guarantee up world with a PC has downloaded a Skype Technologies (news - alert) to 80 percent cost savings by eliminat- client. Skype, the brainchild of KaZaA (http://www.zoom.com), the famous ing call servers and associated hard- founder Niklas Zennström, is the largest analog modem maker that now designs ware”. The report also states, however VoIP peer-to-peer system in the world. It’s and produces VoIP Gateways, ADSL that P2P technology really needs the free too, unless you want to talk to people modems, cable modems, dial-up backing of IP PBX system manufactur- who still use Ye Olde public wireline/wire- modems, Bluetooth products, and other ers in order to become a mainstream less networks (or vice versa), in which case communications devices under the enterprise communication solution. you must use the relatively inexpensive Zoom, Hayes and Global Village brands. P2P technology vendors must deal SkypeOut or SkypeIn services. with the unique challenges posed by In the 1990s, you bought a service small businesses in terms of limited Popular Telephony (news - alert) and you got a free modem. In the 21st technology funds and competition (http://www.peerio.com) has also had a century, you purchase a Zoom DSL from managed service providers. P2P run in this area with their serverless, modem and you get the free Global vendors must be able to field an inex- patent-pending technology for peer-to- Village service. To be specific, you can pensive, quality product that can over- peer telephony. Called Peerio, it “marks make free calls to other Global Village come security, quality of service (QoS) the next most significant step in com- subscribers, all of whom have a unique and reliability issues, as well as the neg- puter networking evolution since the 7 digit phone number. To dial another ative publicity image that P2P technol- creation of mainframes and the subse- Internet service, you must first dial a ogy in general received in its “file-shar- quent migration towards existing “1”, then a 3-digit “area code” followed ing and intellectual theft” days. client/server architecture,” if they do say by the number on the other service. For The report suggests that P2P vendors so themselves. Admittedly, Popular example, to call someone with a FWD should partner with service providers, Telephony has been actively developing (Free World Dialup) number, you sim-

52 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Richard “Zippy“ Grigonis

ply dial “1 393” followed by the phone our Global Village service” strategy. additional hardware, such as call process- number. To call someone with a The scary part about commoditiza- ing and application servers, thus simpli- SIPphone number, you would dial “1 tion is that, in the “race to the bottom” fying installation and slashing start-up 747”. For calls to the PSTN, you can (price-wise), one ends up with essential- costs. opt for a plan where you pay only for ly free voice service. Value-add features - calls you make, or U.S. customers can what were called “enhanced services” in Avaya Labs has been working on both opt for an unlimited U.S. calls plan the old PSTN - were originally designed a system architecture and enabling tech- with a flat-rate monthly fee. to keep voice customers from leaving a nologies so that distributed enterprise carrier or provider; i.e., “reduce churn”. mobile workers can link up in a hybrid Speaking of SIPphone (news - alert) It was always assumed that voice was the peer-to-peer network over long-range (http://www.sipphone.com), it’s another real revenue-producing “killer app”. and short-range wireless connections at freebie P2P service that uses the SIP Now however, as unlimited local and the application layer. (Session Initiation Protocol), the favored domestic long-distance calling makes its call control protocol for VoIP. To use it appearance, those new and exciting serv- In the meantime, Avaya at the 2006 you rely on the usual suspects: either a ices may become the bread-and-butter VoiceCon show debuted its peer-to-peer hardware adapter or download their free of the whole telecom industry. As the SIP solution, one-X Quick Edition. Quick softphone, a broadband connection to “gee-whiz” aspects of IP Edition delivers voicemail, auto-attendant the Internet and, to make free in-net- Communications get lost in the functionality and sophisticated call man- work (SIP-to-SIP) calls, both sides of the machinery (along with electricity, plastic agement features including Call Forward, call must have a SIPphone adapter or and LEDs), low-end P2P systems will Conferencing, Park, Page and Retrieve, softphone. Naturally, you do have to pay find a home at retailers, while higher allowing even small businesses to appear to call users who have conventional tele- end IP PBX systems stake a claim in to be a large, professional organization. phones, which involves purchasing “SIP larger enterprises and vertical markets. Remote branches and teleworkers can be minutes”. To receive calls on your linked together via Quick Edition, yet the SIPphone from PSTN phones, you’ll Retooling for Success system allows for central management. need at least one Virtual Number Adding additional phones is as simple as ($12.00 for 3 months, or $35.00 for 12 Peer-to-peer systems particularly irk connecting them to the network. Since months). Calls to your Virtual Number those PBX makers of old that used to each Quick Edition phone backs up the are free to you. charge $50,000 and more for big card others’ features, the failure of one phone cages. With the writing on the wall, how- will not affect the others. Commoditization and its Effects ever, many are venturing into the field. Whenever one of the “big boys” enters The Frost & Sullivan Report men- For example, Avaya Inc. (quote - news the peer-to-peer VoIP arena, they tend to tioned at the beginning of this article - alert) (http://www.avaya.com) acquired avoid “pure” P2P technology, since they suggested that P2P telephony vendors Nimcat Networks, a developer of embed- want to be able to leverage existing legacy should concentrate on diversifying their ded, peer-to-peer IP communications PBXs and other equipment already on distribution channel by reaching the applications software such as its nimX the customer premise. That’s no problem mass market via both retail and online embedded software for enterprise IP since SIP allows you to use IP as a pure stores. Zoom has done this to some phones. Nimcat’s technology boosts the transport layer, so you can create a cen- extent with their “buy a modem and get endpoints’ intelligence and eliminates tralized call system, a distributed server

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 53 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index model, a peer-to-peer model, or a hybrid ny system, ’a la Skype, so the company’s Security, Security and More of any and all of these. customers and partners can be part of the Security For example, SessionSuite IP company’s pseudo-local exchange, along Telephony Enterprise Edition by with the teleworkers and remote offices. Since quality of service appears to be less BlueNote Networks (news - alert) and a less of an issue as more and more (http://www.bluenotenetworks.com) Iwatsu (news - alert) (http://www.iwat- bandwidth and advanced networking enables interactive IP communications su.com) has also adopted a stance some- within enterprises or extended com- monitoring technology becomes available, where between the old world PBX/com- the most pressing issue in the peer-to-peer munities, enabling the extension of munications server and a radical P2P sys- voice and video services to teleworkers, tem. Their Iwatsu Enterprise 3.0 world will undoubtedly remain security. remote offices, mobile users and Communications Server expands to 1024 Ironically, whereas centralized communica- nomadic “road warriors”. The high ports and easily deals with any of the four tion server architectures are susceptible to availability aspects of the product dominant communication protocol denial of service (DoS) attacks, SIP-based allow enterprises to maintain normal schemes (SIP, VoIP, TDM, and H.323), systems running in a distributed, peer-to- business operations during weather and it operates as a media bridge gateway peer network are far more resilient, since emergencies, natural disasters, security that converges and transmits both voice there is no single target that can become crises, and health emergencies. It’s not and data traffic. The system supports P2P the principal point of failure. quite “pure” peer-to-peer in that a communication so that IP phones can con- server is necessary, but it’s less expen- nect to each other directly over the net- Of course, only time will tell, as millions sive than a full-blown, old PBX sys- work, bypassing central system resources. tem. Any Iwatsu ADIX system can be upgraded of business owners flock to their local store BlueNote’s SessionGateway is used to inexpensively to an Iwatsu Enterprise 3.0. and return with the latest “telephone sys- bridge VoIP and PSTN/PBX infrastruc- tem-in-a-box” special offer. IT tures, allowing VoIP users to place and Even standards such as Megaco/H.248, receive calls with users of the PSTN or a joint effort of the ITU and IETF that Richard Grigonis is Executive Editor of legacy PBXs. More than two dozen soft defines the operation of media gateway TMC’s IP Communications Group. phones and hard phones are supported. controllers and media gateways, supports The software even allows an organization both peer-to-peer communications and to build its own Internet-facing telepho- centralized communication systems.

54 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

SIP’s Role in Enterprise IP Telephony

ession Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) initiative for managing the handshake procedures Sfor beginning and ending real-time communications between IP network endpoints. SIP is a text-based protocol, similar to degree of flexibility, failure recovery and HTTP and SMTP, for initiating interac- scalability since the network maintains no tive communication sessions between state information about the end devices. users. This makes SIP easy to trou- Let’s take a close look at some attrib- bleshoot, enables fast application devel- utes behind SIP’s growing adoption. opment and presents a stable framework for establishing interoperability between SIP is Simple devices, applications, call controllers and gateways. SIP is used to enable human- Using the IETF fundamental of tech- to-human communications that might nology reuse and the proven value of include voice, video, chat, interactive simplicity, the SIP message set is a sim- games and virtual reality. ple construction - six messages that appear in clear text to facilitate call Since February 1996, SIP has devel- setup. Clear text allows for easy trou- oped a substantial industry infrastructure bleshooting and avoids complex soft- and momentum to encourage and pro- ware interactions and other processing mote its use, including over 130 IETF that affects interoperability. The six from the International drafted initiatives influenced by SIP and messages are Invite, Trying, Ringing, Telecommunications Union (ITU). the technology-promoting SIP Forum. OK, ACK and Bye. SIP is Secure SIP is both elegant and practical. Its base assumption is that all SIP end- There are tradeoffs between interop- points and elements exist in the IP erability and cost when considering The IETF framework environment, an arena already security. Simple standards make it easi- equipped with standard mechanisms to er to interoperate within a multi-ven- for SIP offers a rich handle packet transport priorities, pri- dor network, but they also expose the vacy and other required services. These network to potential abuse. This vul- set of standards for value-added services do not require nerability, however, can be effectively specification in the SIP framework. addressed by strong authentication and authentication Conversely, in legacy environments, privacy services that do not interfere and privacy... such as the public telephone network, with the primary business benefit of the use of HTTP is neither integral nor standard-based solutions and also readily available. enable a long investment life through interchangeable vendors, services, This building block approach on an applications and devices. SIP is designed to perform session IP base is unique to IETF initiatives. setup independent from the communica- The results are nearly trivial protocol The IETF framework for SIP offers a tions flow. End devices speak to each definitions such as SIP in contrast rich set of standards for authentication other directly using whatever application with older session control or interface and privacy, including secure SIP, secure they have available. This delivers a greater protocols such as H.323 or Q.SIG RTCP, and secure RTP. These capabili-

56 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Pat Rudolph

SIP in the Enterprise

SIP has become a foundation for building innovative services aimed at enterprise. For example, SIP trunking services allow two SIP-empowered enterprises to communicate using RTP from endpoint to endpoint without the need for a gateway between them. The growth of this category of services is helping reduce costs by lower- ing the load on packet-circuit gateways and reducing regulatory and tax burdens.

SIP trunking also improves audio quality since bandwidth allocation can be negotiated end-to-end instead of end- to-gateway-over-digital-to gateway-to- end. Fewer digital hops with more bandwidth enable wideband audio quality, as well as SIP-initiated video conferencing.

As demand for IP telephony and SIP services and implementation continues to accelerate, the public telephone network faces change. A mainstay of the global economy for the past ten decades, it is losing ground to a network of worldwide IP communications integrated with simple, secure, standards-based, applications-rich implementations and services.

There can be little doubt of the ties leverage IETF proposals for the use SIP is a Standard important role that SIP will play in of standard implementations such as facilitating this transition and enabling Despite being a standard, SIP implemen- Transport Layer Security (TLS) for powerful enterprise applications that robust session privacy service and tations do vary. Some vendors, most notably TDM-based PBX vendors and reduce cost, improve user productivity, Secure/Multipart Internet Mail and strengthen customer interactions. Extensions (S/MIME) for session con- first-generation IP telephony vendors, offer SIP interoperability as an interface into their Some vendors will be slow to appreciate trol packet privacy. otherwise non-SIP telephony system. This and take advantage of this opportunity. approach helps the vendor maintain They may focus their energies on Most vendors implementing H.323 account and feature control. They can attempting to retrain the transition offer no such options. Instead, they charge extra for SIP support for only the rather than exploring its possibilities. choose to implement proprietary deriva- most rudimentary features while offering tives to facilitate rudimentary forms of advanced premium-priced feature options Organizations should look to partner privacy in first-generation IP-PBX with their proprietary call control protocol with companies that embrace innovations and implementation. devices. This approach is typical of the and standards. They are a foundation on PBX vendor solutions brought to mar- which a company builds business- Another approach is using standard ket during the past two decades in enhancing solutions. The question is no SIP among endpoints such as IP phones, which proprietary digital signaling pro- longer why, but rather when SIP will be video cameras, call controllers and gate- tocols were implemented on endpoints integral to every business’ future. IT and PBX fabric. The result of these ways to the public telephone network. decisions was nominally better security This can enable a robust and inexpensive, Pat Rudolph, is Vice President, Technology, but considerably more vendor-specific vendor-neutral environment capable of for 3Com Corporation. (quote - news - alert) lock-in that failed to provide many use- rapidly delivering a portfolio of applica- For more information, visit the company ful features - such as call forward and tions for presence, conferencing, contact online at http://www.3com.com. hold - at a standard service level. center, messaging and mobility services.

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 57 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index ice providers to build a new business nticipation of eventual widespread IMS (IP Multimedia model. With margins from legacy servic- Subsystem) rollouts, and even the current migration to IP es flattened through tight competition, among many networks, are changing the way service providers, providers can leverage IMS to leave the A role of low-value voice commodity and operators, and solution vendors approach the issue of QoS. Granted, become a more high-value, one-stop- there is no lack of skeptics who question the inevitability of IMS adop- shop communications service provider. tion, but it really has the potential to answer many demands of both consumers and service providers. As long as IMS is deployed properly, However, providers must be careful in we can assume it will account for a large portion of the communica- the way they pursue their IMS rollout. Dependable QoS is central to the IMS tions market. For those specialized “best-of-breed” vendors who intend business model, and any shortfalls in to live up to that classification, now is the time to ensure that a solu- that respect can bring major setbacks in tion is available for operators to guarantee premium user experience IMS adoption. Currently, many from Day One of their IMS rollout. In the process of developing an providers are planning to initially focus appropriate solution, it has become clear that the new network and almost exclusively on provision and billing technology, while viewing service OSS architecture is only one of many changes involved. Ensuring QoS assurance as a priority for later stages. It over IMS requires not only new software, but a new strategy. can be very tempting to many service providers to prioritize their resources in their own personal needs. Furthermore, this way, with the goal of being able to consumers expect flexibility in network begin service deployment and billing as access - both in terms of method soon as possible to grab early market ...service assurance for (mobile, wired, or FMC) and location share. If QoS is not ensured from initial (roaming ability) - while receiving the rollout, consumers may be slower to IMS must be a proactive same QoS as on their home network. sign on, or the high-value image of IMS may be tarnished, reducing it to another and customer-centric For providers, IMS first and foremost low-value commodity. operation. provides the ability to answer the consumer demands listed above. By bringing So, if service providers need to standardizing and centralizing control for guarantee QoS from day one, how can all communications services as well as this be accomplished? Many service Before the IMS network structure even access methods, service providers will assurance technologies and methods enters the picture, the first issue to deal have the ability to rapidly deploy new which are currently deployed over with must be the new market conditions content and services to keep pace with legacy networks are not sufficient for and business model, and the goals of all demand. In addition, the IMS structure the needs of an IMS provider. First players involved. Consumers are essen- allows operators to accomplish this over a and foremost, service assurance for tially looking for variety and flexibility. converged IP network without redundant IMS must be a proactive and cus- Naturally, this entails more varied sub- “silo” infrastructure, improving overall tomer-centric operation. That is, the scription plans and service bundles, and network efficiency and reducing costs. goal is no longer simply reducing the ability to tailor these options to fit More importantly, IMS can enable serv- repair time following service degrada-

58 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Duby Yoely

tion or a lapse in network availability; works would overwhelm this method, Any service assurance strategy for if subscribers are paying for a high- with too many variables contributing to IMS networks must also include an value service, they expect better. In the actual service quality. A preferable increased emphasis on traffic monitor- order to achieve the full value of IMS, approach would be to manage opera- ing, trend analysis and planning. providers will need a strategy to tions across multiple domains under a Among legacy networks, the silo implement automatic corrective action single platform, and in particular to structure kept traffic simple enough and prevent potential degradation unite fault and performance manage- that almost all network faults were before the user experience is affected. ment operations, thereby providing a hardware-related in their root-cause. more coherent picture of the network However, as previously mentioned, One cornerstone of a proactive service and connecting user experience more one of the key benefits of IMS is the assurance strategy which has recently directly to network management. flexibility for subscribers to access and seen increased adoption among opera- use their network services wherever tors is the concept of service impact A true end-to-end service assurance and however they wish. This new level analysis. Essentially, this analysis tool solution does more than just unite fault of flexibility, combined with the allows operators to take any actual or and performance management. It also increased bandwidth demands of potential network event, and map for- captures a network view beyond its many services, magnifies the impact of ward its effects over various users or internal operations, providing data that traffic on overall network perform- services. Once this information is avail- reflects the real service quality as experi- ance. Even in today’s pre-IMS envi- able, the OSS can issue recommenda- enced by the end-user. In IMS net- ronment, we already see that congestions to preserve QoS among the affect- works, this can be accomplished by tion accounts for a significant portion ed users. This means that rather than leveraging data contained in Diameter of service degradation. simply correcting problems according to CDRs. Diameter network element, they can be addressed CDRs were devel- in a way that will have maximum oped to provide data impact on user experience. for both policy and charging purposes In fact, this service impact analysis and therefore in IMS has another implication, which also networks the service applies to silo networks as well as IMS: assurance system a more business-oriented approach to should be able to QoS. Granted that any operator must take advantage of this suffice with finite resources, the infor- resource as well. In mation provided in this fashion allows fact, even among cur- an operator to prioritize their network rently deployed IP resources for maximum impact on rev- networks, the more enue and reputation, in addition to advanced service overall user experience. For example, if assurance systems an operator sees that a given network have managed to event users of different subscriber class- incorporate data from es, it will be possible to dedicate a variety of sources, resources to first guarantee that premi- such as SNMP agents um SLAs are upheld, and then to on network resources, address other priorities in a more delib- testing probes, EMSs erate and controlled manner. and NMSs, and various xDRs, such as Another important aspect of service IPDRs and SIP assurance for IMS networks is to pro- CDRs, yielding posi- vide a unified network view for “end- tive results. In both to-end” service assurance. Under legacy cases, this data can be silo networks, it was sufficient to simply aggregated and corre- monitor a series of disparate Element lated to measure any Management Systems or Network number of customiz- Management Systems, which would able KPI/KQIs, indirectly result in satisfactory service. which directly reflect However, the complexity of IMS net- the user experience.

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 59 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Operators need a proactive strategy too slow, even if aided by OSS recom- munications service. If concept of IMS to maintain QoS in the midst of such mendations. Once the data from serv- is to truly succeed, and avoid becom- complex traffic; retroactively manag- ice-impact, traffic, fault or performance ing another commoditized bit-pipe, ing the network to “unclog” conges- monitoring systems reveal potential then it must be provided with a high tion after service degradation is service degradation, the ability for the enough quality to justify its high already felt will not be enough for the service assurance OSS to initiate auto- value. If service assurance is left for a IMS subscriber. In this case, historical matic corrective action can greatly later priority, providers may still data on past traffic patterns must be enhance end-user experience. In fact, deploy IMS networks, but its market analyzed through advanced correlation even if such corrective action is not yet share may be narrower or simply at a techniques in order to anticipate traf- necessary, such an automated solution lower value. Only a proactive and cus- fic-related faults before their effects could trigger complementary active tomer-centric service assurance solu- reach the end user. service monitoring to pinpoint the mal- tion, incorporated in the initial stages functioning phase within the whole of rollout, can uphold QoS at a level Finally, an important feature of any IMS service delivery chain, adding to which will allow successful market service assurance solution among IMS the proactive nature of the operation. adoption under a high-value frame- networks must be bidirectional media- work for IMS networks. IT tion, which can almost give the effect of Premium service quality is an inte- an automated Network Operations gral part of the user experience that Center. Given the complex network consumers expect from IMS. A major Duby Yoely is VP Solutions Engineering, TTI operations that will fall under central- incentive for service providers to Telecom. (news - alert) For more informa- ized control following IMS rollout, deploy their own IMS networks is to tion, go to the company online at engineers’ manual corrections may be offer a high-value, all-inclusive com- http://www.tti-telecom.com.

60 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

Delivering QoS for End-to-End VoIP Service Quality

dvertising buzz terms for voice over IP such as “it’s the net- In addition to the MOS score, subscribers are sensitive to service uptime work” and the “sound of a pin drop” underscore the public’s and busy signals, which also contribute Ainterest in voice call quality. One provider of over-the-top to quality of service. Service uptime is a VoIP services even claimed recently to provide “business class” quality. reflection of reliability: The standard is called five 9s, or 99.999% and is best While such an achievement is IPTV, sufficient bandwidth is required defined by the availability of network admirable, it is nearly impossible to to transmit the data packets, and the jit- elements such as routers and softswitch- make such claims regarding QoS with- ter must be less than the buffer capacity. es. Therefore, while an over-the-top out the ability to manage the subscriber’s VoIP service provider may be able to broadband connection. At a minimum, Table 1 shows examples of applica- guarantee the reliability of its own the entire network must be engineered tions and their associated resource softswitch, it cannot make any commit- for end-to-end quality of service for the requirement (e.g., flow specifications). ments regarding the availability of the application being provided. broadband network’s routers. Taking this concept one step further, Quality of service for advanced IP the intention is to quantify the quality On the other hand, while a busy sig- applications can be measured first by of subscriber experience - called the nal may indicate that the network is the subscriber’s experience with the QoE - and correlate the result to the down, it may also be a good sign that application (be it voice, video, or gam- necessary flow specifications. In the the service provider is ensuring call ing) and then by the application’s specif- world of VoIP, the QoE is oftentimes quality by blocking calls when network ic transport flow specifications such as defined by a mean opinion score capacity is reached. Service providers latency, jitter, and bandwidth. For (MOS), a number from 1 to 5 deter- design networks with the Erlang traffic example, for a high-quality VoIP phone mined by surveys of actual human inter- engineering model in mind to comply call, the latency and jitter must be tight- action with the media. Today, numerous with their subscriber service level agree- ly controlled (approximately < 1/100 tools allow service providers and sub- ments (SLAs). The Erlang model second) so that VoIP data packets can scribers to electronically determine the accounts for available network capacity be appropriately reassembled by the quality of a broadband connection via and the resources required for each call application. For real-time video such as its associated impact on MOS. (as previously defined by MOS). The SLA can be managed either one of two ways: by over-engineering all the network resources, and/or by dynamically enforcing the SLA using a policy-based approach to network management.

This returns us to this article’s original premise that it is nearly impossible to make QoS claims without the ability to manage the subscriber’s broadband connection. The ability to over-engineer the network or apply a policy- based approach to manage SLAs is available only to a VoIP or content Table 1. Application-Specific Network Resource Requirements. provider with access to the network.

62 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Jay Malin, Ph.D.

One other approach - albeit lacking a parameterized resource allocation in resource requirements. Similar types service guarantee - is the implementa- order to manage the delivery of IP of support are being added to DSL tion of a more robust audio and video applications such as VoIP (define - news aggregation routers, WiFi access CODEC that minimizes the network - alert) and video. The figure below points, and 3G packet gateways. resources required to deliver the serv- shows how a policy management archi- ice. For the service provider, the choice tecture can be implemented for a broad- In an alternate, less precise approach, comes down to cost. band VoIP service. The admission con- data packets are marked by network ele- troller enforces the traffic engineering ments for prioritization throughout the In the case of the over-engineered model by comparing the number of network. As long as it is combined with network, the cost is raw broadband concurrent application sessions against an admission control function and the bandwidth, which for an MSO means the network’s capacity. If the resources markings are coordinated across all splitting a node or, in a wireless net- required to ensure the application’s per- applications, the SLA can be reasonably work, adding a sector (or spectrum). formance comply with the SLA, the enforced. However, because any packet Sometimes, this can be performed application (e.g., voice call) is blocked. can be marked by virtually any sub- easily; however, the cost, in a world of This function can be reasonably per- scriber, this approach is not completely proliferating bandwidth usage - is formed in most IP networks. (See trusted and is not nearly scalable as the prohibitively expensive. Adding Figure 1.) former approach. capacity without reserving resources for walled garden applications means While many networks are being QoS is most often addressed in the that service providers who “own” the upgraded to add real-time bandwidth access network due to the competition network not only cannot guarantee (and latency and jitter) allocation for network resources. In the access network, many subscribers contend for limited network resources, thereby causing the congestion predominantly responsible for poor QoS. While the backbone is not completely immune to resource limitations, it is over-engineered to accommodate significant traffic. Network management technologies such as MPLS and DiffServ can be mapped to access network QoS policies to facilitate an end-to-end managed service.

End-to-end quality of service can be delivered only when the application provider has access to the network. In order to reliably deliver a high-quality IP service such as VoIP, service providers Figure 1. Policy Management Architecture. must incorporate an adequate traffic engineering model into a policy-based the QoE, but also cannot competi- capabilities, cable and WiMAX stand admission control engine. By offering a tively monetize the value of their out above the rest. The standards premium delivery service to subscribers plant upgrades because the “all you committees overseeing these networks who cannot be otherwise provided by a can eat” bandwidth is available even have incorporated dynamic, parame- third party, service providers can mone- for over-the-top content. terized QoS capabilities into their tize the value of their network while specifications. This means that when managing subscriber satisfaction. IT On the other hand, by dynamically an application such as a voice call is managing the allocation of network admitted by the admission controller, Jay Malin, Ph.D., is VP of Business resources for premium advanced IP the precise resources are allocated at Development for CableMatrix Technologies, services, service providers can both the applicable router regardless of Inc., (news - alert) a leading provider of monetize the value of the premium serv- whether it is a CMTS or base station. QoS policy management solutions for the ice and most efficiently exploit their Application-specific data packets are broadband industry. For more information, capital plant. Policy management com- scheduled and handled in the network please visit the company online at bines admission control and real-time, routers based upon both priority and http://www.cablematrix.com.

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 63 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Hosted IP Telephony Solutions

mall and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), particularly 100 around them. This gives the enterprise users and below, have for the past several years dramatically additional productivity-enhancing fea- streamlined their operations to remain competitive. For busi- tures and it allows the service provider S to maintain a much longer product life- nesses running on paper-thin margins, there are few new projects cycle and it can therefore sell the serv- that their small IT groups can possibly take on, such as VoIP. Such ice(s) at a premium for a longer time. organizations are turning more and more to hosted IP Product vendors have taken stock of Communications solutions. The benefits of outsourcing VoIP (or the ripe hosted services market and have even a full-blown unified communications package) can be greater altered their product lines to facilitate than simply saving some money. connections between service providers, SMBs and “vertical” organizations. For example, early in 2007 ZyXEL Many of these services are critical to ness can’t or won’t have available. Communications (news - alert) organizations. We all know of enterpris- Moreover, service providers generally do (http://www.zyxel.com), the world’s es with email systems that go down on joint tests with most of the partners fourth biggest DSLAM vendor, the last few days of a quarter, which they deal with to deliver their applica- announced a new SMB VoIP Integrated usually portends that the email system tions to customers. Microsoft, for exam- Access Device and SMB VoIP router will be outsourced by the end of the ple, has defined a fairly rigid test for that can bridge the move to VoIP for next quarter, since email has become too hosted Exchange. VoIP vendors such as growing businesses. Both products important to place in jeopardy. BroadSoft have similar tests as well. enable multi-line VoIP service through one of two options: by hosted VoIP For companies of just about any size, Hosted services will over time turn services or by integrating with an exist- an SLA [Service Level Agreement] from into commodities. (After all, anything ing analog PBX system. Both of these a service provider will always be better you can sell on a line-by-line basis is devices are designed to ease deploy- than whatever uptime a company can destined for mass-marketing.) Look at ments by service providers. create for itself, unless they spend web hosting today, or email. They are money lavishly. Even the smallest service all commoditized and are provided at ZyXEL’s VOP1248G a 48-port provider has multiple redundant systems very low cost. However, what makes POTS/VoIP line card has a media gate- with automatic failover, and on top of things such as hosted VoIP or hosted way that converts analog voice to VoIP, that it’s probably using the latest and Exchange interesting is that you can thus eliminating the need to install spe- greatest hardware, which the small busi- build an ecosystem of value-added tools cial VoIP phones or an analog telephone

64 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis

adapter (ATA) on customer premises. ent types of VoIP lines, and then enable Unify is set up at a service provider, it’s This new POTS/VoIP line card works in those completely automatically. That can very easy for the provider to add a con- conjunction with ZyXEL’s IES 5000 and happen straight from the storefront to the nector or remove a connector, thus IES 5005 chassis-based Multiple Service end customer, or at least if it’s a large enter- making it very easy to test the market Access Platforms (MSAP) and is targeted prise, it can be done with an agent over the with new services at minimal expense. to telcos looking for a easier way to offer phone, and with one click of a button you The same interface and provisioning a VoIP architecture to customers. know that a service has been provisioned system can be used.” ZyXEL’s IES 5000 and IES 5005 MSAPs from A through Z without any mistakes. If provide support for ADSL 2+, any errors somehow occur, there’s an auto- “As for where this industry is going,” G.SHDSL.BIS and VDSL 2 line cards matic rollback and accompanying notifica- says Depayras, “I firmly believe that and are designed for telcos wanting to tion to the administrator.” many companies decide to outsource offer multiple services over the same box. solutions as important to everyday busi- “So, in a sense, we offer something of ness as VoIP or email, since there’s no A Firm Foundation a service delivery platform. Granted, not sense in keeping some of it in-house, to the full extent of a large service deliv- unless it’s necessary for there to be some Determining just how inexpensive, ery platform, but we really do focus on kind of tight integration to an HR form feature-laden and easy-to-use an IP serv- the automation of services provision- system, for example. Outsourcing every- ice is depends primarily on the quality ing,” says Depayras. thing at this point makes a lot of sense.” and scope of the platform used by the service provider. One of the first widely “The heart of our platform takes care deployed and well-known delivery plat- of the monitoring, metering, the service forms in this area is Ensim Unify by resource management, and so forth, to Ensim (news - alert) ensure that the application will be run (http://www as service by the service provider,” says .ensim.com). Depayras. “We also offer a pre-built More and more, enterprises control panel or self-care management of 250 employees and Co-developed with Microsoft, it tool at delegated levels, so the service enables service providers to centrally provider can now have access to a portal below really don’t have create, control, and deliver hosted IP that offers them a wide range of choices and application services. The latest ver- where they can do such things as create the IT resources in-house sion of Unify includes support for different types of mailboxes, VoIP lines Microsoft Hosted Messaging and and so forth, and really manage all of to accomplish VoIP Collaboration (HMC) and Windows- their next generation services. The based Hosting (WBH) Technology, sup- reseller also can also access the same on their own... control panel, but based on their role, port for the Microsoft Connected they have different capabilities available Services Framework (CSF) 3.0 , a New to them. Our control panel can be Resource Selection Policy Feature, and it shared with the enterprise administrator provisions many services such as and the end user. So the goal really is to BroadSoft and Blackberry that are not make sure that the users should not “Why a provider should deliver hosted available as part of the HMC solution. have to call the service provider every- VoIP is fairly obvious in terms of where the There’s also the built-in ability to add thing time something strange happens, market is going,” says Depayras. “More and custom services via an SDK. they should be able to self-manage fairly more, enterprises of 250 employees and efficiently, and that’s done through pro- below really don’t have the IT resources in- Francois Depayras, Vice President of viding a graphical user interface [GUI] house to accomplish VoIP on their own. that’s very user-friendly, rather than a Sales and Marketing for Ensim, says, Thus, there’s a wave of outsourcing to the command line interface, for example, largest telecom providers as well as regional “Ensim is a software developer that pro- which can be very complex.” vides software solutions for service service providers, that essentially transforms them into an IT resource for small enter- providers. We really focus on the provi- “Ensim’s on-demand platform offers prises. They ensure that the SMBs have sioning and automation of services. For pre-built connectors for about 15 appli- strong SLAs, strong archival systems, and example, if you want to deploy a Voice- cations today,” says Depayras. “We have so forth. For a service provider, then, the over-IP line, there are literally 100 steps for connectors to BroadSoft, Siemens market certainly exists. But service a manager at a service provider to deploy OpenScape, Microsoft Exchange, IBM providers have the bad habit of building a such a line. Our technology completely SharePoint. We create much more than platform for each service they deliver, automates that process through templates VoIP service - we can create a unified which is extremely inefficient at the end of so that the service provider can create sil- communications package. One Ensim ver, gold, and platinum packages for differ- the day, and which in turn forces them

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 65 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index to spend a tremendous amount of time on 5 Tips for Selecting a R&D to develop functionality that’s already available off the shelf through companies Hosted VoIP Provider such as Ensim.” by Joel Maloff, VP of Products, GlobalTouch Telecom (http://www.globaltouchtelecom.com). “Hence, the goals for a service provider today is four-fold,” says Depayras. “The four most important Selecting a hosted VoIP applications provider is not as simple as it appears. things a service provider should look at Understanding how your prospective providers compare will help you make an when going to market with a hosted informed and hopefully successful decision. Here are five suggestions. . . VoIP solution, or even any kind of next- generation hosted service is, first and 1. Feature Suite - If you are seeking to offer VoIP services from a hosted foremost, the time-to-market. It’s easy applications provider, you have already realized that building such systems to say you want to get a VoIP solution yourself or purchasing the systems from others is an expensive proposition. out quickly, but it’s more than that. It’s What features and services are important to you? Are you interested in pro- being first to market or as quick to mar- viding consumer VoIP services? Pre-paid and post-paid? IP PBX services? IP ket as possible, for the application or Trunking? Do you need assistance in handling Direct Inward Dialing (DID) service that the provider wants to numbers, E911 and CALEA? Some vendors offer hundreds or even thousands launch. But it’s also about being the of features. Which ones do you really need and which are you and your cus- first-to-revenue and getting to generate tomers willing to purchase? Before you start comparing hosted PBX vendors, revenue as quickly as possible. The sys- know what features and services you want. Prepare a list of required and “nice tem needs to be up and running target- to have” features. ing small-to-medium sized enterprises, which requires resellers because modern 2. Underlying Technology - Not all VoIP systems are the same. Some offer enterprises are geographically dispersed better voice quality but require greater bandwidth. Others are deigned to offer and very fragmented. Some enterprises superior voice quality but consume less bandwidth and therefore are available at are vertical, others are geographical in lower cost. Some will support video calls whereas others may not. Some may be nature. It’s important to have as wide a more secure than others. Ask questions and demand answers from your prospec- range of salespeople and resellers to be tive vendors. able to go after them.”

3. Support Services - What support services can you expect from your “Fortunately, a provider can be first- provider? Are you expected to provide Tier 1 support with the vendor offering to-market with our Ensim platform Tier 2 and 3 support? What response times can you expect? What reports will be and it can be used to plug in any addi- available to you? These are critical areas in managing and growing your business. tional services, using the same functionality that’s built in, utilizing the 4. Scalability - Can your vendor continue to grow with your needs, both same back-end and control panel or in terms of capacity as well as new features as they emerge? This may be a self-care management tool,” says direct result of the underlying equipment used by the vendor. If it is an open Depayras. “Thus, there is very little architecture and designed to support emerging standards, you may be better training of support or operations, and off than a closed proprietary system that may not be interoperable with there’s no explanation that needs to be future developments. given to existing customers because we’re basically just adding functionality 5. The Real Cost - Make sure you consider not only the set-up and monthly over time. So, it’s hosted VoIP the first recurring costs but also any additional costs that might arise. These include day, and then delivering additional bandwidth fees, custom development charges, updates or new features, support services on the VoIP line such as E911, service “overtime,” and additional personnel that you will need on your staff to and then three months later you can coordinate with your vendor. Creating a “pro forma” that looks at all anticipated add collaboration capabilities through costs, the timing of these costs, and how they relate to your expected pricing SharePoint, for example.” and revenue generation models will help you stay ahead of the challenges. “Second, there’s the ability to have a Using a Hosted VoIP Applications Provider can be an excellent and timely channel-enabled strategy,” says Depayras. choice. Clearly articulating the details in advance can make the experience all “The SMB market to me is really the El the more rewarding! Dorado of markets. We know that it’s a $12 billion market today, and everybody GlobalTouch Telecom, Inc. offers a vertically integrated VoIP platform. The company knows there’s a pot of gold lurking there, designed and developed every aspect of its technology from the ground up creating a but it’s extremely difficult to reach it, one-stop single vendor VoIP solution. The product thus comprises an all-inclusive, pri- simply because the fragmentation of the vate label (white label) offering for carriers, MSOs, Resellers, PTTs, ILECs, ISPs, CLECs industry and that SMBs are really geo- and marketing companies. The platform can be completely customized and rolled out in graphically dispersed and each vertical 60 days or less. has specific needs and requirements. It’s

66 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index very important for the service provider to one, some people still don’t really get affiliate itself with resellers that can cater why they should outsource. It’s always to existing customers.” an expensive gamble for a service ...decreasing the cost of provider to create a platform to provide “Third, decreasing the cost of the opera- hosted services. For example, the appro- tion is absolutely crucial,” says Depayras. the operation is priate infrastructure needs to be built. “It’s fair to say that automation of provi- absolutely crucial... The provider may decide to build its sioning and self-care of end users adds a own provisioning or control panel and dramatic aspect to all of this. Our approach usually decreases the cost of management center, and so forth. We’ve operations by at least 50 percent. Many of generally seen service providers launch our existing customers are now able to of tools around the solution that are next-gen services on their own over a 12 place their IT or operations people on really created to enable and empower to 18-month period. That’s a long time. other, more important projects since every- the end user to do things on their own, But using tools such as our Ensim Unify thing doesn’t have to be managed manual- such as to self-configure their VoIP software, customers have been launched ly - it’s all now automated. For example, phone or self-configure their mobile in as little as ten days, and the average is 50 or 60 percent of support calls are peo- device with Exchange,” says Depayras. about a month-and-a-half. We can ple saying ’I’ve forgotten my password’. “All of these little tools involve a little quickly and inexpensively provide every- For anybody who has a support organiza- click on a self-care management section thing in that last mile between the serv- tion in the U.S. or Europe, that phone call of a web page, rather than calling the is going to cost between 10 and 20 dollars ice provider and the end user: the con- or Euros. That’s a huge support cost just administrator or service provider.” trol panel, management tool, automa- for something as trivial as a password.” tion and provisioning.” IT “The fourth aspect focuses on extensi- “When a service provider looks to bility,” says Depayras. “Looking at host- launch something such as hosted VoIP ed services today, some are extremely Richard Grigonis is Executive Editor of or messaging or collaboration, the plat- successful, some not that much. Some TMC’s IP Communications Group. form is obviously crucial but it’s also are perhaps ahead of their time, the just as important to have an ecosystem marketing message may be the wrong

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 67 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Streamlining Service Creation

ervice Creation is another one of those overly broad terms that covers everything from provisioning to the ability under IMS S[IP Multimedia Subsystem] for somebody with a bright idea to create yet another possible “killer app” service. Service creation and provisioning at about service creation involves the execu- telcos and cablecos always had a sort of tion plane - creation in the bundling and ’garage shop’ ambiance. Now, however, product offerings. The PSA initiative is some genuine, rigorous “standards and one that Axiom and many other partners practices” are finally permeating the have been working towards within the industry; these will enable a sort of umbrella of the TMF [TeleManagement “service factory” approach to assembling Forum]. PSA is a reference architecture services and provisioning them quickly to support the rapid assembly of services. and inexpensively. You could argue that it’s service creation in a bundling/order fulfillment-type In particular, one should take note of metaphor. The PSA architecture is the Product and Service Assembly (PSA) aligned to the TMF in terms of the way Catalyst Initiative, led by a consortium they model their architecture through the of companies such as Axiom Systems eTOM [Enhanced Telecommunications (news - alert) (http://www.axiomsys- Operations Map] and interfaces associat- tems.com). The PSA is a collaboration ed with TAM [Telecommunications of vendors and service providers who are Applications Map, developed to provide architecture,” says Osborne, “which is a creating an IT reference architecture a high-level decomposition of apps into reference architecture of the federation that 1) streamlines the next-gen network functional groups, so that similar, and cooperating catalogues within the product/service lifecycle, 2) bridges the reusable functions can be grouped architecture, all focused on ’How do I service creation gaps between OSS, BSS together and reside in well-known service the service provider discover what my and service execution, and reduces the boundaries] and things like that.” network can do? And how do I bundle cost of service/product production. and present that in a logical model and “We’re using that landscape as inspi- an aggregation model, ultimately propa- ration,” says Osborne. “To support the gating that into the order handling and PSA initiative, there’s a PSA Catalyst CRM systems to allow customer orders project in two phases that showcases to be fulfilled against them?’.” the ideas, deliverables and benefits of Service creation and provi- the PSA initiative for telecom operators “The deliverables from the first phase sioning... always had a sort and service providers as they move for- of the PSA Catalyst are an industry- ward. The first phase was demonstrated standard API to allow the participating of ’garage shop’ ambiance. at TeleManagement World Americas members within this federation of cata- 2006 in Dallas, Texas, in December logs to promote their capabilities, all the 2006 and the second phase of the PSA way up the stack,” explains Osborne. Catalyst was demonstrated at “Equally, we now understand the rule TeleManagement World in Nice, dependencies, the rule sets, and the rela- Simon Osborne, Axiom Systems’ France, in May 2007.” tionships between and among those Senior Technical Architect, says, “Service building blocks so that validation can creation means different things to differ- “These Catalyst events helps establish take place and service assembly can rap- ent people. I guess the most confusion a set of vendors working within the PSA idly take place.”

68 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Richard “Zippy“ Grigonis

form. At the moment we do all of Comcast’s data, IP data and application provisioning technology for Comcast VoIP or ’digital voice’. We’ve just started to move the digital TV customers onto the Bedrock platform too.”

Bedrock is Comcast Corp. new multi- service operations framework, created in part to deal with the wider range of services made possible by IP. Indeed, Bedrock enables automated end-to-end service fulfillment and provisioning of all Comcast services - video, VoIP, data and eventually wireless. Tests indicate that in terms of the high-speed Internet service alone, for example, Comcast was able to reduce time-to-install by a third thanks to Bedrock, from 12 minutes to about eight.

A key partner in development of the Bedrock platform has been U.K.-based JacobsRimmell. As JacobsRimmell’s Joe Frost says, “For the last four consecu- tive quarters, Comcast has set records for the number of new subscribers they’ve been signing up. It’s something like 10,000 new voice users a day going through our platform. It’s quite a suc- Osborne goes on: “The second phase “The whole value of the PSA architec- cessful implementation.” of the PSA initiative is that we’ve taken ture is to allow multiple vendors to be onboard some new vendors and we’ve able to plug into it by using the common “Basically we see three primary mar- got more service providers as well, and interface and API,” concludes Osborne. kets,” says Frost. “First is the Cable QinetiQ, one of the world’s leading business as usual. Second is the com- defense technology and security compa- Hitting “Bedrock” mercial services market which encom- nies, who are all providing valuable use- passes both cable and wireline telcos. cases around their infrastructure and JacobsRimmell (news - alert) The third market is the information their service play.” (www.jacobsrimmell.com) is an opera- management space. That really reflects tions support system (OSS) vendor that the fact that most of the operators, Osborne admits that, “We’ve started when Founders David Jacobs specifically the incumbent tier-1 telcos, acknowledged that perhaps in the (CTO) and Phil Rimell (chief architect) are trying to implement a lot of new first phase there was a bias toward left Reuters’ IT department nearly ten matched or blended services - or what- the service delivery or fulfillment years ago. Among other things, it’s now ever you want to call them - using our aspects of this architecture. So, in the principal service fulfillment provider methodology, along with the expecta- recognition of that we’ve brought in for cable’s 800-pound gorilla, Comcast. tion of new technologies. In that Convergys as a partner to understand respect, most of them have recognized the emphasis that billing places on JacobsRimmell’s Vice President of now, particularly while they are in lab this same componentized architecture Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Joe trials, that the technology is capable of when subject to service component Frost, says, “We’re known for our OSS all sorts of cool things, but in order to assembly and service modeling. At and provisioning abilities in the MSO be able to develop and then offer servic- the product catalog layer, we’ve space. Comcast is our biggest North es that may be very timely or ’seasonal’, brought onboard TIBCO. Even American cable customer. We’re deeply their whole operational infrastructure Microsoft is now onboard.” involved in Comcast’s ’Bedrock’ plat- needs a significant upgrade.”

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 69 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index Frost elaborates: “The operators take their services over any network, JacobsRimmell have observed a mas- realize they must have far better con- any access technology, any device. sive ’land grab’ going on right now trol and visibility of their operational After all, that’s the whole premise among the Tier-2, 3 and 4 telcos and data; that’s the data that involves the behind IMS [IP Multimedia the big cable companies who see a subscriber’s identity. It’s not just the Subsystem]. One then maps the enti- huge opportunity in taking revenue telephone number or bill payer’s tlement of those new products and away from the wireline incumbents street address any more; it’s the actual services in real time, because many and delivering managed voice services user that is entitled to access the subscribers, particularly the younger to small and medium businesses service and in particular it’s the con- ones and business types, tend to fre- [SMBs]. It’s a market the incumbents text in which the user sits - they can quently move around the landscape. are not as focused on as they perhaps They change how they take their should have been all along. But one services frequently, and they use dif- of the biggest drawbacks is that, fol- ferent types of devices to partake of lowing business services, particularly Operators can’t afford to those services. ” business VoIP services, in this market, send out engineers when you see that operators’ rates are drop- “The second trend I mentioned, ping incredibly quickly. It’s almost you’re looking at a poten- commercial/business services, is a become a commodity offering. field in which we made our first Because of this, the operational sys- tial revenue of perhaps announcement recently,” says Frost. tem must be far more efficient and “What we saw there was an opportu- there’s a much wider range of equip- $30 a month... nity to develop an off-the-shelf provi- ment needed, particularly customer sioning or fulfillment platform. We at premises equipment.”

70 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index “Today’s trend is that operators month for a phone service. The equip- an order and assigning products to deploy SIP [Session Border Control]- ment and service must be configured that customer, and then configuring based user equipment at the customer configured and dispatched from the the physical infrastructure or equip- premises,” says Frost. “That ranges operators’ warehouse or a pre-configu- ment that delivers the service. It’s a from the standard desktop handset ration location.” real rapid implementation off-the-shelf through the small and medium office type of solution not normally found in IP PBX, such as the Linksys Voice “That’s why we’ve put together an this industry today. We’ve seen an System 9000 SIP PBX that retails for off-the-shelf provisioning package opportunity here - customers simply less than $400. One of the big issues called QuickStart Business VoIP,” says haven’t been able to configure and for the operators is that these devices Frost. “It’s a full-functioned, end-to- adapt their equipment quickly enough don’t just pop out of the box and start end fulfillment or provisioning plat- with conventional techniques, because working immediately. They need an IP form. It handles all of the office equip- it’s been too complex to do using exist- address, they need their features con- ment, softswitch, VoIP switching ing tools.” figured, and so forth. So what we’ve infrastructure, the messaging infra- seen from the operators and vendors structure and so forth, and handles all All in all, it appears that the days of alike is a need to be able to deploy of the order management. It also deals being able to pick up a phone and more complex equipment across a far with all of the SIP-based customer watch a field technician visit your prem- wider range of customer premise sites, premises equipment in one application ise and install equipment and services is and have everything work the first so that the call agent or field techni- coming to a close. IT time. Operators can’t afford to send cian needs just one screen from which out engineers when you’re looking at a to work. It handles the whole process Richard Grigonis is Executive Editor of potential revenue of perhaps $30 a from assigning a new customer, taking TMC’s IP Communications Group. Delivering Reliable Quality of Service

uality of Service (QoS) has been the bugbear of IP Communications since its very beginnings. Fear over call Qquality (or lack thereof) slowed the adoption of IP by both providers and customers. Various techniques were proffered to maintain voice and video quality: overprovisioning of bandwidth, dedicated bandwidth (private IP networks), prioritization of realtime voice and video packet traffic, router protocols to signal the location of network congestions points, and so forth. Today, however, many providers and experts claim that even the public Internet offers more- than-acceptable QoS characteristics for voice, video and multimedia. Ajay Joseph, Vice President of quality of service was affected by unpre- Network Architecture and Engineer for dictable congestion points that would iBasis (news - alert) (http://www.ibasis.com), appear. We would have to take carriers says, “We are a VoIP company with a in and out of service, depending on the presence in roughly 120+ countries. We quality of the network. Maintaining the have a wholesale business where we sell system was a very manual, time-con- to carriers and a retail business where we suming effort, and it just didn’t scale.” sell prepaid disposable and non-disposable calling cards. Carriers connect to us “So we put several things in place,” says with both IP and TDM methodologies. Joseph. “First, since we used the Internet, from the peering points. All of the peer- On the retail side, we use the wholesale as a policy we tried to minimize the ing that does happen is through the iBasis network to terminate the voice calls. All amount of public and private peering that cloud itself, not through these public and of this is transported via IP across a core we use across the network. That’s because, private peering points.” network. Interestingly, we use the if you look at the Internet, there are many “Now, if any kind of capacity upgrade Internet quite successfully to transport various ISPs that connect to each other. must take place,” says Joseph, “we at voice.” These ISPs are connected through peering iBasis manage it, not the ISP. We’ve points, which allow for bilateral connec- been running this for at least seven years tions between themselves, or they could now, and the quality we get using this also go through what are called public technique is very good, very clean and “Interestingly, we peering points. If congestion occurs at clear. The packet loss is close to zero. these peering points, it gets taken care of And packet latency is low too.” [iBasis] use the Internet by the ISP, which means it’s out of our control. One of the decisions we made Joseph adds, “We’ve also observed quite successfully to was to design an virtual IP network so as two interesting phenomena: First, the to avoid both private and public peering general quality on the Internet has transport voice.” points. So, between all of our POPs improved tremendously over time. [Points of Presence] we have a virtual Second, the price of bandwidth has backbone. We don’t own the whole physi- dropped in terms of dollars per cal network, but we connect to ISPs as megabit-per-second. What all this customers and we then dynamically means is that our original decision to “Some of the challenges that iBasis define routes using BGP [Border use the Internet was a good one. It initially encountered years ago involved Gateway Protocol] the IP routing mecha- reduces tremendously our cost of build- the public Internet,” says Joseph. “The nism, so as to keep the iBasis traffic away ing out the network.”

72 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis

Malaysia. That maximizes the probability of completing the call, as opposed to saying ’Oh the quality is bad, we won’t take any calls at this location for a while’.”

“We also use session border controllers inside the network for transcoding and quality purposes,” says Joseph, “and we’ve been running the system very successfully for about seven years now. Millions of calls traverse our network at any given point. We buy routes from our providers and they give us rates and coverage - such as to Malaysia. We have systems that look at the quality of the call that terminate across providers and we have threshold values that are formulated based on the provider, the coverage, and so forth. Based on a particular threshold, if a particular provider does not ’behave’ well for a particular route, the provider gets shut out and goes back into testing. We have a testing system and a ’scrubbing system’ that looks at the quality of the calls that terminate through a provider and if something’s wrong, different routes are used instead of the provider in question.”

“Thus, our quality verification methodology is quite extensive; it goes through the IP cloud up through the “So we’ve got millions of calls entering the manual activity of removing a call session layer and all the way up to the the network at any given point,” says from routing because the network quality application layer,” concludes Joseph. Joseph, “and all those calls come into the is bad. That works pretty effectively.” network and have to reach their respec- At the heart of maintaining QoS are the tive destinations. By the time a call “Additionally, we’ve made other modi- related activities of testing and monitoring. reaches the far end across the IP cloud, it fications,” says Joseph. “Let me give you could have gone through congestion an example. Let’s say a call originates in One major company in the field, points anywhere in the world. New York and it needs to terminate in Psytechnics (news - alert) Fortunately, in my shop we have a soft- Malaysia on the other side of the world, (http://www.psytechnics.com) has helped ware development group that develops but the quality of the Internet between promote the more encompassing term, the software that handles the routing of New York and Malaysia happens to be Quality of Experience (QoE) to describe the calls in the network. Given that we bad at that time. However, the Internet’s what its voice, video and multimedia solu- don’t actually own the whole pipe, we quality from New York to Los Angeles is tions do. Psytechnics recently published a probe every endpoint in our network found to be good, and it’s good from LA report (March 2007) wherein they applied which rides atop the Internet, and we to Malaysia. So in real-time we’re also their testing expertise to evaluating the probe the quality of the connections on a looking at the different paths across the voice quality of a pre-release of Microsoft fairly frequent basis. The results of these Internet cloud between all of the differ- Office Communications Server 2007 and probes are fed in real-time to the routing ent endpoints and we figure out which is Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 system. Depending on the quality of the the best path through which to ultimate- desktop VoIP solution. Their results IP pipe towards the far end, if the quality ly terminate the call. If the path from revealed that Microsoft software-generated is very bad, then the call will not be rout- New York to Malaysia is bad, but New calls deliver superior voice quality to a sin- ed there - it automatically gets taken out York to LA is good and LA to Malaysia is gle-purpose IP phone. As Psytechnics of the routing system. So, from an opera- good, then we’ll just force the call to reports, “These findings show that the tions point of view, we don’t have to do travel via LA instead of directly to quality of Microsoft’s offering is high

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 73 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index enough to allow companies to integrate which involves things such as looking they were most concerned about aren’t voice communications with PCs, which at a waveform. With IPTV the content actually in the problem space. Once could eliminate the need to purchase is less of an issue, but it is still an issue, you’ve deployed IPTV, all of those fac- expensive IP phones.” and we do some decent things to main- tors remain fairly constant.” tain quality. But especially when the Psytechnics also is now heavily into the provider receives the video files, they “When you deploy IPTV, however, testing and QoE of the burgeoning do some assessment on them to check you get interactions in the network that IPTV industry. Psytechnics’ Vice that they are of sufficient quality. Once you didn’t expect, between different President of Product Marketing, you’ve taken care of the content quali- subscribers for example, or having network elements not doing what they Benjamin Ellis, says, “Two things have ty, as it were, you don’t have much to were meant to do,” explains Ellis. “It been keeping us really busy at worry about it since once the video file comes down to how well you’re actually Psytechnics. One concerns enterprises is on the server it doesn’t get corrupted. delivering the stream. That’s great for us adopting VoIP, running into problems When it gets translated across the net- as Psytechnics, since that’s the thing we and then having us help them out. The work as packets, what we do is what we major in measuring, by looking at the other concerns IPTV, an area now call ’ingestion’ to check that it still is of stream on a packet-by-packet basis and becoming populated with many broadcast quality.” working out how well a packet gets providers, all of which have now gotten delivered and if it didn’t get delivered over the excitement of finally get it work- “We’re also into ensuring content well, then were there impairment issues ing at all, and are now interested in get- delivery to set-top boxes, and making of a sort that the subscriber will actually notice? Or is it something that would ting IPTV to work well and efficiently.” sure people actually have a picture,” simply be compensated by the set-top says Ellis. “About a year ago, people box? These are kinds of things that we “If you had asked me ten months were very focused on network tools, examine and help resolve.” ago, I would have said that the ways checking that the QoS was configured you provide a good quality of experi- correctly to deliver the IPTV and those So it appears that while QoS will ence to voice and video were somewhat sorts of things. Then there was a huge always be a cause for concern, both the similar,” says Ellis. “But recently fracas over what I was call ’signaling modern Internet and QoS techniques they’ve both diverged. The real differ- metrics’ or how quickly a customer can should allay most of the perennial fears ence between voice and video actually change channels, and how long does it held by consumers, businesses and has to do with where the content take a channel to come up on the other organizations. IT comes from. That sounds dumb, but screen once you’ve changed channels - for VoIP, the users are providing the those sorts of things. There are some Richard Grigonis is the Executive Editor of content. Much of what we do there is reasonably-sized providers in Europe TMC’s IP Communications Group. looking at the ’total speech quality’, and they’ve realized that these areas

74 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

W 3

C C E N S U T G E H S B H E T

T R I

C O A

L - W R

K M W A R

E R U O B E -M IN

R E G N I

A T R E K L I U

L N S P

I E O E E V S T N H

I F T

E V O L I E S

W D O E E E

O G O O T S S D V R R

IE A O

O S

W T T

F I A

C C O

H K

A W Y

S I N L L L

E B N N

G I D E I U A S -

M F M

P RS C

S I

THE ICET UNIVERSE EXPANDS. NXTCOMM07. where technology meets the increasing demands of content

NXTcomm 2007 is the global forum and marketplace for the new business of information, communications and entertainment technology. Enterprise users. Service providers. Technology suppliers. Content creators. The forces that drive communication and the solutions to harness it converge here. Schedule your success. For exhibition and registration information, go to NXTcommShow.com.

JUNE 18–21, 2007 | McCORMICK PLACE, CHICAGO, IL | NXTcommShow.com Enterprise Mobility

otorola’s acquisition in January 2007 of the “wearable computer” company Symbol Technologies called attention to Mthe increased mobility of enterprise employees who never- theless still demand quick and easy access to business-critical information. Motorola says its new enterprise mobility business will provide “cutting-edge, end-to-end products and services, coupled with application-specific solutions from a vast channel partner network.” The term “enterprise mobility” encompasses everything from the integration of cell phones into a corporate PBX system to vertically- oriented solutions involving the quick delivery of productivity- enhancing information to people in the field, the factory, the warehouse, at cash registers and at patients’ bedsides.

Everyone, it seems, is getting into the patient monitoring in a healthcare insti- on Internet-type services.” enterprise mobility industry. tution. There’s a multitude of building “When I reach out to CIOs and their information-type of applications that can enterprises, current mobile devices are President and CEO Kathy Zatloukal ride on this infrastructure or even some creating an awareness and interest in of the aptly-named company, security and surveillance applications. mobile data,” says Zatloukal. “These are devices such as notebooks, PDAs and MobileAccess (news - alert) Basically, it’s all about the TCO for a smartphones. Some of these can handle (http://www.mobileaccess.com) says, “Our multitude of wireless applications in the applications where there are video, voice infrastructure provides the most cost- enterprise.” and data, and then there’s the issue of effective approach for a total cost of own- the number of ’bands’ supported. ership [TCO] for enterprise connectivity “Most people believe that the wireless Complexity is definitely occurring. in buildings. In other words, a single revolution has already happened,” says That’s a trend in the marketplace that is investment allows the enterprise to enjoy Zatloukal. “However, if you follow what creating the momentum around mobile the benefits of cellular-based applications, spectrum has been allocated and what new voice and data. I believe what will actu- spectrum is scheduled to be allocated, ally create the desire and action by CIOs there’s really only a small portion of the to really embrace it for enterprise applications - possibly even to the point of spectrum available for applications that’s substitution for some wireline connectiv- The new spectrum... will actually been licensed. The new spectrum ity - will be when some 4G-type aspects that will be hitting the market is actually appear, such as what you find in the really create the true what I think will really create the true advanced IP network architectures. Then wireless revolution wireless revolution within enterprises. If you get into modulation technologies you follow the annual growth rates of fixed that really allow the performance and within enterprises. voice, fixed data, mobile voice and mobile cost factors for the operators to meet an data, you’ll see that, for network operators ’intersection point’ on a graph that in most developed countries, mobile data makes sense - for example, with now makes up 20 to 30 percent of their OFDMA, or the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access modulation more premised-based applications such as revenues. It has started to make a signifi- technology. Then you start to see a plat- wireless LAN, and it can also support cant shift in terms of where the focus will form evolve that is truly ready for public safety-type of applications. In par- be of those particular providers of wireless mobile data applications.” ticular, it supports applications used by solutions. A lot of this data right now is Over at Tango Networks (news - alert) verticals - one example would be wireless based on messaging traffic as well as early- (http://www.tango-networks.com), their

76 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis

and there’s no need for dual mode phones or client software on the phone. We basically eliminate the handset as a barrier to entry. Enterprises are transiting from TDM to IP and we’ve able to integrate with any type of PBX, leveraging the investment made in them.”

“Additionally, we give the corporation the ability to create a mobility policy and enforce it as part of the solution,” says Leo. “It’s not just a piece of paper or expense report. We have a rules engine in the Tango Abrazo E that allows enterprises to define how and when people can use their mobile phones.”

Location-Based Services

A discussion of Enterprise Mobility usually brings up the not-so-tangentially related subject of location-based services.

At NetMotion Wireless (http://www.netmotionwireless.com), technology can fuse the features of your capabilities,” says Leo. John Knopf, Director of Product PBX with the mobility of using carrier Management, says, “We don’t offer what wireless networks without resorting to Leo continues, “For the enterprise IT you’d call a traditional application. We expensive, customized handsets or hav- management team, we enable them to offer software that’s deployed by the IT ing to change user behavior. Corporate manage mobile voice and integrate it or security department - it’s basically a IT departments can use Tango Abrazo into the rest of their solution and busi- VPN, but it’s a VPN that is specialized to to manage mobile phones as they would ness applications. They can now offer ensure that mobile workers remain highly any other corporate asset, thus eliminat- productivity, accessibility and enhance- productive and that all of the data they’re ing excess calling costs, productivity ments to their end users. It also gives transmitting over the wireless networks is inefficiencies, inadequate call security, them the ability to manage the costs secure.” unavailable content monitoring and and functionality of mobile voice that “Our particular spin on location-based unnecessary legal exposure. they typically don’t have in today’s tele- methodologies is that our VPN has a poli- com environment.” cy module associated with it allowing us to Al Leo, Vice President of Business change both the VPN’s behavior and the Development and Sales, says, “We con- “The final thing that our solution things to which the user is allowed access, nect companies’ mobile phones to the does is to keep the wireless carrier or based on their location,” says Knopf. “For corporate PBX. Thus, those mobile integrated operating company front- us, a ’location’ means various things: the phones integrate into the corporate-wide and-center in the value chain with physical IP address assigned to the user’s PBX-based network. It gives a user a respect to enterprise mobility,” says Leo. network card, or a particular network single number, a single voicemail box, interface used by the employee - they access to PBX-based features which are “Our solution will work with any could be on a wireless LAN versus a carrier more robust and easier to use than the mobile phone,” says Leo. “It’s architected cellular data network. The user could even features typically associated with a cell so that we put a network element, the be associated with a particular SSID phone, such as call forwarding, abbrevi- Abrazo-C in the carrier’s network and [Service Set Identifier, a 32-character ated dialing and conference calling. We then we propose that enterprises that unique identifier attached to packet head- extend the corporate dialing plan and want to take advantage of this solution ers sent over a WLAN that acts as a pass- corporate least cost routing algorithms should then purchase the Abrazo-E as a word when a mobile device connects to a out to that end user too.” CPE-based solution that becomes part of base station]. We have a working knowl- “So, we give the end-user some pro- their PBX-based network. This approach edge of all those things and we can dynam- ductivity, acceptability and enhancing allows us to work with all mobile phones, ically change what the user has access to

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 77 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index and change the behavior of our VPN most over the last two years we’ve expended sions and the voice guys get more of the time to make people more produc- effort into developing, in particular, for involved in the data decisions. That tive and to ensure that they’re getting the traditional PDA and phones and to allow changes things to a certain extent with- best service from their data carrier and for users to control access to those devices. in an organization.” their specific applications.” But we also take into account the fact that another trend has been going on for a “From our perspective, this all raises “So, we’re not a traditional location- longer time - the fact that laptops are the strategic profile of remote access based application, where a user says, ’I’m much more cost-effective these days, and quite a bit,” says Witeck. “Much of this in a certain location. What are the associ- you’re increasingly capable of putting is being driven by the fact that increas- ated services around me such as hotels and other things on your laptop that tradition- ingly functional devices that can handle restaurants?’ Instead, we focus quite heavi- ally were in the realm of the mobile both voice and data are appearing. We ly on making the worker productive based device, such as a VoIP softphone.” see a big surge in interest in phones or on their location,” concludes Knopf. PDAs becoming remote access plat- “The convergence of voice and data forms, and that’s driven by Windows. Remote Access requires IT to look at remote access Palm was an early vendors to deploy a differently,” says Witeck. “There are functional PDA device, and Blackberry One of the earliest technologies to make more and more use-cases where users was an email-only device. But given that workers mobile was remote access. It’s mod- can work remotely; there are more IT guys are interested in both data and ern descendant is still going strong today. devices and connectivity is available at voice, interest is driven with devices that higher bandwidths and at more loca- can be increasingly functional for both At Aventail (news - alert) tions. People are also outsourcing their access to voice-based services and to spe- (http://www.aventail.com), Director of supply chains and are working more cific applications.” Product Marketing Chris Witeck says, with people who are in a different loca- “We’re fundamentally a remote access tion. Aside from these factors, compa- Let’s hope the world’s employees don’t control company. We examine the differ- nies used to have a ’voice team’ that become peeved by these gizmos that ent ways a user potentially can gain access would buy phones for employees, and enable them to be reached by anyone, to information and applications on the then there was a ’data team’ handling anytime, anywhere. IT network, as well as really increase the data connectivity and network access functionality of mobile devices as a market reliability. Put voice on the same Richard Grigonis is Executive Editor of driver. But then, the definition of mobile device, and you start to see the IT guys TMC’s IP Communications Group. driver devices includes many things. Just get more involved in the voice deci-

78 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index VoIP MARKETPLACE

New Business Development Manager Ideacom, the Independent Telecom Dealers Assoc. is seeking an experienced professional to sell our unique membership program to resellers throughout the U.S. Experience calling on voice & data resellers desired. Minimum 5 To receive free information from our years’ telecom sales experience required. College degree or equivalent. Some premium advertisers, please visit travel. Attractive compensation and benefits. Email [email protected]. freeinfo.tmcnet.com ADVERTISING INDEX

Advertiser/ Page Advertiser/ Page Advertiser/ Page Web Address Number Web Address Number Web Address Number ABP International ...... 19 i3 Networks...... 78 Polycom...... Cover 2 http://www.abptech.com http://www.i3net.us http://www.polycom.com Aculab ...... 37 iAgentNetwork...... 61 Profitec Billing ...... 25 http://www.aculab.com http://www.iagentnetwork.com http://www.profitecinc.com AdTran...... Cover 3 Ideacom ...... 39, 79 Redcom...... 23 http://www.adtran.com http://www.ideacom.org http://www.redcom.com Alliance Systems...... 15 Inter-Tel...... 13 Ring 9 ...... 27 http://www.alliancesystems.com http://www.inter-tel.com http://www.ring9.com Allworx...... 2-3 ITEXPO West...... 55 Samsung...... 5 http://www.allworx.com http://www.itexpo.com http://www.samsung.com/bcs AltiGen Communications...... 29 Iwatsu ...... 49 Sangoma...... 45 http://www.altigen.com http://www.iwatsu.com http://www.sangoma.com Atcom Technology...... 59 JPS Communications...... Cover 4 Seawolf Technologies...... 67 http://www.atcom.cn http://www.raytheon.com/jps http://www.seawolftech.com Cantata Technology...... 11 Linksys...... 17 Snom Technology ...... 79 http://www.cantata.com http://www.linksys.com http://www.snom.com Communigate Systems ...... 21 M5T...... 60 Solegy Systems...... 79 http://www.communigate.com http://www.m5t.com http://www.solegy.com Dialogic ...... 35 MERA Systems ...... 74 Target Distributing...... 31 http://www.dialogic.com http://www.mera-systems.com http://www.targetd.com Elma Electronic ...... 54 NXTcomm 2007 ...... 75 Teleformix ...... 33 http://www.elma.com http://www.nxtcommshow.com http://www.teleformix.com FaxCore ...... 70 Objectworld Communications ...... 71 Telx Technologies...... 9 http://www.faxcore.com http://www.objectworld.com http://www.telx.com GlobalTouch Telecom ...... 7, 79 Packet8 ...... 41 http://www.globaltouchtelecom.com http://www.packet8.net

Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 79 Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index The VoIP Authority By Greg Galitzine CommuniGate Update

ommuniGate Systems has taken another step towards the next generation of Internet Communications with its recent announcement of Pronto!, a CRich Media user client based on Adobe Flex 2 technology. According to Jon Doyle, vice president of business develop- of Linux virtual machines tested was increased to a maximum ment at CommuniGate, (news - alert) “Rich Media is synony- of 20 running the CommuniGate Pro SIP Farm Dynamic mous with ”interactive multimedia,“ and Pronto brings this Cluster under z/VM, the mainframe virtualization technology. new medium together with email, IM, and scheduling.” As the number of virtual machines was increased, the throughput increased near-linearly. z/VM enabled very effi- In fact, to hear Doyle tell it, much of the credit for the cient utilization of mainframe resources while meeting widespread adoption of today’s business productivity tools throughput objectives with a growing workload. needs to be given to the consumer sector. I spoke to Bill Reeder, Linux System z9 Architecture and “The first two pillars of Internet communications over the Strategy, at IBM, about the relationship between IBM and last 10 years have been email and websites, and one could CommuniGate. argue consumers drove email into widespread adoption as the primary medium for business communications with all the CommuniGate is an IBM ISV business partner. The com- CompuServe and early Hotmail types of services.” panies have been working together for about five years with IBM hosting applications, such as CommuniGate’s Stalker, on But email is so “web 1.0” isn’t it? System z hardware.

Building on this theme, Doyle believes that IM and chat are When asked about the significance of the scalability profile, also gaining momentum in the business world thanks to wide- Reeder responded, “These tests are very significant in today’s spread adoption of these technologies in the consumer market. marketplace, as telcos are undergoing a rapidly increasing need to host VoIP (define - news - alert) to their customers. “Pronto is all about unification of these standard forms of Scaling to 25 million users on one server platform raises the communications in a client that is secure and far more bar and creates a good solution for those customers.” portable than a fixed desktop client, said Doyle.” Regarding IMS, Reeder believes that the ability to scale to We’ve written about the CommuniGate Pro IP communi- 25 million users while maintaining a small server footprint in cations platform in the past and how the platform integrates an energy efficient manner means the solution should be very applications such as scheduling with the SIP engine, and pres- appealing to carriers. ence with IP phones (i.e., from Polycom) and IM clients. Pronto is the Rich Media client that presents all these applica- “Keeping in mind that the scaling of services during the test tions in a single, easy to use and flexible user interface. was linear with the number of processors, those customers can scale as their demand for VoIP services increases. When one According to the recent announcement from CommuniGate, considers the scaling possibilities hosting IMS services on Pronto talks to CommuniGate Pro via the XIMSS API (XML System z, along with management costs, and a lower cost per Interface for Messaging, Scheduling, and Signaling). square foot for energy consumption, the TCO story can be very compelling.” This new API is was introduced to CommuniGate Pro in version 5.1 last summer, and it was designed to enable rapid The future portends some exciting news for CommuniGate. development of lightweight clients and interfaces with web Doyle told me that the proposed summer 2007 release of ver- and XML skill sets. The idea is that XIMSS will allow devel- sion 5.2 will be all about expansion of mobility. opers to design UIs, build portals, interface with cable modems, or link to external applications and services with no “We are working tightly with Adobe on Flash Lite for need to use complex protocols. handsets such as the Blackjack,” said Doyle.

CommuniGate also recently announced results of a massive “Our strategy is to expose all the Rich Media capabilities of scalability profile, where the CommuniGate Pro SIP Farm the platform to mobile handsets. Subscribers will be able to running on the IBM System z mainframe was tested at IBM’s share music, update blogs, or hand off conversations on their lab in Montpelier, France. GSM network to the IP (WiFi) network seamlessly.” IT

According to a company statement, the System z main- Greg Galitzine is Group Editorial Director for TMC’s IP frame demonstrated excellent overall scalability as the number Communications Media Group.

80 INTERNET TELEPHONY® May 2007 Subscribe FREE online at http://www.itmag.com Go to Table of Contents | Go to Ad Index

SIP Magazine March 07.qxp 2/28/2007 9:20 AM Page 13