ICP differentiates and expands its service portfolio - Company Business and Marketing

Communications News, Feb, 2001

Deregulation and the hypercompetitive market force some service providers to dig deep into a new "bag of tricks."

Targeted at small and midsized businesses that are looking for affordable broadband and Internet access, Airwire.net offers services on its high-speed wireless metropolitan area network (MAN) that covers central Florida. The wireless application service provider has successfully integrated a virtual central office (CO) system with the broadband wireless services it provides to customers, and is now able to bundle high-speed Internet access with voice applications, such as PBX extension to branch offices and telecommuters.

Airwire.net is one of a new class of service provider that is integrating voice and data services. Such integrated communications providers (ICPs) are using broadband technologies, such as fixed wireless, cable and xDSL, to deliver traditional voice and data services. The combination of deregulation in telecommunications markets around the globe and the hypercompetitive ISP, CLEC and ICP market is forcing the ICP to find additional ways to differentiate and expand service portfolios.

Offering a basic set of services is no longer enough. ICPs must also offer a complement of value-added services in the most cost-effective manner to remain competitive, and also use a combination of broadband technologies to reach all of their customer solutions.

Overlay networking is an approach that allows the ICP to leverage its broadband infrastructure to deliver enhanced and value-added services. Dubbed the virtual central office, overlay networking uses the flexibility and ubiquity of the Internet to deliver traditional voice services with new value-added service and applications. Within the softswitch architecture, the virtual CO utilizes a client/server architecture to combine convergent, broadband access devices with service management and application servers.

The resulting solution allows ICPs to use broadband access technologies, such as xDSL, wireless, cable modem or ISDN. With the power to reach any customer location, ICPs can use this approach to provide enhanced services--such as IP Centrex and PBX extension--and value-added services--such as unified messaging, find-me/follow-me and teleconferencing.

In addition to data traffic, a private voice network allows small and midsized companies to carry their interoffice voice on the ICP's network and thus bypass the ILEC. The resulting applications include telecommuting, PBX extension and the virtual PBX. Telecommuter applications provide data, voice and fax connectivity-from the small office or home office (SOHO) to a large office. In a slightly different context, PBX extension addresses higher-density remote offices or branch offices, and requires the services of the larger site's LAN and PBX.

Airwire.net uses NexTone's iVANi system to deliver voice and data services to customers. The system employs a client/server architecture that provides an IP overlay that is managed from a central site.

Airwire.net broadband wireless network extends PBX services from client MC Assembly's headquarters to its branch offices. In addition, Airwire.net allows MC Assembly to leverage cable access to deliver the same services to the home office of a telecommuter.

Airwire.net deployed the iEdge 500 in the branch offices of MC Assembly and in the home of its telecommuter. This device interfaces with the branch analog phones, PCs and fax machines. In addition, POTS connections are supported for lifeline services. iEdge software provides a suite of services, including IP routing, firewall security, analog telephony support, group 3 fax support and EdgeQoS for traffic prioritization.

The iEdge 510 is installed in the headquarters of MC Assembly, serving as a gateway to MC Assembly's analog PBX and optimized for voice and data connectivity to office voice systems and local area networks. Both the 500 and 510 share the same software services and are managed remotely by the NOC.

The installed CPE communicates with the iVANi iServer located in Airwire.net's NOC. This multirole platform enables network management and provisioning of the CPE, and supports the deployment of enhanced services and value-added applications.

All iVANi components are managed, configured and provisioned via the iView application, a Java-based application that provides a graphical point-and-click interface to simplify and facilitate large-scale deployments. The server supports autoconfiguration and provisioning of client devices so that services are quickly and painlessly deployed to end users. Once clients are operational, it provides a centralized and redundant platform with signaling protocol mediation for the distribution of call setup information, including address resolution, least-cost routing and quality of service information.

On-net and off-net calls can be made using the Airwire.net network, and do not originate or terminate on the public switched telephone network (PSTN). These calls are transported between iVANi clients and are terminated on a network endpoint, which may be an analog phone, analog PBX, key system or digital PBX.