Quite often when companies look to evaluate their voice and data services they typically look for expert advice on how to make these decisions. One of the places they look first is from their phone vendor. These are the people that typically have installed their hardware or who have helped to make changes to their network over the years so certainly there is a high level of trust in working with them. There are a couple of problems associated with allowing your phone vendor to make these decisions for you.
First, they are biased. Most phone vendors are usually married to one or two carriers they work with frequently. In some cases they also resell the services of those carriers as an agent and get paid a commission for sending business to them. This creates a lot of bias in that decision making process. Sometimes the recommendation is not based on who could provide the best quality of service or even the best solution based on the company's needs but rather on whom will pay them the highest commission. There is a large number of agents who resell telecommunication services these days so this practice is quite evident in the industry. When companies look to a phone vendor to help make recommendations they should ask ahead of time if that vendor is already an agent to carriers. This would help identify when bias is present. Even if the vendor represents multiple carriers the company should look for one or two quotes from carriers that the phone vendor does not represent. Also ask about the past relationships they have had with carriers you might be evaluating. You might find that a vendor had been dropped or had a bad relationship with a carrier based on their past performance with that carrier's vendor or agent program. This should not be factored into your decision making process as it has nothing to do with the performance of that carrier yet only reflects how well the phone vendor could sell that carrier's services.
Another reason vendors can be biased is because they typically only represent a small number of hardware providers. This is due to the fact that they need to keep up with maintenance requirements of the equipment they support and this can be quite expensive. This again leads them to make recommendations that their hardware supplier or manufacturer would support and may be based on commissions, promotions, or relationships that the hardware supplier may have with certain carriers.
Secondly, phone vendors are not often educated about the new trends or new technologies present in the industry. For example the phone vendor may only be comfortable with older technologies like copper lines or PRI services that tend to be analog in nature. They may disregard the advantages of VoIP or dynamic circuits because they do not have the experience to discuss these new technologies with their clients or these technologies may take away some revenues that the phone vendor receives today based on the type of equipment that they support. Here again their opinions are highly biased on their own level of knowledge or what might be in their best interest. This knowledge base may also be limited by the number of products they sell or support and typically does not reflect a networking background that is more applicable to carrier services.
Lastly, as many carriers offer more services that are managed like managed PBXs, firewalls, routers, or enhanced features this may come in direct competition with what the phone vendor provides today. Again it causes a conflict of interest when they give recommendations to their customers. Most often than not carriers can provide managed services to customers that can reduce operating costs greatly and offer better features than are available to most customer environments today. This may overlooked by vendors who would not want to lose professional services from companies or might be looking to sell companies their own hardware upgrades to accomplish the same new features or services. A great example of this is when MPLS or VoIP services are introduced to a company. Many companies are looking for ways to provide voice services between multiple offices but don't want to pay additional Long-Distance fees to do so. An MPLS network or VoIP environment may be able to accomplish this for them. However where as many carriers can offer this to companies as a managed service such as bundled solutions with access to MPLS capabilities or plans that include unlimited calling to the various sites of a company the hardware vendor might see an opportunity to sell the customer additional equipment so that the existing PBX could do the same thing over general Internet or IP access. The difference is that the hardware vendor's solution might include a larger capital expense and not offer Class of Service or private connectivity that would ensure good voice quality while performing these functions. Do not allow a phone vendor to steer you away from carrier solutions that would enable a company to grow into these capabilities because of their own interest to sell you more hardware. In most cases adding hardware to your network is not the best approach.
-King of Telecom
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Remote Working
There is a lot of hype these days about Voice over IP (VoIP) and how it can bring more productivity features to the individual user of communication services. Mostly these new features are often pitched and prevalent with many of the new IP PBXs that are available on the market.
For those less tech savvy a PBX is a phone system or can be defined as a "Private Branch eXchange (PBX)". This refers to equipment that provides switching internally to a company or an organization rather than having a carrier provide those switching features to the PSTN or public telephone network. This is different from a "Key System" which refers to phone equipment where the user must pick the line they are going to use by pushing essentially a "key" or button. In either case PBXs have come to mean phone equipment or systems. The equipment you own typically is the primary source of your phone features but features can also be provided by carriers as well.
One of the things that carriers have been able to provide because of the dawn of IP Communications is remote worker capabilities. This essentially means that a user can work outside the office and use some other phone or line than they typically would but connect somehow to their internal voice network. Imagine the typical sales executive who works outside the office on trips or from his home. Instead of customers having to know not only his work number, but also other numbers like his cell or home office line in order to reach the sales executive, they could call one business number and that number would simultaneously ring other lines or phones that he could be reached.
The way this technology works is though a Broadsoft or other softswitch that the carrier would be using on their network. As most IP communications is handle through a softswitch there are new capabilities that these carrier platforms can offer users. Broadsoft for example has a toolbar that can be placed in Outlook or a web browser that allows users to remotely talk to the switch to enable certain functionalities. This includes remote worker functionality like simultaneous ringing, click-to-dial, feature management, and outbound calling over your business' voice network. All these features are essentially turned on through the Internet by making a connection to the softswitch directly. Conversely this could also happen through directly connecting to an IP PBX through the web as well where your phone system itself would be responsible for these advanced features but I want to focus on carrier capabilities in this post. The idea is that by using a computer and a broadband connection you connect to the softswitch through the Internet and let it know that you are working remotely. Many of the features I will describe below are "turned on" through this process so that the softswitch knows that the user is working remotely. This typically happens through an above mentioned toolbar which would have certain features built into it.
Let's take a minute to break down each these key remote work features. First is simultaneous ringing. This essentially tells the switch that when your number is dialed (i.e. your work line) that you want the switch to also dial other numbers where you can be reached. Most systems can support up to 10 simultaneous rings at once. When you pick up a phone at any one of these other numbers the softswitch then connects the call to that line and hangs up on the rest. The idea is that you never miss a important call plus you don't have to manage multiple call forward scenarios yet you simply pick up the phone where you are closest. This is perfect not only for the home user but also for the users that works out of several offices like a roaming manager or a staff member working at multiple job sites. I often find service industry professionals like CPAs and lawyers to find this tool useful as they often working at client's sites and might be given access to a temporary desk or phone in a conference room.
Second most notable feature is click-to-dial. This allows a user to simply click on a phone number within a contact field like in Outlook or one that they have on a website through a web browser. When they click on the number the number is sent through the toolbar to the switch over the internet connection that was set-up and dials the phone number called and the number that the person is working from. In this scenario the switch dials two legs of the phone call. One leg is to connect the user from where they are dialing from and the other leg is to the caller or destination that is being dialed. It is important to note that for many carriers this means you need to pay for both legs of the call but it can be a handy feature. One use is to have the call billed directly to the service of your company rather than that of the remote phone you are working from. So let's say you are in a hotel or other company where you don't have immediate access to long-distance or international calling. You could use this feature to make that call and have it billed to your company's phone circuits. To the phone that you are using it is only seen as simply an inbound call. The second reason click-to-dial features are useful is it provides the other person you dial with your company's caller ID so it seems like you are calling from your office and creates a seamless professional appearance to the person being called. This also might allow you to transfer or use other features just like you were in the office.
Lastly remote worker features allow users to instantly make feature changes to their lines remotely so for instance you can tell the switch that you will be in a meeting and all calls should be forwarded to your secretary or your voice-mail whereas as soon as you are out of that meeting you can instantly have the calls get to you live wherever you are working. This is much easy than the remote executive who is constantly banging out calls on their blackberry checking messages and checking in with internal staff letting them know their availability.
There are some real world applications of these remote worker features beyond just giving users more flexibility and some neat features. First there are many companies who have remote offices across large geographic regions. In many cases these remote offices might be much smaller than their headquarters or main offices and may not be with the same carriers or network configuration of the main office. Sometimes it becomes very hard for an IT manager or administrator to address external telecom issues for remote sites such as local lines going down or a hardware issue with a remote office's phone system. Because it may take time to resolve the issue remote worker capabilities can act as a disaster recovery feature for these offices.
Another common application is for the typical road warrior, salesperson, or executive who is out of the office a lot. To handle all of their communications on a cell phone can be cumbersome. The ability to turn other phones (especially land lines like a hotel phone or a phone at a customer's site) into a temporay work phone is very helpful for these types of workers. Also the fact that anyone can reach them by simply dialing their single business line or number makes things much more easier and simplistic in order to contact them.
Environmental issues can also be a good application for remote worker features. Sometimes when offices are rural or on a large campus it may be difficult to run typical land line to them. A good example might be an agricultural business or a college that has older annex buildings without good wiring. Also warehouse typically have this problem. The remote worker capability can often bridge the gap between this type of offcie environment or single worker who could easily access wireless broadband or use broadband wireless cards in order to connect their telephony to the major T1 service that the organization has in place. This eliminates the high cost of try to get wired connectivity to these office or perfrom costly build-outs of cabling.
In summary, the new available remote workers features of phone carriers and iPBXs offer a greater flexibility to staff and office environments who struggle with communication issues or want to become more productive whereever they are. In time the industry will offer more and more types of these features that will make communications seamless everywhere.
-Harris Von Essen
"King of Telecom"
For those less tech savvy a PBX is a phone system or can be defined as a "Private Branch eXchange (PBX)". This refers to equipment that provides switching internally to a company or an organization rather than having a carrier provide those switching features to the PSTN or public telephone network. This is different from a "Key System" which refers to phone equipment where the user must pick the line they are going to use by pushing essentially a "key" or button. In either case PBXs have come to mean phone equipment or systems. The equipment you own typically is the primary source of your phone features but features can also be provided by carriers as well.
One of the things that carriers have been able to provide because of the dawn of IP Communications is remote worker capabilities. This essentially means that a user can work outside the office and use some other phone or line than they typically would but connect somehow to their internal voice network. Imagine the typical sales executive who works outside the office on trips or from his home. Instead of customers having to know not only his work number, but also other numbers like his cell or home office line in order to reach the sales executive, they could call one business number and that number would simultaneously ring other lines or phones that he could be reached.
The way this technology works is though a Broadsoft or other softswitch that the carrier would be using on their network. As most IP communications is handle through a softswitch there are new capabilities that these carrier platforms can offer users. Broadsoft for example has a toolbar that can be placed in Outlook or a web browser that allows users to remotely talk to the switch to enable certain functionalities. This includes remote worker functionality like simultaneous ringing, click-to-dial, feature management, and outbound calling over your business' voice network. All these features are essentially turned on through the Internet by making a connection to the softswitch directly. Conversely this could also happen through directly connecting to an IP PBX through the web as well where your phone system itself would be responsible for these advanced features but I want to focus on carrier capabilities in this post. The idea is that by using a computer and a broadband connection you connect to the softswitch through the Internet and let it know that you are working remotely. Many of the features I will describe below are "turned on" through this process so that the softswitch knows that the user is working remotely. This typically happens through an above mentioned toolbar which would have certain features built into it.
Let's take a minute to break down each these key remote work features. First is simultaneous ringing. This essentially tells the switch that when your number is dialed (i.e. your work line) that you want the switch to also dial other numbers where you can be reached. Most systems can support up to 10 simultaneous rings at once. When you pick up a phone at any one of these other numbers the softswitch then connects the call to that line and hangs up on the rest. The idea is that you never miss a important call plus you don't have to manage multiple call forward scenarios yet you simply pick up the phone where you are closest. This is perfect not only for the home user but also for the users that works out of several offices like a roaming manager or a staff member working at multiple job sites. I often find service industry professionals like CPAs and lawyers to find this tool useful as they often working at client's sites and might be given access to a temporary desk or phone in a conference room.
Second most notable feature is click-to-dial. This allows a user to simply click on a phone number within a contact field like in Outlook or one that they have on a website through a web browser. When they click on the number the number is sent through the toolbar to the switch over the internet connection that was set-up and dials the phone number called and the number that the person is working from. In this scenario the switch dials two legs of the phone call. One leg is to connect the user from where they are dialing from and the other leg is to the caller or destination that is being dialed. It is important to note that for many carriers this means you need to pay for both legs of the call but it can be a handy feature. One use is to have the call billed directly to the service of your company rather than that of the remote phone you are working from. So let's say you are in a hotel or other company where you don't have immediate access to long-distance or international calling. You could use this feature to make that call and have it billed to your company's phone circuits. To the phone that you are using it is only seen as simply an inbound call. The second reason click-to-dial features are useful is it provides the other person you dial with your company's caller ID so it seems like you are calling from your office and creates a seamless professional appearance to the person being called. This also might allow you to transfer or use other features just like you were in the office.
Lastly remote worker features allow users to instantly make feature changes to their lines remotely so for instance you can tell the switch that you will be in a meeting and all calls should be forwarded to your secretary or your voice-mail whereas as soon as you are out of that meeting you can instantly have the calls get to you live wherever you are working. This is much easy than the remote executive who is constantly banging out calls on their blackberry checking messages and checking in with internal staff letting them know their availability.
There are some real world applications of these remote worker features beyond just giving users more flexibility and some neat features. First there are many companies who have remote offices across large geographic regions. In many cases these remote offices might be much smaller than their headquarters or main offices and may not be with the same carriers or network configuration of the main office. Sometimes it becomes very hard for an IT manager or administrator to address external telecom issues for remote sites such as local lines going down or a hardware issue with a remote office's phone system. Because it may take time to resolve the issue remote worker capabilities can act as a disaster recovery feature for these offices.
Another common application is for the typical road warrior, salesperson, or executive who is out of the office a lot. To handle all of their communications on a cell phone can be cumbersome. The ability to turn other phones (especially land lines like a hotel phone or a phone at a customer's site) into a temporay work phone is very helpful for these types of workers. Also the fact that anyone can reach them by simply dialing their single business line or number makes things much more easier and simplistic in order to contact them.
Environmental issues can also be a good application for remote worker features. Sometimes when offices are rural or on a large campus it may be difficult to run typical land line to them. A good example might be an agricultural business or a college that has older annex buildings without good wiring. Also warehouse typically have this problem. The remote worker capability can often bridge the gap between this type of offcie environment or single worker who could easily access wireless broadband or use broadband wireless cards in order to connect their telephony to the major T1 service that the organization has in place. This eliminates the high cost of try to get wired connectivity to these office or perfrom costly build-outs of cabling.
In summary, the new available remote workers features of phone carriers and iPBXs offer a greater flexibility to staff and office environments who struggle with communication issues or want to become more productive whereever they are. In time the industry will offer more and more types of these features that will make communications seamless everywhere.
-Harris Von Essen
"King of Telecom"
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Four Things Every Company Should Do Before Signing Telecom Contracts
"At the end of the day, all companies suck at Telecommunications". This is a direct quote from a senior executive manager I know well in the industry and is very true. Every carrier who provides voice, data, internet, or other services has weaknesses when it comes to servicing their customers. Each has strengths as well but they all share many common weaknesses when it comes to provisioning their services. The biggest challenges usually arise from the time you sign your contract till the time some engineer is actually trying to port over your numbers and turn your services on properly. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes it's because sales people didn't tell you everything you needed to know (Go figure!). Sometimes it's because the customer didn't share all the right information with the carrier. And sometimes it has to do with the monopolistic nature of the "Ma Bells" (ILECs) who actually are a necessary part of the process. The reality is that analog voice networks are complicated, IP networks are complicated, and networks that use both even when voice is traveling over IP are complicated. If you want the best value for your money when it comes to purchasing these services you need to just accept this fact and find the one company who as my old manager put it, "doesn't suck as much as the other guys."
Does that mean that you shouldn't switch carriers under the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it"? Absolutely not. What you can do is to be prepared for making those changes by learning the four things that are crucial for success when switching carriers or ordering new services from carriers.
1. Know all your numbers.
Some of the biggest challenges when provisioning new customers for carriers is accurately porting all of their phone numbers correctly. This is because many of their numbers might have been overlooked before they signed their contracts. Also they might have had some numbers with other carriers than the main carrier they were switching services. For example maybe they had some existing POTS or analog lines with the local LEC (baby bell) or other carrier for purposes of alarms, faxes, or modems. When this happens the carrier they switch to might not be able to identify this when making changes to their services when looking at the old customer service record they get from the main carrier they are porting most numbers. The problem this creates can be hard to amend quickly or might cause slight outages during the switchover process. What I tend to find is that most companies do not keep a good updated list of all their numbers so they forget about these details when signing new contracts. They assume that new carriers will be able to get this information easily for them but this is not the case.
It is much easier for the company to identify these numbers or plan what changes will be needed for themselves before switching services and they will want to do this before paperwork is gathered by the new carrier. The reason is once the new carrier enters the order into their back-end or provisioning systems it's often much more difficult to make changes after the fact. This is a major cause of problems once services are ported over and takes a lot of time and heartache to solve when not done properly. What I advise people to do is always check with all existing carriers what numbers are associated with their services by asking for their current customer service record before making changes. Also they should contact the vendor or person responsible for maintaining their phone equipment to identify all numbers that should be ported. By going through this planning they might also be able to identify lines that will no longer be needed which will help them save cost or streamline their services.
2. Know how new IP addresses will affect your network.
As many companies will bundle your Internet, data, and voice services together plus the fact that a lot of communication services are now IP based it is very important to understand how these IP changes will affect your network. Many companies don't realize that when they switch carriers their external IP addresses will change. An external IP address is how the world sees your network from the Internet or essentially outside your own network. These addresses are crucial for things like firewalls, web based services, remote workers or any application or person that needs to access your network. Typically there are several devices and applications that will be affected by changing IP blocks (this is essentially the sequence of IP addresses you are given by a carrier) and they need to be properly changed before any switchover of new services.
Many times in the past my customers have asked if they change carriers can they keep their existing IP addresses. The answer is "no" because every carrier maintains their own IP schemes and there is a limited number of external IP addresses available. This is why we sometimes see things like ww2 or ww3 in an address bar of a browser because the need for more IP addresses has grown exponentially creating different layers of the world wide web. Also, just because you were given external IP addresses from one carrier doesn't mean you own them. As soon as you leave that carrier you lose them.
The important thing to note is that proper planning is necessary when you make a change to your network and if your external IP addresses are going to change then you need to identify what systems, hardware, and applications this will affect. It is easy enough for IT administrators to make these changes but when they are not properly planned things could shut down during a cut-over or provisioning process. The good news is that just because a new carrier might turn-up a data circuit that doesn't mean that the old one shuts down necessarily. You can control when these IP changes will go into affect. The best practice is to map out how the changes will affect you and plan for the change-over before it happens with appropriate IT resources.
3. Make sure your phone equipment vendor and/or IT consultant are in the loop.
When you switch carriers the person who is almost always needed when the cut-over is going to take place is your phone vendor. Keep in mind the phone vendor is the person who is responsible for maintaining your current phone system. This person or company is usually the same person or company who installed the system but that is not always the case. The reason they are necessary during the cut-over is that typically they will have to assist the new carrier in the cut-over process whether it be cross-connecting the phone lines to new services or making slight changes to the phone system so that the new service will operate properly. The key ingredient to successful provisioning of new services is to have this resource in the loop before the change actually takes place. This allows them time to plan for the changes that will be necessary. Sometimes they might even identify where the new proposed services might not function properly or at all with the existing equipment that is available. Sure we would like to think that the salesperson would have done that but typically they will not have the knowledge to identify these issues when recommending new services. Or worse, they might just lie.
It is also a good idea to have your staff IT person or IT consultant on-site during the cut-over because they will be needed to hook up new internet/data connections to your routers or LAN switches. Again it is crucial to get them involved early in the process. If you do not have staff or vendors like these available then it is recommended you hire someone to take on this role for you when purchasing new communication services. Often I find companies assume that the telecommunication carrier or ISP will do this for them. That is almost never the case. If the right resources are consulted early in the decision making process then many problems can be avoided when its time to actually provision the new services.
4. Know what equipment will be affected by switching to new services.
When telecommunication services are changed often some of the existing equipment being used across a company's network will be affected. It is important to identify what equipment will be affected, what might be unneeded, and what might need to purchased. The first thing to consider is existing PBX or phone equipment. The equipment that is in place today might not be sufficient for the new services being proposed. For example some phone systems or existing equipment might need to be upgraded in order to work properly with new services or new features that the new carrier will be handling. These could include new cards for specific types of telephony hand-off such as Digital Trunks or PRI services. Also the new services might include more lines than existing switches or available ports can handle. These will have to be upgraded. In some instances the new services might not work at all with older equipment. Some equipment might not be needed anymore and thus can be eliminated from the network. This could include routers or firewalls that the new carrier is going to provide or manage themselves. It is important that a company realizes this up front so that they don't continue to pay for maintenance or people to support unneeded equipment.
In summary, many of the problems, challenges, and service disruptions that can happen right after provisioning new telecommunication services can be easily avoided with proper planning and communication before a company decides to move forward with new telecommunication contracts. Most of the time when these items are handled properly the company can expect a very smooth transition to new carriers and eliminate the risk of downtime or outages. The key to this planning is to outline with the proper internal resources how new services will affect the existing network and existing equipment and provide proper due diligence internally instead of making assumptions that outside vendors or carriers will handle these issues through the provisioning process.
-King of Telecom
Does that mean that you shouldn't switch carriers under the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it"? Absolutely not. What you can do is to be prepared for making those changes by learning the four things that are crucial for success when switching carriers or ordering new services from carriers.
1. Know all your numbers.
Some of the biggest challenges when provisioning new customers for carriers is accurately porting all of their phone numbers correctly. This is because many of their numbers might have been overlooked before they signed their contracts. Also they might have had some numbers with other carriers than the main carrier they were switching services. For example maybe they had some existing POTS or analog lines with the local LEC (baby bell) or other carrier for purposes of alarms, faxes, or modems. When this happens the carrier they switch to might not be able to identify this when making changes to their services when looking at the old customer service record they get from the main carrier they are porting most numbers. The problem this creates can be hard to amend quickly or might cause slight outages during the switchover process. What I tend to find is that most companies do not keep a good updated list of all their numbers so they forget about these details when signing new contracts. They assume that new carriers will be able to get this information easily for them but this is not the case.
It is much easier for the company to identify these numbers or plan what changes will be needed for themselves before switching services and they will want to do this before paperwork is gathered by the new carrier. The reason is once the new carrier enters the order into their back-end or provisioning systems it's often much more difficult to make changes after the fact. This is a major cause of problems once services are ported over and takes a lot of time and heartache to solve when not done properly. What I advise people to do is always check with all existing carriers what numbers are associated with their services by asking for their current customer service record before making changes. Also they should contact the vendor or person responsible for maintaining their phone equipment to identify all numbers that should be ported. By going through this planning they might also be able to identify lines that will no longer be needed which will help them save cost or streamline their services.
2. Know how new IP addresses will affect your network.
As many companies will bundle your Internet, data, and voice services together plus the fact that a lot of communication services are now IP based it is very important to understand how these IP changes will affect your network. Many companies don't realize that when they switch carriers their external IP addresses will change. An external IP address is how the world sees your network from the Internet or essentially outside your own network. These addresses are crucial for things like firewalls, web based services, remote workers or any application or person that needs to access your network. Typically there are several devices and applications that will be affected by changing IP blocks (this is essentially the sequence of IP addresses you are given by a carrier) and they need to be properly changed before any switchover of new services.
Many times in the past my customers have asked if they change carriers can they keep their existing IP addresses. The answer is "no" because every carrier maintains their own IP schemes and there is a limited number of external IP addresses available. This is why we sometimes see things like ww2 or ww3 in an address bar of a browser because the need for more IP addresses has grown exponentially creating different layers of the world wide web. Also, just because you were given external IP addresses from one carrier doesn't mean you own them. As soon as you leave that carrier you lose them.
The important thing to note is that proper planning is necessary when you make a change to your network and if your external IP addresses are going to change then you need to identify what systems, hardware, and applications this will affect. It is easy enough for IT administrators to make these changes but when they are not properly planned things could shut down during a cut-over or provisioning process. The good news is that just because a new carrier might turn-up a data circuit that doesn't mean that the old one shuts down necessarily. You can control when these IP changes will go into affect. The best practice is to map out how the changes will affect you and plan for the change-over before it happens with appropriate IT resources.
3. Make sure your phone equipment vendor and/or IT consultant are in the loop.
When you switch carriers the person who is almost always needed when the cut-over is going to take place is your phone vendor. Keep in mind the phone vendor is the person who is responsible for maintaining your current phone system. This person or company is usually the same person or company who installed the system but that is not always the case. The reason they are necessary during the cut-over is that typically they will have to assist the new carrier in the cut-over process whether it be cross-connecting the phone lines to new services or making slight changes to the phone system so that the new service will operate properly. The key ingredient to successful provisioning of new services is to have this resource in the loop before the change actually takes place. This allows them time to plan for the changes that will be necessary. Sometimes they might even identify where the new proposed services might not function properly or at all with the existing equipment that is available. Sure we would like to think that the salesperson would have done that but typically they will not have the knowledge to identify these issues when recommending new services. Or worse, they might just lie.
It is also a good idea to have your staff IT person or IT consultant on-site during the cut-over because they will be needed to hook up new internet/data connections to your routers or LAN switches. Again it is crucial to get them involved early in the process. If you do not have staff or vendors like these available then it is recommended you hire someone to take on this role for you when purchasing new communication services. Often I find companies assume that the telecommunication carrier or ISP will do this for them. That is almost never the case. If the right resources are consulted early in the decision making process then many problems can be avoided when its time to actually provision the new services.
4. Know what equipment will be affected by switching to new services.
When telecommunication services are changed often some of the existing equipment being used across a company's network will be affected. It is important to identify what equipment will be affected, what might be unneeded, and what might need to purchased. The first thing to consider is existing PBX or phone equipment. The equipment that is in place today might not be sufficient for the new services being proposed. For example some phone systems or existing equipment might need to be upgraded in order to work properly with new services or new features that the new carrier will be handling. These could include new cards for specific types of telephony hand-off such as Digital Trunks or PRI services. Also the new services might include more lines than existing switches or available ports can handle. These will have to be upgraded. In some instances the new services might not work at all with older equipment. Some equipment might not be needed anymore and thus can be eliminated from the network. This could include routers or firewalls that the new carrier is going to provide or manage themselves. It is important that a company realizes this up front so that they don't continue to pay for maintenance or people to support unneeded equipment.
In summary, many of the problems, challenges, and service disruptions that can happen right after provisioning new telecommunication services can be easily avoided with proper planning and communication before a company decides to move forward with new telecommunication contracts. Most of the time when these items are handled properly the company can expect a very smooth transition to new carriers and eliminate the risk of downtime or outages. The key to this planning is to outline with the proper internal resources how new services will affect the existing network and existing equipment and provide proper due diligence internally instead of making assumptions that outside vendors or carriers will handle these issues through the provisioning process.
-King of Telecom
Monday, February 4, 2008
Why would a small company start to think about creating a WAN?
One of the biggest changes going on right now in the telecom industry is the use of IP-VPN or MPLS services as technology used to provide companies WANs or Wide Area Networks. A WAN is simply a network dedicated to sending data to multiple sites. Typically this was done over Frame Relay or ATM technology in the past and usually the costs were expensive. Today that's changing rapidly as most carriers can provide secure private data access over their networks using a technology called MPLS or Multi-Protocol Labeling Switching. Essentially this allows networks to securely move data traffic from site-to-site over IP but can also tell what type of traffic it is.
Well let's back up for a second. The types of traffic that people send today could include critical data from applications, voice or video, general internet traffic (i.e. browsing websites), or e-mail or file sharing traffic. Of course not all this traffic has the same priority or shall we say should have the same priority when traveling from one LAN (Local area Network) to another LAN. The reality is that voice and video typically need to travel without interruption over a WAN otherwise the process by which we hear or see the traffic on the other side can be a problem. Basically this is why some VoIP calls sound garbled or echoed. Other traffic like mission critical data should also take priority over a circuit as it becomes crucial to processes and users from the other side of the connection. MPLS allows you to prioritize traffic so that some data types can always take precedent over other data types. Also traffic riding over an MPLS network doesn't necessarily travel with the traffic of the public internet making it much more secure and efficient. One of the biggest reasons some VoIP services are viewed as bad quality is that its riding with public IP rather than other private networks.
The key is that its makes it much easier for multiple types of traffic to share the same data circuits instead of the old days where a company had to purchase multiple circuits for different types of data. As we move into an all IP world this major cost is starting to go away. Now the point I want to really make is where this newer technology can really make a huge impact with smaller companies. Recently I was working with a couple of companies who only had two sites; one was their main headquarters and the other was a remote office. When I saw what they were doing as far as connecting the two offices for data purposes I found two classic older methodologies in use. The first was a private line which is essentially a circuit that uses 'clear channels" to talk to both offices and is directly connected from one office to another. This means that on a standard T1 there are 24 channels or trunks that can used to move data and sometimes voice. The problem is that it has to be one or the other. Typically private lines are channelized where half of the pipe (thats industry jargon for circuit) is for voice and the other half is for data. The end result is less bandwidth is available for both applications to run over the circuit.
The other methodology was using a VPN between sites or a Virtual Private Network. I do not want to go too in depth with what a VPN actually is or how it works but they are very common these days and can work well for many companies. The problem is they too have limitations. First they create a lot of overhead on bandwidth when used constantly as they can be when connecting two offices. If you have one T1 let's say for Internet access which gives you 1.5 MB of bandwidth, when you start using a point-to-point VPN connection you start to eat up a lot of that bandwidth. Although it might work great for the intermittent data you plan to send to another office it might also really slow down people in your office who need access to the web. There are other problems that can make a simple VPN connection not an optimal solution for a company such as latency, management of routers, lack of true QOS (Quality of Service).
Today MPLS or IP-VPNs allow companies to set up a true WAN for connecting offices but for many people they see this as only a solution when they have multiple offices or a lot of different types of traffic. I disagree. I think even small businesses with just two locations should start taking a serious look at creating WAN connectivity using MPLS technology. The reason is that there is a major shift going on in the industry in how typical T1 circuits are sold. Most carriers offer some type of dynamic T1 solution these days whereby voice and data are utilizing the full bandwidth of a circuit and although voice communications on the internal network or the hand off to a PBX might be analog in nature the back-end transport of the voice is IP. This is the typical first step into VoIP that most companies take while not having to change the older phone equipment they have today. But there is more to offer on these dynamic T1s. Usually a carrier who has MPLS in place as a product can easier open up an MPLS port on the same dynamic circuit they use for voice and internet. Now for not much more additional monthly cost that same circuit can handle multiple types of traffic including application data that in the past either had either a separate private line or VPN connection in place to handle it. The benefit is more efficient use of traffic over less amount circuits and at the end of the day the less circuits you have the less fixed monthly cost you spend on your total telecom bill. Also there are other benefits like its easier to support real-time priority of IP voice traffic especially for companies who are upgrading their PBXs. In the old days they were told by vendors you have to use a private line since its the only way I can get calls from one office to another office so two older PBXs can talk to each other. Today there are new boards and upgrades for older phone equipment where everything can ride over IP and if an MPLS connection is in place voice can take first priority over the circuit so the quality of the voice service can be maintained without latency.
Keep in mind that some companies pay nearly $800/month for connectivity over a private line and many IT professionals spend a lot of time trying to get VPNs to work correctly. A carrier can offer a company a T1 for their voice and internet services and typically can offer the addition of an MPLS port on that circuit for an estimated $200 - $250 more. As companies try to consolidate their services they will find that this model makes a lot of sense for the future concerns or challenges they are trying to solve when talking about data transfer between offices. For the two companies mentioned previously, it meant over $1000/month of cost savings and more overall bandwidth available for end users at each office.
-King of Telecom
Well let's back up for a second. The types of traffic that people send today could include critical data from applications, voice or video, general internet traffic (i.e. browsing websites), or e-mail or file sharing traffic. Of course not all this traffic has the same priority or shall we say should have the same priority when traveling from one LAN (Local area Network) to another LAN. The reality is that voice and video typically need to travel without interruption over a WAN otherwise the process by which we hear or see the traffic on the other side can be a problem. Basically this is why some VoIP calls sound garbled or echoed. Other traffic like mission critical data should also take priority over a circuit as it becomes crucial to processes and users from the other side of the connection. MPLS allows you to prioritize traffic so that some data types can always take precedent over other data types. Also traffic riding over an MPLS network doesn't necessarily travel with the traffic of the public internet making it much more secure and efficient. One of the biggest reasons some VoIP services are viewed as bad quality is that its riding with public IP rather than other private networks.
The key is that its makes it much easier for multiple types of traffic to share the same data circuits instead of the old days where a company had to purchase multiple circuits for different types of data. As we move into an all IP world this major cost is starting to go away. Now the point I want to really make is where this newer technology can really make a huge impact with smaller companies. Recently I was working with a couple of companies who only had two sites; one was their main headquarters and the other was a remote office. When I saw what they were doing as far as connecting the two offices for data purposes I found two classic older methodologies in use. The first was a private line which is essentially a circuit that uses 'clear channels" to talk to both offices and is directly connected from one office to another. This means that on a standard T1 there are 24 channels or trunks that can used to move data and sometimes voice. The problem is that it has to be one or the other. Typically private lines are channelized where half of the pipe (thats industry jargon for circuit) is for voice and the other half is for data. The end result is less bandwidth is available for both applications to run over the circuit.
The other methodology was using a VPN between sites or a Virtual Private Network. I do not want to go too in depth with what a VPN actually is or how it works but they are very common these days and can work well for many companies. The problem is they too have limitations. First they create a lot of overhead on bandwidth when used constantly as they can be when connecting two offices. If you have one T1 let's say for Internet access which gives you 1.5 MB of bandwidth, when you start using a point-to-point VPN connection you start to eat up a lot of that bandwidth. Although it might work great for the intermittent data you plan to send to another office it might also really slow down people in your office who need access to the web. There are other problems that can make a simple VPN connection not an optimal solution for a company such as latency, management of routers, lack of true QOS (Quality of Service).
Today MPLS or IP-VPNs allow companies to set up a true WAN for connecting offices but for many people they see this as only a solution when they have multiple offices or a lot of different types of traffic. I disagree. I think even small businesses with just two locations should start taking a serious look at creating WAN connectivity using MPLS technology. The reason is that there is a major shift going on in the industry in how typical T1 circuits are sold. Most carriers offer some type of dynamic T1 solution these days whereby voice and data are utilizing the full bandwidth of a circuit and although voice communications on the internal network or the hand off to a PBX might be analog in nature the back-end transport of the voice is IP. This is the typical first step into VoIP that most companies take while not having to change the older phone equipment they have today. But there is more to offer on these dynamic T1s. Usually a carrier who has MPLS in place as a product can easier open up an MPLS port on the same dynamic circuit they use for voice and internet. Now for not much more additional monthly cost that same circuit can handle multiple types of traffic including application data that in the past either had either a separate private line or VPN connection in place to handle it. The benefit is more efficient use of traffic over less amount circuits and at the end of the day the less circuits you have the less fixed monthly cost you spend on your total telecom bill. Also there are other benefits like its easier to support real-time priority of IP voice traffic especially for companies who are upgrading their PBXs. In the old days they were told by vendors you have to use a private line since its the only way I can get calls from one office to another office so two older PBXs can talk to each other. Today there are new boards and upgrades for older phone equipment where everything can ride over IP and if an MPLS connection is in place voice can take first priority over the circuit so the quality of the voice service can be maintained without latency.
Keep in mind that some companies pay nearly $800/month for connectivity over a private line and many IT professionals spend a lot of time trying to get VPNs to work correctly. A carrier can offer a company a T1 for their voice and internet services and typically can offer the addition of an MPLS port on that circuit for an estimated $200 - $250 more. As companies try to consolidate their services they will find that this model makes a lot of sense for the future concerns or challenges they are trying to solve when talking about data transfer between offices. For the two companies mentioned previously, it meant over $1000/month of cost savings and more overall bandwidth available for end users at each office.
-King of Telecom
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Hello IP
This is the first post from my blog which is dedicated to helping people understand new trends in the telecommunication industry as well as focusing on topics that affect every network using IP, (Internet Protocol). Every week I will post an article, an idea, and maybe even an example of how next generation solutions in the telecommunication industry can help people and companies become more profitable, more productive, and solve challenges. This blog was meant to be unbiased and consultative to its readers. Please feel free to reply to posts, add your own ideas, and challenge me, the author, whenever possible. My goal is to educate, enlighten, and read between the lines of many new technologies that are misunderstood.
Sincerely,
Harris Von Essen
aka "King of Telecom"
Sincerely,
Harris Von Essen
aka "King of Telecom"
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