MetaSwitch eNews - February 2007

Happy New Year eNews readers! Now that the holidays are behind us it's time to rev up for what will undoubtedly be a successful new year.

2007 has already proven to be a fruitful (and busy!) year here at MetaSwitch. We've learned that we are at the top of the North American softswitch market by selling the most subscriber licences in Q2/Q3 2006 and are also happy to announce recent wins in Guam and Canada.

Due to our continuing success we have several notable plans on the horizon. We are expanding our training capabilities in order to serve the growing needs of our customers, our in-house professional services team has been reinforced with new recruits so that they can continue to develop comprehensive network solutions and our marketing team is also expanding so that we can continue to frequent the tradeshow circuit and help our customers develop successful marketing campaigns that highlight the services offered by their MetaSwitch.

Please read on to hear more about our plans for 2007 and as always please don't hesitate to contact me if you should have any questions or comments about MetaSwitch eNews.

MetaSwitch Professional Services Delivers Migration Solution to First Communications

First Communications of Akron, Ohio contracted MetaSwitch Professional Services to undertake a comprehensive network migration solution from their existing two Nortel DMS500s and UNE-P customer base to a MetaSwitch next-generation network consisting of a pair of geographically distributed Call Agents and three MG3510 Media Gateways. The services provided included Network Design, Installation, Commissioning, Migration Planning, Subscriber Migration Scripts and MOPs, Training and Project Management.

The kick-off meeting in February 2006 made one thing clear; the project was on a tight schedule in order to cap the legacy costs. However, there were several other key benefits; it enabled First Communications to collapse both of their DMS500 switches onto a single next generation softswitch platform, reduced costs for space, power and maintenance while enabling the capacity for rapid new service delivery and feature upgrades. This new network architecture enabled First Communications to simultaneously design and build a VoIP-based college campus solution using a Broadband-over-powerline infrastructure, all over the same network infrastructure with a significantly reduced cost compared to TDM networks.

Trends in the SMB VoIP Market: How to Sell to End User Concerns

John Macario
President, Savatar

A few weeks ago my company, Savatar, was hosting a dinner for some of our clients. We decided that we would like to give our guests a gift with our logo on it to keep our company at the top of their minds. Our office manager put together some options: polo shirts, key chains, computer cases - the usual stuff. Despite differences in quality and pricing for the products and companies we looked at, we found that each company we contacted had several things in common.

In my experience, companies peddling gift items are not the only ones who give this kind of focused customer attention to the Small and Medium Business (SMB) market. In the last year our small business bought everything from a terabyte of managed storage space from EMC to office supplies from our local Staples. In each case, the vendors we contacted provided service consistent with our gift buying experience.

In fact, over the course of last year there was only one group of companies who miserably failed to meet our expectations for service to small business: VoIP providers.

Since 2003, Savatar has conducted regular market research studies into the SMB market for VoIP. As part of that research, we work with an SMB client to help them evaluate and purchase a new, converged voice and data solution. This gives us a first hand look at how service providers manage their sales process, price and position their products, and respond to SMB inquiries. Each time, we are shocked at the difficulty of the sales process, the lack of focus on VoIP's key economic advantages and the utter irrationality of the provider's pricing models.

MetaSwitch Forum 2007: Communities of Innovation

By Elaine Perez
Marketing Manager

"Communities of Innovation" is the theme for the MetaSwitch Forum 2007 - three information-packed days of presentations, discussions and networking.

The fourth and largest-ever MetaSwitch Forum will be held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida, April 18-20, 2007. Attendees will have a great opportunity to network with their peers and MetaSwitch executives as well as gain a wealth of new information in a variety of sessions.

The Forum will kick-off with the enhanced MetaSwitch U, a series of technical classes taught by the MetaSwitch training team. MetaSwitch U picks up where our in-house training leaves off, with classes covering a range of topics from CALEA to Unified Messaging to VoIP Troubleshooting and more.

In addition to the general sessions such as the CEO Report, the MetaSwitch Vision and the Future of Telecom panel, attendees will also be able to choose from a wide variety of breakout sessions covering engineering, operations, marketing and business topics.

This year's roster of speakers includes MetaSwitch executives, consulting engineers, partners, and a variety of leading industry experts including:

New to the Forum this year is the partner-sponsored MetaSwitch Expo. With more than 20 companies exhibiting, attendees will visit booths showcasing a variety of products and services that interoperate with the MetaSwitch, from access gear to IP phones.

In keeping with the MetaSwitch tradition, fun is always part of the package! There will be a poolside welcome reception, a night of dinner and partying at a special Orlando hotspot, plus a choice of Friday afternoon activities including a round of golf, riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles, an afternoon at Disney World, or horseback riding. While our attendees are attending sessions, our spouse program will ensure that the "better halves" also have a good time.

For more information about the MetaSwitch Forum 2007, please contact Elaine Perez at or call 510-748-5385.

A Chat with MetaSwitch Training for 2007

With Dave Brooks, Technical Instructor / Developer

The start of the New Year brings with it more MetaSwitch features, more services, and a continued focus on end-to-end next generation solutions. Through the fervor of it all, we've managed to corner the Training team for a moment to answer some common questions and give us an idea of what to expect in the year to come.

Question: I've noticed over the past several months that the Training team has been very busy. Do you see this changing in 2007?

Answer: Definitely not! We have been successful as a company expanding our customer base and the outlook is good. The complexity of our customers' networks also continues to evolve to offer more and increasingly complex services to a wider audience in less time. All this is to say that the demand for good skills-based training will not likely diminish anytime soon!

Question: If that's the case, what is MetaSwitch Training doing to meet that demand?

Answer: We are aggressively pursuing a couple of avenues to make training more readily available for our customers. We will of course, continue to offer courses at our training center in Alameda, CA. Starting in April, we will also be delivering regular training at a new venue just outside Boston, MA. By mid-year, we plan to have a third location in the Boca Raton, FL area.

We will also continue to offer regional classes at locations such as Des Moines, Iowa, our office in Reston, VA, and others, should we have the opportunity to do so.

We are also adding additional Instructors to our Training team. In addition to John Nevius, our Alameda-based Instructor, I have recently joined the team. I am based out of Boston and am a long-time training professional. A third Instructor will be joining us in the very near future. We continually monitor demand and "mean time to get trained" and will recruit additional talent as needed.

By growing the team and adding more venues from which we can offer training, it will be much easier in 2007 for our customers to get the training they need when they need it.

MetaSwitch leads North American Class 5 Softswitch Market

MetaSwitch wins Télébec

Télébec and MetaSwitch have joined forces to bring digital telephony to Télébec's customers. This strategic multi-year partnership centers around infrastructure deployment enabling the launch of new services based on Télébec's IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) architecture.

"Télébec is committed to delivering highly innovative IP-based services to our business and residential customers," said Sylvie Couture, Télébec's chief technology officer. "MetaSwitch is at the heart of this transition of our business. Thanks to their core technologies and deployment experience, we will have the service options and flexibility we need to build customer loyalty and stay ahead of potential competitors."

In addition to being the lead equipment provider, MetaSwitch is providing a wide range of professional services including systems integration and project management.

"Télébec's move to offer an innovative suite of IP services comes at the right time as the market for advanced VoIP and other IP services heats up in Canada," said Jon Arnold, an independent analyst and president of Toronto-based J. Arnold and Associates. "MetaSwitch clearly understand how to help innovative carriers successfully transition to an IP infrastructure and this partnership with Télébec underscores their emergence as a Tier 1 vendor in the softswitch and IMS space."

IT&E Broadens Services with New Technology

IT&E, an innovative wireless and internet service provider serving Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific is deploying MetaSwitch's advanced hosted PBX services to grow and sustain its customer base.

The 27-year-old carrier serving the 210-square mile U.S. territory in the Marianas island chain had several goals when it installed MetaSwitch technology. The company was seeking to build on its history as a successful provider of long distance, PCS wireless and internet service by becoming a CLEC and offering advanced IP-based services such as wireless Internet and unified communications to its residential and business customers.

"IT&E is thinking beyond the traditional role of a telephone provider," said Andrew Randall, vice president of marketing at MetaSwitch. "To meet the expectations for next generation services in its market, IT&E is investing in robust, flexible solutions from MetaSwitch which enables it to differentiate by delivering enhanced services such as fiber to the home, hosted PBX and fixed/mobile convergence."

"The largest element in the economy of Guam is the tourist industry and most of our visitors come from Japan, which is probably the most advanced country in the world in terms of wireless technology and advanced telecommunications services," said IT&E President John Borlas. "We have targeted the needs of our tourist hotels in this fiercely-competitive market and the MetaSwitch technology gives us the ability to roll out these services."

With its investment in the MetaSwitch solution and the resulting new services, IT&E intends to offer the broadest set of services of any carrier in Guam.

New Podcasts

And Finally...

A striking example of why incumbents need to offer state-of-the-art services to their customers:

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in eight households did not have a landline telephone in the first half of 2006. It was one in 20 just three years ago.