Metaswitch eNews - October 2006
IN THIS ISSUE
We at Metaswitch are excited to launch the inaugural edition of Metaswitch eNews!
When we started planning this newsletter there were a variety of goals we had in
mind - establish an effective communication vehicle, educate our readers on the
latest news in next generation telecommunications, and continue to build solid relationships
with our customers and friends throughout the industry. Our hope is that Metaswitch
eNews meets all these goals and that you find it to be a satisfying read!
There are many people to thank for their contribution to this first issue. Our good
friend Gary Kim provided us with a remarkable article that takes a look at the benefits
and drawbacks of IPTV, while Mary Shacklett kindly allowed us to publish a recent
case study that she wrote, looking at how ComSpan successfully deployed triple-play
FTTH services with Metaswitch. Other articles in this first edition include an introduction
to IMS, a look back (and forward) to the Metaswitch Forum, a preview of what it
takes to become a Metaswitch interoperability partner and more.
I hope you find the first edition of Metaswitch eNews valuable and interesting,
meeting the goals we have set for this publication. I look forward to future editions
of Metaswitch eNews and always welcome your feedback. To send comments or questions,
please email me at
.
Happy Reading!
Cory
By Gary Kim
Editor in Chief, IP News
The fact that the whole U.S. cable and telephone industry agrees on the importance
of Triple and Quadruple Play strategies is probably a good thing. It suggests executives
have learned the importance of economies of scope, not simply economies of scale,
in the hyper-competitive environment bearing down upon the whole industry.
Scale, you will recall, is about selling large quantities of something or producing
large quantities of a small number of things. It's a great strategy for mass markets.
Scope, by way of contrast, entails the selling of multiple products or services
to a customer. Think bundling. That's scope.
Scope is the right strategy for a competitive market, just as scale might have served
both the cable TV and telephone industries in the past. Consider the matter of stranded
assets and potential market share, for example.
In the old protected markets, cost per home and revenue per home were nearly identical,
since just about every single dwelling passed by the network actually bought services.
In that sort of environment, "cost per passing," "cost per home"
or "cost per drop" was a pretty meaningful metric. If nearly every household
bought service, then the cost of the network really was just about identical to
"cost per customer".
Read More
By Matt Byrd, Sales Engineer
The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an architecture that merges the applications
and capabilities of the Internet with both wireless and wireline telephony, and
promotes fixed/mobile convergence. When realized, IMS will pave the way for true
multimedia applications, both voice and video, to be used through multiple forms
of access, including third generation (3G) wireless devices such as mobile phones
and PDAs, as well as through traditional Internet access methods including corporate
LANs and broadband connections.
IMS is also, perhaps more importantly, a blueprint for how carriers and service
providers can architect their networks to deliver these multimedia applications,
defined in such a way as to make it much easier and faster for vendors to produce
the underlying, interoperable infrastructure that enable service delivery. The interfaces
and protocols required to deliver these IP multimedia applications and services
are standardized, making it much easier for providers of these new services to develop
and integrate new services that will be delivered over IMS infrastructures. It also
provides a much cleaner mechanism for leveraging the vast wealth of services developed
for the Internet using technologies such as HTTP, Java, etc., allowing these services
to be utilized over mobile communications in addition to "non-mobile"
connections. Last, but by no means least, IMS even allows services to be transferred
seamlessly between different access networks when users switch between them (e.g.
when a user moves from a fixed network connection such as a home broadband connection
to a mobile network connection such as a mobile phone).
Read More
By Mary Shacklett, President of Transworld Data
VoIP Magazine
Demographic studies over the next 20 years show a steady migration of baby boomers
to either urban areas with abundant shopping, entertainment and convenience options
or rural areas that offer the space, quiet and affordability that suburban and urban
areas no longer can. These retiring baby boomers will put pressure on rural areas,
which lack the infrastructure and the economic base to respond to an influx of new
residents - and that's precisely what this case study intends to address.
An influx of retiring baby boomers can be some of the toughest kind of growth that
a rural community can experience. This is because many rural communities do not
offer abundant spending opportunities for the boomers' disposable incomes, and the
retirees that come into the community are also not working or in a position to become
a strong tax base.
At the same time, the younger, working population in these communities doesn't change
much. There are only so many jobs. Many of the jobs are at lower wage and education
levels. The end result is an intriguing community dichotomy that has young and middle
aged working population staying the same or even declining, while non-working retirees
come in to grow the overall population base.
The big questions for telcos considering offering new services like VoIP to these
rural areas are, how do you create loyal customers and a strong profit base in rural
communities where the elderly and retired population is growing, and the young and
middle aged wage earners are diminishing? And is it possible to profitably deliver
a package of advanced services that will appeal to this demographic?
With its headquarters in Roseburg, Oregon, ComSpan was an emerging CLEC (competitive
local exchange carrier) that wanted to grow its service area in the rural communities
of southern Oregon outside of their headquarters. One of these communities was Bandon,
a seaside town just on the other side of the California border, with many residents
who had already returned and relocated from populous areas with advanced telecommunications
offerings.
Read More
By Elaine Perez, Marketing Manager
Earlier this year, Metaswitch underscored its tremendous growth with the third annual
Metaswitch Forum, held in Dallas, Texas, March 6-9, 2006 and the first Metaswitch
Forum Canada held in Toronto, Ontario on April 5-6. More than 200 telecommunications
industry leaders from the United States, Canada and the Caribbean participated in
the interactive executive conferences where they heard the latest news from Metaswitch
senior managers and shared their success stories deploying new services with Metaswitch.
"It was exciting to just come and experience the momentum that is building
behind Metaswitch" said Jim Funk, new User Group President, Tri-County Telephone
(Wyoming). "I am honored to be a part of the growing community of service providers
who are successfully deploying innovative services with Metaswitch's class-leading
technology."
At the March conference, sessions included keynote guest speakers, technology training,
a review of best practices for marketing new services leveraging the Metaswitch
platform, demonstrations of new features and management tools, and "birds of
a feather" discussion groups. After-hours entertainment ranged from golf to
billiards to horseback riding to a casino night at the world-famous Southfork Ranch,
location of the hit TV series Dallas.
"We have built an incredibly strong base over the past year, with more than
300 carrier deployments now powered by Metaswitch," said John Lazar, Metaswitch
CEO. "Our forums are a fantastic opportunity to be able to present and get
positive feedback on our strong vision for the future - a vision that is tied to
massive ongoing investment in our technology and organization to ensure we continue
to scale in line with accelerating growth over the coming year."
Planning is already underway for the 2007 Metaswitch Forum and Metaswitch is expecting
another successful event with an anticipated 300+ attendees! The forum will be held
at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida, April 18- 20, 2007. Attendees
can expect to hear from distinguished industry visionaries, discuss issues with
Metaswitch executives, preview upcoming product releases, see strategic partner
presentations, interact with fellow Metaswitch customers and much more.
For more information about the 2007 Metaswitch Forum, please contact Elaine Perez
at
.
Metaswitch has partnered with Dash911 to simplify the implementation of 9-1-1 emergency
calling by VoIP providers. The new business and technology solution combines Metaswitch's
softswitch with Dash911's hosted service platform, to enable VoIP service providers
to route 911 calls to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) based
on the subscriber's current location. A full range of VoIP calling features, including
custom call treatments and web-based configuration, are available to subscribers
from the Metaswitch platform. When subscribers move their VoIP device from one location
to another, the Dash911 web portal — integrated with Metaswitch's own Web Self-Care
solution — offers a "ready to go" Web-based mechanism for them to easily
update their location information. Call routing is achieved either via traditional
MF or SS7 trunks (for subscribers within the provider's local calling area), or
via the Dash911 switched 9-1-1 service using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP),
for out-of-area subscribers.
While this functionality was previously technically possible, it typically required
service providers to develop their own Web interface and back-end integration. This
new solution enables Metaswitch users to meet FCC and CRTC requirements for 9-1-1
call routing, along with an elegant Web interface for subscribers, by executing
a single service agreement with Dash911.
"Support for emergency calling is now a requirement for all VoIP providers
offering services in North America based on rulings by the regulators in both the
United States and Canada," said Jon Arnold, VoIP blogger and Principal of the
telecommunications analyst firm J Arnold and Associates. "This announcement
is a significant milestone in the VoIP industry's adoption of ubiquitous 9-1-1 service."
By Doug Kreitz, Solutions Director
Look in this space in every issue for discussion of interesting activities surrounding
Metaswitch and our partners. As a good place to start, this month's column is an
overview of the partner program here at Metaswitch.
Metaswitch realized early on - before we shipped our first switch - that we could
not stand alone and serve our customers well. As a result of that early realization,
our partner program is more than five years old. During that time, we have tested
well over 220 devices or services from 97 vendors. There are 133 devices or services
that have completed testing successfully and 12 new devices or services in test
at this printing. No vendors appear on our website without completing our testing,
which means our customers have a wide choice of equipment that will work with a
Metaswitch.
There are two levels of partners listed in our online database. The first is a Certified
Partner. This means that the partner has completed a Metaswitch test plan and has
submitted the results to us. We require documentation of firmware levels and configuration
before we officially Partner Certify a vendor's product. All of this information
is available to our customers for review before considering the purchase of equipment
or services.
The second level of partner is a Metaswitch Accredited Partner. These partners have
supplied equipment to our labs and our own interoperability test team has tested
them thoroughly. In addition to the test plan utilized for Partner Certification,
the appropriate stress tests for that particular device or service are completed.
The majority of our Metaswitch Accredited partners also have a Metaswitch in their
labs for their own internal testing and problem resolution efforts. Our customers
can rest assured that a Metaswitch Accredited partner is well tested and will deploy
easily with their Metaswitch.
The above gives you a brief insight into the comprehensive nature of our partner
program which we view as critical to your successful deployments. We will continue
to refine and strengthen the program, striving to further reduce the likelihood
of service impacting interoperability issues in the field. Please look forward to
additional information on the program and featured partners in this space in issues
to come.
Please forward questions or comments to
.
Zen and the Art of Network Transformation
Sponsored by Metaswitch
This entertaining and informative series of podcasts brings together industry analysts,
technology experts, and service providers to discuss how carriers are transforming
their networks and their businesses to benefit from the opportunities offered by
multi-service, packet based technologies.
Part of the PodTech network
of leading technology podcasts, and sponsored by Metaswitch, Zen and the Art of
Network Transformation is "must-download" listening for your
iPod or PC.
1. Network Transformation: Market Drivers
Podtech.net sits down with Joe McGarvey, Senior Analyst at Current Analysis (pictured
on left), and John Lazar, Metaswitch CEO (pictured on right), to discuss why service
providers are migrating their networks to IMS-based architectures including IP/Ethernet,
VoIP, IPTV and converged multimedia services.
2. IMS Interoperability - Getting Ahead Of The Deployment Curve
Podtech.net sits down with Roger Ward, President of the MultiService Forum (MSF)
and Head of network evolution strategy for BT's Chief Technology Office (pictured
on left), and Jon Rowland, Software Development Manager for Metaswitch Carrier Division
(pictured on right), to discuss why the world’s first IMS interoperability test
event in October, Global MSF Interop (GMI) 2006, is so important for vendors and
service providers in achieving interoperability based on open standards.
By Cory Boller
Editor, Metaswitch eNews
With an aggressive trade show schedule, Metaswitch has created quite a buzz! Show
highlights from this summer and early fall include:
GLOBALCOMM 2006
Chicago, IL
With over 200,000 square feet of exhibit space dedicated to more than 500 companies
at this year's GLOBALCOMM, it was not easy to stand out in the crowd. But with a
little creativity and imagination by Metaswitch's marketing team, this year's booth
was a big hit due to its original artwork inspired by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.
The comic book style graphics told the simple but compelling story that, with Metaswitch,
service providers can achieve a smooth migration to a next generation network without
trouble and tears.
"I was attracted to the booth from the other side of the show floor" said
one show-goer. Another approached the booth with an enormous grin exclaiming "Lichtenstein!"
Booth traffic at this year's event reflected the same kind of excitement for Metaswitch's
softswitch technology. During show hours, the booth was never empty as customers,
information gatherers, and passers-by stopped in to learn about the diverse set
of solutions Metaswitch has to offer.
In addition to creating a buzz at the booth Andy Randall, VP of Marketing and Martin
Taylor, VP of Technology Strategy were speakers on two well-attended panels about
Turning IP Innovation Into Profits and Deploying New Services on IMS Applications
Services. In these sessions, the executives discussed the challenges and opportunities
facing telcos as they manage the transition to next-generation voice services.
Afterwards the community of Metaswitch customers and friends met at the House of
Blues, a unique venue in the heart of downtown that naturally inspires those who
walk through the door to have a good time. For the second year in a row the invitation-only
event was a big success and nearly 250 guests enjoyed the food, drinks and dancing.
"We were very satisfied with our experience at GLOBALCOMM this year" said
Andy Randall, VP of Marketing at Metaswitch. "We are happy to have had another
successful event in Chicago. Plus with next year's consolidation of TelecomNext
and GLOBALCOMM to a single show, we should have another great event in 2007. "
Fall VON 2006
Boston, MA
With 350+ exhibitors and 8000+ attendees at Fall VON, Metaswitch decided to go with
the Roy Lichtenstein-inspired booth graphics once again. It paid off! The booth
was a big hit among show attendees and fellow exhibitors, and the Metaswitch booth
was one of the busiest at the show.
The joint demonstration with a live Metaswitch and IPTV middleware from Minerva
proved to be of interest to those looking to deploy triple-play services with TV/telephony
integration as well the demonstrations of hosted PBX services including unified
messaging and the Metaswitch PC client, Desktop Assistant.
Martin Taylor, VP of Technology Strategy contributed to a well-attended panel about
Lessons Learned from IMS. In this session the panel spoke about experiences deploying
IMS Solutions, the challenges of integrating IMS with legacy systems, service management
and the customer experience.
Metaswitch, Cisco and Atlantic ACM hosted a joint party at the Boston World Trade
Center. Everyone enjoyed the company, the delicious appetizers and refreshing cocktails
while taking in a panoramic view of the waterfront.
Metaswitch looks forward to having a successful exhibit at Spring VON 2007 in San
Jose!
We were pleased to receive two prestigious industry awards in recent months. Broadband
Properties magazine recognized us in their "BBP Top 100" list for our
vision and great execution in the field of fiber-to-the-home deployments, while
Frost & Sullivan acknowledged Metaswitch's success with their Best Practices
Award 2006 for Product Differentiation. Presenting the award, Shirley Hunt, strategic
industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said: "By focusing on building solutions
to meet customer needs now and in the future, and demonstrating a track record of
successful deployments, Metaswitch has clearly proven that it has the experience
and knowledge to succeed in the highly competitive next generation services infrastructure
market."