Connecting Your SIP-Based Hosted Contact Center to the Rest of the World Brough Turner, SVP & CTO, NMS Communications

3 Communications in Transition New services on IP-based platforms –SIP signaling –G.711 “voice” over RTP Lower cost Easier development Faster time-to-market Web & IT convergence Dramatic simplification over PSTN platforms

4 IP-based Services & Systems IP call centers, IP PBXs Self-service customer voice portals Financial Services Travel and Leisure Telecom / Utilities GovernmentRetail Account balances Mortgage refinance screening Bank location Insurance claim status Reservation confirmation Theater & Hotel booking Service activation / repair Prepaid calling card front end Service outage info Tax info Postal information Unemployment check status International traveler information Account balances Catalog requests Store locator Order tracking RMA request & status chk

5 Modern Self Service Platform Follows 3-tier IT architecture Database engine Business logic –May use application server (dynamic VoiceXML) Presentation –Web servers –Media processor (VoiceXML browser)

6 Example Avaya Voice Portal

7 VoIP Adoption VoIP subscribers: 38M Skype registrations: 171M Fixed PSTN: 1.2BMobile PSTN: 2.7B

8 Connecting to PSTN VoIP access to PSTN readily available from major inter-exchange carriers –Send VoIP traffic almost anywhere in the world –Receive PSTN traffic from anywhere in US VoIP IXC PSTN IXC Gateway Databases, Web Services, Persistent Business logic SIP RTP Speech Resources VoiceXML Server Web Server IP Telephony MRCP

9 Not so easy in Rest of World Problem: inbound traffic, PSTN to VoIP Advertise PSTN numbers, receive incoming traffic over IP Available as a service in US, parts of the EU, HK, Japan, Australia and Brazil –Voxbone offering more countries Expensive or unobtainable in most of the rest of the world

10 Nominal Solution Provide PSTN gateway with IP-based application Databases, Web Services, Persistent Business logic SIP RTP Speech Resources VoiceXML Server Web Server IP Telephony MRCP PSTN Media Gateway, Signaling Server & Call Router Alternately, use IP-PBX and it’s interfaces

11 Requirements Global deployable: interfaces, approvals Cost-effective scaling, including scale down Media, signaling & call routing (both ways) Highly available at minimum added cost SS7 connectivity –SS7 controlled inter-machine trunks can be significantly less expensive than ISDN

12 IP-PBX Approach Typically supports ISDN, but not SS7 Can be expensive to scale up Can be expensive to distribute gateway functions to multiple cities

13 Gateway Approach Solution requires multiple elements Media gateway Signaling gateway Call routing control –Esp. PSTN to SIP routing –Media gateway controller, softswitch or equiv. Example: Cisco AS5300 VoIP Gateway –Requires PGW-2200 Softswitch ($20,000) to provide basic call routing

14 Integrated Solutions NMS Vision Media Gateway and Signaling Server Cantata IMG 1010 Characteristics Includes call routing ISDN, SS7 & Channel Associated Signaling Global approvals Scalable in 1U/2U increments Centralized or distributed deployments

15 Basic Installation SIP-based Services Platform Switch ISDN signaling, or Channel-associated signaling (CAS) SS7 SIP T1/E1 Voice RTP NCC-ISUP GW

16 Small SS7 Configuration SIP-based Services Platform SS7 SIP T1/E1 Voice RTP NCC-ISUP SS7 signaling DACS separates voice and signaling traffic Signaling Server separates voice traffic Switch SIP-based Services Platform Switch -OR- DACS GW Sig Svr GW Sig Svr

17 Large SS7 Configuration... SIP-based Services Platform SS7 signaling Dedicated T1/E1 Inter-machine trunks (IMTs) for voice traffic Switch SS7 SIP T1/E1 Voice RTP NCC-ISUP GW Sig Svr

18 High Availability Media scale by trunks and trunk groups N+1 redundancy for media gateways Call routing tables (PSTN # to SIP URI) distributed to media gateways SS7 signaling 1+1 redundant

19 Redundant SS7 Configuration... SIP-based Services Platform SS7 signaling Duplicated Signaling Servers for high availability Switch SS7 SIP T1/E1 Voice RTP NCC-ISUP GW Sig Svr

20 Redundant SS7 Signaling 2 servers – 1 point code Active-active for MTP1 & MTP2 Active-standby for MTP3 and above Secondary traffic routed to Primary via dedicated Ethernet

21 Scalability Media Gateway –8 or 16 E1/T1s per 1U –Mounts in standard racks –Up to 20 Gateways per Signaling Server (pair) Signaling Server –4, 16, or 32 signaling links –Redundant pair for high availability

22 Other PSTN Issues Limited inter-city PSTN capacity in many emerging markets Gateway located in capital city means poor service for callers in secondary cities Inter-city PSTN calls expensive Inter-city IP capacity available and lower cost Solution Integrated IP-based solution with 1U elements distributed to minimize recurring costs

23 Highly Distributed Configuration Gateways near switches, signaling servers near STPs Decrease networking costs, simplify management SSP STP SIP-based Services Platform SS7 SIP T1/E1 Voice RTP NCC-ISUP GW Sig Svr

24 Conclusions Develop new communications applications on IP-based platforms Obtain PSTN connectivity from VoIP service providers where available and affordable Leverage IP-PBX connectivity when present Use integrated gateways for –Global reach –SS7 connectivity –Cost-effective scalability –Cost-effective availability –Flexibility

Questions? PDF version to be posted today Recorded version to be posted tomorrow Brough Turner nmss.com Blog: