VOIP Solution and Service

While we have discussed IP as the only protocol for global internetworking, other contenders, most notably ATM, proclaims that it can provide all sorts of services, including voice, video and data applications. There are challenges for both IP and ATM if either is to succeed on a global scale. For ATM, the main obstacle is likely to be the huge installed base of non-ATM technology. For IP, one of the biggest challenges will be to provide quality of service guarantees that are suitable for high quality voice and video.

In the end, the real challenge is likely to be in the integration of IP and ATM which should provide an end-to-end quality of service guarantees in an internetwork that includes both ATM and non-ATM technologies. However, the problem of interoperating IP with ATM arises due to the following facts.

* Connection-oriented vs. Connectionless

ATM is connection-oriented, that is, a connection is needed between two parties before they can send data to each other. Once the connection is set up, all data between them is sent along the connection path. On the contrary, IP is connectionless so that no connection is needed and each IP packet is forwarded by routers independently on a hop-by-hop basis. To transport IP traffic over an ATM network, we have two options. Either a new connection is established on demand between two parties or the data is forwarded through preconfigured connection or connections. With the first approach, when the amount of data to be transferred is small, the expensive cost of setting up and tearing down a connection is not justified. On the other hand, with the second approach the preconfigured path(s) may not be an optimal path and may become overwhelmed by the amount of data being transferred.

* QoS-aware vs. Best Effort

Quality of Service is an important concept in ATM networks. It includes the parameters like the bandwidth and delay requirements of a connection. Such requirements are included in the signaling messages used to establish a connection. Current IP (IPv4) has no such concepts and each packet is forwarded on a best effort basis by the routers. To take advantage of the QoS guarantees of the ATM networks, the IP protocol need to be modified to include that information.

Convergence is introducing a new SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) management device that trunks SIP traffic through firewalls and across IP networks. The Eclipse CX-50 is a smaller version of the company’s previous gear and economically enables SIP support in small offices. Previous boxes were designed for data centers. Eclipse devices also handle SIP signaling and media encryption, virus scanning, QoS control and identity-based access control, among other features. Pricing has not yet been released.

The device is intended to trunk calls between SIP-based IP PBXs. It will maintain QoS to ensure voice quality and encryption to maintain privacy. It can perform these functions between PBXs and Microsoft Live Communications Servers as well.

The company also is announcing interoperability between its gear and Linksys VoIP routers to encrypt and authenticate VoIP generated by small and home offices.

Until recently, UK-based Vodafone had prided itself in being a ‘pure play’ mobile operator, unaffected by a declining fixedline business. But as the fixed and mobile businesses move to cheaper, combined services, the firm had to change track.

Vodafone Group Plc is the world’s leading mobile telecommunications company, providing a wide range of services including voice and data communications.

The company confirmed its plan to enter the fixed line broadband internet market via a deal with the wholesale arm of telecom firm BT Group. Vodafone, which had disclosed in May 2006 its plans to enter the broadband internet space, said it expected to launch the fixedline broadband internet service by the year end.

“This partnership will enable Vodafone’s customers to benefit from bundled packages of mobile and broadband services nationwide due to BT’s unique footprint in the UK,” Vodafone said in a statement.

In May, 2006 the company was aiming to get up the revenues over the next three to four years from its new Mobile Zone businesses, including converged fixed-mobile internet services. Competition in Britain;s broadband market is intense, with the Carphone Warehouse and BSkyB recently announcing cut-price packages.

Britain’s second biggest telecom group Cable & Wireless plc, recently exited the UK retail broadband market, because of stiff competition.

Linksys has launched its WIP330 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connected VoIP phone in Europe - the company’s first wireless handset to made available to buyers over here - after announcing the device at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.

The handset connects to 802.11b and 802.11g wireless hotspots and incorporates IPv4’s Type of Service extension to allow access points to give priority to voice data if they too support this system. It’ll work with the WEP and WPA Wi-Fi security standards.

However this is not Skype friendly as it supports the SIP 2 VoIP standard. WIP330 provides a range of customary phone features, including caller ID, call forwarding, speed dial, last number redial, a vibration alert and call waiting. The handset can initiate three-way conference calls.

The 119g handset sports a 2.2in, 240 x 320, 65,536-colour display and a battery sufficient for three hours’ talk time and up to 50 hours’ operation in stand-by mode. It has 32MB of Flash memory on board and 64MB of RAM. Its built-in web browser can be used to access web-based email, view web sites or receive Internet-based video. Be prepared to pay about £270 for it.

The WIP330 is the successor to the Cisco subsidiary’s WIP300 handset - released like the WIP330 in the US back in February this year. However, WIP300 ($US219.99) has only a 1.8 inch LCD, no QoS support, no facility for auto provisioning and no support for conferencing.

At a glance the features of WIP330 are:

1. A 2.2 inch, 65,536 color display.
2. Connects 802.11b and 802.11g wireless hotpots.
3. SIP based VoIP services.
4. Caller ID and vibration alert.
5. Call Forwarding and Speed dialing facility.
6. Call Waiting and Conference calling services.
7. High quality battery ensuring three hours talk time and 50 hours standby.

8. Built in web browser.

9. Works with WEP and WPA Wi-Fi security standards.

When choosing which VOIP provider to go with, one point to consider about is the availability of the 911 service. If you are considering replacing your traditional phone line with a VOIP line, the 911 service is an essential component to your VOIP telephone service, for obvious reasons.

In the US there are currently two levels of 911 service that VOIP service providers offer. There is the E911 service and the “10-digit routing technique” 911 service.

E911 service stands for Enhanced 911 service and is what traditional telephone companies currently provide. E911 service gives your local dispatch center or PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) your name and address automatically when you dial 911. This service can be vital if the caller is unable to speak due to the nature of the emergency.

The “10-digit routing technique” for 911 service is what the majority of VOIP companies currently provide. Although this level of service is better than 911 service, it is certainly no substitute for E911 service. This method uses routing tables to convert a customers 911 call into the 10-digit phone number that, in theory, is for the closest emergency dispatch center. With this service, you rely on your VOIP provider to route the emergency call to the correct dispatch center.

Realization of full 911 services on the VoIP level is going through implementation phases similar to what the cellular industry faced several years ago. The 911 infrastructure, originally designed for wire line customers, needs to adapt to new communication technologies that have broad appeal and the process of architecting that infrastructure for VoIP is underway today. Eventually there will be little distinction between a VoIP call and a wire line call in the way it is processed through the 911 system.

Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. The question arises as to how the issues of privacy should be dealt with in new technologies.

In the case of VoIP, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding its legal aspects. As the popularity of VoIP grows, governments are becoming more interested in regulating VoIP in a manner similar to legacy PSTN services.

In U.S., the Federal Communications Commission now requires all VoIP operators who do not support Enhanced 911 to attach a sticker warning that traditional 911 services aren’t available.

The FCC recently required VoIP operators to support CALEA wiretap functionality. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), requires telecommunications services to rewire their networks to provide police and the FBI with guaranteed access to wiretaps.

The combination of 1964 federal wiretap laws (and its numerous amendments), along with CALEA, have put the FBI in a position to have the authority to wiretap broadband services. It means that federal authorities are able, not only to monitor telephone calls made by VoIP, but any data transmissions that are made over the broadband service, giving access to privileged information, confidential or business trade secrets, and sensitive medical information.

Some companies, such as MetaSwitch and Cisco Systems, Inc. have made their technologies CALEA compliant, providing FBI backdoor access to any VoIP transmissions. However, technological limitations will still inevitably lead to over-inclusive sweeps of data transmissions

The Telecommunications Act of 2005 proposes adding more traditional PSTN regulations, such as local number portability and universal service fees. Other future legal issues are likely to include laws against wiretapping and network neutrality.

Some Latin American countries, fearful for their state owned telephone services, have imposed restrictions on the use of VoIP, including in Panama where VoIP is taxed. In Ethiopia, where a totalitarian government is monopolizing telecommunication service, it is a criminal offence to offer services using VoIP. The country has installed firewalls to prevent international calls being made using VoIP. These measures were taken after a popularity in VoIP reduced the income generated by the state owned telecommunication company.

In the European Union, the treatment of VoIP service providers is a decision for each Member State’s national telecoms regulator, which must use competition law theory to define relevant national markets and then determine whether any service provider on those national markets has “significant market power” (and so should be subject to certain obligations). A general distinction is usually made between VoIP services that function over managed networks (via broadband connections) and VoIP services that function over unmanaged networks (essentially, the Internet).

In a deal between two of the internet’s most prominent properties, Google will be selling advertising on web auction leader eBay and help buyers quickly ring an online merchant to do business.

The arrangement promises to introduce “click to call” website technology to a broader audience and potentially speed its adoption as a means to quickly connect online consumers with advertisers.

Last year, eBay bought the internet phone service, Skype. Google has its own messaging and voice telephone service, Google Talk. Both services will be used in the partnership, though the details were not disclosed.

Under the partnership, Google would become the exclusive provider of text advertising on eBay outside the US. The second component of the alliance calls for the two Silicon valley companies to work together on developing a service that lets surfers place telephone calls through their computers or handheld devices when they click on a link in an internet ad.

eBay’s chief executive, Meg Whitman said that eBay has decided ti give Google’s advertisers access to its international auction sites after choosing yahoo for its domestic advertising because of the competing internet search engines’ respective strengths and how they mesh with eBay’s assets.

San Jose-based eBay also owns PayPal, the online payment service, and when the company joined advertising forces with Yahoo, PayPal became preferred payment provider for purchases made on Yahoo. Similarly, eBay palns to rely on Google’s international presence to build a worldwide market for Skype.

Last month, India witnessed Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL)’s plans to set up a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network connecting six cities — Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Pune. Bangalore-based Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) got orders for supplying the equipment, while the equipment will be installed by BSNL.

Now, UK’s largest telecom services provider Btritish Telecom plc (BT) has plans to launch basic fixed line telephony services in India. It is also looking at providing virtual private network (VPN) services in India, again to the corporates, but these are closed user group services.

The launch of basic fixed line services by BT is attracting corporates, particularly the MNCs, as they use the company for its global link. Moreover, a basic telephony service licence will allow BT to offer voice services also in India.

The telecommunications system in India is the second largest in the world and was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. “Although BT has no immediate plans for the consumer markets in the mobile telephony, never say never for the future”, says Andy Green, CEO, BT Global Services.

The British Telecom giant is also scouting for a local India partener to provide data and phone services through VPN. (Source: The Economic Times)

Take a look at this scenario. Patient calls from his bedside to a receptionist who finds out what the patient needs. The receptionist then pages a nurse via the overhead intercom system in order to convey those needs to the caregiver.

With the arrival of VoIP, the scene has changed. The intercom system was disruptive to recovering patients, and it created inefficiencies among nurses because they had to communicate with their patients through a third party. A way to bypass the receptionist and intercom stage was needed, and the solution to the problem expanded on the hospital’s existing wireless IP network that let doctors put patient information directly into laptops. Thus, VoIP is used to provide fast and immediate care to the patients in hospitals.

Voice over IP is being installed widely across NHS hospitals, promising lower costs and simplified maintenance and support. BT and Nortel recently installed a system in Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in London. Google Talk, launched with great fanfare in August 2005, is just the latest VoIP application which could run over a public Wi-Fi network in a hospital, giving patients low or even zero-cost telephony.

Hospitals are also rolling out more complex applications that really fire the imagination. Birmingham Heartlands Hospital installed a Proxim Wi-Fi network in the Operating Room and then integrated with Ekahau’s location tracking system to help track and manage patients, personnel and critical equipment. It was recently a runner-up in the Wireless Broadband Innovation Awards for this Wi-Fi/RFID based patient tracking and asset management system. These improved efficiencies translate into saving more lives, reducing costs and significantly improving the patient experience.

The latest and the most creative use of VoIP is its application in three California hospitals to overcome increasingly common language barriers between doctors and patients.

The Health Care Interpreter Network connects doctors and patients with Spanish-language interpreters in a call center, or to people with jobs elsewhere in the hospital for less-common languages. Using consoles at nursing stations, doctors connect with an interpreter who speaks English and the language of the patient. Calls are typically answered in less than five minutes, and most are connected within 40 seconds. They’re prioritized so that emergency situations jump to the top of the queue.

The translation network, which was designed and built by Paras & Associates, is based on Cisco’s Unified Communication system and the participating hospitals are San Joaquin General Hospital, San Mateo Medical Center, and Con- tra Costa Health Services. Two more California hospitals plan to join the network in coming months.

Following the example of eBay’s Skype, along with Jajah, MINO, RebTel, Switch-Mobile, and MobileSphere, three new services have just launched in the U.K. this week to enable the consumers mobile access to VoIP networks: Rok Viper, AQL for Nokia E series phones, and Mobiboo.

Rok Entertainment has decided to offer completely free calls—from mobile phone to mobile phone—using VoIP technology and the calls will be totally free if both parties are using Viper software. Calls to existing PSTN (public switched telephone network) landlines may be made available for a few pence per minute.

Initially, however, Viper will run on a few selected Nokia phones, including the popular N70. Instead of using a Wi-Fi connection to link the phone to a broadband Internet connection, Viper uses the far

more readily available Bluetooth technology.

Unlike other VoIP services aimed at mobile phone users, there’s no need for Viper customers to subscribe to any pre-paid account or multi-service bundle, nor to key in prefix access codes to use the service.The Viper software will be available on the Rok Viper web site starting Wednesday.

AQL plans to test its VoIP telephony service with the owners of Nokia E series phones by Monday.

Dr. Adam Beaumont, AQL’s managing director, says, “The free offer is simply intended to prove that Wi-Fi VoIP calling can deliver an excellent mobile service, with the ability to run alongside GSM for whenever callers are standing outside of a wireless hot spot.” Dr. Beaumont didn’t say how long the free trial will last. Unlike Viper, with AQL, users will be able to call anybody on any existing VoIP service, not just AQL’s own network.

Mobiboo said Monday it will be supplying Wi-Fi mobile phones that connect users to VoIP networks via a suitable access point or hot spot service. Mobiboo will be selling a suitable Wi-Fi router—again made by UTStarcom—for those who want to use the Wi-Fi phone around the home.