Dwayne Coles

03/29/99

Voice and Data learning to get along.

Nortel Network announced the deployment of Signaling System 7 (SS7)/IP signaling gateway application on its Signaling Server platform. The SST/IP gateway will enable advanced applications, such as voice over IP, by integrating IP networks and PSTN’s traditional circuit-switched signaling and SS7 network intelligence. This interoperability is supported via IPS7, a protocol initiative that includes all SS7 IP signaling protocols with-in one architecture.

At the heart of this news is the battle between IP and Voice networks. Here we have another mismatch so often characterizing in the telecom industry. The publics excitement is always with the new technology in this case, expanded capabilities of IP networks for example to handle voice enabling telephone calls through ISPs. But the industry is responding by providing a happy medium.

As of lately companies who were once positioning themselves to take advantage of Voice over IP realized very swiftly that the traditional PSTN worked well and PSTN’s standard switching protocol SS7 has been very valuable. In fact SS7 has enabled intelligent Voice Network services like

<ul>

<li>Basic Call setup, management, and tear down

<li>Wireless Services Such as PCS, wireless roaming

<li>Local number portability (LNP)

<li>Toll-free and toll(900) wireline services

<li>Call features such as call forwarding, calling party, caller ID three way

</ul>

Now there is a race to provide shared benefits by merging the two infrastructures. Voice over IP data networks, Data off of Voice, and scaled up intelligence for collective communication & information network via a new IPS, that includes all SS7 and IP signaling protocols within one architecture

Companies racing to devise the switches are cores leaders, Lucent, Cisco, Ascend, 3Com and other IP switch providers have acquired SS7 and IP signaling protocols within one architecture.

Other companies such as Geotel, TranMedia, and others who were on either side for the service fence are now merging and offering these new IP SS7 compliant Service.