Cost savings continues to lead as the reason for transitioning from TDM to SIP based facilities. The decision may be driven by the lower cost per voice path or the fact that SIP Trunks can be provisioned in units of one up to the capacity of the available broadband. This is in contrast to a T1, which is deployed in units of 24 and normally turns up as a fractional T (approximately 12 voice paths) or a full T. SMBs and enterprise branch offices can be deployed and supported much more efficiently and cost effectively with a SIP Trunking based network architecture than a TDM architecture.

In Infonetics’ most recent study, they also concluded that two additional reasons are offered by IT Directors.

The first is Simplification.

TDM circuits are essentially physical facilities tied to physical locations. IP communications consist of virtual circuits supported by physical elements. The virtual nature of SIP Trunking provides for easy centralization of communications tying any number of remote locations to a centralized IP PBX or corporate network hub. This increases the availability of converged services while decreasing the need for regional or application specific service providers. Moving to fewer service providers and potentially a centralized bill is a major benefit to larger companies.

This leads to the second reason, New Applications.

Although most studies, including this one, refer to the new applications as just beginning, it is important to note that Unified Communications, HD Voice and advanced video applications have measurable levels of penetration.  Moreover, they frequently require an IP based infrastructure in order to take advantage of all the new features. For example HD Voice cannot transit from and IP network to PSTN. It is only works as an IP call end-to-end today.

Finally, a service that Broadvox has always offered as a SIP Trunking option, call bursting, is gaining market awareness. Call bursting allows a business to have a variable number of voice paths or concurrent call sessions based upon current traffic. This is especially useful to companies that have traffic flow that vary greatly based upon time of day, seasonal or even marketing activity such as “call now” offerings.

The IP ecosystem may have areas that are negatively impacted by the current economic conditions, but we also have areas that are flourishing, such as SIP Trunking.

See you on Friday.

Last year some estimates for running out of IPv4 based addresses was placed in 2012. Today as a result of a huge increase in demand by Asia for Internet numbers John Curran, CEO at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), is moving the date to as early as mid next year. In any case, ISPs and companies that have put off preparing for IPv6 will have to do so quickly. Moreover, they will need to support it and IPv4 for many years until the older addressing scheme is phased out. It is necessary to support both schemes as doing only one or the other will result in certain sites and users losing access to the Internet.

In the simplest of terms, IPv6 is intended to resolve the issue of the world running out of IP address in 2011. IPv4 is based upon a 32-bit address scheme whereas IPv6 uses 128 bits. The difference is dramatic. With IPv4, the Internet has a total IP address capacity of 4 billion unique addresses. In 1980 when IPv4 was released this seemed like a big number, as the engineering groups involved did not foresee the eventual growth that defines today’s Internet. IPv6 represents 3.4x10³⁸ or 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses. I think that might last the planet earth for a while. Other elements of IPv6 include improved security, simpler processing, mobility features and multicast.

As a result of the recession and focus on spending cuts many companies and ISPs are not ready for IPv6.

Curran suggests that ISPs begin offering IPv6 now in anticipation to exhausting the current numbers.

The effort will be worth it, as the trillions of addresses available under the IPv6 scheme will certainly last beyond the life of what we know today as the Internet.

One of the simplest things to make is a grilled cheese sandwich. Yet, many of you wait until you go to a Mexican restaurant to have a quesadilla, a grilled cheese sandwich. The only difference is the use of tortillas versus sliced bread. I have chosen to provide you with a basic recipe that calls for chicken, steak or shrimp. However, I was fortunate to have grilled Cornish game hens and chopped brisket. I also add chopped jalapenos to the filling and season with a little adobo. In addition to quesadillas, I also made chicken fried steak, breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, bacon and salsa, and pork chili verde. I guess I was in the mood for Mexican this weekend. In any event, try making a Mexican grilled cheese sandwich or Quesadilla. Enjoy!

Simply SIP

I was reading a column last week regarding things to be aware of when deploying SIP Trunking. Most of the items were the usual. However, one item in particular caught my eye and my ire. The writer stated that SIP is not yet widely available at commercially acceptable levels. In looking at the writer’s business, he has focused on AT&T, Verizon and several of the larger CLECs to make his determination. Broadvox, Bandwidth.com and others would like to note that we have been providing nationwide SIP Trunking at commercially acceptable quality and availability levels for several years. We are happy to see that the ILECs are finally joining the party. In fact, there are only three differences between their service offering and ITSPs like Broadvox. They are still more expensive (but cheaper than TDM services). They continue to require dedicated broadband connections on their networks (minimum fractional T1s). And they can take up to 90 days to complete a basic installation.

Broadvox continues to support Bring Your Own Broadband (BYOB) but we now offer a wider array of broadband products for those wanting assured/managed QoS. In most cases, a small business should not have to switch their ISP in order to have quality VoIP/SIP Trunking. However, most enterprises will need a direct connection as part of their voice quality assurance and security programs. Finally, we still pride ourselves in being able to turn up new customers in 3-5 days.

While ITSPs like Broadvox have embraced SIP for years, the major ILECs are finally ready to join the party. However, an IP perspective requires greater speed, flexibility, imagination, innovation and an array of applications and services. Customization and personalization rule in the www universe. Now let’s see if they can change their mindset from TDM to IP.

The Third Way Moves Forward

Yesterday the FCC voted to issue a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding the application of some elements of Title II of the Communications Act to ISPs. With the courts having determined that the FCC cannot apply net neutrality under currently defined regulatory boundaries, it has decided to ask for a restructuring that may save or destroy the progress and innovation of IP communications in the US.  It may save it by assuring ISPs cannot arbitrarily affect various applications or competitive products traversing their networks. It may destroy it by causing the same ISPs to determine they cannot afford to expand their networks if they cannot manage negative traffic impacts.

AT&T is threatening to halt or slow the rollout of U-verse IPTV and Verizon has joined them in complaining that the Third Way is unfair and unnecessary. A few weeks ago, I noted that AT&T has asked to decommission their TDM network within ten years. In addition to the cost savings, they were anticipating a time when fewer regulations would be applied to their business. Now that freedom may be withdrawn before they ever experience it.

The NOI is a bit of a ruse. Voted 3-2 along party lines, it seeks comment on whether the FCC should maintain the current structure, apply Title II to the ISPs or, move forward with the Third Way alternative. Most of know that Julius Genachowski, FCC Chairman, has too much invested in the Third Way to alter his approach based upon a NOI. However, by performing this step, he appears to be acting fairly and wisely.

Initially, Broadvox saw the Third Way as a positive step. For the most part we still do. However, when the government decides to write a new law anything can result and those results could make things worse. Net Neutrality is a needed objective. I’ll face the following months or years with my fingers crossed. After all, the individuals involved are all politicians with their own motivations and interests. Odds are they will not match with the IP community or ecosystem.

Enjoy the weekend and I’ll have new recipe on Monday!

As I sat this morning watching the live feed of the oil unleashed by British Petroleum (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico, I wondered about the role of IP communications in the event. Certainly, the reason that I can see the oil gushing out of the earth is because of the Internet. Most of what I read about the tragedy comes via Internet news sites and other IP sources. But, what role on a daily basis does the technology play?

I would be surprised if smartphones were not in use by BP, its contractors, volunteers, state and local officials to schedule daily work activity, document where the oil is approaching shore or creating havoc with various wildlife. Moreover, given BP’s size and financial resources, I am certain that they employ Unified Communications to support their daily business practices and processes. They probably use Skype to make international calls between the US and the UK. They certainly will find it easier to use emails and IM to contact each other and provide updates as to their progress or lack thereof. And I am sure that when escalation is required, transitioning from an email to IM to VoIP is not uncommon.

The role of IP communications in this case is broad based. It is supporting the delivery of information to interested parties such as me. It is supporting the role of those responsible for the cleanup such as BP, its contractors and volunteers. Finally, it is supporting the financial needs of businesses and people who are facing closure and the loss of their jobs. Today, IP communications is applied in nearly every aspect of our lives.

As Broadvox and I push forward the concepts and value propositions associated with VoIP and SIP Trunking, I would be remiss if I did not remind all of you that we use this data-centric technology to accomplish an incredible number of tasks every day. Internet Protocol is not a solution but it enables numerous applications, services, products and processes. At some point, the final solution to shutting off the spill will probably be an action initiated by a command sent over using IP.