DSCI Sets Own Migration Pace with Edge STP

DSCI, a CLEC serving business in New England is halfway through its switching upgrade project and thanks to a signaling solution from Mount Laurel, N.J.-basedUlticom it can complete the migration at its own pace and without the help of the local incumbent.

DSCI has deployed Ulticom’s nSignia eSTP (Edge Signaling Transfer Point) to provide it with the point code emulation and alias-point-code features it required to move to a SIGTRAN IP-based signaling architecture and migrate trunks to its new softswitch.

DSCI provides IP-based services and traditional voice and data services regionally through its own carrier-class network and globally through top-tier partners. It is phasing out its Lucent Class 5 for one that supports IP voice and data. The nSignia eSTP enables DSCI to migrate to its new IP switch without disrupting or isolating any of its 1,600 customers or making changes to the public network.

“After you trunk out to 15 different tandems, four different IXCs and 400 to 500 enterprises it’s not like you can do a wholesale unplugging and point to a new switch,” said Rick Girardin, vice president of engineering at DSCI.

DSCI was able to avoid a flash cutover of its customers as well as the danger and frustration of having to roll back to the legacy switch in case things went wrong. Girardin said a flash cutover would have caused too much downtime while services were re-provisioned.

“Now I don’t have to get five different entities on a conference call at midnight on a Saturday night to swing trunks,” Girardin said. “Plus, it is more forgiving if something goes wrong. I can go backward within minutes, gather some test data to figure out the problem and reschedule my cutover without having to contact my local exchange carrier.”

nSignia eSTP is a hybrid network element that combines advanced routing, signaling, provisioning and traffic management capabilities. Girardin chose it primarily because it supported point code emulation and SIGTRAN in the same box. The point code emulation feature greatly simplifies the switch migration by using the nSignia eSTP’s multiple networks feature to create a private network where multiple switches can share the same public network point code.

DSCI also added the new switching platform to gain geographic redundancy and so it could separate the media, signaling and call control. They are now all separate entities and geographically dispersed in our area,” Girardin said.

He said the cost savings from using IP signaling links versus traditional low-speed A-links helped pay for some of the switch upgrade project.

Kevin Byrne, director of marketing and sales at Ulticom, said that in addition to providing a migration path from traditional switching and signaling platforms, the eSTP helps map new services, protocols and technologies into the core network. For example, Girardin said his company has begun to write its own signaling applications. It has written a Calling Name (CNAM) application that it has running in its network.

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