The Promise of Convergence for Enterprise Communications

For years we have been told about the promise of convergence: Two highly-disruptive technologies – VoIP and next-generation wireless – on a collision course that ultimately would turn the telecommunications industry on its head and reinvent the way people communicate.

Convergence has been the subject of countless trade show panels, keynote speeches, white papers, press releases and marketing brochures touting the many products, services and “complete solutions” that bridge the gap between VoIP and next-generation wireless.

After so many years of promise, convergence finally is becoming a reality – primarily because these technologies are gaining force among consumers and enterprise users. On the wireless side, there’s streaming video clips, TV “mobisodes,” music, even search engines on your cell phone. Technologies like EV-DO, HSDPA and WiMAX are shooting up around the U.S. to enable broadband Internet access for all sorts of devices. A growing number of enterprises are buying smart phones instead of laptops as a more cost-effective solution for mobile employees.

Europe and Asia are even further ahead. Analysis company Ovum predicts that one in six cell phone users in Europe will be 3G subscribers by the end of next year.

VoIP is experiencing a similar evolution. Vonage Holdings Corp., the upstart company that pushed VoIP into the mainstream, now has hundreds of thousands of subscribers and is planning an initial public offering. Today, almost every major U.S. carrier offers Internet-based voice services, and even Google, AOL, eBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are getting into the game. By 2008, an estimated 17 million Americans will purchase telephone services through Internet connections, according to J. Arnold & Associates.

With more users adopting VoIP and their growing acceptance of wireless as a primary way to communicate, convergence has become inevitable.

Enterprise buyers particularly are interested. CIOs are purchasing fewer private automatic branch exchange (PABX) desk stations, key systems and Centrex lines, while purchases of mobile devices for use within enterprise facilities are increasing. Service providers are responding by extending their network architectures to deliver highly secure, personalized services like enhanced conferencing, voice mail and desktop integration seamlessly over wireless and broadband access networks. To enable these services, they require enterprise-class, fixed mobile convergence solutions that meet a number of requirements.

First, the flexibility to configure a solution to support different types of enterprise users, including:

• IP Centrex: A hosted VoIP application server at the carrier’s CO manages the stations.

• PABX Extension: Some stations appear as an extension of existing desk stations deployed in the customer network. Similar to IP Centrex, these are managed by a hosted application server at the carrier’s CO using IADs, which convert PRI to SIP with VoIP/RTP (real-time protocol).

• IP PABX Extension: Consider that some of wireless carriers’ newly acquired enterprise customers already may have deployed IP-PABX equipment.

• 2G Wireless: Traditional 2G/2.5G users would receive enhanced intelligent network features, such as VPN, from a hosted VoIP application server.

• Dual-Mode Devices with SIP-Controlled Wi-Fi and GSM/CDMA: In Wi-Fi mode, the device receives IP Centrex features; in a mobile network, it acts as a 2G/3G phone.

Second, the solution must enable seamless hand-off between the mobile wireless network and WLAN so users experience no service impact while on a call between the two domains.

Third, the solution must be fully compliant with the emerging IMS architecture, while leveraging operators’ existing investments and with minimal impact to their existing management systems.

Fourth, the solution must support enterprise subscribers that are using VPNs to enable special billing arrangements and private numbering plans. In addition, wireless carriers are requiring extensions of the VPN to provide enterprise IP Centrex subscribers with access to the services available to the IP Centrex group.

One fixed mobile convergence solution from Tekelec, which is being trialed and deployed by large operators in several regions, enables subscribers to move from their WLAN access points at home, to the macro-cellular network when traveling, and then back to a WLAN connection in their office while on the same call. The solution combines wireless mobility with VoIP nomadic capabilities, so subscribers can have one personal phone number with a variety of features that follow them from the home to the office.

The solution includes an application server for IP Centrex and hosted IP telephony applications; a combined multimedia gateway-media gateway controller, which provides SIP-based mobile services that can operate on both IP and time division multiplexing networks; and a wireless convergence gateway to provide mobility functions, home location register, IN connectivity and network and service interworking capabilities. It integrates seamlessly with 2G and 3G networks and evolves to all-IP (IMS) architectures, while leveraging carriers’ initial investments.

A fixed mobile convergence solution should be designed for minimal impact on the existing management systems deployed in mobile networks. For example, the solution would appear in the 2G network as another 2G mobile switching center while the access is over broadband IP network.

An additional consideration for carriers when selecting a fixed mobile solution is the support for features and capabilities. Some of the features in demand by enterprise buyers include:

• Abbreviated Dialing: The same list should be available from the wireless handset or from the desktop extension.

• Converged Voice Mail: The user has one unique voice mail for wireless and IP phones.

• Meet-Me Conferencing: Including the capability to broadcast the meeting information by short message service, as well as a Web interface to control the conference.

• Remote Phone/Remote Worker: The ability to set up wireless phones to appear as a landline phone.

• Call Management Features: Such as authorization codes, billing codes, call screening and forwarding, and alternate routing.

A comprehensive solution will allow wireless carriers to integrate macro-cellular services with enterprise networks and offer these types of enhanced business applications and differentiated services to their subscribers. The solution should have a minimal impact on the existing 2G/2.5G networks, enabling seamless and smooth integration as well as cost-effective migration to IMS architectures.

With a fixed mobile convergence solution in place, mobile operators can increase their service reach and create more revenue from the high-end enterprise subscriber base, while reducing customer churn.

More important, as adoption of VoIP and next-generation wireless technologies continues to increase, convergence is becoming a major requirement for operators to compete.

Payam Maveddat is assistant vice president of wireless switching solutions product line management at Tekelec. He can be reached at payam.maveddat@tekelec.com.

America Online Inc. (AOL) www.aol.com
eBay Inc. www.ebay.com
Google www.google.com
J. Arnold & Associates www.jarnoldassociates.com
Microsoft Corp. www.microsoft.com
Ovum www.ovum.com
Tekelec www.tekelec.com
Vonage Holdings Corp. www.vonage.com

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