VoIP and the Softswitch Revolution

1
VoIP and theSoftswitch Revolution

• Current Uses of Computers in UK Business and
  Industry
• Tom Curry
• October 12th 2004

2
What Is VoIP?

• Voice calls over an IP network.
• Not just public internet!
• Could be corporate/college LAN, telecoms
  backbone, etc
• Not just voice calls!
• Also video calls, instant messaging, etc
• Multiple competing protocols.
• SIP, MGCP, Megaco/H.248, H.323 and others.

3
Why Should You Care About VoIP?

• Revolution in telecoms (and IT) industry.
• Convergence of data and voice networks.
• Will affect everybody
• What your telephone looks like.
• How you make calls.
• The services you use.
• What and how you pay for this.
• Possible future area of work or study.
• Free telephone calls?

4
Presentation Overview

• Existing phone network (PSTN).
• Where is VoIP used?
• Problems and solutions.
• Softswitches.
• Payment models.
• New services.
• Business cases.

5
Existing Phone Network (PSTN)
Local Exchange (Warwick)
Local Exchange (London)
Long Distance Trunks
Copper
Copper
Bob
Sue
Mary
Jim

• Physical copper connection to local exchange.
• Long distance trunks are digital (but not IP).
• Local exchange is also digital highly
  specialized, very expensive and
  very dated.
• Expensive to maintain, hard to develop new
  features.

6
VoIP In The Backbone
Local Exchange (Warwick)
Local Exchange (London)
VoIP
Copper
Copper
Bob
Sue
Mary
Jim

• VoIP being deployed in telecoms backbone today.
• Transparent to you so not very interesting.
• Already driving down call costs.

7
Peer-To-Peer VoIP
PC
PC
VoIP
ATA
ATA
IP Phone
IP Phone

• Telecoms company has disappeared!
• Only have to pay for endpoint and bandwidth.
• Easy to re-locate without disruption.
• Various problems in practice

8
VoIP Problems

• Reliability and quality of network.
• Connection to non-VoIP users (PSTN).
• Interoperability with other VoIP protocols.
• Finding other VoIP users.
• Security and privacy.
• Emergency calls.

9
VoIP Solutions

• Reliability/Quality -gt Managed network required.
• PSTN Connection -gt Gateway required.
• VoIP Interoperability -gt Gateway required.
• Finding VoIP users -gt Directory service required.
• Security -gt Centralized key management.
• Emergency calls -gt Address registration.
• All points towards third party involvement in
  call

10
VoIP Softswitches
Local Exchange (Legacy)
VoIP Softswitch
VoIP
VoIP
Copper
PC
IP Phone
ATA
Mary
Jim

• Softswitch owned/managed by telecoms company.
• Solves all problems just discussed.
• Modern architecture / code easy to extend.
• Order of magnitude cheaper than legacy switches.

11
Payment Models

• Softswitch service will never be free.
• Why pay, when peer-to-peer calling is free?
• Peer-to-peer calling not good enough to replace
  land-line (or mobile).
• Softswitch service IS good enough and will be
  better and cheaper than current phone service.

12
New VoIP Services

• Instant Messaging (like SMS)
• Unified Messaging (Voice, Email, Text, Mobile)
• Presence
• PC Integration
• Click-to-dial.
• Click-to-conference.
• Online address book.
• Web account management.

13
Business Case 1 MetaSwitch

• Data Connection VoIP Softswitch.
• Supports SIP, MGCP, H.248 plus legacy support.
• Solaris O/S, Intel architecture.
• 3 million lines of code (C/C with Java GUI).
• Sold to over 60 customers in UK North America.
• Rapidly increasing sales.

14
Business Case 2 BT Broadband Voice

• VoIP calls via any broadband connection.
• Free Analog Telephone Adaptor (ATA).
• Unlimited UK evening w/e calls - 6.50/month.
• Unlimited UK calls anytime - 14/month.
• Second line only due to 999 regulations.
• Based on MetaSwitch technology!

15
Business Case 3 Vonage

• US based VoIP service 250,000 users.
• Emergency calls via address registration.
• Keep your old number or get a new one (any
  region).
• Also offer click-to-call application.
• 500 minutes US calls - 14.99/month.
• Unlimited US calls - 24.99/month.
• UK launch scheduled for end of this year.

16
Business Case 4 BT 21st Century Network

• Broadband (DSL) access.
• Available to 90 of UK population.
• Will be 99 by mid-2005.
• Replace entire UK network with VoIP technology.
• Aim to replace all legacy equipment by 2009.
• Estimate they will save over 1bn/year in costs.

17
Conclusions

• Radical change in telecoms industry and in
  services offered to customers.
• Convergence between data and voice networks.
• Lots happening today and much more to come.
• Calls cheaper but not free.
• Phones more sophisticated, more integrated
  could disappear completely (but not overnight).

18
Research Challenge

• Investigate the following VoIP services
• BT Broadband Voice.
• Vonage.
• Skype.
• Gradwell (Centrex).
• 3G Mobile.
• Compare the following aspects of each service
• Features and limitations.
• Technology used (e.g. SIP, MGCP, P2P,
  Softswitches).
• Price business model.
• Come to your own conclusions about the strengths
  and weaknesses of each service.