Network & Billing Update

The ATS Network & Billing Update is published by Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc. (www.atso.com), a revenue and service assurance solutions provider. This free newsletter is a guide to telecommunications OSS, billing, and revenue assurance news and other telecom industry analysis. To unsubscribe, contribute an article, or for offbeat news, please scroll to the end. Feel free to forward this newsletter!

ATS Partners With Converged Network Experts
By: Ryan Guthrie, Director of Marketing, ATS

Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc. (ATS) is pleased to announce a partnership with Convergence Engineers, consultants in converged telecom networks. Glen MacArthur, VP of Converged Networks said, "I am excited to be part of the ATS team. I am confident that working together we will be able to help our respective clients to take advantage of the new technological capabilities that are inherent in converged networks, VOIP, and IP enabled multimedia services."

Glen began his career in telecommunications while in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army. Following his military obligations he joined New Jersey Telephone as a switching engineer and over the next twenty-five years he held a variety of positions in RCA Network Services, Northern Telecom, MCI, and Telcordia.

While with Telcordia, Glen served as the Director of Telcordia's Advanced Network Systems Business Unit. His responsibilities included VoIP softswitch engineering, development, deployment and management. He was a member of Bellcore's initial VoIP feasibility and development team where he worked on call processing translations and database design and administration.

Under his direction, the Telcordia team developed the first multi-class (i.e. class 4/5) carrier grade soft switch, which was developed for Sprint's pioneer nationwide VOIP network. Glen led the sale of Telcordia's softswitch intellectual property to NewCross Technologies and he established NewCross’ soft switch business unit and engineering division, where he served as the General Manager of that organization.

Glen holds two U.S. Patents in VoIP technology – a next generation network treatment mechanism and an inter-nodal North American Numbering Plan software routing engine.

“The partnership with Convergence Engineers will provide us with IP network expertise that will be invaluable in helping our clients to roll out and manage their new networks. For the past ten years ATS has been a leader in telecom revenue and network assurance, and we be utilizing our new partnership to introduce the same high quality network assurance tools in the VoIP and converged network space” said Randall Guthrie President of Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc.

Revolution has struck in the science of communications four times…

The first, in the late 1800s, came with the invention of the telephone. Deployment and adaptation was rapid and everyone seemed to jump on the bandwagon vying to get into the business. American Bell, forerunner to the AT&T communications colossus, emerged as the dominant business in the industry and seeing the need for central research, formed Bell Telephone Laboratories. The labs went on to become the premier research and development company in the world. Many staff members of Advanced Technologies & Services (ATS) have their roots in this organization.

The availability of computers was the second revolution that shook the communications business. Utilizing the computer's control and processing power in the core of communications - switching - gave providers abilities to provide fantastic new features and services embedded in the base functionality of communications technology - which heretofore was transporting information - i.e. voice and data between parties. The communications providers were rather slow in "allowing" computers to control their networks. Quite proud of the accomplishment of building networks that were virtually indestructible and trouble free, cautiousness delayed the full-scale introduction and use of computers in the core of the network for almost two decades. Computers were actually available to be used in this manner in the 1960s.

The third revolution in communications was the meteoric growth of the Internet and the public's adoption of it as a communications and information vehicle. The dominant communications providers - the telecommunications carriers - either did not see the potential of cornering this technological and economic marvel or they felt secure that their existing service base would keep them on top of the communications mountain. Nevertheless, the Internet trains became a way of life, and everybody started laying track and building stations - not just those who had infrastructures in place to dominate and keep the railroad in the family.

Today's revolution - converged networking, fueled by basics built for now successful VoIP services - is poised to move the communications industry into the new century with services that bring all the media and mediums together in a way that George Jetson was accustomed to. That is, in a very comfortable and expedient way. IMS, (IP enabled Multimedia Services), are now (and will continue) to enable innovation, integration and interoperability. This interoperability will make previously disparate devices and services function as one synergistic collaboration of communication and information movement using all delivery methods. Phones, text messaging devices, televisions, computers, home and business control systems and so on will function and provide service together in harmony. Once again, the largest and traditional communications providers are in a commanding position. ATS is working to ensure that their clients lead and dominate this revolution.

ATS has a 10-year history of successful revenue and network assurance for its clients and we continue to evolve as the industry undergoes its fourth revolution. ATS is committed to expanding its staff, and evolving its products and services to support the needs brought about by converged networks. We are fortunate to have staff members who began design, engineering and development work at the very beginning of VoIP technology over eight years ago. Our staff members have led regional and nationwide VoIP network implementations in planning, design, engineering and deployments. The knowledge, abilities and experience necessary to build and maintain these networks can only be gained through this kind of roll up your sleeves approach. ATS is well positioned to work with existing as well as new clients to ensure economic and technological success in the deployment, enhancement and maintenance of their converged networks and IP enabled multimedia services. Here are some of the Converged Network areas of expertise that ATS is currently offering to its clients:

Trunk optimization - TDM and virtual (packetized) trunking
Debugging SS7 integration (GR-317, GR-394, SIGTRAN, TCAP/IN services etc.)
Interoperability / integration testing - Identifying single points of failure
Operations analysis (NOC, SCC, OAM/TMN/FFCAPS)
Call processing / signaling interworking & debugging
Call control protocols – SIP, MGCP, SIP-T, H.248 [MEGACO]
Inter NE signaling – SS7/SIGTRAN (ISUP, TCAP, etc.), MF, etc.
Softswitch interoperability with legacy equipment, SIP CPE, PRI, etc
Regulatory – CALEA, EMERGENCY (E911)
Revenue stream assurance

We look forward to serving the industry during the fourth revolution!!

Glen MacArthur
VP of Converged Networks
Convergence Engineers

Glen MacArthur began his career in telecommunications while in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army. Following his military obligations he joined New Jersey Telephone as a switching engineer and over the next twenty-five years he held a variety of positions in RCA Network Services, Northern Telecom, MCI, and Telcordia where he served as Director of Telcordia's Advanced Network Systems Business Unit.

Glen holds two U.S. Patents in VoIP technology – a next generation network treatment mechanism and an inter-nodal North American Numbering Plan software routing engine.

Today, CFOs want those controls back. If they don't get them, they believe they could go to jail. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act mandates that CFOs have to do more than simply pledge that the company's finances are correct; they have to vouch for the processes used to add up the numbers. (See "What Section 404 Says," right.)

Sane people don't want to go to prison. They can even get a little frantic about it.

That's why CIOs perhaps can forgive their CFOs for getting aggressive when it comes to taking control of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts...

Note: ATS offers a unique tool that can be vital to the Sarbox audit process. Some of the largest ILECs in the country current use our SimCall technology to validate the revenue stream in their network to their Sarbox audit committee. The Sarbox committee signs off on the network audit based on the strength of the SimCall findings. Learn more about SimCall.

A Vancouver, Wash. coffee shop tired of seeing a 20-year-old man mooch off their free wireless Internet access called the police, who charged him with "theft of services."

Brewed Awakenings employees dialed 911 after Alexander Eric Smith of Battle Ground, Wash. piggybacked off the shop's wireless Internet service for more than three months.

"He doesn't buy anything," Emily Pranger, the shop's manager, told KATU, a Portland, Ore. television station. "It's not right for him to come and use it."

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