Q2 2007
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 to your friends and co-workers!
In this issue:
TrunkOpt - How AT&T Optimizes Its Network
By:
Ryan Guthrie, Director of
Network Integrity, ATS
Due to the always increasing complexity of telecommunications networks, there is an ongoing need for extensive network planning. In 1996, AT&T decided that it needed a better tool to handle its complex network planning and optimization efforts. The TrunkOpt product suite was developed through the collaborative efforts of many different departments such as Trunk Planning, Switch and Tandem Planning and Revenue Assurance. The tool was designed to address critical issues such as Trunk overflow and optimal routing and originating/terminating traffic ratios to competitive carriers. It was also designed to identify communities of interest that should “home” on a new tandem. AT&T has used TrunkOpt to monitor and manage its network for more than 10 years and through a partnership with AT&T, Advanced Technologies and Services, Inc. (ATS) acquired the rights to market and sell this remarkable tool to other carriers throughout the world.
“We are excited to be able to add TrunkOpt to our growing suite of network diagnostic tools,” said Randall Guthrie, President of ATS.
The Trunk Optimization Tool Set enables you to have a comprehensive view of your communications network in order to plan, optimize, and manage its infrastructure. The tool set is an online solution which provides access to information on traffic flow, traffic congestion, traffic type; and the toolset provides support for optimal routing and design. These tools enable network planning engineers to identify problematic routing, and to optimally plan how the network should evolve, utilizing existing equipment in the most efficient manner to reduce additional capital expenditures.
“The TrunkOpt tandem studies have allowed AT&T to identify direct end office (DEOTs) opportunities, identifying transit traffic over the AT&T network and identify misrouted codes,” said TrunkOpt user Theresa Michael.
Trunk Optimization enables companies to defer and avoid capital purchases in network infrastructure implementations. The tools identify “communities of interest” where the traffic flow between multiple points is heavy, leading to switching equipment congestion. By adding direct traffic flows between these points, congestion is reduced at the switching equipment. This defers and can avoid the need to purchase additional switching equipment to maintain higher traffic volumes. The tool also supports management of changes in the network resulting from switching equipment reconfigurations, as well as mergers or divestitures.
Many companies have visibility into how select sections of their network perform, but few have the capability to view all tandem office network flows. The Trunk Optimization toolset enables this comprehensive network view. A company is able to see how calls between two central offices could be routed differently to minimize use of tandem network resources. The tool’s modeling support capability enables a company to project the impact of planned network modifications. Using these tools results in the most efficient networks by proactively tackling potential problem areas before they hinder the network performance
TrunkOpt user Theresa Donnell said, “By identifying and correcting mis-routed traffic AT&T has been able to efficiently and economically size the trunking network.”
The Trunk Optimization toolset gives exceptional visibility into how a company’s network is operating. Beyond network performance, this information gives insight into how customers are using a company’s services and what areas are driving cost concerns. It gives a company the data needed to determine when the traffic peaks, where the communities of interest are, and how different carriers affect your network. In addition, traffic is identified by traffic types (e.g., LEC, Wireless, IEC) and identifies whether or not the traffic terminates in your network or is transit traffic. This information provides knowledge not only regarding network operations, but what and who comprises the tandem network traffic flow.
Some of the Benefits of TrunkOpt include:
Decrease Capital Expenditures - By directly connecting communities of interest with high traffic volumes, traffic is reduced on routing equipment, thereby deferring or avoiding additional equipment purchases.
Save Personnel Costs - Through utilizing the planning capabilities provided by the tools, network planning can become more automated and efficient, requiring fewer resources dedicated to the planning process.
Avoid Duplicative Network Implementation Expenses - Supports modeling of proposed network changes to limit the risk of performing network modifications that result in disappointing results requiring additional changes.
Increased Tariff Collection - Identifies interconnection traffic that is not conforming to tariffs and regulations.
“If there is a better tool on the market to help companies identify problems, analyze “what if” scenarios, and optimize the network, AT&T has yet to find it,” said Theresa Donnell.
TrunkOpt will identify “Communities of Interest” that should be re-arranged on new equipment from near and far end offices. The toolset also helps to uncover codes that are not being routed over the optimal route, as well as interconnection traffic that is not conforming to tariffs or regulations. TrunkOpt users will be able to more accurately identify busy hours, busy hour traffic load variances, traffic peakedness, traffic type, etc. Once these various items are identified, TrunkOpt will provide further analysis on items such as direct trunking and design, code misroute reporting, and code migration impact. This information allows a carrier to optimize traffic engineering by traffic type as well as the design of trunk groups.
Strong network planning tools are a necessity for any telecommunications company. AT&T decided 10 years ago to develop and implement a network optimization solution for use on its network. TrunkOpt is now available to be implemented on your network. The intelligence provided by the tool is guaranteed to reduce costs and properly manage network resources better than any tool on the market. Find out for yourself why AT&T has kept this tool a secret for so many years. For additional information about this exceptional tool, please contact Ryan Guthrie at 973-696-0990 ext. 126. TrunkOpt is available as a licensed product or service bureau through ATS.
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ATS Expands Internationally Opening an Office in England
For Immediate Release:
Wayne, NJ, June 21, 2007 – Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc, a supplier of Revenue Assurance solutions for communications providers, announced today that they will be opening their first international office in Buckinghamshire, England.
ATS has been a leader in Revenue Assurance throughout North America for the past 12 years. Their customer base includes the majority of the Tier 1 Carriers in the United States, Canada, and Caribbean islands. With the expanding telecom market in many countries around the world, ATS is anxious to begin working in the international market.
“We are very excited to expand into the international telecom market,” says Randall Guthrie, ATS’ President. “Ensuring network integrity and revenue optimization for our customers have always been our core strengths and we look forward to developing trusted partner relationships with carriers around the world.”
ATS’ flagship product, SimCall, is the industry’s leading tool to ensure network integrity by validating the accuracy of switch translations. The tool is unique in that it simulates every dialing combination possible in a fraction of the time it would take to generate such calls. The call simulations are also done off-line so there is absolutely no strain on the switch being tested and no false inflation of call detail records detected. Just last year ATS recovered over $50m in lost revenue for their clients with SimCall.
Contact:
Ryan Guthrie
Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc.
1501 Hamburg Turnpike
Wayne, NJ 07470
Tel (973) 696-0990 x126
Fax (973) 696-6713
ryanguthrie@atso.com
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VoIP Bills Set to Increase
Courtesy
of
Internet News
Note to Internet telephone users: Your monthly bill is about to go up.
In a long anticipated move, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled today Voice over IP (define) services must contribute a portion of their revenues to the Universal Service Fund (USF).
If VoIP providers follow the lead of local and long distance telephone companies, wireless providers, paging firms and pay phone companies -- who already pay into the USF -- the costs will be passed on to consumers.
The ruling only applies to VoIP services that interconnect with the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
"Like public safety goals, universal service obligations transcend new technologies and cannot be compromised," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said.
The USF subsidizes phone service in under-served and rural areas. Through the E-rate fund, the USF also subsidizes Internet connections in schools and libraries.
According to Medley Global Advisors, the FCC order is likely to add approximately $1.30 a month to each VoIP subscriber's bill. An FCC spokesman said VoIP consumers are likely to begin seeing the increase on their bills as early as September.
"By requiring interconnected VoIP providers to contribute to the fund, the [FCC] is furthering the principle of competitive neutrality," Martin said.
Click Here for the full story
VoIP Providers – Click Here for more information about reducing your USF contributions.
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OffBeat
News:
850,000 Phones Down the Toilet
Courtesy of
Cellular News
If you've ever found yourself trying to fish your mobile out of the toilet, you're not alone. A staggering 855,000 handsets are flushed away every year in the UK - that's roughly £342 million we're 'loo'sing. Research by SimplySwitch, the price comparison and switching service, found 4.5m handsets are lost or damaged every year.
Common catastrophes include leaving mobiles in the pub (810,000 handsets) in a taxi (315,000) or on a bus (225,000). More bizarrely, dogs chewed their way through 58,500 handsets last year and 116,000 went through a spin cycle with the dirty laundry.
The research found that over a quarter of mobile owners had lost or damaged a handset, with men more prone to carelessness than women. 28 per cent of men admitted to breaking or losing their phone compared to 26 per cent of women.
Click here for the full story.
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