Five years ago, Interface Alternative, Inc., a computer telephony integrator based in
Kendall Park, N.J., began building applications that would allow long-distance resellers
to enter the then fledgling field of marketing prepaid calling cards. Originally,
Interface loaded all the functionality of its debit card systems into a single Intel-based
box that served as the home for everything from the T1 cards needed to route calls to the
database required to track information such as customer account balances. Then in
mid-1997, out of concern that the Intel machines could not support the demands being
placed on them, Interface began splitting the functionality of its calling card
applications between the original Intel boxes and Sun’s UltraSPARC-based servers.
Today, any Interface-built debit card system includes a Sun machine that functions both as
the database server and as the Web server that handles front-end customer service and
billing. Intel machines are now used largely as gatekeepers that connect callers to
callees, ask for customers’ personal identification numbers (PINs), and control
access to calling card privileges.
The biggest beneficiary of this new configuration has been a New York prepaid calling
card company that is using Interface’s Sun-driven solution to build a system
eventually expected to handle more than 5,000 simultaneous calls. Currently, the
company’s installation consists of seven Alliant 20SLr Pentium Pro PCs from Alliance
Systems, Inc., configured to accommodate a total of 504 simultaneous calls, and an Alliant
SSP 250 server built around a 250 MHz Sun UltraSPARC II processor on an Ultra AX
motherboard. When the entire system is deployed, it is expected to be the largest PC-based
installation of its kind.
"As long as no reporting activity is required for these calling card applications,
Intel has enough horsepower. But when you get to the point where you’re writing
reports that massage call detail records in different ways, the system slows down and the
provider loses money because he can’t handle as many calls," said Alex Vishnev,
Interface’s vice president of engineering. "We turned to Sun servers to solve
that problem, provide better scalability, and position ourselves to move to a pure
Java-based customer service interface."
REVOLVING AROUND SUN
The Sun-based Alliant SSP 250 that functions as the hub of Interface’s solution is
part of a series of Sun-based servers built by Alliance Systems, a leading distributor and
integrator of computer telephony products. Each server in the series gets its processing
power from either a 167 or 250 MHz UltraSPARC module on an Ultra AX mother board installed
in an industrial-grade 19" rack-mount chassis. Alliance then adds a variety of
features designed to deal with the special requirements and mission-critical nature of
computer-telephony applications, including hot-swappable redundant power supplies,
redundant fans, audio/visual alarming, warning indicators , and a special cooling system
to reduce the possibility of heat-driven system failure.
Alliance introduced its Sun-based series last year to offer a mid-range server platform
for telco and telephony applications and to take advantage of the PCI-based open
architecture of Sun’s newest UltraSPARC server components. The Alliant SSP servers
are designed to work in conjunction with Alliance’s high-performance voice processing
computers for applications that require database servers, Web servers, mail servers, and
other components with large horsepower needs. The SSP series and Alliance’s
Intel-based machines are delivered in matching chassis to give the hardware a uniform
appearance in the rack.
SPLITTING FUNCTIONALITY
Each Sun machine used in Interface’s calling card applications houses a Sybase
database server that stores and updates account information, rate tables, billing tables,
and other back-end data needed for customer service and billing. A Web server also housed
on the Sun-based hub is used to give customer service and support people access to an
application that allows them to generate PINs, check calling rates, issue credits, create
reports, and so on. Written by Interface, as were the prepaid calling application itself
and a variety of utilities required to run the system, this browser-based customer service
package replaces the high-maintenance desktop application of Interface’s early
deployments.
Login to the calling card company’s Web site is database-driven, allowing each
user to have a different set of permissions. While there can be limited access to customer
service representatives and support staff, some vendors also permit access by major
resellers or even end users. In the latter case, end users can check their account
balances without human intervention.
The operating system used is Solaris 2.5 (soon to be changed to 2.6), and fault
tolerance is provided by redundant hot-swappable power supplies and RAID 5 disk arrays.
Interface is now working to migrate its software to allow report alarms and system
faults to be sent directly to the Solstice network manager, a particularly important
requirement with large applications that will be deployed in multiple locations. The
integrator also is moving toward changing its customer service interface, now written in
dynamic HTML, CGI Script, and Java Script, to Java-only. The goal is to provide Java
applets or applications that will make it easier for service providers to manage their
calling switches. In addition to UltraSPARC’s processing power, both the capabilities
of the Solstice software and the support for Java were factors in Interface
Alternative’s choice of the Sun platform.
CONNECTING CALLS
Meanwhile, back at the switch, the Intel-based PCs continue to perform the functions that
place less load on the system. Every PC is loaded with multiple Dialogic D/240SC-2T1
boards, each of which handles the connections for up to 24 simultaneous phone calls,
provides the appropriate telephone network interface, and "talks" to the caller
("Enter your PIN, please."). Each machine also has Interface’s custom-built
prepaid calling application, a switching engine that controls the Dialogic card, a
database manager that fires queries at the database residing on the Sun server, a Call
Detail Record manager that builds call tracking records on-the-fly, a real-time billing
manager, and assorted utilities. The operating system used is Unix SCO Unixware 2.1, and
fault tolerance is provided by redundant power supplies and mirrored drives.
Under Interface’s architecture, the same basic solution can be used to consolidate
prepaid calling card, one-plus calling, callback, call forwarding, and prepaid cellular
applications using the same Intel-based switch and Sun-based database.
But it is the Sun piece of the equation that gives Interface’s solutions the
necessary processing muscle and high availability capabilities. Interface’s computer
telephony applications require a power server, and Sun fits the bill.
Todd Ingarfield is product manager of Alliance Systems, Inc., of Dallas, TX.
Alliance Systems currently provides distribution and systems integration services to over
5,000 customers worldwide. This establishes Alliance Systems as one of the world’s
largest distributor and integrator of computer telephony components. Offering a wide
selection of products and a commitment to customer satisfaction, Alliance customers range
from small independent software developers to large Fortune 500 companies. For more
information, visit the company’s Web site at www.alliancesystems.com. |
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