November 1999

To: CTI Readers
Cc: 3Com, Accelerated Networks, CopperCom, FlowPoint, Jetstream, Lucent Technologies, Network Plus, TollBridge Technologies, Vina Technologies
Subject: DSL Pulls Out Of The Drive-Thru

BY Tom Keating

When I realized that DSL reminded me of fast food, I had to pause and think. Does everything remind me of fast food, or am I onto something? Upon reflection, I’ve decided that I am (as usual) onto something.

To date, DSL has been marketed as a super-quick way to surf the Web. Sounds innocuous, doesn’t it? However, we can see the trouble with this approach when we consider a parallel development: Web surfing has acquired, well, a certain reputation. Nowadays, Web surfing is considered an indulgence — an indulgence, moreover, not quite befitting an adult. Indeed, Web surfing, as a guilty pleasure, is right up there with junk food.

But change is coming. More and more, DSL will be characterized as a serious business solution, thanks to applications such as voice over DSL. We still have a way to go, of course. Just recently, I saw a DSL commercial on television, where the DSL advantage was illustrated by two bars racing across a shuddering bar graph. (The DSL bar, of course, was resplendent in hot, cherry red, the color of a teenager’s obnoxiously overpowered Trans Am. It fairly screamed across the screen. The alternative? A sedate and slow-moving blue — the color, presumably, of your father’s broadband solution.)

DSL DRIVER’S ED
If we’re going to use our DSL vehicles responsibly, for serious work, and not just the occasional joyride, then we should settle in for a little driver’s ed. But don’t worry, I won’t drone on all semester. I’ll give just a little background for those readers who are unfamiliar with DSL (also known as digital subscriber line).

Essentially, DSL uses an ordinary analog line (a single, untwisted pair of copper) to transmit data at rates exceeding those possible with an analog modem over the same analog line. DSL provides dedicated bandwidth that is much faster, as much as 270 times faster, than a 28.8-Kbps modem. In addition, DSL can provide a connection 143 times faster than a 56-Kbps modem, 62 times faster than ISDN, and up to 4 times faster than a T1 connection. Since DSL uses your ordinary phone line but doesn’t tie it up, you can access the Internet while having a phone conversation.

DSL comes in many flavors, including ADSL, HDSL, G.Lite, and others. Many articles have been written about the different DSL standards, so I won’t belabor the point. Instead, I will focus on a particular application of DSL, and how it may affect the world of business communications.

A PARKING SPACE IN THE CORPORATE LOT
To most people, DSL is an alternative broadband data solution to high-speed cable broadband access. While it’s true that DSL owes its beginnings to data-hungry power users seeking faster Internet access, DSL has an interesting business application — voice over DSL. This application should interest small businesses and home offices, as well as larger companies.

Typically, voice over DSL relies on a single pair of copper connected to an integrated access device (IAD) at the customer premises. The IAD allows up to 16 analog extensions. Certainly, the phone company’s drawing just one phone wire versus sixteen has obvious cost advantages. Using IADs to provide local voice switching and Centrex-based services, service providers can simplify their networks by eliminating the need to dedicate a trunk line from the central office for each telephone extension at the customer premise.

Besides the cost advantages, several other benefits arise from using DSL technology. For users, using an IAD eliminates the need for a key system, allows for a single vendor to provide voice and data, and permits a single bill for both voice and data services. From a service provider perspective, IADs have many benefits, such as consolidation of both voice and data networks at the customer premise, reduced trunk count, minimized burden on the local PSTN switch, simplified networks, and reduced costs, as well as the ability to offer bundled services (voice, data, Internet access).

While VoDSL is currently targeted at small businesses and households with multiple telephone lines, large businesses can benefit from this technology as well. Voice over DSL offers a cost-effective means of connecting branch offices and telecommuters to the corporate office. Not only can a single analog line provide up to 16 analog devices (fax machines, phone extensions, modems, etc.), but it also provides simultaneous data access as well. For MIS managers looking to provide a unified voice and data solution for remote workers and branch offices, voice over DSL certainly deserves a look.

FLOWING WITH THE TRAFFIC
There are slightly varying methods of how all this works. Here’s the most common method: Both the voice and data are carried simultaneously over a single copper wire to a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) at the local exchange carrier’s central office, where the traffic from several DSLAMs is then concentrated into an ATM switch. This ATM switch passes the data traffic off to the appropriate ISP, while sending the voice traffic to a gateway. The gateway converts the packet voice back to conventional voice signals and sends it on to a Class 5 PSTN switch. Enhanced types of services such as Centrex can be also be provided over DSL.

Several companies provide small businesses with IAD solutions that provide Centrex-like voice services as well as data services using DSL. These vendors include Accelerated Networks,Jetstream, Network Plus, TollBridge Technologies, and Vina Technologies. Smaller startups are not the only ones getting into the DSL act. Lucent Technologies, 3Com, and others are working on DSL integrated access devices.

THE ULTIMATE BROADBAND SOLUTION?
In closing, I’d like to suggest that we think of DSL not just in terms of speedy Web surfing, but in terms of truly useful business applications. And one such application is voice over DSL, particularly if it involves the use of an IAD, or integrated access device.

Put another way, we could stop thinking of DSL as a pumped up Trans Am. Instead, let’s think of something that delivers not just performance, but sophistication as well. A BMW perhaps? That way, if you find yourself desperate for a fast food fix, you can still wheel your BMW into the drive-thru lane, perhaps on your way to or from the bank

In my June 1999 Cc: column (“The Thrill is Gone”), I discussed popular self-service e-commerce sites, such as Amazon.com, and how they would want to become full-service e-commerce sites — provided they were interested in remaining competitive, that is. I mentioned in my column how the largest e-commerce sites were still strictly self-service, with no means to reach a live operator via chat, phone, Web callback, or VoIP call. I couldn't find a single major e-commerce site that allowed a Web visitor to reach a live person.

Well, things changed a lot in just a few months! Consider, if you will, a representative anecdote. (Well, I think it’s representative.) I was watching television one night when I saw a commercial by Lands End, a large distributor of clothing. The commercial showed a customer clicking on a Web callback button, entering her cell phone number, and then having a call center agent return her call. Then the call center agent was able to push Web pages to the customer, the selection of Web pages being determined by the comments made by the customer over the phone.

Lands End has enabled both Web callback and Web-based chat on their Web site using technology from WebLine Communications (now owned by Cisco Systems). It’s exciting to see Lands End promote the technology so aggressively, not just on television, but in ads in the Sunday New York Times Magazine. Let’s hope this trend continues!