SUBSCRIBE TO TMCnet
TMCnet - World's Largest Communications and Technology Community

CHANNEL BY TOPICS


QUICK LINKS




Interview: RedSky's SaaS-Based E911 Anywhere Hosted Solution Serves SMBs

TMCnews


TMCnews Featured Article


May 15, 2009

Interview: RedSky's SaaS-Based E911 Anywhere Hosted Solution Serves SMBs

By Michael Dinan, TMCnet Editor


It’s easy to lose sight – amid announcements of recession-fueled layoffs and lowered financial outlooks at IT giants such as Microsoft, Panasonic, Sprint and Intel – that small- and medium-sized companies also are looking to technology to navigate this down economy.

 
In the past year, and especially since the fall, the IP communications space has seen a dramatic surge of cost-saving solutions available to SMBs. Many of the solutions that attract smaller businesses are “hosted” – meaning they’re offered as services that require little or no installation, hardware, are easy to manage and can grow with a business.
 
For example, analysts are calling for SMBs to lead a trend where hosted VoIP – a technology that’s found a niche in this slower economy for its cost-saving potential, especially on international calls – to grow by more than one-third this year, and continue growing for the following two years.
 
As IP solutions become more prevalent in smaller business, we expect them to turn to the important issue of enhanced 911, or “E911.”
 
Generally speaking, E911 systems use location-based services, or “LBSs,” to identify a physical address for a caller’s phone number, helping emergency responders and their dispatchers get to where they need to go.
 
Recently, Chicago-based E911 software solutions provider RedSky Technologies, Inc. launched a hosted E911 service that offers the kind of cost savings, scalability and features that cater to SMBs.
 
RedSky’s (News - Alert) “E911 Anywhere Hosted” solution, like other many Software-as-a-Service-based offerings, is a monthly service, offered through a Web portal, that gives administrators the flexibility to move, add and change phones and locations.

TMCnet had a chance this week to put some questions to RedSky Senior Vice President Nicholas Maier. In an interview printed in full below, Maier talked to us about the fact that cost-savings really only tell part of the story here – that E911 Anywhere Hosted is tailored to comply with each state’s enhanced 911 laws and that it integrates with any telephony platform.
 
We also talked at length about security measures built into E911 Anywhere Hosted, and learned that RedSky takes extra steps to ensure that its hardware firewalls, logon credentials and call paths are fully secure.
 
Our exchange follows.
 
TMCnet: We know that RedSky mainly serves the enterprise market, and has had success deploying E911 systems for educational institutions, too. Like so many IP-based communications technologies, including VoIP, enhanced 911 for a long time has been deployed mainly to larger enterprises. But that may be changing, with products such as RedSky’s E911 Anywhere Hosted solution. As regards the hosted solution, what exactly is the value proposition for small- and medium-sized businesses?
 
Nicholas Maier (pictured left): The value proposition is pretty straightforward: no capital expenditure, no software or servers to buy, no annual maintenance costs. The benefits include compliance with all state E911 laws, E911 protection for all employees, students and visitors in any organization regardless of their telephony platform, protection for employees in remote offices or working from home or the road, and simplification of 911 call routing.
 
TMCnet: Along with mobility and VoIP, we’ve seen Software-as-a-Service emerge in this slower economy as an attractive cost-saver, mainly because SaaS (News - Alert)-based solutions are scalable and save on installation, licensing and maintenance costs. How is this economy driving interest in the hosted solution, if at all?
 
NM: In this economy, it is more difficult to get capital expenditures approved to purchase software applications. With our Web-based E911 Anywhere Hosted service, there is no hardware or software to buy upfront and the service can be up and running in a day. Customers simply pay a monthly bill for the service.
 
TMCnet: Talk to us about requirements for the hosted solution. Does a company just need an IPT platform to take advantage of E911 Anywhere Hosted? Does a company need gateway accounts? Local 911 trunks?
 
NM: The beauty of the hosted solution is that it works with any telephony platform because there is no integration required between the PBX (News - Alert)/call server and the hosted service. The customer simply has to point all 911 calls to the E911 Anywhere service over IP or traditional ISDN trunks which then routes the calls to the correct PSAP for emergency response. E911 Anywhere also eliminates the need for gateway accounts with the local exchange carrier, or “LEC,” saving a few thousand dollars up front. Customers on an IP platform don’t even need local trunks to support local 911 calls. The service handles all 911 call routing.
 
TMCnet: We’re hearing a lot lately about Web security. Analysts are reporting record volume in malicious code, spam and identity theft, for example, and problems such as the Conficker worm and other viruses, as well as trojans and malware, regularly find their way to the top of the IT and IP communications news cycle. Given how important emergency services are, can you talk to us a little about how RedSky ensures the security of its hosted solution?
 
NM: E911 Anywhere Hosted was developed from the ground up as a secure system. Location updates are sent by customers via an SSL-encrypted transfer. RedSky’s location servers are protected by hardware firewalls. Additionally, user access requires logon credentials with strong security. The E911 Anywhere system itself is configured for multi-tenancy and no user from one company has access to any other company. It is also fully redundant with each server sitting in its own DMZ with no access to any other portion of the solution.

The call path also has security features. The customer connection to the E911 Anywhere service, when utilizing the available SIP option, is via a site-to-site IPSec tunnel. In turn, our connection to our VoIP Positioning Center, or “VPC,” is also via dual, redundant IPSec tunnels. All interfaces on our routers and Session Border Controllers are access-listed and protected by hardware firewalls. The SBC additionally has DoS security built in.
 
TMCnet: Most of us associate E911 systems with location-based services, and we understand that with the E911 Anywhere Hosted Web portal, location records are created for each telephony by the system’s administrator. Can location records be created for phones that sit behind an IP-PBX? What about digital or analog phones?
 
NM: The E911 Anywhere Hosted service is extremely versatile. A location record can be created for any phone that has a 10-digit DID number, any 10-digit ANI, any emergency response location, or any UC device that has a SIP URI. Location records can be created that support all phones that sit behind an IP-PBX, including H323 phones, SIP Phones and digital and analog phones.
 

Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.


Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael's articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Michael Dinan







Technology Marketing Corporation

2 Trap Falls Road Suite 106, Shelton, CT 06484 USA
Ph: +1-203-852-6800, 800-243-6002

General comments: [email protected].
Comments about this site: [email protected].

STAY CURRENT YOUR WAY

© 2024 Technology Marketing Corporation. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy