VoIP Gateways

Here is a global reality. The installed base of TDM (time-division multiplexing) communications systems has never been older. This, despite headlines hyping as what seems to be a massive move by enterprises of all sizes in all geographies moving to VoIP solutions, be they premises based or hosted in the cloud. 

Here are two more realities.

First, the reason the installed base remains so large, and is not being retired as fast as expected, is that companies appreciate that those systems do as promised. They allow for highly reliable and high quality voice calling and have a feature-set that meets their calling needs.  

As important -- and rarely discussed -- is the fact that probably 95 percent of the installed systems around the world (please note that is systems and not users) serve organizations with fewer than 50 employees. In other words, they are owned/leased and operated by entities with limited technology budgets and limited IT staff or expertise. In these environments, changing to something is as much about retraining people how to use things as it is about having a sense of urgency about getting the latest and greatest, especially if the existing system is already paid for and support is in a zone of perceived reasonableness.

Second, the headlines do have it right that because of the speed at which the world is changing, companies appreciate that those existing systems are no longer viable in a multimedia and multi-channel interactions world. However, what they do not point out are user concerns about: the cost either augmenting their existing systems or doing a complete replacement; questions about security and network resiliency; issues about ease of use; and a host of intangibles that are not necessarily reflected in total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations, but weigh heavily on decisions as to if, when and how to migrate that old telephone system.

Image courtesy Shutterstock
With all of this in mind, I decided this was a great time to check in with VoIP Routers Community host Patton Electronics in the person of Tyler Delin, SmartNode Product Manager, to better understand what is going on in the market as organizations of all sizes look at their TDM to IP migration options, and why Patton (News - Alert) is enjoying such traction in the 142 countries where it has a direct or partner presence.

Delin got right to the heart of matter. “Everyone is looking for legacy systems to go away. But, for a variety of reasons relating to culture, cost and various concerns, this is going to be an evolution in most instances and not a revolution, despite the proven business value of moving off of TDM to IP sooner rather than later. Patton has been at the leading edge of VoIP technology for over a decade. We purchased a leading-edge Swiss company, and while we manufacture our products in the U.S., Switzerland remains our VoIP competency R&D center. In fact, a not-well-known fact is that we are the VoIP gateway leader in Europe. Indeed, we are still seeing 10 percent growth in the gateway product and there is no reason to believe it cannot continue to grow for quite some time.”

He further noted that: “Our goal has always been to be as customer-centric as possible. We want to be what we describe as the linchpin of any network in terms of providing reliable and secure connectivity, interoperability, and quality of communications. We have made sure that we enable customers to move to VoIP when and how they want to, and as painlessly as possible. That is why we provide options that allow them to get started with a gateway that allows them to use their existing POTs, ISDN and other digital capabilities without stranding their hardware investment, yet allows those to be opportunistic in making the move to IP where, when and how it makes sense. It is also why we provide them a comprehensive portfolio of SmartNode implementations that include router, gateway, integrated access device (IAD) session border controller (SBC) and unified communications (UC) enablement functionality.”

For those unfamiliar with Patton’s SmartNode equipment, a quick primer is in order. SmartNode preserves all the ISDN telephony features that ISDN users depend on and network operators require (AOC, CLIP, CLIR, UD64, overlap dialing, and fax, as well as MSN and DID). It is built on one of the industry’s most interoperable VoIP platforms, the SmartNode S-DTA, which supports ISDN, SIP, H.323, and MGCP/IUA signaling. Patton’s SmartWare features touchless auto-provisioning, high reliability and proven interoperability with all the major-brand softswitches and IP-PBXs. 

The company’s SmartNode Unified Communication Agent (UCA) provides any-to-any multi-path switching (simultaneous SIP, H.323, ISDN, and POTS calls with routing and conversion between TDM/PSTN and IP/Ethernet networks—plus T.38 and SuperG3 FAX), combined with dial-backup and IP-link redundancy for VoIP and data survivability. The UCA also provides VoIP-over-VPN security with encrypted voice via IPsec with AES/DES strong encryption and automated keying via Internet Key Exchange (IKE), plus SIP Registrar for presence/reachability. The SmartNode portfolio: scales from 2 to 2048 voice calls; offers industry-standard interfaces, including T1/E1, PRI/BRI STM-1/OC3, DS3, FXS/FXO, V.35/X.21, Ethernet, G.SHDSL, ADSL2+; and Patton’s advanced DownStreamQoS technology delivers clear, toll-quality voice on every call.

Delin believes that the reason for Patton’s success goes beyond having world-class technology. As he noted, “The Patton value proposition is unique. We offer the precision of Swiss engineering, the trusted value of a made in the U.S. product, unprecedented interoperability along with our quality, reliability and security, and our free gold-standard customer support.”

The last item should not be overlooked or underestimated as part of the company’s value proposition. Patton does in fact provide free lifetime support, including downloadable software updates, at no additional cost to the customer. As Delin concluded, “We are not and do not intend to be the low-cost provider in the first instance. This really is a market where you get what you pay for and where quality matters. More importantly, on a TCO basis only, Patton stacks up well or beats anyone in the industry, but we also believe this is a model that customers desire. It takes away a large and potentially highly variable cost.”

It is this that very last point about making not just the technology but the business relationship customer-centric that makes Patton standout from its competition, and certainly is a contributor to its past success and its current expansion in various growth markets around the world in including Central Europe and Latin America.