May 2000

Well, You ASPed For It!

BY Tom Keating

A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON
CTI, the oft-maligned technology deemed too expensive for general business and often relegated to the call center, now has a new friend in ASPs. Before I explain how ASPs will aid CTI deployment, first a little history lesson.

Back in the day (well... about 25 years ago) PBXs were too expensive to deploy in small to mid-sized businesses. As such, many companies started out with a dedicated analog or ISDN line on every desktop. Now, having 30 phone lines for 30 employees is not very efficient. Generally, the 1/5 rule applies. That is, only 1 out of 5 employees is on the phone at any one time. Thus, companies came up with an alternative to having a trunk line for every employee. The alternative was that many corporations bought inexpensive key systems with Centrex lines coming into the key system. By using Centrex along with a key system, you could instead only have 30/5 or 6 trunk lines instead of 30.

Intelligence for call handling was handled mainly at the CO, which would take care of incoming calls, outbound calls, transfers, and conferencing. Then inexpensive (and not-so-inexpensive) PBXs came along with CTI capabilities that allowed for the call handling to be done at the customer premise. With PBXs, complex call routing rules could all be done without having to deal with a local carrier.

While CPE PBXs allowed businesses to be in control of their main communications tool (the PBX), it isn't without its problems. PBXs can be complex, requiring that a local VAR or interconnect deals with maintenance, which of course incurs financial costs. Many companies then pushed the PBX maintenance responsibilities onto the resident IT guru to save money. But I will tell you this -- IT guys do not want to deal with the PBX. Most IT/IS personnel today are looking to outsource the PBX responsibilities.

THIN-CLIENT PBX?
About six months ago, our resident PBX manager (an IT guy, of course) and I discussed how there should be an ASP model for PBXs. I theorized that by utilizing Citrix (a thin-client computing software company) along with Windows Terminal Edition on the Windows NT platform, you could have "multiple" instances of a PBX residing on a single Windows NT Server. An ASP could then sell an individual "instance" of a PBX (each with its own customizations and voice prompts) to several customers, while sharing all the hardware and telephony resources on a single server.

People who are familiar with Citrix software know it allows for several virtual Windows desktops or sessions to exist on a single server, each session with its own memory space. Think of it as running 50 or more copies of Windows NT all concurrently executing programs using a single PC. Now think of the cost savings. An ASP could have a single Windows NT machine with RAID capability and multiple processors for redundancy and performance serving as a PBX to hundreds, perhaps thousands of customers.

I also theorized that since IADs (integrated access devices) utilize DSL installed at the customer premise, which allows for 8, 16, or even 24 trunks over a single pair of copper wires, that PBX application service providers could also use DSL to get 8,16, or 24 trunk lines. I'm always dreaming up new ways of implementing technology, but I thought this dream might be a bit far fetched until I met with 8x8.

ASPs MEET CTI
8x8's Netergy iPBX Server System Telephony System, a part of the Netergy Advanced Telephony System (ATS) just about fulfills my dream of an ASP-model PBX, although they use carrier-class Sun Netra t1 servers as opposed my theoretical Windows NT configuration. Of course, Sun machines are very reliable and carriers are still pro-Sun due to Windows NT's past reputation (whether rightly or wrongly) as less reliable. Targeted at CLECS and ISPs, this product currently supports up to 200 individual PBX instances with up to 250 extensions each. 8x8 claims that by August of this year they will be able to attain 10,000 individual PBX instances per server cluster (a cluster is five Sun Microsystems Netra t1 servers). The customer premise is linked to the service provider through any IP connection, including ISDN, T1, xDSL, or cable.

Connecting legacy terminal devices (such as a digital or analog phone) can be done with Netergy's Media Hub, or one from Calista/Cisco. One of the advantages of this product is that it enables service providers to deliver advanced telephony services to small and medium-sized businesses, including unified messaging and VoIP, as well as CTI functionality. Companies that do not initially wish to pay for unified messaging or CTI functionality don't have to; they can add these services with a few mouse clicks, instead of the traditional way -- throwing out your non-CTI enabled phone system or integrating an expensive CTI link and software to the phone system. The system supports s H.323, MGCP, and SIP, and the Netergy iPBX is Java-based.

It's amazing how we have come full circle. First, call routing intelligence was located at the Central Office and Centrex was used at the customer premise. Then the call routing moved to the customer premise via PBXs, and now the intelligence has moved back to the Central Office utilizing ASPs! Like a famous Yankee once said, "It's like deja-v all over again."

THE THRILL ISN'T GONE
In addition to my wish for a ASP-model PBX, I made one other wish (or was it a prediction?) in my June 1999 column, "The Thrill is Gone". I predicted that e-commerce sites such as Amazon and E*Trade would need to add Web-callback, Web push, and VoIP capabilities to their Web sites and call centers. I even joked "Now if only I could click on 'call a stock broker' to ask an E*Trade agent if Yahoo! is a good stock to invest in!" Well my prediction has come true.

Suretrade.com announced the addition of Net2Phone's voice-enabled e-commerce solution, Click2Talk, to its online tools. Donato Montanaro, president of Suretrade said, "We're committed to connecting customers to quick, accurate, friendly support by any channel that suits that customer's needs. Click2Talk is a great tool because it enables our customers to place calls directly from the web to any telephony in the world, expediting sales by connecting customers directly to a live broker on the telephone."

Since Suretrade doesn't have its own backbone of Internet telephony gateways and they are using Net2Phone's gateway backbone, as well as Net2Phone's software, in essence Net2Phone is another ASP in the communications industry -- specifically the Internet telephony industry. Actually, Net2Phone has been pretty busy lately with major announcements, including a deal announced with AT&T and Yahoo!

Also, Net2Phone recently signed an agreement with RealNetworks to deliver the Net2Phone software to the 95 million RealPlayer users. Users will be able to download Net2Phone's client software with RealPlayer 7 Update 1 from the Real.com Web site, and will seamlessly download and install Net2Phone's software using the AutoUpdate feature in RealPlayer 7.0. RealPlayer users in the United States who download and register for Net2Phone will also receive 100 free minutes of domestic usage and a free headset.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention an important release made by a Net2Phone competitor. Deltathree announced the introduction of free, unlimited PC-to-phone calling to the United States and Canada from anywhere in the world.

IT DOESN'T STOP THERE
Another ASP in the telecom space is ipx, a VoIP clearinghouse, which announced T-Portal, a group of telecommunications companies, dedicated to advancing new technologies. Short for Telecommunications Portal, T-Portal is a business and technological vehicle for created advanced telecom applications. "We are creating the first Applications Telecommunications Service Provider (ATSP) clearinghouse", said Keith J. Rhea, president and CEO of ipx. "Applications such as unified messaging, follow me services, and other enhanced applications are based on the convergence of different, but complementary technologies and disciplines."

Gene Cohen, CTO and co-founder of ipx said, "T-Portal, as the first ATSP clearinghouse, is a revolutionary, as opposed to evolutionary development. Its implications are very important to the next edge telecom technologies, because it allows the combining and layering of applications, transport mechanisms, service providers, and technologies worldwide. For service providers and end users, it means that high quality, low cost advanced applications will be offered in rapid deployment".

ShareMedia is another telephony ASP (TASP) that can provide service providers such as telcos and ISPs outsourced solutions integrating voice, fax, wireless, scheduling, and messaging services. Features include virtual PBX functionality, unified messaging, and even Web access via the telephone.

Xybridge Technologies, yet another TASP has a softswitch product called Universal Services Suite (USS), which bridges IP networks and circuit switched networks (PSTN) providing features such as IP Centrex, iPBX, Internet call bypass, interexchange applications, and other enhanced IP-based services. USS consists of a set of modular, standards-based components for call control, service control, directory, media/IVR, and SS7 gateways. Since USS is Java-based, it runs on Unix, Windows NT, or Linux platforms and supports H.323, SIP, Megaco, IPDC, IPST, and JAIN. In addition, USS provides a library of open APIs for third-party development of services.

Due to space constraints, one last telecom ASP that I haven't mentioned is Telera. In this issue, however, Rich Tehrani takes a look at them in his "Publisher's Outlook."

ASPs are certainly making inroads in the communications industry. I keep telling anyone who will listen that this industry isn't about technology; it's about providing solutions using technology. Technology is useless if nobody knows how to implement it. As complex as the communications/telecom space is, ASPs are the perfect avenue to cut through the confusion and complexity to provide a real business solution at a reasonable price.