As IP-based communications solutions become more heavily adopted, and as technology continues to evolve and new applications and services continue to be developed, on thing is clear: interoperability between vendors is going to be more crucial than ever. Without the ability to interconnect with network components from other manufacturers, developers of gateways, switches, endpoints, and other network hardware will find themselves holding the short end of the market share stick.
Interoperability accomplishes several things. Obviously, it ensures that networks will function when new equipment is added, but it also means that new components can be added and new services introduced more rapidly and cost effectively.
Quintum (News - Alert) Technologies, which manufactures popular line of Tenor switching and gateway solutions, is embracing the desire, and indeed, the need, for rapid deployment of equipment in service provider networks in order to keep pace with the demand and availability of new services. In the interest of simplifying the integration of it Tenor line into service provider infrastructures, Quintum has now completed the beta phase of two new rapid deployment technologies, specifically designed to enable service providers to deploy and automatically configure their tenors — which also means there is no need for an on-site technician visit.
The new auto-discovery interface searches for and identifies each tenor on a network, along with their IP address, serial number, software version, and description — making it easy to manage each of the devices, regardless of how have been deployed. Once collected, the data is sent to the configuration manager GUI, through which users are able to configure their Tenor appliances.
The new software will also integrate Tenors into service providers’ existing back office systems, automating and speeding the configuration of the Tenors, brining them online with VoIP services, including any relevant configuration settings. These provisioning activities are completed using secure signaling protocols with individual unit authentication to ensure security and system integrity.
“With Tenor’s auto-provisioning interface, we can deploy a Tenor and, within seconds, we have the configuration information from our Operational Support Systems (OSS) downloaded to the device,” said Jerry Knight (News - Alert), CTO at AccessLine Communications, which was the first to deploy then new feature. “This allows us to focus on customer service and not network configuration.”
In addition to providing auto-configuration, the new software also can be used to manage software upgrades and other maintenance work. And, with Quintum’s external Remote Management Session Server, even Tenors deployed behind enterprise NAT firewalls can be easily evaluated, upgraded, and configured.
“As VoIP is being adopted by mainstream business customers, service providers must be able to respond quickly to customer needs and minimize the cost of CPE deployment,” said Chuck Rutledge (News - Alert), vice president of marketing at Quintum.
Which is just what the new auto-discovery and auto provisioning features will drive.
Erik Linask (News - Alert) is Associate Editor of INTERNET TELEPHONY, IMS Magazine, and Unified Communications (News - Alert). Prior to joining TMC, he was Managing Editor at Global Custodian, an international securities services publication. To see more of his articles, please visit Erik Linask’s columnist page.
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