VeriSign Communications Services has created a service that will make it far easier – and potentially less expensive – for MSOs and other VoIP service providers to connect with any other telephony provider without having to route calls through the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
VeriSign announced that it has certified NetNumber’s Titan addressing and routing servers with its ENUM registry service to deliver end-to-end carrier ENUM services to network operators.
The combination makes it far easier for cable VoIP providers to connect directly with, for example, other MSOs or wireless network operators, provided there is a direct IP or TDM connection between the networks, explained VeriSign Vice President of Network Services Paul Florack.
Florack told CED that the NetNumber Titan already has significant penetration in both the cable and wireless industries, so there is little that many network operators have to do to implement the capability beyond signing up for the service and downloading some data into the VeriSign registry.
Florack said VeriSign expects to certify equipment from companies other than NetNumber. He told CED that he could not comment on whether any MSOs are using the service already.
Interoperability between the VeriSign Network Routing Directory (NRD) and a NetNumber Titan system is based on the PacketCable ENUM Server Provisioning Protocol (ESPP).
The establishment of a multi-operator interconnect registry provides a solution to out-of-synch databases and disparate switch translations, increasing the efficiency of inter-carrier connections and resulting in call completion directed toward least-cost interconnects.
The VeriSign NRD, a carrier ENUM registry utilized by the global telecommunications industry to simplify the administrative complexity of internetworking, expedites the exchange of routing information between network operators.
The NetNumber Titan platform provides network operators with a platform upon which to host inter-network switch translations downloaded from carrier ENUM registries, such as the VeriSign NRD.
“One of the prime reasons our customers employ our service is its support of an open, multi-vendor environment,” Florack said. “Service providers can request the registry use the standard PacketCable ESPP to replicate to third-party platforms within their span-of-control. Exchanging and synchronizing the most cost-effective routes, programmed automatically, avoids the problems and associated costs of mistake-prone manual labor.”
“The Titan server provides NRD with a mechanism for enabling carriers/operators to download and access a local copy of NRD data for use in the local addressing and routing process,” stated Glenn Marschel, NetNumber’s CEO. “Application-specific addressing and routing services supported on Titan using NRD data include, but are not limited to: number portability services, ENUM routing services, SIP redirect services, SCCP/GTT flexible numbering services, etc.”
