Convergence Futures - 6 : Future Carrier Convergence
With the introduction of voice over IP and the cost savings associated with bypassing the PSTN, many carriers are worried that their revenues will drop as their customers opt to find a more cost-effective means of communication. In light of this paradigm shift, the old adage, "If you can't beat them, join them," probably comes into play.
As you may have noticed, it seems the world has chosen to converge upon the IP protocol, like a dog after a stick. Carriers such as ISPs and phone companies are implementing technologies that will enable them to place their voice traffic on the same backbone technology that they offer Internet services. And that backbone technology is, you guessed it, IP. This makes sense since the volume of Internet traffic continues to increase each year, and at the same time the voice world is demanding that more services be added for voice applications.
In light of these demands, carriers will converge their voice traffic onto their IP backbones, thus enabling them to provide a more comprehensive IP-based solution, plus the ability to add more services to both their data and voice offerings. One of the devices that the carrier market will use to ramp up these new services is the soft switch.
These soft switches, along with tools called application servers, come with a unique IP-based innovation that enables carriers to save anywhere from 50-70 percent on voice traffic. This is in comparison to the original, divided voice and data infrastructure. The ability to provide these new services will allow carriers to stay in business and remain competitive, especially when it comes to competing for business on the local loop.
Are you beginning to see how ROI works in the networking world? The future of convergence is in many ways driven by the need to develop solutions that help the customer save money. If you, as a business, prove to your customers that they will actually save money in the long run when they buy your product, your business stands a greater chance of winning over the long-term.