These users can look forward to experiencing some of the tools, features and functionality that their overseas colleagues have enjoyed for some time. For multi-national companies with China operations, it has the potential to transform the way they do business. Indeed, many have been clamouring for such enhanced services for some time. They require enhanced communication services between China and the rest of the world to boost competitiveness and expand globally.

Once the upgrades are in place, the IP-VPN will allow companies to bring together multiple network types into a single network to support their voice, data and other business applications. These include email, internet and intranet access, sales tracking and other applications.

Multi-national companies can also enjoy Unified Communications which provides a combination of communication tools for business in one service. They will include voice over IP, video, web and audio conferencing. A strong business benefit is that it provides a high-performance foundation that can connect corporate headquarters, data centers, branch offices, and remote and mobile workers to each other.

The announcement means employees will be able to work from home, on the road and, of course, in the office. This enhances opportunities for work flexibility.  Importantly, they will be able to access their company network in the knowledge that the system is highly secure.  This IP-VPN has a security mechanism which includes tools to help predict and proactively prevent breaches by spotting suspicious Internet activity. In China, and elsewhere, security helps give peace of mind.

This is a guest blog post from Roman Pacewicz, AT&T Business Solutions Senior Vice President of Marketing and Global Strategy.

The PSTN gradually evolved from analog towards digital.  In addition to voice, these networks supported the early Data applications.  As the demand for Data grew, the telephone and data networks diverged.

Along came the Internet and Internet Protocol (IP) and then it was “Good Bye tie lines…..”  Soon telephone calls were originating as IP; identified by their IP addresses and sent along with data over the Internet…..Welcome “Convergence”.  Converged voice and data has provided businesses true cost savings by optimizing bandwidth with both voice compression and dynamic packet utilization.The benefits of convergence for business are enormous.

These developments have evolved the value of Convergence along with any to any connectivity and extended that to the Cloud.  AT&T designed Cloud services not only to integrate with the core network, but to appear as any other access point on the network.  When you combine Cloud Computing with convergence you receive even more benefits.

What does this mean for you? Simply put, you can utilize a single VPN (Virtual Private Network)  or soon Wireless connection for your voice, data and Cloud access….  This not only drives bandwidth cost savings, but simplified management and administration.  AT&T – keeping it simple- It’s all about CONVERGENCE……

How do you see Cloud Computing converging voice and data?  What has been your experience in the convergence of voice and data that went well?  What could be improved?  Your input on this will help others and let them know what you are accomplishing.

My how things have changed! We have covered in this series the evolution of Convergence.  This is what happens when we combine all of our voice needs and data needs into one network with MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching).  We can now communicate and collaborate on one network.

I have worked with AT&T for 16 years and have always been a fan of the phone company.  I remember touring the old Central Office in Chattanooga with my class in the fourth grade.  I have a collection of old glass transformers that used to sit on top of telephone poles.  My favorite piece is a turn of the century oak wall phone with the crank and handset.  It’s very old fashion!  So you can tell I’m definitely proud to be a part of AT&T and believe AT&T is the network of choice.

For those who know me or have read this series, I’m not very technical.  Here are 3 ways you can use technology today to help your business productivity.

Applications Enablement – Let’s connect more doohickeys to our watchamacallits and let the thingamajigs collaborate.  With aVPN (Virtual Private Network) your company has the foundation to build upon its network investment.  You can combine your local, long distance, and data infrastructure into one network.  Then add on/bolt on Voice over IP, Universal Connectivity, and Cloud Computing to name a few.

Integration with Wireless – We have just about run out of IP addresses, but don’t worry there is a fix .  More and more devices are becoming connected to the network and mobile devices are leading the way.  You can now access your VPN safely and with security enhancements with your mobile device.

Management Capabilities – Whether you are at the office or on the road, there are online management capabilities to keep you connected. These online services provide you with network monitoring, performance reporting, billing and network asset inventories.  I could go on and on but I would then need a telecom dictionary.  This is not a technical discussion.

Technology’s major benefit is the way it helps change real lives in practical applications. As an example, I recently called home from The Grand Bizarre in Istanbul to my wife and kids.  There was free wi-fi and I enabled face time with my smartphone.  My son was able to show me where he lost his first tooth the night before.  The locals seemed to be very impressed by the technology.

In another example,  just the other day I was on a TelePresence video call with a colleague on the West Coast.  The interaction and quality of connection was amazing.  It was as if I was sitting across the room!

As I left that building from the TelePresence session and was walking toward Peachtree Road for my car, I noticed a wall where you could see the old holes from a long lost phone bank.  I thought to myself , “When was the last time I noticed a pay phone or even a phone booth?”  Oh yeah, it was in Istanbul.  BTW – my dad still thinks making a long distance call is an expensive crime.

Your Turn: What are some ways you use technology to enhance your business productivity? What are some ways you use technology  helps you in everyday real world experiences? Leave a comment below and join in on the discussion!

The answer is probably no, and if it is yes, it will become no in the near future.  This is why you, and many other businesses are investigating new ways to transform your voice now and prepare for the future of communications.  This means taking a look, at and moving to, an IP-based communications infrastructure.

By moving to an IP (Internet Protocol) network, you can run both voice and data on the same connections which also means fewer lines.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) connects VoIP transport services with applications, including contact center, and technical feature benefits of SIP.  SIP also helps lower the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). But there’s a certain degree of trepidation.  Moving to SIP involves stepping out of the comfort zone of known traditional telecom services.  Maybe this is why you and your organization haven’t migrated yet?

The common issue is the path to transformation.  For many businesses this means knowing where to start. You think it’s “just working” and so you’re less excited to implement something new.

We’ve been talking a lot about all of these things lately.  Working with a SIP expert helps you to determine where to begin from a network design perspective (consolidated or distributed environments, or a combined approach).  It also helps you determine what the best path is to get to the end state. — here you will fully take advantage of lower costs, higher productivity, more choices for application integration, and so on.

Now that I’ve got your attention, you’re probably thinking that you have no idea which sites or applications to SIP-enable first.  Yes, that is the common next question.  Often in a contact center environment, you have many sites or many trunks, and switching all of that to IP seems like it will take forever.  You have to make sure customers can contact you, so the transition needs to be seamless.

In order to help you with this, you have to take a look at your sites and categorize them into one of the following groups:

This means that you can start from the beginning (or start over, depending on your situation) and go straight SIP.  This type of application is the most straightforward.  You may also see TCO advantages immediately.

The other two categories require integration between legacy voice and VoIP.  While this is not as straightforward, it does benefit your business, allowing you to enable more applications on your network and enjoy TCO benefits and productivity gains.  To determine which way to go often relies on the amount of perceived risk involved.

Transforming from legacy services to SIP is not as daunting as it may seem. With a good look at what your network looks like today and where you can consolidate to simplify operations and lower costs, a SIP Trunking design can be developed for you through the right SIP service provider.  It is important to work closely with the service provider and the equipment vendor during the planning and execution.

For more information on transforming your voice, visit www.att.com/voicetransformation, and watch the site for a new white paper on Successfully Implementing SIP trunking for Contact Centers.

Have you moved to a SIP Trunking system?  How has it worked for you?  What was good?  What was terrible in the experience?  What would you recommend to others?  Your colleagues will be very grateful to get your advice and expertise. Please leave a comment about your experiences.

In our continuing discussion on Convergence we uncover all the extra things your MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) network investment can deliver.  Our networks used to only deliver data between our business locations or to our customers.  With the AT&T VPN (Virtual Private Network)you can also add Class of Service or COS.  This is where we take advantage of Internet Protocols and prioritize network traffic.

OK, but what does that mean?  Simply put, you can slice up different types of traffic, categorize them and then broadcast them by what’s most important.  Typically voice traffic is the most important followed by video as you want the video-stream to play with limited or no interruption. The next would be software applications.  Then other services would follow that can rebound efficiently based on availability like web surfing and email.

Let’s revisit those two cans tethered by a string.  That is a conversation that is transmitted by the wavelength of any frequency signal.  That is how electronic voice transmissions first evolved.  A long distance phone call would tie up a single channel, typically 56Kbs per second with 8Kbs for echo cancellation.   Don’t worry, I promise to keep my promise of not being technical.  But the call would eat up a whole connection for the entire length of the phone call.  That can be expensive and historically it was pricey.

Have you ever heard of Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP?  Now voice traffic can be packetized (COS) using Internet Protocol.  Instead of one conversation choking down one continuous connection, many conversations can be prioritized and sent over a single connection. With your AT&T VPN you can move from traditional long distance platforms and  audio conferencing to VOIP.

AT&T can show you how to add on/bolt on emerging technologies to your existing network.  These services added to your network reduce calling expenses and the number of networks to be managed. VoIP technologies should erase the old memories and budget concerns of the historically expensive traditional long distance voice call.

Dad now lives in the house where Grandma used to live.  I remember visiting that house as a child and even in college.  The house had a “party line” where the neighbors all shared one “Connection”  and you would have to wait your turn to make a call.  The “Cans” continue to evolve.  Dad is more hip than he even knows.  He lives in the country with satellite TV, a separate IP TV subscription via high speed, a landline, and a cell phone.  Dad has more local and long distance minutes than he will ever use on his AT&T plan.  But he often concludes our calls by stating, “Well this is a long distance call so we better wrap it up.” “ Love you Dad, you too son.”

Someone usually says that in response to hearing about the latest and greatest new invention that has come along. Doesn’t matter what it is.

I understand that sentiment but I don’t agree. For instance: If my mortgage payment were at a 9% interest rate and I’m still paying that rate in today’s market, it’s broke.  It is just wrong to pay more than you need to.

The same can be said for your voice and data services. You shouldn’t have to change your entire infrastructure every time something new comes along. Admittedly, you would be doing nothing but making changes. Our industry is moving pretty fast these days.

But, you do need to stay on top of it. Here are six smaller changes you can make to avoid a full blown overhaul and save money at the same time.

1. Do inventory every year. It’s tedious and it’s a pain but it will shock you how many unused circuits you will find that mysteriously get installed from a special project or program that was then abandoned. Why pay for something you aren’t even using? Try scheduling a regular time each year — usually when you have a slower time, maybe during the Winter Holidays — and do this review.
2. Review your disaster recovery plan every year and if you don’t have one, get one. Better safe than sorry. If you are on an IP based network, you may already have routing capabilities that will take care of it for you. Potentially saving you money as well.  This might be done during that annual inventory (above).
3. Consolidate – Networks are more and more IP- based. What that means to you is once you are IP- based; you can get more out of your existing services and make changes much faster.  If you have TDM based trunks, really look into moving to SIP trunks. You will need fewer trunks to accomplish the same thing and have the foundation for the next big thing. Or if you have diverse locations, there are several ways to connect them onto a unified, easier to manage platform to give everyone a better network at a potentially better cost.
4. Combine Voice and Data – This is a big one.  Voice and Data used to be completely separate networks but by moving to an IP base, you can run both on the same connections which also means fewer lines are needed. You can decide for yourself what type of connection works best for you. There are several to choose from.
5. Take advantage of pricing, bundles, billing or anything else that can lower your bill. I see programs every once in a while that combine services and connections at reduced pricing. Don’t dismiss them as a fire sale. Those packages are put together based on the fact that those services are often used together.  Get what you can up front for the lowest pricing.
6. Sign the longer term contract.  OK, don’t shoot me for saying this. Here’s why.  The longer the contract, the lower the pricing. I know… This is opposite of what I just said because you are now committed to something for 5 years. Here’s the thing you may not know… Many contracts have a technology clause. If in 3 years, you want to upgrade to the next, NEXT good thing, you won’t get penalized for it. Ask about it and then sign away and enjoy the pricing.

We are all hearing the same buzz words everywhere, IP (Internet Protocol), SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), Cloud, Ethernet, VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service), SaaS (Software as a Service) etc. There is a shift happening right now that is being driven by two things. The consumer (A.K.A. You.) and technology  itself. By monitoring these developments and making smaller changes incrementally, you can avoid having to do a large overhaul of your network all at once. You may find that you don’t need to make any changes right now but you will have all the information you need for yourself when you are ready.

If you are spending money for something that is only just working and not improving how you do business—in my book, it’s broke. If you are spending money for something you aren’t using or spending more money than you need to… Broke. It’s tough enough in this environment right now, consumers are demanding more and more and you have fewer resources. Don’t let the “If it ain’t broke” break you.

For Further Study:

1. This is a handy reference plan for disaster recovery from Michigan State University
2. Benefits of combining voice and data

Connection?  You probably thought I was going to say a “call” or “phone call”.  No, I want to talk about the evolution of connections. In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell made the first electronic voice connection with his assistant.  “Watson, come here…  I need you.”  Those are the famous words that started the evolution of connections.  It may have not been the shot that was heard around the world, but the image of the first call is easier to visualize.

Connections have grown rapidly.  How many people reading this blog even know what a beeper looks like?  So let’s revisit those connections.    Telephone poles and lines sprung up all over the country, connecting relationships, and then later business relationships.  The first satellite was called Sputnik and was launched by the former Soviet Union in October of 1957. Many were fearful of the satellite, but soon we found satellites bringing us audio and video connections from around the world.  AT&T launched Telstar in 1962.  I have satellite radio in my car and satellite TV at the house now.

Connections come in many electronic forms.  We have analog and digital (remember the fax machine?).  Not only are people connected, but computers connect personal and business relationships.  Businesses have to manage multiple and evolving devices and technologies.  Until the communications standard of the Internet Protocol was established, businesses had to manage multiple cans.  OK, I’m back to those cans, but what are they?

Cans are multiple networks.  We used to have to manage our local cans, our long distance cans, and the cans to connect our computers and locations together. Cans come in many forms.  Some still manage a local voice network, a separate long distance calling network, point to point private lines, and perhaps a frame relay network for computers to do their thing.  Connecting doohickeys to whatamacallits for the thingamajigs to flow…  You can tell I am very technical.

But you don’t have to be that technical to understand Convergence.  That is where we combine all those cans into one connection.  Since we now have the internet protocol, all those “cans” can now be combined into one MPLS ((Multi-Packet Layered Protocol)  network.  Are you familiar with what is called a Virtual Private Network or VPN?  This particular Can “can” make managing multiple networks less complex and expensive by managing just one network.

Just now I realized I have never made that first connection with my kids.  I think I will empty out a couple of cans of beans and grab some kite string when I get home.  Who cares if the next generation can’t visualize a beeper, but that first can and string call is a good memory.  I look forward to our next discussion about managing all those cans.

Like Cans and String?  Here are some others in the series from this author:

“Can it!… OK Dad” – Why Long Distance Calling is no Longer a Big Deal
“Daddy, What’s a Phone Booth?”
“Lock That Up…Can Tight”

This presents a problem. In February 2011, the last of the 4.3 billion IPv4 (Internet Protocol, Version 4) addresses were allocated. To provide a virtually limitless address space, a new protocol, IPv6, has been introduced. IPv6 will help enable capabilities such as push applications, peer-to-peer based applications and Cloud Computing over the Internet. If your company hasn’t already, it needs to prepare for IPv6 because unfortunately, IPv4 and IPv6 are incompatible.

The transition to IPv6 will not happen overnight. Every networked device, every software application and every interface with customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders must be examined and tested to verify that it is compatible with IPv6. The impact of IPv6 will vary from one organization to another, and there will be important differences among functions and operations even within the same enterprise. Now is the time for every enterprise to understand how it, its customers, suppliers and other business partners will be affected by the move from IPv4 to IPv6 – and start planning the transition.

In the first Q&A of a series, Dennis Oniki, Lead Marketing Manager, VPN Solutions at AT&T, answers questions about the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.

Q: When customers choose to move to IPv6 and they own IPv4 addresses – has there been any de facto industry agreement to give customers some financial credit for making the move to IPv6? Or will they have to pay for IPv6 addresses? What happens to their IPv4 addresses?

Oniki: There are no industry agreements whereby customers are compensated for migrating to IPv6. If allocated by AT&T, there is no cost to the customer to obtain IPv6 addresses. If the customer migrates to “Pure IPv6” and their IPv4 addresses were allocated by AT&T, the IPv4 addresses would be returned to AT&T.

Q: We have IPv4 block assigned from AT&T. Will we keep assigned block from AT&T?

Oniki: Yes, you may keep the assigned block as part of your contracted services. Similarly, if you sign up for dual-stack MIS, you would receive v6 addresses.

Q: How will the new IPV6 addresses be distributed to the users? It must be assumed that we cannot just pick our own addresses.

Oniki: You must first acquire address space for your network, either directly from an Internet registry or from your service provider. Then you’ll create an addressing plan for each site. Lastly you’ll decide on a strategy to assign addresses from this block to individual workstations, for example, via DHCPv6.

Q: Are the applications that customers may have—filtering, firewall, etc., going to have to be replaced?

Oniki: Hopefully not replaced, but perhaps updated. Any application that has a “field” to represent an IP address will need to be modified to handle the change from a 32-bit field—likely an Integer—to a 128-bit field. Devices such as firewalls, load balancers, etc. will likely require a software upgrade from the manufacturer.

Q: What are the key challenges with application migration?

Oniki: The two primary challenges were:

1. inventorying the application’s space to identify those impacted by the transition to v6 and
2. creating/testing the associated minimum standards that each impacted application will need to use for upgrade.

The inventorying effort was significant in size and scope and impacted multiple organizations. Coordination of that effort as well as the associated upgrade roadmaps for those impacted required careful coordination. Additionally, steps should be taken in software and applications design/architecture to ensure usage of Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN), removal of IPv4 literals, and adjustment of field sizes when IP capture and storage is needed to an appropriate size to handle the larger v6 address.

Q: What are the major pitfalls expected during the migration?

Oniki: With any new technology, it must be carefully planned out and tested prior to full-scale deployment. Our experience has shown that just because a manufacturer claims its device is IPv6 capable does not mean it will work as expected. Also, default values and behavior can vary between releases or Operating Systems as IPv6 matures. Network management should remain IPv4 based initially until you can migrate all tools, monitoring systems, etc to IPv6. Migrating to Dual Stack will give you time to migrate applications, as IPv4 to IPv6 interworking will be initially challenging across the enterprise. While NAT [network address translation] or Proxy devices may become available, centralized translation devices will increase latency and create single points of failure. They can also make troubleshooting more difficult as end-to-end visibility disappears.

Q: Do you have basis phases and the timing of those phases based on AT&T’s requirements?

Oniki: Timing of these phases is likely based on your own individual requirements and investment plan.   But roughly:

• Phase 1: Dual Stack Internet presence – 2011
• Phase 2: Extending v6 reachabilty into WAN – 2011/2012
• Phase 3: Dual Stack WAN – 2012/2013
• Phase 4: Application Migration to IPv6 – 2013-2016
• Phase 5: IPv6 ONLY – 2014-2020

Q: Is Phase 5 where IPv6 exists end-to-end and no IPv4 addresses are used?

Oniki: Yes, this would be the goal, at least internally. You’d likely still need reachability to IPv4 Internet endpoints that could remain in existence for a long time. This will likely be done via IPv6 to IPv4 NAT function that could reside at your DMZ [demilitarized zone] or provided for you as part of your service. We are investigating network based NAT functions like this for the future.

Q: What’s the motivation for us to change to IPv6 on the WAN since those are all private addresses anyway?

Oniki: This will be based on your individual requirements but the motivation to jump to “Phase 3” of migrating your internal WAN will likely be application driven.

• If you are integrating mobility into a Unified Communications strategy, than you’ll likely have many endpoints migrating to IPv6—such as LTE devices.
• If you want to integrate Cloud Computing offers with your Data Center architecture, you might need to support IPv6 in the future.
• If you want to support any push-down apps or peer-to-peer applications across partner/supplier relationships, they may not work through NAT and you’d need IPv6.
• If you deploy any sensor networks internally—say tracking pallets with RFID tags—you may need IPv6 to support the great expansion of devices.
• If you manage vending machines and they report back when they need to be refilled, you’ll likely need IPv6.
• Lastly, if you are in an organization often involved in mergers or acquisitions, you might be motivated to move to IPv6 to avoid NAT overlap issues.

Your marketing or manufacturing teams may create revenue-generating opportunities that take advantage of machine-to-machine communications that will likely not work through NAT where the origination of the session is a machine on a mobile network.

Q: Will IPv4 become retired completely at some point?

Oniki: We hope so, but this could take decades. We imagine some clients may choose to keep their Internal WANs on IPv4 for a long time if they don’t see an application driving them to IPv6 internally.

Let me explain how by categorizing the benefits of converged conferencing into three categories:

1. Reduced costs in terms of travel, energy use and office space
2. Expanded business reach
3. Increased collaboration among your employees, suppliers, and customers

Reduce Costs – Lower Overall Business Expenses

I‘m not just suggesting that converged conferencing will allow you to make fewer airline flights; it’ll also reduce your cross-town traffic.

• Move internal meetings – those that you call everyone into the office for – to an integrated conferencing platform.
• Share any document or desktop application you need to share while using video and providing that personal touch that audio conferencing alone just can’t.
• And enable teleworking by giving employees the ability to collaborate online.

Is it really necessary to have every employee sit at his or her desk eight hours a day?  You can realize space savings, help lower energy costs, and reduce your company’s dependence on office space. And if you can help a customer or branch location with a need via remote desktop control or by viewing the situation via a webcam, you save an in-person visit.

Expand your Reach –More Customers, More Revenue, More Profits

Webinars have become one of the most popular avenues for reaching an existing or new customer base. With the reach of a converged conferencing platform, you’ll be able to turn your regional business into a national or even global business. With access to an internet connection and a telephone, participants can join your company’s webinar.  You can use this type of service to launch new products and provide training.  With the video capability, participants can see your new products and see the presenter—which personalizes the interaction. You’ll also have access to all your resources (not just the ones you put in your briefcase or on your thumb drive).  Office experts won’t have to take a full day (or days) to fly to a seminar location.  They can access the meeting and provide valuable insight from their desktop.

Increased Collaboration

Increased collaboration is considered a “soft dollars” benefit—one that is difficult to measure, but it can contribute greatly to your company’s revenue and profits. So often, I’ll be on the phone with a colleague and need for him to look at a document or share a desktop application. Rather than email a document while we’re talking, I can share it directly via the web. Contracts, purchase orders, scope of work documents, etc., can get done live via web collaboration versus passing the documents back and forth.  This reduces the “he said/she said” factor of collaborating on revisions and when discussing critical information. Working together and eliminating mistakes will increase satisfaction levels for you, your customers and your suppliers.

It’s important to note that your use of converged conferencing is provided via a secure environment. You’ll have complete control of the participants’ list, optional security codes, lock-out features and more. Participants don’t even need to be at their computers. If they have a smartphone and your provider has created an app for it, they’re good to go. iPhones and Blackberries are popular when it comes to converged conferencing apps.

My motto is, “Always be ready to collaborate.” I’m all for making EVERY meeting a converged conferencing meeting.  Open that web conferencing application and have your web cam ready. If you haven’t graduated from audio-only conferencing yet, it’s time.

What success have you seen with video conferencing?

What technologies do you prefer to use?

Creating Wasted Effort

Mobile devices—from notebooks to smartphones and tablets—are being built with faster processors, expanded memory and high-resolution screens. Networks are getting faster and are converging while the variety of devices continues to grow. This is good for the company’s bottom line, but this uptick in technology has handed developers quite the challenge: deploy, manage, update applications and devices, track data flows, transactions, comply with regulations, and do so safely and securely. No wonder developers spend more and more of their time adapting applications for specific devices.

While spending all that time integrating an application into multiple devices expands its distribution, it doesn’t do a thing to improve the application itself. But if those tasks were taken care of, developers could spend their time developing and enhancing applications that advance the business. This is where MEAPs come in.

How To Increase Efficiency

In a nutshell, MEAPs accelerate and simplify the development, deployment and management of smart-client-based mobile applications, and are, I believe, a key element in new mobile enterprise structures. MEAP solutions are also highly scalable, are faster and come at a lower-cost. Based on an open, flexible architecture, MEAPs also help companies (like the Road Runner) quickly adapt to emerging technologies such as HTML5.

AT&T’s Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions’ team recently put together a white paper that compares MEAP to other popular application development and deployment models. If your developers are spending too much time adapting (like the Coyote) and not enough time innovating (see Road Runner), I believe your IT department will find this white paper informative.

Image courtesy of Warner Brothers Looney Tunes