Network Insight Draws Blueprint for IP Network Migration

By Erik Linask

Associate Editor,
Internet Telephony magazine

 

Network Insight has been in the communications business for nine years, always focusing on IP-based solutions—so while many companies are only now learning the nuances of IP, it is old hat for Network Insight. The company traditional role has been something of an ad hoc network consultant, assisting service providers where they need assistance as they convert their networks from legacy to next generation models.

 

However, as CEO Chris Pond explained, nine years in the business has taught Network Insight that service providers need more than just advice on which hardware to deploy. “What they need is a comprehensive technology solution that addresses the business obstacles they will encounter such as how to build the network economically and how to migrate their existing customers without interrupting service,” he said.

 

Thus, to help customers in their quest to quickly and economically migrate their networks to new advances infrastructures, the company has consolidated its many strengths into a tightly integrated blueprint for the future. The new Next Generation Network Solutions practice is designed to guide service providers through the entire process of transforming their networks while leveraging their existing assets.

 

The transformation to IP, naturally, begins at the network core with the design and deployment of a carrier grade infrastructure designed to facilitate easy roll out of IP-based services. Network Insight is a Cisco partner, but will also use components from other vendors when they are a better fit for the customer.

 

Once the network core has been laid out, softswitches and other components to enable VoIP, peering, and others services can be added. To ensure service continuity, the new infrastructure is introduced in steps, to ensure compatibility with legacy hardware, until the new components are all in place.

 

The next phase includes the integration of network intelligence applications to ensure service delivery optimization and service control. In order to effectively deliver enhanced service, service providers need to be able to manage and prioritize bandwidth intensive IP traffic to ensure service reliability. After all, nothing is more likely to cause customer churn than poor service quality.

 

Then, in order to protect both the service providers and their subscribers, advanced security features are added to ensure all traffic through the core and across the entire network is protected.

 

The process, while designed to alleviate the many challenges involved in the transition from legacy to IP networks and provide premium service delivery capabilities, has the long term effect of lowering recurring network associated costs and increasing ARPU.

Once the migration is complete, the service provider is ready to add new services, including new triple play services or IMS-based unified communications services.