Posted on: 23rd September 2022, by Magrathea
We first wrote about our future interconnect plans back in May 2021 (see https://www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk/the-future-for-magrathea-interconnects/) and whilst that’s only 15 months ago we have covered significant ground since then.
As our clients will know, here at Magrathea we always aim to be ahead of the curve. We were the first VOIP provider to receive ranges from Ofcom and developed our own software to integrate IP technology with traditional PSTN telephony. 20 years later we are still facing the future head on.
We all know what’s ahead in terms of telecoms infrastructure, and we have been utilising a mix of TDM and IP routes for a number of years now; but the team has been working hard to establish a full IP framework in preparation for the removal of TDM at the core of the network. By taking steps well ahead of any deadline we have ensured we won’t hit a bottleneck of migrations and perhaps more importantly by going through this now it means we have had plenty of time to learn about any potential bumps along the way, enabling us to smooth the journey for others.
We are in the process of saying farewell to the tried and tested SS#7 protocol and have fully embraced SIP as our lead technology. Where the previous SS#7 protocols in place were quite tolerant with a longstanding interoperability testing process and best practice behaviours embedded over many years; the replacement still has some kinks to iron out.
Our clients have benefited from our ability to seamlessly exchange calls between TDM and IP for many years, the challenge in more recent years simply shifting to exchanging calls between a variety of IP exchange points. Although there are international and national standards in place it is fair to say that compliance with them can be somewhat variable. It is our job to smooth out the differences and keep calls working regardless.
Our interconnect solution, MagHub, takes care of a vast array of challenges for our clients and partners. However, there are still some best practice points that, if followed, can have a positive impact on the service we provide.
We want to equip our clients and network partners with the knowledge needed to face the future with informed confidence. With this in mind our network manager, Lucy, has pulled together a list of common issues that reach our support team and created a guide on IP interconnect interoperability.
The guide is not definitive but is 100% practical. It covers aspects such as the best codecs to use and why; suggested format of CLIs and the best way to set up Hold/release.
This guide is now available on our client portal. If you are a client and don’t yet have access to the portal please email sales@magrathea-telecom.co.uk.
If you aren’t already a client benefiting from our extensive connectivity please do get in touch and see how we might be able to help you.
Things are changing really quickly at the moment so if you’d like to be kept informed of latest Magrathea and Industry news then please email support@magrathea-telecom.oc.uk with Opt-in in the email title.