Comments on: The Application-centric Carrier http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/ A daily round table on the tech industry with experts and callers from all over the globe. Join us as we pick apart the news and get to the meat of what\'s happening out there. Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:10:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: wyane http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-569083 wyane Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:01:08 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-569083 Hi Alec, Its a good post, as I am a new VoIP engineer and learning VoIP technology. Hi Alec,

Its a good post, as I am a new VoIP engineer and learning VoIP technology.

]]> By: Alec http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-220905 Alec Tue, 01 May 2007 10:17:29 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-220905 Eric, I know of people doing this, as I said, with quad core gear. Over 2000 simultaneous calls per server, and racks of 2U servers handling the traffic. As for transcoding -- agreed. Typically, what they're doing is buying origination and termination from a third party. That way the transcoding is done for them, and the traffic delivered VoIP to their servers. Eric, I know of people doing this, as I said, with quad core gear. Over 2000 simultaneous calls per server, and racks of 2U servers handling the traffic. As for transcoding — agreed. Typically, what they’re doing is buying origination and termination from a third party. That way the transcoding is done for them, and the traffic delivered VoIP to their servers.

]]> By: Eric http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-220595 Eric Tue, 01 May 2007 01:58:39 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-220595 While i do believe that asterisk has the capability to migrate to carrier grade solutions, your numbers are totally off. I work at a carrier grade voip switching company. Our proprietary switches can handle 1000's of calls simultaneously. 300 calls will absolutely not cut it. I think you need to scale up vertically a bit, and then rely on horizontal scaling. You must be able to match the call density of a proprietary switch now to entice any use in carrier grade settings. Also hardware transcoding, and TDM to VOIP is a big deal. With the newly available DS3 cards, and some hardware codec transcoding cards.. i feel like it is becoming more feasible to use an asterisk box in a carrier setting. The bottom line though.. is that if you think running 300 calls (signaling and media) will get you into carrier grade... forget it. While i do believe that asterisk has the capability to migrate to carrier grade solutions, your numbers are totally off.

I work at a carrier grade voip switching company. Our proprietary switches can handle 1000’s of calls simultaneously. 300 calls will absolutely not cut it. I think you need to scale up vertically a bit, and then rely on horizontal scaling. You must be able to match the call density of a proprietary switch now to entice any use in carrier grade settings.

Also hardware transcoding, and TDM to VOIP is a big deal. With the newly available DS3 cards, and some hardware codec transcoding cards.. i feel like it is becoming more feasible to use an asterisk box in a carrier setting.

The bottom line though.. is that if you think running 300 calls (signaling and media) will get you into carrier grade… forget it.

]]> By: Phoenomi - Surfing the Longtail » Blog Archive » Create your own phone company http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-41082 Phoenomi - Surfing the Longtail » Blog Archive » Create your own phone company Tue, 12 Sep 2006 02:58:43 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-41082 [...] Alec Saunders writes a thought provoking piece on creating your own phone company with open source software: Just like the first PCs, hackers using Asterisk are building their own custom phone services. For example, I myself have a $300 PC in my basement, running Asterisk, and terminating calls on five networks. In theory, I should be able to handle a few hundred simultaneous callers on that box. It has got the memory, the CPU power, and the connectivity. Am I a service provider? I’ve seriously contemplated setting up accounts for my extended family on this box. [...] [...] Alec Saunders writes a thought provoking piece on creating your own phone company with open source software: Just like the first PCs, hackers using Asterisk are building their own custom phone services. For example, I myself have a $300 PC in my basement, running Asterisk, and terminating calls on five networks. In theory, I should be able to handle a few hundred simultaneous callers on that box. It has got the memory, the CPU power, and the connectivity. Am I a service provider? I’ve seriously contemplated setting up accounts for my extended family on this box. [...]

]]> By: GigaOM » The Fall VoN is On http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-40821 GigaOM » The Fall VoN is On Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:06:48 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-40821 [...] Alec Saunders calls it Voice 2.0, and his company iotum, last week benefited from this week when AOL decided to open up its AIM Phoneline to outside developers. Whether AOL, a company in middle of an identity crisis will become an application-centric carrier, remains to be seen. Detractors point to the many failings of Asterisk …. But just as PCs were dismissed thirty years ago by the IT department and ultimately surpassed that centralized command and control infrastructure, so it’s also clear that commodity PC hardware, running Asterisk (or something like it), will also surpass today’s purpose built telecom equipment. [...] [...] Alec Saunders calls it Voice 2.0, and his company iotum, last week benefited from this week when AOL decided to open up its AIM Phoneline to outside developers. Whether AOL, a company in middle of an identity crisis will become an application-centric carrier, remains to be seen. Detractors point to the many failings of Asterisk …. But just as PCs were dismissed thirty years ago by the IT department and ultimately surpassed that centralized command and control infrastructure, so it’s also clear that commodity PC hardware, running Asterisk (or something like it), will also surpass today’s purpose built telecom equipment. [...]

]]> By: iPhoneSystems - VoIP News and info » Does Asterisk pose threat to VoIP Carriers? http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-40759 iPhoneSystems - VoIP News and info » Does Asterisk pose threat to VoIP Carriers? Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:36:17 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-40759 [...] Read [...] [...] Read [...]

]]> By: » Will Asterisk be a threat to VoIP carriers? It already is! | IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband | ZDNet.com http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-40094 » Will Asterisk be a threat to VoIP carriers? It already is! | IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband | ZDNet.com Sun, 10 Sep 2006 04:28:41 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-40094 [...] Fellow blogger Alec Saunders wrote a post last week that has brought a notion from the back of my brain to the front. [...] [...] Fellow blogger Alec Saunders wrote a post last week that has brought a notion from the back of my brain to the front. [...]

]]> By: iotum and the Open AIM Phoneline Developers Program -- Alec Saunders .LOG http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-39019 iotum and the Open AIM Phoneline Developers Program -- Alec Saunders .LOG Thu, 07 Sep 2006 16:32:48 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-39019 [...] Under “scary smart” VP Ragui Kamel’s guidance, AOL is extending the idea of AIM Phoneline to include an ecosystem of development partners.  They are taking concrete steps to become the application centric service provider I wrote about yesterday.  Their announcement today  is about the release of three sets of APIs, and the initial three software development partners who have built products with those APIs.  The three APIs they released were focused on personalization, device enablement, and call management.  [...] [...] Under “scary smart” VP Ragui Kamel’s guidance, AOL is extending the idea of AIM Phoneline to include an ecosystem of development partners.  They are taking concrete steps to become the application centric service provider I wrote about yesterday.  Their announcement today  is about the release of three sets of APIs, and the initial three software development partners who have built products with those APIs.  The three APIs they released were focused on personalization, device enablement, and call management.  [...]

]]> By: Digital Common Sense » AOL Launches Developer Initiative for AIM Phoneline http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-38990 Digital Common Sense » AOL Launches Developer Initiative for AIM Phoneline Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:25:33 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-38990 [...] Alec posted a blog piece entitled The Application-centric Carrier, and told me he feels AOL is leading that charge. [...] [...] Alec posted a blog piece entitled The Application-centric Carrier, and told me he feels AOL is leading that charge. [...]

]]> By: Alec http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-38621 Alec Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:47:21 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/06/the-application-centric-carrier/#comment-38621 Thanks Brad! I terminate on SipPhone (1 cent / minute, North America), NuFone (2 cents / minute, North America), Unlimitel (2 cents / minute, North America), VoIPdiscount.com (free to 49 countries), and my local carrier via a POTS card, Bell Canada. I also buy a DID from Unlimitel, in the 613 area code. Why so many? Because I can :) Quality varies, naturally, and VoIPdiscount is often flaky. I guess you get what you pay for. Nufone and Unlimitel are both excellent. Thanks Brad!

I terminate on SipPhone (1 cent / minute, North America), NuFone (2 cents / minute, North America), Unlimitel (2 cents / minute, North America), VoIPdiscount.com (free to 49 countries), and my local carrier via a POTS card, Bell Canada.

I also buy a DID from Unlimitel, in the 613 area code.

Why so many? Because I can :) Quality varies, naturally, and VoIPdiscount is often flaky. I guess you get what you pay for. Nufone and Unlimitel are both excellent.

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