As a WAN technology it seems that the curtains are beginning to close on frame relay.

Qwest Communications recently eliminated it’s promotions on this technology – making the cost of frame relay almost cost prohibitive for customers.  Today you can get an MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) T-1 with a new programmed Adtran router, installed (or delivered to you for a self – plug and play install at the very least)  for about the same price as you can get a frame relay T-1 (no router).  This was bound to happen, as many companies have already migrated their frame relay networks over to the newer MPLS networks over the last 4-5 years. 

With many now using IP PBX phone systems the requirement of a packet switched network with prioritized label capabilities has been essential to running voice as an application on the network.  There are many providers of IP PBX solutions, here’s one I like in the Rocky Mt. Region.  Another option is to look at a hosted IP PBX from Teleshere.  For those of you that read the first sentence in this paragraph and shook your head, it’s OK – it’s taken me 20+ years to grasp some of this stuff.  If you ever want to have fun take a look at all of the crazy terms in Newton’s Telecom Dictionary.  All the acronyms will make your head spin.  The telecommunications and IT industry are number one when it comes to acronym use – it’s really another language.

If you have a frame relay network it might be time to analyze and compare cost.  It’s been my experience that when older technology begins to die, the support for those technologies dies with it.  It’s no fun to be caught with an old network that’s not working – then when you need support the one person that gets it is on vacation.  Get with a good carrier agnostic agency and begin the process to migrate away from Frame Relay - now’s the time!

Wide Area Networks or WANs come in many different colors.

If you do a Google search for WAN the first recommendation that they give you is Wanda Sykes, or Wanda Syke’s wife.  If you’ve never seen or heard a comedy bit from her, it’s worth while – she is very funny!  I just found out that there is also a World Association of Newspapers or WAN that was founded in 1948.  Wikipedia says “that this WAN is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organizations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries”.  Now I’m thinking back to the many cocktail parties and networking functions that I’ve attended over the last 20 years wondering if any of the individuals I met thought that I was in that association.  My normal explanation of what I did might have included helping customers with their WANs.  I’ll have to be careful next time!

Wide Area Networks of WANs in our world is more commonly mentioned as the way in which companies connect their different offices, or LANs (Local Area Networks).  Frame Relay was the first widely used, cloud based technology for WAN.  I’m surprised when I come across customers that are still using this, but in some more remote areas it is still the best cost option for transmitting data back and forth.

On a local level many have gone to T-1 point to points.  If the majority of your branches, stores or facilities are within the same LATA, this is the most cost efficient way to run your WAN.  If you need more bandwidth you can double or triple your bandwidth by bonding T-1s with the use of your routers to get 3.0 or 4.5 Mb between locations.  The LECs (Local Exchange Carriers – Qwest, AT&T, Verizon) have made the cost for point to point T-1s so attractive that this is what many customers end up doing.

If your locations are more geographically dispersed and spread out over a larger area, say in 2 or 50 states, you might entertain an MPLS T-1 WAN.  MPLS, of multi protocol label switching is a way to prioritize traffic.  If you want to run voice over your WAN having an MPLS network is critical.  Many businesses today want all of their offices to get dial tone and voice mail access off the main PBX – these customers are having dynamic discussions about their WAN and their WAN operability.  If things aren’t set up properly on the front end, nothing will work correctly.

Within the last 4-5 years the new game for WAN is ethernet.  Without a doubt this is the best way to establish a WAN if you can make it work in your budget.  Qwest Metro Optical Ethernet product has had huge success.  With this offering you can connect your offices nationwide via ports that range from 5 Mb all the way up to 1 Gb (or 1,000 Mb).  The beauty of ethernet is that you’re not putting the burden on the routers like you would if you bonded T’s.  If you’re looking for screaming Internet access check out ELA or Ethernet Lan Access – this is Internet over the QMOE network.  For all things Internet check out my posting from last week.

Both Verizon and AT&T have similar ethernet offerings to Qwest in their respective regions, but carriers like TW Telecom, XO, Integra, and Paetec are beginning to come to life with their EoC or Ethernet over copper products.  If your company is a bit more cost conscious you may want to check out these offerings.  I’ve found a great deal of competence with this technology at the Tier II level.

I have a feeling that ethernet will be the dominant WAN for a great many years to come.  With offerings up to 1 GB on fiber provisions it’s difficult to see what applications will eat into that large bandwidth.  But as time has shown, we’ll create apps that will eat it all up (eventually).

I get sincere, WOW excitement when my customers say “yes – we’re ready to go with that” – whether that product is a regular old DSL line, a 30 Mb ethernet pipe to the Internet, or a 40 locations MPLS WAN solution, there is genuine excitement that we can implement new toys/CPE and a technology that’s going to make this company or County work better, faster, smoother than it did before. 

We also get to work with some really smart people in technology.  Su Hawk is one of those people that I get to work around from time to time.  The things she’s done for Colorado technology are awesome!  If you’re in the technology and telecom world and your not part of CSIA, you need to be.  In the last year I’ve had the pleasure to work with Laura Luchini, and Bill Nixon, both are experts in their fields.  Eric Schulz and Matt Otis are a few other guys I know that are really sharp – they were doing things with their business long before anyone else in telecom.  Their success with Allied is awesome.  Qwest Engineers like Bob Steurer, Tom Rossignol, and Renee Carroll at Paetec embody the knowledge and upbeat attitude that keeps technology moving forward. 

I get up every day with an extra hop in my step because of what we do, and the industry that we work in.

1.)  When choosing a voice T-1 what are the advantages of a PRI over an advanced or basic DSS T-1?

An Advanced T has DID (Direct Inward Dial) number capability, but can’t pass caller ID, and a Basic T can pass caller ID but doesn’t use DID numbers.  A PRI Voice T is the cadillac of T’s, it can pass caller ID information and also use DID numbers.

2.)  Why would a company implement a WAN using MPLS when they want to install an IP/PBX at all of their branches?

IP/PBX uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology.  Voice becomes an application like any other on a WAN – and it must be prioritized.  Voice for many customers is the highest priority.  In other words, when you’re working in your office would you notice it if the phone stopped working or was garbled?  Of course you would.  And most likely you wouldn’t tolerate it – you would call your phone support group or IT group and yell at them to fix it ASAP or you’ll ……(just kidding, but this can be a very frustrating thing for folks).  Voice must be prioritized ahead of data packets so we use a technology called MPLS along with CoS and QoS to insure that the voice packets on a IP/PBX are passed throught the WAN ahead of any other traffic.

3.)  How would SIP trunking (SIP service) help me expand my business?

If you wanted a presence in tim-buck-2 but didn’t want to open a physical office there, many of the carriers can (through SIP) give you a fully usable phone line in tim-buck-2 so that everyone there thinks you have an office.  But really the calls will come right back to the office you now work out of.

4.)   Is wireless Internet better than a land based MOE Internet connection?  What are the advantages of each?

Wireless Internet access has the advantage of speed when it comes to the installation interval.  Many wireless connections can be put into place within a week to 10 days from the time you say “go”.  They also avoid the cost of the “last mile” or local loop that you’ll get from your LEC or local exchange carrier so the monthly cost ends up being less.  A MOE or metro optical ethernet connection is a land based Internet service.  Nothing can replace this type of connection for pure speed.  Many customers can now get a 5 or 10Mb connection to the Internet from carriers like Qwest, Level 3 or XO.  The drag of a MOE-like connection is the lengthy qualification and installation interval.  Standard interval for this service ranges from 60-240 days depending upon what construction might have to take place.  Pricing is competitive and ranges between $140-180/Mb even with a local loop.

5.)  What are the best strategies for implementing account codes on my long distance account?

Account codes allow you to manage your long distance calls.  Before a long distance call goes out, callers will be prompted for a code – usually between 2 and 6 digits.  When the bill comes you’ll get a breakdown of calls by that code.  This comes in handy for controlling your long distance calling cost, or many companies use these for billing back customers or projects.  Lawyers love account codes!

6.)  Many carriers offer Integrated VoIP  T-1s – what is the fewest number of lines that a small business owner can get with a single dynamic T-1?

At this point in time Paetec allows you to have a dynamic Integrated T-1 with 4 voice lines and the rest of the bandwidth reserved for data (or to get out to the Internet) for $370.00/month.

7.)  What does DID stand for as it relates to a voice T-1?

DID stands for “Dreaming in Denver”, just kidding, it’s actually “Direct Inward Dial” – when using either an advanced or PRI (Private Rate Interface ISDN) voice T-1 DID numbers are used and given to each employee to be their own personal office number.  Traditionally offices had a main switch board operator that took all incomming calls then transferred those calls to the employees within the company.  With DID everyone can get their own personal calls from outside to ring directly to their desk.  This eliminated the need for many companies to have a front desk person taking all calls.  Now Don Draper can take his own calls directly.

8.)  How many layers are there in the OSI Reference Model?

The Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model has 7 layers.  Many of us in IT today utilize this model to discuss computer network protocol design.  If you’re caught talking about this at a cocktail party you need to distance yourself from your peers.  Have another martini!

9.)  Which country has the best average Internet connectivity speeds?

The average household/business in South Korea gets approximately 12 Mb of bandwidth to the Internet – in the US right now we average about 2 Mb for every household and business.  We really need to catch up -

10.)  What is the difference between a /30 and a /24?

In technical speak, when you ask for a /30 you are asking for 4 static IP addresses, a /24 would be considered a “class C” address or 256 addresses.

How did you do?

1.)  When choosing a voice T-1 what are the advantages of a PRI over an advanced or basic DSS T-1?

2.)  Why would a company implement a WAN using MPLS when they want to install an IP/PBX at all of their branches?

3.)  How would SIP trunking (SIP service) help me expand my business?

4.)   Is wireless Internet better than a land based MOE Internet connection?  What are the advantages of each?

5.)  What are the best strategies for implementing account codes on my long distance account?

6.)  Many carriers offer Integrated VoIP  T-1s – what is the fewest number of lines that a small business owner can get with a single dynamic T-1?

7.)  What does DID stand for as it relates to a voice T-1?

8.)  How many layers are there in the OSI Reference Model?

9.)  Which country has the best average Internet connectivity speeds?

10.)  What is the difference between a /30 and a /24?

Please respond and let me know how many you were able to answer comfortably.  The next posting will have answers to all of these.

The benefits of working with a “Carrier Agnostic” agency are great.  Because of the multiple carrier relationships that these agencies posses they can do all of the number crunching for you – whether it’s a 10 Mb Ethernet connection, a 20 site MPLS WAN, or a new office with 3 phone lines and a DSL – they’ll do the homework and provide you with the best options available.  Once you’ve made the decision on which carrier best meets your needs, the agency will then implement the order on your behalf and manage the process until services are in place.  They’ll never bill clients for their service – but are compensated by the carriers for placing your service.  Instead of paying a direct account representative a commission, the carriers will pay the agency. 

The difference is that the “Carrier Agnostic” agency has a 100 mile-up view and can see all of the promotions being offered by all of the carriers.  As a result they can often provide their customers the very best deals available.  If you require engineering assistance for your solution it’s included as part of the package.  A good telecom agency will usually be looking for the right and best priced solution for you along with a long term relationship that will grow year by year.  Most of the individuals you’ll work with at these agencies have an ownership stake and are vested in the customer’s they support.  long term relationships is what drives this business model.