MNCs have to realize that global coverage raises the investment requirement The North American numbering system may be dated, but it has provided a consistent, standard model for telephony services. It can be considered both a blessing and a curse, in that it applies only to the North American market: other parts of the world have different number plans and policies,
and these can vary by country and by region. The variations in dialing plans, phone number allocation, use policy, and number distribution add to the challenge of providing the voice connectivity required for a global conferencing platform.
In the US, it is very easy to get the voice infrastructure necessary for national coverage with just a few large carriers. The US carriers all have networks with strong coverage, and provide interconnection between themselves as well as with all the major mobile operators. Customers have long forgotten about the roaming issue, as all the major mobile operators have gone to a blended usage model, without extra charges for mobile roaming. The simplicity of the US system makes it easy to deploy and maintain voice infrastructure for conferencing services. Unfortunately it is much more complex to expand to the global coverage required by most MNCs and large enterprises.
Outside North America, many more carriers are required to provide the necessary connectivity for global conferencing coverage. In many regions, multiple carriers are required within a single country to cover the geographic, mobile, and regulatory divisions. Sourcing and managing all these carrier
relationships can quickly consume all of an enterprise’s internal network staff resources, leaving its other internal IT priorities at risk.
In countries such as India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, the incumbent telecoms provider controls most of the infrastructure, and has a great deal of sway with the regulatory bodies. Enterprises looking to extend their conferencing capabilities into such countries face many uncertainties, ranging from parsing the nuances of regulations, through to the actual physical
connections. The complexity increases exponentially when enterprises attempt to set up multi-country conferencing systems. In fact, it seems as if the one constant for enterprises looking to build out their own global conferencing infrastructure is that there is another unknown lying in wait around every corner.
In addition to the increased number of direct carrier relationships, multi-tier carrier relationships are needed in order to get the global coverage necessary for conferencing services. In many cases the coverage will require a number of small, regional carriers that can provide the needed interconnection or reach. This complexity is one reason that many enterprises turn to conferencing partners
that have already navigated the waters of multi-carrier, multi-country relationships.
It is almost impossible for an enterprise without a good handle on its conferencing volume by region or country to design and build out the network infrastructure or carrier commitments needed to manage the costs and traffic volumes effectively. Many over-build their networks for conferencing, or have to expand their networks at the last minute. This is both costly and difficult to manage, and in some regions network expansion can take as long as 90 days. This means that the service
is either blocked or unavailable until the network expansion is completed.
Other issues enterprises face when building out conferencing capacity include the need to plan for predictable, but difficult to manage, spikes in volume. For example, cultural norms mean employees typically schedule conference calls on the hour or the half hour. This results in heavy spikes in conferencing volumes twice an hour during business hours.
Managing existing capacity and forecasting the need for additional network infrastructure for conferencing services can often expand beyond the customer’s budget, staffing, and expertise. This is another reason for enterprises to turn to a trusted partner with experience in forecasting requirements, understanding the elasticity available to enterprises, and managing the multiple carrier relationships
required to meet shifting conferencing demands.
-Ovum
No comments:
Post a Comment