VegaStream VoIPon Interview | Convergence Summit North 2010

Alexis Argent of VoIPon catches up with Steve Davis of VegaStream at the Convergence Summit in Manchester.



Sorry about the poor sound quality - next time we'll use an external mic!

VegaStream exhibiting at Convergence Summit North 16th-17th March

Come and see us on stand #44 at this event.

Headlining, & on show for the first time, will be Vega Central - the new management platform from VegaStream, specifically developed to help Service Providers & Channel Partners install & maintain VoIP gateways. It has been designed to reduce the cost of installations & allow Channels to offer an improved level of customer service to their customers.

‘VegaStream has been at the cutting edge of the VoIP Revolution for the past eleven years’ says Steve Davis, VP of Sales & Marketing at VegaStream. ‘We have a unique understanding of the complexities in deploying these services & we have designed Vega Central to help our partners overcome these. We can help them install their VoIP gateways more cost effectively & give them a better understanding of what is happening at their customers' sites. For example we can notify service departments if there have been any broadband outages or power failures at their customers' premises. This will allow them to be more pro-active with their customers & give them a better level of customer service.’

CeBIT proves a resounding success

VegaStream is a Technology Partner of the renowned IP-phone manufacturer snom. VegaStream was privilged to be invited to exhibit its range of VoIP gateways on the snom stand at CeBIT 2010. We wish to thank the snom team for allowing us to join you and it was a pleasure working with such professionals of the VoIP industry.

Broadband & VONGA in the UK

Trefor Davies CTO of the leading UK ITSP Timico provides an interesting insight into the challenges facing Service Providers & consumers concerning the rollout of xDSL / BroadBand services particularly in rural areas.

At VegaStream we know only too well that site connectivity is the biggest hurdle facing system integrators & getting it wrong can literally blow the deal. Afterall this aspect competes head-on with reliable, tried & tested, good old TDM circuits which "just work". With the demand for emerging services such as VoIP and IPTV etc becoming hot topics how will the UK telecoms infrastructure cope?






By the way Tref is a noteworthy blogger and certainly worth subscribing to.

VegaStream to present latest product offerings at CeBIT Hanover March 2-6

Come and see us in Hall 13 Stand 53 together with Snom.

Established in 1998, VegaStream operates globally with sales and support centres in Europe, America and Asia-Pacific. VegaStream’s mission is to enable seamless interoperability between the wide and varied range of proprietary telephone systems and the new IP networks. The award winning Vega VoIP gateways are based on international communications standards including SIP and H.323 to deliver an open and non-proprietary VoIP solution that can integrate to existing communication investments.

VegaStream announces enhanced functionality for FXS with Cisco Unified Communications Manager

VegaStream has introduced some new features on its FXS gateways to provide a very cost effective method of connecting analogue telephones to CUCM.

VegaStream is presently unique in providing true emulation of a Cisco IP-Phone thereby providing those features not normally available when setting up FXS as a SIP device in CUCM.

Also this reduces the quantity of DLU (Cisco Licenses) required from three to two per FXS device.

Additional features supported include Call/Group Pick Up, Meet me Conferencing, ‘Ad hoc’ Conferencing & Executive Intrude.

Click here for more information. For technical information visit www.VegaAssist.com and check out the Configuration > Interoperation section.

VegaStream | VoIPon Interview with Steve Davis | The Future Of Telephony | January 2010

Recently, Steve Davis, VegaStream’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing was intervied by VoIPon...the agenda? To learn a little more about the company, what its new range of VoIP gateways with integrated ADSL modems mean for our customers and to get VegaStream’s view on the future of the telephony market.

Below is a summary of the call:

[VoIPon] Recently VegaStream announced its new range of VoIP gateways with integrated ADSL modems. What benefit do these products bring to the customer and who would be an ideal customer these products?

[SD] OK, great Kathleen, before I start, perhaps I should say a few words about VegaStream for some of the listeners who aren’t as familiar with us. We’ve been around for over 10 years now in fact it was our tenth anniversary last year, and we’ve been involved in VoIP since its very earliest stage. We’re a British company. Our R & D is done in Europe; most people in VoIP do know about us today.

But of particular interest to your listeners is the fact that we have recently introduced a new range of gateways that have an integrated ADSL modem. The reason behind this is to reduce the cost of IP deployments and to be able to improve the level of customer service, when VoIP services are being installed. Because it’s basically a one box solution, the hardware costs are significantly reduced. And, the amount of time an engineer has got to spend on site is also significantly reduced.

In addition to those obvious benefits, we now have the ability to do some more in depth analysis of problems deploying VoIP services, such as packet loss. Are they occurring on the LAN? Or, are they occurring on the WAN or are they occurring on the ADSL service? So, we can help our customers be a bit smarter about diagnosing where problems are and making it easier for them to take action to rectify the problem.

In terms of who we hope to buy these solutions, it’s basically service providers and our channel partners. And the ADSL gateways are really targeted at the sub-thirty employee end users. That’s the sort of market place that we think that these products are going to be used.

[VoIPon] What makes these products unique?

[SD] The unique part comes from what Vegastream as a company delivers. We are very strong in ISDN deployments. Because of our European based R&D, we really understand ISDN technology. And we’ve had exposure to probably the whole range of ISDN type of deployments in the field. We’ve developed our own SIP stack, which gives us the ability to make changes as SIP evolves as a technology, and our experience of having over 15,000 products in the field give us a unique insight into the problems of deploying VoIP services.

I guess one of the other points I should raise, is the fact that we work very closely with our service provider customers and with the soft switch manufacturers, so we have a unique, understanding of how our products are deployed, and the problems associated with SIP as an evolutionary standard. All that knowledge and all that experience goes into every product that we actually sell and manufacture today.

[VoIPon] So what’s ahead for VegaStream?

[SD] What’s ahead for VegaStream? Well, I think we are focussed on selling to a large number of tier one and tier two service providers and their channel partners. If I look to the UK for example, we are actively selling to practically every ITSP in the market today.

We’re also focussing on probably three new areas of business for us. The first is fixed-mobile convergence, which is a very exciting area of technology. The second is increasing the focus we have with Microsoft OCS, seeing OCS as a product becoming more and more important as a product in the marketplace. We are one of the few European approved vendors of gateways, approved to work with Microsoft OCS and one of the last areas is that we’ve been working on some new feature content to improve the level of functionality we have with Cisco’s unified communications manager. We have the ability to connect analog devices to Cisco’s UCM and give a full range of features to these analog phones and as well as the ability to drive an analog phone up to 8km from the gateway.

So in terms of customers, we’re focussing on tier one and tier two players. In terms of technology areas, FMC, OCS and Cisco type deployments.

[VoIPon] So in terms of the larger market, where do you see it headed?

[SD] Well, I think in 2010, my belief is that SIP trunking is really going to take off this year. I think a lot of the tier one service providers in Europe have been sitting on the fence, looking at how they are going to deploy SIP services, be careful how they start selling them, because they don’t want to cannibalize their existing TDM circuits, but I think that this year, they’re going to get to a point where they’re going to have to go full on into selling SIP service, because otherwise, the tier two and tier threes, are basically going to start eating their lunch. So, I think they really need to get off the fence, and I think that’s going to be a great development in the market place for both VegaStream and our channel partners alike.

And the other area I think is really going to come into maturity this year is IP Centrex. I think we’re going to come out of recession and the normal end user is going to start looking at the technology they’ve got deployed and start moving into installing new types of communications systems, as businesses grow out of recession and I think IP Centrex is going to be an area, particularly in the way it’s sold, as a seat per month per dollar basis, you’re going to see a significant growth there, as well.

So those are my two forecasts for 2010.

[VoIPon] How do you plan to get your channel up to speed on the new range of gateway products that you mentioned earlier?

[SD] We’ve got a series of technical road shows planned for the first quarter of 2010, where there is a very large base of engineers, who have already been trained on the existing gateways, and the new gateways, it’s a small extension of the existing knowledge, so we’re doing a series of technical road shows to basically go out and educate those engineers on how to install the ADSL aspects of our gateways.

The other thing that we’re doing is that we have a very easy to use “Quick Config” tool, which engineers use to install and program our gateways, and this is again being expanded to handle the ADSL aspects of it, and we believe after the training and using the “Quick Config”, we believe that our engineers, our channel of engineers can install the gateways within 30 mins of going to a site using those two tools.

[VoIPon] Is the new range made in India at your new factory? And if so, why did Vegastream choose that country and what benefits does that bring to the consumer.

[SD] Well, yes, the new products are made in our factory in India. There are a couple of reasons why we migrated our factory there over the last twelve months.

One of the primary ones is cost reduction. We can make products a lot cheaper, but with as good quality in India, at the previous manufacturer.

The other thing is we were hitting real volume constraints with the existing manufacturer.

And the third reason was, basically, we signed a very large contract in 2008 and into 2009, where we sold over 38,000 ports of IP to one particular customer. So that means we could have other large opportunities in that market as well. So that’s why we decided to migrate manufacturing to Asia.

Steve Davis, VegaStream’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. This has been a VoIPon VoIP uncovered podcast brought to you by VoIPon Solutions.

VegaStream Announces New ADSL Gateways

VegaStream has announced that their new VoIP gateways with integrated ADSL modems will be shipping into the UK on the 1st January 2010. The company says the new products have been eagerly anticipated by the market as they reduce the cost of VoIP deployments and greatly simplify the installation.

“I am very excited by these new products’ commented Steve Davis, VP Sales and Marketing at VegaStream. ‘We have been testing them extensively with a number of customers with some excellent results. The new ADSL gateways come complete with firewall, 3 LAN ports, support for up to 8 on-board voice calls and up to 120 IP-phone connections.

The single box deployment reduces ownership, maintenance and deployment costs. I am convinced we are going to have a fantastic 2010 as a direct result of their introduction. Our new factory in India is working 24/7 to keep up with demand and we continue to win some great business.”

The new products are based on the award winning Europa FXS and BRI platforms. The Vega 400 will also be available with both ADSL and SDSL options in 2010.

VegaStream plan a number of technical workshops in January and February to provide training on these new products and to share their technology and product plans with their channel partners.

VegaStream exhibiting at Convergence Summit South 13-14 October 2009

Come and see us on stand #53

Prioritising VoIP

Steve Davis, Sales and Marketing Director at VoIP Gateway firm VegaStream, says that resellers need to follow the marketers and ‘Cross the Chasm’ into the world of VoIP opportunity.

“Over the past seven years I have been privileged to be involved in the introduction of VoIP as it has evolved into a ‘real’ technology with many benefits. I have been involved in its introduction in many parts of the world including a 38,000 port roll out in Asia and some major wins in the US and Europe.

"However when I look at the adoption in the UK I am disappointed in its take-up by channel partners. I see VoIP adoption in other parts of Europe at a far higher rate than the UK and I believe we are falling behind.

“In the 1980s Geoffrey Moore wrote a book called ‘Crossing the Chasm’ which has become the bible of technology marketers across the world. In it he describes the problem in getting end-users to adopt new technologies and that in particular there is a gap or chasm between what he called early adopters (technology enthusiasts) and the early majority (pragmatists). I believe this is exactly where we are in the UK market, particularly in the SME marketplace today.”

So – how do we bridge this gap and make money out of selling VoIP? These are Steve Davis’ Top 10 Tips:

1. Make the selling of VoIP solutions a real priority in your company – make it one of the top 3 items you discuss and plan at your weekly/monthly management meetings.

2. ‘Eat your own dog food’ – use VoIP yourself in your organisations – use SIP trunks or hosted IP services from a reputable provider.

3. Use a solid network provider for the DSL services – in my experience this is where the majority of problems lie in the delivery of VoIP services.

4. Use a dedicated DSL service for Voice – do not try to mix voice and data on the same circuit until you are very experienced in the deployment of VoIP.

5. Target customers with a number of branch offices – sometimes called Distributed Organisations. These typically have a high level of inter-office communications which can really benefit from VoIP – they are the ‘low hanging fruit’ in the market today.

6. Ensure that your first installation goes well by planning for it and make sure that your top engineer carries out the work and is well trained before going to site. I am always amazed the number of calls we get from engineers who are at a customer’s site and have not been trained on the hardware they are installing or the SIP service they are connecting.

7. When you have successfully connected your first customer and they are happy then ask them for referrals and if they will be a case study for you.

8. Increase the commission you pay salespeople on VoIP solutions by 100% and reduce it for sales of CPS and TDM equipment. I can already hear the ‘wailing and gnashing of teeth’ from sales people but I am convinced that your top sales people will see this as a great opportunity to earn more money. Those who don’t – well frankly you are better off without them.

9. The Resiliency Question – be prepared to answer this and have a number of different strategies in how to provide it. One of the more common is what happens if the broadband link goes down. Whilst this is becoming less of a problem some end-users are still concerned. Fortunately it is now an easy engineering task to provide PSTN backup for a couple of months whilst the customer becomes more comfortable with VoIP.

10. Some of my channel partners really see VoIP as a fantastic ‘Recession Proof ’ product which can significantly reduce costs for your customers and increase your margins. These partners have invested heavily but are now reaping the rewards. You need to do the same.

Origingal article courtesy of Comms Business

VegaStream Training

VegaStream provides comprehensive training for both sales & technical staff. Standard courses are described here, but training can also be tailored to meet the specific needs of organisations.

Single day Fast Track course

The course commences with an introduction to VegaStream & the Vega VoIP Gateway range of products including case studies and applications demonstrating how Vega gateways may be deployed.

Delegates are introduced to a “Pre-Sales Data Collection” document, comprehensive completion of which prior to any installation forms the basis of the session. Once completed the delegate is guided through the process of configuring the Gateway using the information collected within this document culminating in a practical exercise. Both web browser & command line interface configuration is addressed. Also featured is VegaStream's Quick Config wizard which addresses 90% of typical applications including SIP Trunking, Hosted & peer-to-peer solutions.

By the end of the course delegates should be confident in configuring the complete portfolio of VegaStream gateways & making end-to-end VoIP calls.

For further information please contact James Linton

SIP trunks - it's finally happening in earnest in the UK...really!

With the availability of telecoms grade xDSL circuits combined with the reliability & SLAs now on a par with traditional PSTN (analogue/ISDN lines), resellers in the UK are becomming confident in providing SIP trunking to customers. SIP trunks can be offered in conjunction with PSTN connectivity for resilience between the two (Vega gateways will re-present calls to the other network if the first route fails), or even as a total replacement of the PSTN altogether.

Obviously this is the way it's all going anyway; the PSTN as we know it today will be switched off in the not too distant future, as these industry gurus explain:

So what about connectivity? VegaStream's range of range of gateways now incorporate integrated ADSL/SHDSL modems. xDSL circuits should be ordered in much the same way as TDM lines are - "how many concurrent calls does my business need to be able to make"? Click on the table below for a guideline:

click to enlarge

Further benefits over PSTN/ISDN
ITSPs can overlay a wide range of features on their SIP trunks including:
> DDI
> Call recording
> Out of area geographical telephone numbers
> Lower ongoing service charges
> Lower call charges
> Reduced rate/free inter-site (on-net) calls

VegaStream has the products to suit
VegaStream's range of MSBG (Multi Service Business Gateways) provide a cost effective, feature rich & mature platform to which legacy PBXs can be connected in order to take advantage of these SIP trunking offerings from ITSPs. Click here for further details.

Single day Fast Track training
VegaStream offers a not-for-profit single day training course after which delegates will be fluent with installing Vega Gateways for both SIP Trunking & Hosted solutions. Click here to learn more about this course.

a typical SIP "Trunk" advertisement

Vega peer-to-peer / toll bypass application

Application
The customer has multiple sites (head office & branch offices) each with their own legacy PBXs. A corporate WAN provides data connectivity between the sites & therefore is capable of also routing inter-site call traffic which would otherwise be routed via the PSTN.

Leveraging the Corporate WAN
Vega gateways can be installed in each site to bridge the gap between the PBX & the IP network. There are various methods by which to connect the PBX to the Vega - click the image below:

Voice prioritisation
Prioritisation of voice traffic over the data traffic is achievable by enabling QoS on each Vega. Vega units support the configuration of both i) Type of Service/Diffserv field in the IP header, and ii) 802.1p/q fields in the Ethernet header). But in instances where the Customer's router is not QoS configurable the Vega has the ability to prioritise voice traffic over the PC network which can be connected to the Vega's second LAN interface (Bridge Mode).

Single day Fast Track training
VegaStream offers a not-for-profit single day training course after which delegates will be fluent with installing Vega Gateways for these solutions. Click here to learn more about this course.

QSIG over IP / private circuit replacement

Present situation
The customer has multiple sites each with a legacy PBX which are interconnected via 2MB private circuits and utilising QSIG signalling. Up to 30 simultaneous calls between the sites are free & in addition the individual PBXs "appear as one" with transparency of features between them.

There is an ongoing, costly overhead for the rental of these private circuits & consequently customers are always anxious to find alternative methods of carrying this traffic & reducing the cost.

Private Circuit replacement
The solution is to replace the private circuits & to route this traffic over the customer's WAN instead. This is achieved by installing a Vega 400 in each site & connecting the PBX's QSIG trunk to one of the Vega's ISDN30 interfaces. The Vega 400 is also connected to the Corporate WAN. It is set to tunnel the QSIG data.

click to enlarge

Rapid ROI
As a result of ceasing the expensive private circuits & associated ongoing rental payments, the capital cost of the Vega 400s is quickly recouped, typically within 6-9 months!

Single day Fast Track training
VegaStream offers a not-for-profit single day training course after which delegates will be fluent with installing Vega Gateways for these solutions. Click here to learn more about this course.

Analogue Device Connectivity (ATA)

Vega gateways provide this....and more
1. Multiple connectivity for analogue devices (ATA)
2. Failover to PSTN
3. IP-phone survivability in the event that the xDSL / IP route fails or when the ITSP / IP-PBX itself suffers an outage.

In fact a single Vega gateway can be depolyed to provide functionality for all of these three scenarios!

Read on for details of each of these:


1. High Density ATA
Multiple analogue device connectivity (phone, DECT cordless, fax, external loud bells) for UA endpoints operating with either a local SoftSwitch / IP-PBX deployed on the customer’s own network, or an off-site SoftSwitch / IP-Centrex application hosted by an ITSP.

Why wouldn't I just deploy IP Phones?
The deployment of FXS phones & devices may be in conjunction with, or instead of IP phones, and indeed there are many areas where it is more practical to deploy a high density FXS gateway:

> Serves as an ideal legacy PBX replacement or where there is an absence of data/network cabling. The Vega simply replaces the telephone system’s central control unit & is connected to the existing telephone wiring & analogue phones

> Where there is a requirement for a large quantity of handsets & IP phones are inappropriate to deploy (public reception areas, business centres, tenement buildings, hotels, schools, nursing homes…)

> For long distance phone deployment (up to 8 kilometres line length)

> Only a single LAN connection is required for the Vega thereby saving on costly switch/hub equipment & rack space requirements if multiple IP phones were otherwise deployed

> There is a single management interface and IP address on each Vega FXS gateway for all users connected, as opposed to having to separately manage lots of individual IP phones

How does it differ from an IP phone?
As far as the ITSP or IP-PBX is concerned there is no difference. Each FXS endpoint will behave in just the same way that an IP phone does; it will independently register with the SoftSwitch and will have its own telephone number, user account & password.

How do the connected phones work?
Vega gateways support telephony features which enable the FXS device to interoperate with the SoftSwitch & to use the advanced features which it provides:

> *Support of hook flash / TBR - for call hold & transfer - the R button on the phone!
> *CLIP to FXS telephone display - the user can observe who is calling before answering
> *MWI lamp indication or stuttered dial tone - for new voice mail message notification
> *Call waiting - the user can decide whether to hold, toggle or disconnect the existing call & answer the arriving call
> Three party conference
> Executive interrupt
> Call forward – unconditional, busy, no answer
> Do Not Disturb
> Hunt groups – linear up, round robin, random
> Call barring
> Hotline - a pre-determined number is called upon lifting the handset (visitor or door phone automatically calls the operator)
> Post fax voice call - after sending a fax the user can talk to the remote caller thereby saving money by not having to make a new call
> Distinctive ringing for called numbers (eg, sales, accounts) so that the user can answer the call appropriately
> Support of fax T.38 protocol. Also the ability to connect modem, PDQ etc

The Vega enables the advanced features of the SoftSwitch (call recording, voice mail etc) to be accessed just as an IP phone would do.

From the customer’s viewpoint it is arguable therefore that there is no discernable loss of features over an IP phone *provided that the analogue telephone is capable of supporting the above.

2. Lifeline PSTN Backup
All Vega variants equipped with FXS ports are also fitted with two FXO ports. When powered the Vega can route calls (999/112/911, local calls etc) to or from these two FXO ports. Under power failure conditions the two FXO ports provide a hard-wired bypass to the first two FXS ports allowing PSTN calls to be made even under this failure condition. Also in the event that the call cannot be routed via SIP to the IP-PBX/ITSP, it can be re-presented to the FXO thereby providing the customer with a back-up, resilient call routing during the outage.

click picture to enlarge

3. IP-phone Survivability
In the event that the IP-PBX or ITSP suffers an outage the IP-phones will cease to function & the customer's business is brought to a standstill. VegaStream has forseen that this is a potential weak point and possible barrier to take-up of service, & consequently has engineered unique a water-tight solution to overcome these issues:

Enhanced Network Proxy (ENP) (software option)
This option enables continuity of service during WAN/SIP outage & may be configured to operate in a number of ways including:
> Standalone proxy
> IP device survivability
> IP device call routing
> Emergency call routing
> SIP to SIP call routing
Simply put, the Vega is specified as the outboud proxy & therefore the IP-phones register through the Vega which in turn caches the registrations and forwards these to the IP-PBX/ITSP. When the route to the SoftSwitch is unavailable the Vega is aware of this & ensures that internal & external calls (via the PSTN) are staill able to occur. Vega is able to support up to 120 IP-phones.

Select the appropriate Vega Gateway
VegaStream manufactures a wide range of products to suit the quantity of analogue devices you need to connect. Simply select the gateway which provides the quantity of analogue FXS ports you require:

Vega 50 Europa
> 4 FXS + 2 FXO

> 8 FXS + 2 FXO

Vega 5000

> 24 FXS + 2 FXO

> 48 FXS + 2 FXO

Vega provides PSTN trunking for IP-PBXs

Application
The customer has a SoftSwitch (IP-PBX) installed on his own network & requires PSTN trunk connectivity via analogue lines, ISDN2 circuits or ISDN30 circuits. Simply select the appropriate gateway to provide for Analogue FXO, BRI or PRI PSTN termination.

Resilience & safety
Vega's ENP feature provides survivability for IP-phones and other IP devices
It is widely accepted that there is a compelling business case both financially & flexibility wise in adopting an on-site IP-PBX/SoftSwitch as opposed to an outdated, legacy PBX. However in the instance that the IP route to the SoftSwitch is unavailable or indeed that the IP-PBX itself suffers an outage, the downside is that the IP-Phones will cease to function. The customer’s business is at a standstill. But by enabling the Vega’s Enhanced Network Proxy feature (ENP) this is no longer a problem. The ENP ensures that the FXS phones & the IP-Phones remain able to communicate with each other & to external callers via the PSTN until such time that the network is up and running again.

Vega provides survivability for Branch Office IP-phones and other IP devices
VegaStream’s ENP ensures that IP-phones at the remote Branch Office remain functional in the event that the IP connectivity to the IP-PBX at Head Office is unavailable. During such an outage internal calls to the Head Office, together with external calls, are re-routed seamlessly by the Vega via the PSTN instead, ensuring that the Branch Office users remain fully operational.

During normal operation incoming calls from the PSTN at each Office are routed by the local Vega to the IP-PBX for onward distribution. But in the event of an outage those calls are distributed by the Vega to the local IP Phones situated at each Office instead:

click to enlarge

Vega ensures emergency calls are correctly handled
Even when the IP network is available Vega ensures that calls to the emergency services are made via the PSTN giving all important information about the site location from where the call originated.

Vega assists with power failure:
> Vega 400 – Bypass relays to facilitate direct connectivity from the to the PSTN, or to another Vega 400 standing by

> Vega FXS / FXO gateways - In the event that the customer suffers a power outage relays within the Vega ensure that the first two FXS ports become hard-wire connected to the first two FXO ports which are connected to the PSTN. Consequently these users are able to make and receive calls directly via the PSTN. This is a particularly advantageous Health & Safety benefit for any organisation and therefore consideration should be given to the most appropriate location for the first two FXS ports in the customer’s premises. It should be noted that all Vega FXS gateways feature a minimum of two FXO ports.

Single day Fast Track training
VegaStream offers a not-for-profit single day training course after which delegates will be fluent with installing Vega Gateways for these solutions. Click here to learn more about this course.

Vega provides SIP trunking for legacy TDM PBXs

Application
The customer has a legacy PBX and requires SIP trunks to a SoftSwitch hosted by an ITSP. The Vega can simultaneously register with up to five ITSPs thereby providing Least Cost Routing and resilience between the ITSPs.

PSTN replacement
Upon initial installation the customer may choose to only route outgoing calls to the ITSP’s SoftSwitch, leaving the PSTN provider to route incoming calls. Increasingly though the Vega gateway is installed to replace the PSTN entirely (whilst retaining some lines for resilience), the telephone numbers are ported to the ITSP and consequently all call traffic is now routed to/from the ITSP via the Vega. This typifies VegaStream's message once again; our VoIP gateways provide an ideal stepping-stone approch for customers who wish to migrate to IP telephony at their own pace and without the fear of ripping and replacing their existing telecoms infrastructure overnight.

Installation methods
If installed between the PBX & the PSTN (preferred method) the Vega is privileged to observe all calls which transit its telephony ports & consequently may be configured to route outbound calls to either the ITSP or the PSTN based upon the number being called by the PBX user:

Connection Method 1 - click to enlarge

A further advantage of installing the Vega in this fashion is that the PBX does not require any alteration or programming as it believes it is still directly connected to the PSTN. As a result there is no technical requirement to involve the incumbent maintainer of the PBX. Additionally the Vega can be set to strip any IDA (Indirect Access) digits being prefixed by the PBX before telephone numbers dialled by the users of that PBX to prevent those calls being routed via a particular carrier.

An alternative method of installing the Vega is to attach it to separate trunks or extensions off the PBX. This requires alteration to the PBX’s routing tables as the decision whether to route calls to the PSTN or to the ITSP (via the Vega) remains at the PBX level:

Connection Method 2- click to enlarge

Or this way even:

Connection Method 3 - click to enlarge

Which Vega gateway do I need?
Simply select the appropriate gateway to suit either Analogue, BRI or PRI trunks presently connected to the PBX/PSTN. Also bear in mind the quantity of telephony ports required (ie if the customer presently has 2x BRI connected to the PBX & you are going to install the Vega as per Method 1, you will require a 4 port BRI Vega (2 ports facing the PSTN and 2 ports facing the PBX).

Resilience & Safety
Vega detects failure and re-presents calls:
If the Vega is installed in the preferred manner (between the PBX & PSTN) then when either the PSTN or IP network suffers an outage the Vega can dynamically re-present calls to the other available network without any awareness by the PBX user. Furthermore the Vega will immediately notify the maintainer’s Management System (SNMP supported) of the outage so that this potentially otherwise unseen fault can be rectified.

Added configurability of the Vega permits a “Class of Service” on its call routing decisions; e.g. in the event of an outage the CEO’s calls may be allowed to succeed via this alternative, albeit potentially more expensive route whereas others’ receive a busy/unavailable tone. This selective call re-presentation functionality relies upon the PBX supplying the CLIP of the individual PBX user to the Vega.

Vega assists with power failure:
> Vega 400 – Bypass relays to facilitate direct connectivity from the PBX to the PSTN, or to another Vega 400 standing by

> Vega FXS / FXO gateways - In the event that the customer suffers a power outage relays within the Vega ensure that the first two FXS ports become hard-wire connected to the first two FXO ports which are connected to the PSTN. Consequently these users are able to make and receive calls directly via the PSTN. This is a particularly advantageous Health & Safety benefit for any organisation and therefore consideration should be given to the most appropriate location for the first two FXS ports in the customer’s premises. It should be noted that all Vega FXS gateways feature a minimum of two FXO ports.

Single day Fast Track training
VegaStream offers a not-for-profit single day training course after which delegates will be fluent with installing Vega Gateways for these solutions. Click here to learn more about this course.

Vega for Hosted/IP-Centrex applications

Vega fills the gap for multiple, all-important requirements...

1. IP-phone survivability in the event that the xDSL or IP route fails or when the ITSP itself suffers an outage

2. Multiple analogue device connectivity (ATA)

3. Failover to PSTN and Emergency Call (999/112 etc) routing

In fact a single Vega gateway can be deployed to provide functionality for all of these three scenarios!

Read on for details of each of these:

1. IP-phone Survivability
A hosted telephony service (IP-Centrex ) is a most compelling and cost effective option for start-ups and existing businesses alike, as it eliminates the need to purchase and manage a PBX. The ITSP provides the customer with access to its feature-rich central PBX/SoftSwitch offering full control of advanced services such as call recording, voice mail and “find me anywhere”, home working features.

However it is widely observed that the weakest link in the solution is realised when the customer’s IP Broadband connectivity becomes faulty meaning that the route to the ITSP's SoftSwitch is not available.  This results in a total communications failure nightmare for the customer. When the IP-phones within the organisation are unable to register to the off-site SoftSwitch all functionality is lost. Callers trying to reach the company cannot get through.  Just as worrying though, employees cannot make external calls outside the business and worse still internal desk-to-desk calls around the organisation cannot be placed.  The business is at a standstill.  Compounding on this is the compromise of the health and safety of the employees also who often have to rely on their own personal mobile phones for the duration of the outage.

It is for this reason therefore that the hosted solution is often rejected in favour of a more traditional on-site IP-PBX solution.

VegaStream has foreseen this potential barrier to sale & consequently has engineered its software with the launch of its new integrated ENP (Enhanced Network Proxy) which provides a unique and water-tight solution to overcome these problems:

Enhanced Network Proxy (ENP) (software option)
How does it work?  The IP-phones register via the Vega which in turn caches the registrations and forwards them to the ITSP.  When disaster strikes in the network the Vega loses its “heartbeat” with the ITSP and so it immediately becomes the vital element in the network ensuring that the IP-phones continue to operate, processing registrations and calls both internally but externally also via back-up PSTN connectivity.  In addition those all-important incoming calls to the organisation can be routed by the ITSP to the back-up PSTN and via the Vega to IP-phones until normal service is resumed.  In addition, and even during normal service, the ENP can route specific calls including 999/112 calls always to the PSTN as opposed to the ITSP thereby providing all important geographical location information to the emergency services and thereby overcoming this potential area of concern. Vega is able to support up to 120 IP-phones.

ENP may be configured to operate in a number of ways including:
> Standalone proxy
> IP device survivability
> IP device call routing
> Emergency call routing
> SIP to SIP call routing

All Vega gateways feature ENP

2. High Density ATA
Multiple analogue device connectivity (phone, DECT cordless, fax, external loud bells) for UA endpoints operating with either a local SoftSwitch / IP-PBX deployed on the customer’s own network, or an off-site SoftSwitch / IP-Centrex application hosted by an ITSP.

Why wouldn't I just deploy IP Phones?
The deployment of FXS phones & devices may be in conjunction with, or instead of IP phones, & indeed there are many areas where it is more practical to deploy a high density FXS gateway:

> Serves as an ideal legacy PBX replacement or where there is an absence of data/network cabling. The Vega simply replaces the telephone system’s central control unit & is connected to the existing telephone wiring & analogue phones

> Where there is a requirement for a large quantity of handsets & IP phones are inappropriate to deploy (public reception areas, business centres, tenement buildings, hotels, schools, nursing homes…)

> For long distance phone deployment (up to 8 kilometres line length)

> Only a single LAN connection is required for the Vega thereby saving on costly switch/hub equipment & rack space requirements if multiple IP phones were otherwise deployed

> There is a single management interface and IP address on each Vega FXS gateway for all users connected, as opposed to having to separately manage lots of individual IP phones

How does it differ from an IP phone?
As far as the ITSP or IP-PBX is concerned there is no difference. Each FXS endpoint will behave in just the same way that an IP phone does; it will independently register with the SoftSwitch and will have its own telephone number, user account and password.

How do the connected phones work?
Vega gateways support telephony features which enable the FXS device to interoperate with the SoftSwitch and to use the advanced features which it provides:

> *Support of hook flash / TBR - for call hold & transfer - the R button on the phone!
> *CLIP to FXS telephone display - the user can observe who is calling before answering
> *MWI lamp indication or stuttered dial tone - for new voice mail message notification
> *Call waiting - the user can decide whether to hold, toggle or disconnect the existing call and answer the arriving call
> Three party conference
> Executive interrupt
> Call forward – unconditional, busy, no answer
> Do Not Disturb
> Hunt groups – linear up, round robin, random
> Call barring
> Hotline - a pre-determined number is called upon lifting the handset (visitor or door phone automatically calls the operator)
> Post fax voice call - after sending a fax the user can talk to the remote caller thereby saving money by not having to make a new call
> Distinctive ringing for called numbers (eg, sales, accounts) so that the user can answer the call appropriately
> Support of fax T.38 protocol. Also the ability to connect modem, PDQ etc

The Vega enables the advanced features of the SoftSwitch (call recording, voice mail etc) to be accessed just as an IP phone would do.

From the customer’s viewpoint it is arguable therefore that there is no discernable loss of features over an IP phone *provided that the analogue telephone is capable of supporting the above.

FXS/FXO porduct range:

Vega 50 Europa
> 4 FXS + 2 FXO
> 8 FXS + 2 FXO

Vega 5000
> 24 FXS + 2 FXO
> 48 FXS + 2 FXO

3. Lifeline PSTN Backup
All Vega variants equipped with FXS ports are also fitted with two FXO ports. When powered the Vega can route calls (999/112/911, local calls etc) to or from these two FXO ports. Under power failure conditions the two FXO ports provide a hard-wired bypass to the first two FXS ports allowing PSTN calls to be made even under this failure condition. Also in the event that the call cannot be routed via SIP to the IP-PBX/ITSP, it can be re-presented to the FXO thereby providing the customer with a back-up, resilient call routing during the outage.

click picture to enlarge

Single day Fast Track training
VegaStream offers a not-for-profit single day training course after which delegates will be fluent with installing Vega Gateways for these solutions. Click here to learn more about this course.

VegaStream exhibiting at Convergence Summit 17/18 March '09

Come and see us on stand #40 where we will be exhibiting new integrated hardware options for the award winning VoIP Vega Gateways.

VegaStream Announce Release 8.5 now Available

Release 8.5 Product Bulletin
We have been busy over the past few months developing the latest software release 8.5 which is now available.

There are a number of new features which have been specifically designed to enhance SIP services & to reduce the processing requirements of service provider's networks. In addition resilience & security functionality have been strengthened with the introduction of SIP TLS and SRTP.

We have some more exciting developments including some new gateway models available in the next few months. These include integrated ADSL modems and Application Servers. We will be sending out more information on these new Sproducts in the next few weeks.

If you have any questions, please contact me for assistance.

Steve Davis
EVP Global Sales and Marketing
VegaStream Group

Enhanced Network Proxy
The VRP (VegaStream Resilient Proxy) has been improved & renamed Enhanced Network Proxy (ENP). The proxy will support the ability for 120 IP phones to make telephone calls over the PSTN in situations of ADSL outages as well as supporting SIP trunking for Microsoft Office Communications Server.

Interoperability Features for the FXS ports
There are a number of new features for phones connnected to FXS ports on VegaStream gateways. These features are supported locally without support from a remote softswitch.

The new FXS features include:
> Three Party Conferenc
> Call Forwarding
> Do Not Disturb
> Executive Interrupt
> DTMF Readback of IP Parameters
> FXS 8km Drive

This builds on the high level of PBX functionality that already exists in the VegaStream gateways. The existing FXS feature set includes:-
> Call Transfer
> Distinctive Ringing
> Hunt Groups
> Call Barring
> CLIP
> T38 Fax Support
> Teleworking
[see more here]

Some other new features in 8.5 include:-
> QSIG Message Waiting Indication~
> QSIG Un-Tromboning
> SIP Call Waiting Messaging
> GSM Codec Support
> Music on Hold
> Overlap Dialling
> UDP/TCP Control

Resilience & Security Features:
> SIP Registration controlled by failover relays on Vega 400
> SNMP Version 3
> SIP TLS
> SRTP

More details are available on VegaStream's technical support website as well as the new 8.5 software.