Murali Aravamudan Head, Communication Software Research Department

Bell Labs Innovations, Lucent Technologies

600 Mountain Ave, Rm# 2A-208

Murray Hill, NJ 07974

(908) 582-5499

mur@lucent.com

Why Internet Telephony?

• IP Economics

– Crowe’s law (exponential cost reduction in transporting a bit per mile) coupled with Moore’s law

• New access arrangements (cable, xDSL) enable new (IP) devices

• New signaling services (not limited to Intelligent Network services such as call forwarding, reach me etc.)

• New media services (not limited to 3 KHz voice)

What can we do today?

• IP Phone to IP Phone – PC and other form factors (netmeeting, vocaltec, selsius etc.)

• IP Phone to PSTN Phone– CTI based IP Telephony hop off gateways

• PSTN Phone to IP/PSTN Phone (two stage dialing) – morphed RAS devices

• Seamless PSTN to PSTN Phone (SS7 integration) – SS7 trunk access and IP backbone (basis for NextGen telcos)

Issues

• Technical– standardization of Media Gateway Control Protocols (IPDC,

SGCP etc.)

– the (stillborn) H.323 gatekeeper

– need guarantees? (delay, jitter etc.)

– service creation environment in the NextGen Telco (it is not just open APIs, and protocols)

• Regulatory– unbundled copper for new access arrangements

– cookie cutter process for becoming a NextGen Inter Exchange Carrier

What will happen in the next three years?

• Seamless PSTN to PSTN Phone (SS7 integration) – NextGen Telcos (IXCs) deploying fiber networks optimized for IP – Internet Telephony will hit mass market without the mass knowing it

(VoIP is transparently used by Tandem arrangements in IXCs) – SS7 trunk access and IP backbone

• Inband advanced intelligent network services will be done using servers in the IP network instead of circuit adjuncts (read:

slow death of Voice on ATM)

• Integrated access services for small/mid size business will increase demand for native IP phones/PBXs– IP Phones (that are affordable) will happen– new media services as part of telephony