9/18/2015

IMSFeatureArticle:TheEvolutiontoIMS

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TheEvolutiontoIMS
SlowandSteadyorDarwinianLeap?
ByRussFreen

BusinessVoIP
BusinessVoIP
Providers

Toachievethisseamlessoperation,carriersrequireapivotalcontrolandmanagement

CallAccounting

pointinaconvergednetworkthatisindependentofnetworkaccessmethod(CDMA,

CallCenterManagement

GPRS,WiMax,DSL,cable,etc.),subscriberdevice(workLAN,homePCorsettopbox,

wirelesshandset),orapplication(voice,email,VPN,ERP,CRM).IntheIPMultimedia

aboutusersratherthanaparticular

Subsystem(IMS)vision,thiscentralcontrolandmanagementpointistheHome

networkinfrastructure,allowing

SubscriberSubsystem(HSS).

subscriberstolinkwithanyavailable

CallCenterOnDemand
CallCenterScheduling
CallCenterSolutions

etworksofthefuturewillbemore

serviceregardlessofwhatdeviceor

CallCenterWorkforce
Optimization

Beforetheycantakefulladvantageoftheattractiverevenueenhancementsandcost

accessmethodtheyareusing.

savingsassociatedwithIMSnetworks,serviceprovidersneedtodecidehowto

Already,fixed/wirelessconvergenceis

ContactCenter
Outsourcing

transitiontheirlegacynetworkstoanIMSframework.Todothiswell,itisimportantto

agrowingtrend,andserviceproviders

understandtheevolutionofthehardware,software,andoperationalinfrastructure

operatingintelligentIPnetworksare

ContactCenterQuality
Management

involvedincreatingrobustIMScentralcontrolandmanagement.Insteadofa

seekingapathtodeliverseamless

wholesaletransitiontoIMS,itwilllikelybebettertotakeanevolutionaryapproach,

CustomerSupport
Software

accesstotheirapplicationsand

migratingsmallnumbersofservicesatatimeratherthanwholesaleimplementations.

content,regardlessofthesubscribers

DataManagement

newIMSservicesandrealizenewrevenuestreamswhilestillmaintainingthe

DialerSoftware

functionalityoftheirlegacynetwork.

Thisslowandsteadyapproachwillgiveserviceproviderstheopportunitytotestout

location.

DIDs
FaxVoIP

ChangesRequiredforIMS

HostedCallCenter

Byitsverynature,IMSrequiresarethinkingofthenetworktopology.Itswidereachingscalenecessitatesamovefromaservicelevel

HostedContactCenter

viewtoasubscribercentricviewinthenetwork,becausemakingIPapplicationsavailableoverallnetworksrequiresafocusonthe

HostedPBX

individualsubscriber,ratherthanonthecapabilitiesofanygivennetwork.

IPCommunications

Implementingsubscribercentricpolicymanagementinthismultinetworkenvironmentinvolvesthemanagementofmillionsof

IPPhones

individualsubscriberprofiles,possiblyhundredsofserviceandapplicationprofiles,andsupportfortensofthousandsofsimultaneous

IVRServiceProvider

userauthentication,serviceaccess,andmediationtransactions.Subscribercentricoperationsrequireasingleviewofthedata

MasterAgent
NetworkedEnterprise

relatingtoasubscriberandspecificmechanismstocarryoutpersubscriberservicepoliciesincludingroamingpermissions,quality
ofservice(QoS)settings,timeofdaypermissions,anddatadownloadthresholdsacrossmultiplenetworksthatareownedandnot
ownedbytheprovider.Itisimpossibletoperformthesetaskswithexistingwirelessandwirelinelegacyequipment,suchasan

OmniChannelCustomer
Engagement

Authentication,AuthorizationandAccounting(AAA)and/orhomelocationregister(HLR).Thechoicethenbecomestoupgradethis

OutboundDialer

legacyequipmentbutoperatesindependentlyoftheunderlyingnetworks.

equipmentwithbasicHSScapabilitiesortoimplementanewrobustHSStocreateanIPservicelayerthatoperatesalongsidethe

PhoneSystems
PowerProtection
PredictiveDialer
SoftwareLicensing
SoftwareMonetization

Byitsverynature,IMS
requiresarethinkingofthe
networktopology.

AAAsystemshavetraditionallyprovidedsimpleaccesstothenetwork.Now,IMSmigration
providestheopportunitytocollapseallofthelegacyAAAfunctionsintotheHSS,streamlining
operationsandfurtherreducingexpenses.Dependingontheirfeatureset,somelegacyAAA
networkelementscouldbeupgradedtoservetheIMSarchitecture.However,theseupgrades
couldstillrequirethenetworktoquerymultipledatabasesinordertogetaclearviewof

TelemarketingSoftware

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9/18/2015
VirtualOffice
VirtualPBX
VoIPMonitoring

IMSFeatureArticle:TheEvolutiontoIMS
networkactivityandinvolvecustomizedapplicationprogramminginterfaces(APIs)foreachapplication.Thistypeofapproachactually
worksdirectlyagainstoneofthekeybenefitsofIMSrapiddeploymentofnewservices.Italsooverlookstheopportunitiesavailable
toserviceproviderswhentheycentralizeallofthesubscriberdatainasingleHSS.Intheend,mostserviceprovidersarenotlikelyto
doawholesaletransitiontoIMS,andupgradingtheAAAmayriskthefunctionalityofexistingnetworkservices.

VoIPSwitch
WholesaleVoIP

SimilartotheAAAupgrade,serviceproviderscouldelecttoupgradetheirHLRtoperformbasicHSSfunctions.Intheplanningstages
ofthistypeofupgrade,keyconsiderationsincludetheoverallcapacity(intermsofsubscribers),thenetworkconnectivity(IPorSS7),

WorkforceManagement

andunderstandingtheeffectofHLRfailureontheHSSfunction,andviceversa.Withoutaddressingtheseconcerns,theupgradecan

WorkforceOptimization

puttheincumbentvoicenetworksandbusinessesatrisk.Whileitmayofferlowercoststoday,serviceproviderschoosingtheupgrade

WorkforceOptimization
Software

pathshouldalsoconsiderthelongrangefinancialimplications.
ManyserviceprovidersmayfinditprudenttomaintaintheirexistingHLRandimplement
separateHSSfunctionalityforthegrowingIMSplatform,depreciatingtheHLRequipmentandeventuallyretiringtheHLRwhenthe
IMStransitioniscomplete.
MostserviceproviderswilllikelyelecttoimplementanewHSSserverfortheirIMSdeployment.Thiswillalsobethecaseforwireline
serviceproviders,astheydonotuseHLRsanditisunlikelythattheirAAAserverswillsupportwirelessdevices.Implementinga
separateHSSinthenetworktohandleevolvingIMSservicesensuresthattheexistingnetworkcancontinuetooperatewithout
disruptionwhilenewservicescomeonline.Overtime,asthenetworkevolvesmorefullytoIMS,agingHLRsandAAAserverscanbe
retired.
BeforeselectinganHSSserver,itisimportanttorecognizethattheyvaryinfunctionality,capability,andoperation.Forinstance,an
HSSserverrunningarobustsubscribercentricpolicymanagementprogramisaccessagnostic,meaningthatthesamesubscriber
profileonanHSSserverforacablenetworkcanbeappliedtoaWiFi,WiMAX,ormobileaccessinthefuture.ButnotallHSSservers
havethecapabilitytosupportasubscribercentricnetwork.
Forinstance,itmaybetemptingtobuyacompleteproductlinefromasinglevendor.Whilethismayseemlikeaquicksolution,itwill
almostcertainlynotbethebestone.Thisisbecausemanyofthelargernetworkinfrastructureprovidersarefocusingontoplevel
elements,suchastheCallStateControlFunction(CSCF),andtheyprovideonlybasicHSSandPolicyDecisionFunctionality(PDF).
ThesetypesofHSSserverscanseverelylimitaserviceproviderscapabilitytobringmorecomplexservicesonline.Instead,thebetter
approachistousebestofbreedvendorsforspecificelements,andthenaskthemajorvendortocoordinatewiththesmallerones.
RoleoftheHSS
Asthecentralrepositoryforsubscriberandapplicationprofilesandpolicies,theHSSisthemakeorbreakpointinthesuccessofan
IMSnetwork.Enablingcallandsessionenablement,serviceauthorizationandauthentification,theHSSleveragestheinformationin
individualsubscriberprofilestoenforcepolicyinthenetworkthroughalogicalchainofprocesses.

Asthesubscriberregisterswiththenetwork,theHSSconsultsthepolicydatabasetolearnthe
roamingpermissions,accountstatus,andtimeofdaypermissions.Basedonthese,theHSS
providesthesubscriberwiththeabilitytoaccesstheIMSframework.Thesubscriberthen

TheHSSisthemakeorbreak
pointinthesuccessofan
IMSnetwork.

accessesanapplication,whichisauthorizedbytheHSSatthepointofrequest.Duringthe
authorizationprocess,theHSSconsultsthepolicydatabaseonceagaintolearntheapplicationspecificpermissionsandother
policiestobeappliedtothissubscriber.TheHSSthenauthorizesaccess,directingthecallprocessingelementstoallowasessionto
commence.
ThissingleunifiedviewofthesubscriberthatarobustHSSelementcanprovideintheIMSarchitecturetranslatesintosignificant
operatingexpensesavingsfortheserviceprovider.Byactingasthecentralsubscriberdatabaseforthenetwork,managingoneprofile
persubscriber,theHSSenablesrapidserviceprovisioningandvastlysimplifiestheadditionordeletionofservicesandsubscribers,
significantlycuttingdownonadministrationtime.
Forexample,sincecustomerdataisstoredinonecentralizeddatabase,provisioningtimeisnotdependentonthenumberof
applicationseffected.Thesameanalysisholdsforthecaseofsubscriberdeactivation.Thesavingsrelatingtotheseoperational
expenditurescanaddupquickly,becausewheneveranewsubscriberisaddedordeleted,theamountoftimerequiredforanoperator
staffmembertoenterthedataisfixed,insteadofbeingdependentonthenumberofapplications.And,inasubscribercentricsystem,
oncesubscribersareactivated,theycanmanagetheirownserviceprofilesonline,eliminatingtheneedforinhousestafftomake
ongoingadjustmentstoprovisioning.
Inaddition,sinceeverythingisnowstoredinoneplace,theITstaffonlyhastomanageonesingleplatformratherthanmultiple
platforms,freeingupengineeringresources.Thesesavingscanbesignificant,sinceeverydatabaseservertypicallyrequiresone
persondaypermonthofITsupport.Soifaserviceproviderisrunningfiveapplicationswithtwodatabaseseach,theresultingITcost
wouldbe10persondayspermonth,whichcanbecollapsedintoonepersondaypermonthforasingledatabase.
ApplicationsEvolution
MovingtoanallIPinfrastructureallowsserviceproviderstorapidlydeploynewservices,anditcangivethemunprecedentedabilities
totailorservicesforindividualcustomers,connectingsubscriberswithapplicationsondemandorassubscriberprofileschange.This
subscribercentricmodelusesapolicymanagementsystemthatfinetunesthenetworkresourcesinrealtime,enforcestheservice

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IMSFeatureArticle:TheEvolutiontoIMS
providerspolicyrules,andtrackstheresourceseachsubscriberconsumesforbillingpurposes.
Providerscanleveragethisinformationtosimplifyservicedefinitionandprovisioningandtoacceleratethecreationofnewservices
andservicebundles.Newservicetierscanbebasedonanythingthatiseasilymeasuredandsimplycontrolled,suchasmonthly
consumption,bandwidth,andqualityofservice(QoS).Insophisticatedsystems,itispossibletoenableapplicationspecifictiers,such
astierswithandwithoutvoiceoverIP(VoIP)capabilities.
BybuildingIMSapplicationsthattakeadvantageoftheindividualizednatureofsubscribercentricnetworksandtherobustcapabilities
oftheHSS,serviceproviderscangainacompetitiveadvantageandgreatlybolstertheirabilitytoretaincustomerswhile
simultaneouslyincreasingaveragerevenueperuser.
RussFreenisthecofounderandChiefTechnologyOfficerforBridgewaterSystems(newsalert).Formoreinformation,please
visitthecompanyonlineatwww.bridgewatersystems.com.

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