Tekelec, the network signaling, mobile messaging and performance management company, has been selected to monitor signaling system 7 (SS7) and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) traffic by Iowa Network Services (INS) and Onvoy Voice Services. INS and Onvoy operate and co-own the SS7 network, and had a need to monitor the increasing volume of IP traffic on their individual networks. Tekelec’s Integrated Applications Solution (IAS) will monitor, correlate and report on multi-protocol network traffic to deliver critical business intelligence information for troubleshooting, traffic management and improved network efficiency.

In May of this year, INS and Onvoy replaced their existing performance management product with the IAS solution because of Tekelec’s comprehensive network monitoring and reporting capabilities in both signaling system 7 (SS7) and session initiation protocol (SIP) domains. In addition, IAS integrates with Tekelec’s EAGLE® 5 core network signaling platform, thereby reducing costs and streamlining operations by minimizing the need for passive probes to collect traffic data.

“Tekelec gives us the great benefit of analyzing trouble reports, billing issues and network traffic patterns to identify potential problems and better serve our customers,” said Bob Sherlock, vice president of engineering for Iowa Network Services, a network of independent telephone companies that provides telecommunications services in rural Iowa. “IAS is the ideal way to collect SS7 and SIP data, and its ability to store 60 days of traffic allows us to easily compare historical and real-time network performance information.”

IAS provides sophisticated data collection, correlation and reporting for more than 150 global wireline and wireless service providers. Through the analysis of network- and service-level traffic, IAS delivers new levels of network, service and customer intelligence, thereby improving subscribers’ quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE). The solution offers troubleshooting capabilities and key performance indicators (KPIs) to support traffic management, security, and wireless services such as roaming, prepaid and short message service (SMS). The IAS platform supports both Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) and VoIP networks with a common set of applications, troubleshooting between the two network domains in real time.

“Onvoy Voice Services continues to invest in the tools required to enhance the information available to our customers and to advance our SS7 service offering,” said Fritz Hendricks, president of Onvoy, a wholesale telecom services provider based in Minnesota. “In using the Tekelec IAS, Onvoy has established an end-to-end, real-time and historical network monitoring system. The Tekelec IAS system enables Onvoy to rapidly identify the origin of suspect, non-billable traffic, thereby supporting our customer revenue collection efforts. This will be a differentiator for customers as we work together to expand into new markets."

Tekelec's traffic management KPIs enable service providers to quickly determine network traffic type, volume, origination and destination, as well as causes for uncompleted calls. The resulting intelligence ensures that traffic is managed properly and routed in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.

“The signaling layer is the best source to pinpoint anomalous network activity and areas requiring troubleshooting,” said Ron de Lange, executive vice president at Tekelec. “We are excited about our deeper relationship with INS and Onvoy, and the improvements they’re targeting to enhance customers’ quality of service and experience."

For more information about IAS, Tekelec has a free “Customer Service Assurance” white paper available for download. Prepared by Stratecast Senior Consulting Analyst Karl Whitelock and Tekelec, the paper contains five case studies of customer service assurance implementations.