Breaking the mold

Summa Four, a leading programmable switch maker, and software developer Dialogic will work together on a new highly integrated programmable switch model that could help public network carriers move farther from the monolithic switching environments of the past.

Project Sigma will integrate Dialogic's CT Media S.100 computer telephony standard software with Summa Four's ICS call model to create a centralized, fault-tolerant resource management platform for open switching.

Summa Four also is forming a joint venture with another software company, Junction Inc., Cupertino, Calif., to help integrate Dialogic's H.100 bus standard DM3 media processing cards onto the open switch's backplane.

The integration will meld the once-separate elements of the traditional programmable switching model, including workstations, applications databases and host terminals, in a single open architecture.

"This integration represents a shift in how the switching environment can be built," said John Shaw, vice president of business development and strategy at Summa Four, Manchester, N.H. "It eliminates a lot of redundant hardware, software and T-1/E-1 connections from the switching environment, which lowers costs and reduces the system footprint and complexity.

Programmable switches long have been viewed as efficient adjuncts to larger central office switches, supporting services, number databases and other applications faster than the big switches could through periodic upgrades. But a lag in computer telephony standards kept programmable switch vendors and their partners from pursuing further integration.

The Enterprise Computer Telephony Forum's S.100 and H.100 are helping to change that.

"These standards will be embraced," said John Alfieri, vice president of sales and services at Dialogic, Parsippany, N.J. Previously, no switching application programming interfaces could deliver the level of call control flexibility and management that the telco environment requires, he said.

"There are services that aren't making it to market in a progressive manner because they cost too much to deploy under the traditional switching environment," said Shaw. Indeed, the timing for the planned integration coincides with a growing need for local number portability, wireless roaming, prepaid calling and other services that programmable switching could support.

The platform will premiere sometime this fall. Emerging carriers in the midst of building out their networks and competitive carriers looking to differentiate themselves are likely to adopt it first.

"Breaking the mold has an appeal for these new guys. They want to be the first out there with new technology, and they don't want to deploy complex, expensive architectures," said Alfieri.