Building services the Internet way

New service creation platforms open networks to a world of development opportunities

Network service providers worldwide are evolving to new packet-switched networks to improve their ability to offer new services and to realize long term cost savings. While many new services are well suited for this converged environment, the average half-life of a "killer application" in the Internet space is no more than six to 12 months.

The reality of this accelerated life cycle for new applications deems that network operators must have access to as many services as possible. This also requires a service creation environment that many developers can use.

While the intelligent network model has worked exceptionally well in the circuit-switched world, it never was designed to handle the multitude of protocols required to interact with networks and services based on ATM or IP technologies. This isn't to say that the intelligent network will go away - just the opposite will be true. The intelligent network, by its very nature, is evolving rapidly to interoperate with multiple service creation technologies.

New packet-based intelligent network platforms that include a next generation service creation environment are becoming available to help service providers reach new subscribers and build additional revenue using their existing voice infrastructure. By offering the same tool sets developers currently use in the Internet realm, these platforms help service providers plug in third party applications, interface with service bureaus or create their own new converged services.

At the core of this next generation service creation paradigm will be a set of standards and protocols unfamiliar to any provider with a circuit-switched network infrastructure. By understanding how these standards can - and will - affect their business, service providers can better prepare and execute the convergence of voice and data. Better yet, they can participate in the many forums and work groups currently working to define these standards (see sidebar on page 280). Participation will help service providers protect their interests and claim their rightful place as co-architects of new service creation platforms, especially as standards evolve to support a new, broader definition of service creation.

Call control opens up on the network

Most application developers today that are creating new services using Internet tools tend to have a limited understanding of existing intelligent network protocols. Before wireless and wireline network service providers can tap into this huge development community, they must give developers a means to communicate with their networks.

One way to accomplish this is to deploy a next generation service creation environment capable of handling programming language constructs, otherwise known as application programming interfaces (APIs).

The Parlay API, for example, is a standard, open programming interface currently being defined by The Parlay Group to give application developers control over how their services behave in wireless and wireline networks. By offering an API such as Parlay, developers are shielded from having to dissect the underlying telecom protocols. As a result, a larger population of service developers are free to exploit the value of voice services to help make new data services more attractive - and profitable.

Historically, wireless and wireline network service providers have been reluctant to put APIs on their network; this would give third parties the ability to plug into their networks to competitively provide alternative services. However, if they don't start providing APIs such as Parlay, they risk losing their highest value business customers to the service provider that does.

Providing APIs such as Parlay also means that service providers can better meet the needs of their business customers that simply will not accept a one-size-fits-all solution. Because these kinds of specifications allow application developers to customize network behavior, business customers can get the advanced voice and data services they want - the way they want them.

For example, Parlay lets businesses program how a service provider's network interworks with the business's call center service so it can quickly modify the way customer calls are managed. In the past, if a business wanted to make a change to its service, it usually meant time and money.

The open Internet model says, "if the big cloud doesn't meet your needs, make your own cloud." A business doesn't have to call the Internet powers-that-be to change something on its Web page. Controlling the way calls complete or route should be just as simple. That's the promise of the Parlay API (Figure 1).

Talking back to the Internet

The ability to view and research an array of product offerings in a short amount of time has consumers logging on to the World Wide Web in record numbers. It seems only natural that as people become more dependent on their data, they'll want the freedom to tap into the Internet while on the go. That means telephone access. And this means new revenue-generating opportunities for network service providers.

New speech-enabled Web access solutions that separate service access from service logic soon will be available to help bridge the public network and the Internet. These network grade solutions will enable service providers to use their existing networks to offer customers voice access to Internet and intranet-based services.

A new computer language known as voice extensible markup language (VoiceXML) makes voice-enabled access to the Internet possible. AT&T, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Motorola and numerous other industry leaders already have agreed to support VoiceXML and have formed the VoiceXML Forum to promote it as a standard specification.

Similar to HTML, the standard language used to create and retrieve Web pages, VoiceXML will be used to program a particular audio prompt to play over the phone. Specifically, VoiceXML defines voice dialogs using a combination of technologies, including audio files, text-to-speech or speech recognition.

One reason the Internet is growing so fast is that HTML makes the creation of Web pages easy and ubiquitous. It doesn't require a large investment to design the pages. With VoiceXML, the same will be true. Once a VoiceXML page has been created to define a voice dialog, a speech-enabled Web access solution is used to retrieve the VoiceXML page from the Web server and convert it to interactive voice dialog (Figure 2).

Whether it is to request Web-based weather or traffic information or to conduct banking or e-commerce transactions, the subscriber will only need a standard wireline or wireless phone. Similarly, a salesperson could dial into a corporate intranet from a phone, then use conversational requests and interactions to receive real time order status information or company announcements. And if subscribers want to manipulate how these services work, they simply log on to a designated Web page and make the changes.

VoiceXML is based on an open, platform-independent service creation environment rather than a proprietary protocol - that's its strength. As such, equipment and infrastructure providers, speech technology providers, speech application developers, content providers and communications service providers will be able to participate in the growth of this market.

Voice services plug into the Internet

Wireless and wireline service providers now can use their existing network infrastructure and next generation service creation platforms to offer new, revenue-generating services to the Internet subscriber.

The Internet Engineering Task Force has formed two working groups - the PSTN Internet Interworking, or PINT, and Services in the PSTN/IN Requesting Internet Services, or SPIRITS - to address connection arrangements through which Internet applications can request and enrich public network telephony services. The goal is to help existing networks interoperate and evolve with the Internet to facilitate the creation of new, seamless services.

By using the session initiation protocol, or SIP, as the underlying protocol, PINT and SPIRITS are becoming building blocks that can support larger, revenue-generating services in the Internet paradigm. Their purpose is to make it as easy as possible for e-commerce application developers to use an operator's network in support of Web sites (Figure 3).

PINT and SPIRITS, for example, are beginning to provide the nucleus for such capabilities as click-to-dial, click-to-play content, Internet caller ID and Internet call waiting. Though these capabilities tend to generate messages and not direct revenue, network service providers will benefit from making these building blocks available so third party developers can readily create new data services that interoperate with voice networks.

Services such as Internet call waiting demonstrate how the services layer of a circuit-switched network can reach through the Internet to a subscriber's PC within the context of the appropriate intelligent network infrastructure. This solution makes it possible for someone using a home phone line for data access or Internet use to be notified of incoming phone calls by a pop-up on-screen message - without disrupting the data connection. Internet call waiting also gives service providers an opportunity to get into a subscriber's PC space through the existing network infrastructure, which also is useful for branding short term promotions and long term service offerings.

In perspective

Although network service providers are moving toward data-converged networks, their voice business isn't going away.

On the contrary, voice services will continue to represent a significant portion of their revenues for years. Though no one knows exactly what the next killer application will be, it's fairly certain that providers purely into voice - or purely into data - will miss the convergence sweet spot.

It's also certain that many new Internet services will emerge, create much hype and then fade. As such, service providers may only have a lock on the marketplace for a few months. Once everyone has the "Next Big Thing," the differential value drops like a rock. With this kind of turnover of new applications, the need to quickly create and deploy new revenue-generating services is obvious.

Everyone agrees that Internet-based data networks hold the promise of faster speeds, greater access, more bandwidth and lower costs. Packet intelligent network solutions with next generation service creation platforms bring to the table the final and most crucial component by effectively removing the barriers that exist between circuit and data networks. As a result, developers find a whole new market for their new applications. And service providers find their ticket to ride the Internet power curve.

Numerous standards and protocols currently are being defined through industry forums to help shape the new Internet service creation paradigm for wireless and wireline network service providers. Most serve different markets or domains of service within the communications industry. Yet, the goal of each is the same: find new ways for third party application developers to program converged voice and data services.

Network service providers worldwide are getting involved in these and other forums and workgroups to help foster the deployment of systems that support the convergence of their voice and data networks and services:

- Java in Advanced Intelligent Networks initiative (JAIN).......java.sun.com/products/jain

- Parlay Group.................www.parlay.org

- PSTN Internet Interworking....www.ietf.org/html.charters/pint-charter.html

- Services in the PSTN/IN Requesting Internet Services (SPIRITS).......www.ietf.org/html.charters/spirits-charter.html

- VoiceXML Forum.............www.vxml.org

- Wireless Application Protocol Forum................www.wapform.org