INtegration

The current climate of mergers and acquisitions is causing carriers to consolidate their network architectures. More often than not, the mergers leave the information technology staff with multivendor intelligent network platforms that require them to make hard decisions about maintenance of separate platforms.

Ameritech has used multiple platforms since the early 1990s. After examining its business goals for the intelligent network, it chose six services that it wanted to deploy, but neither Lucent Technologies nor Ericsson could supply all six, so Ameritech chose to use both platforms. The carrier could afford two platforms because the costs were lower than they are today.

"Our goals for the project and the choices we made were based on the existing situation. Now, it would probably be different," said Wally Malinowski, director of service assessment and development at Ameritech.

One advantage of multiple platforms is that they are more function-rich. The biggest disadvantage is the resources required to maintain and operate two separate, unique platforms.

Of all the intelligent network services Ameritech has deployed, the only "silver bullet" service has been caller name delivery. "Almost 90% to 95% of revenue has come from caller name delivery," said Malinowski. "Privacy management is the only other service that is close to having the same success."

"Whether Ameritech continues its multivendor platforms depends on the vendors," said Malinowski. "If both are successful in meeting our needs, we'll stay multivendor. If one does a better job, we'll switch."

The Bell Atlantic/Nynex merger had its own challenges as it merged its intelligent networks. Each had established intelligent network programs, but they were from different platform vendors and each had different market strategies.

Nynex's customer base was the large business market, and Bell Atlantic's was primarily consumers. Nynex offered enterprise services such as virtual private networks; Bell Atlantic's services included call gate and do not disturb offerings.

The company decided to standardize the platforms, which meant centralizing the service creation environment, creating a local service activation environment and centralizing service assurance. Currently, Bell Atlantic has deployed 29 services.

Looking toward the possible Bell Atlantic/GTE merger, intelligent network consolidation should be less of a problem. "GTE and Bell Atlantic have common platforms, and it should be easier to identify operational resources and integrate them," said Michael DellAngelo, group manager of ASD service design, wholesale markets at GTE.

In addition to tackling intelligent network difficulties in current multiplatform networks, carriers are looking at combining the intelligent network with the Internet. "The industry is now thinking out of the box," said Stuart Rosenfield, senior director of product marketing and business development of intelligent networks at Alcatel. "The services are becoming more flexible and being tailored to the individual."

"Carriers are recognizing the value of the intelligent network not only in the incumbent carrier marketplace, but also within the broader spectrum of carriers," said Doug Varney, technical manager for IN architecture at Lucent. "Intelligent network messaging is crossing all the spectrums, and there's lots of interest in intelligent network/IP. Carriers are excited about the possibility of future service revenue."

Another boost for the intelligent network may come in the form of larger budgets. Year 2000 projects have made significant dips in many intelligent network budgets, but the funding should be reinstated soon, which should ensure the continued development and deployment of intelligent network services.

* Up-front costs

* Ongoing costs

Maintenance

Upgrades

* Flexible

* Scalable

* Forward- and backward-compatible

* Function-rich

* Leverages power

* Open interface

* Adheres to standards

* Customizable

* Staffing requirement

* Operations learning curve

* Reputable vendor

* Knowledgeable vendor

* Hardware/software availability

* Reliability

* Forward-looking design

* Modular design

* Voice in development strategy

CUSTOMER CLEARINGHOUSE Tellink is offering a turnkey solution for executing local service exchange orders, E911 database changes and related requirements needed to transfer a customer from one provider to another. Its gateway services enable telephony providers to send updated information to Tellink's clearinghouse, which then redistributes this data to the appropriate incumbent or other provider, using the best interchange methodology available.

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