I’ll take the combo

ATLANTA—Nextel International will be the first provider to take advantage of a new product combination from Tekelec. The wireless operator will use Tekelec’s Eagle 5 Signaling Application System combined with the Integrated Sentinel surveillance solution to monitor and manage its international network.

The fact that a global carrier is the first customer for this platform combo is significant, Tekelec representatives said. “We have to be a player in the global space,” said Travis Russell, a sales executive for the Morrisville, N.C.-based vendor. “We learned a long time ago that you can’t make it on domestic [sales] alone.”

Nextel International’s network includes customers in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and the Philippines. Indeed, the wireless provider’s order for Tekelec’s Eagle 5 SAS platform may reflect the growing acceptance of signaling-based networks among foreign carriers.

The platform will enable Nextel and other carriers to turn customer data into intelligent information, Russell said. “If you look at the information in the signaling network... you’re just starting to see marketing organizations take a second look at that data,” Russell said.

For example, Nextel will be able to use the Eagle/Sentinel solution to perform end-to-end call traces and create call detail records (CDRs) in an effort to combat fraud, Russell said. SS7-based CDR data is more reliable than the call information typically compiled by a Class switch, he added.

Combining the Eagle and Sentinel platforms was a foregone conclusion, according to Dick Hayter, vice president of the Eagle business unit at Tekelec. “Given the large embedded base of Eagle, it provides an attractive up-sell opportunity,” he said.

Existing Eagle customers will be able to purchase an upgrade kit to acquire the Sentinel platform. “We saw the need to develop something that helps [carriers that own the Eagle platform] be more efficient,” said Mark Ogelsby, product line manager for Tekelec.

But “our existing Eagle customers that were already using Sentinel aren’t ignored,” Ogelsby added. “They’re not losing that investment.”

The combined Eagle/Sentinel platform enables carriers to monitor and manage signaling-intensive services, including caller ID, three-way calling, call waiting, call forwarding, international roaming, wireless Internet and text messaging. It provides signaling and call control across IP, SS7 and ATM networks as well as probe-less monitoring.

Probe-less monitoring is advantageous because it reduces the amount of equipment necessary for monitoring, improves network synchronization and lowers costs, said Ogelsby.

In a related announcement at Supercomm, the company added billing verification capabilities to its Sentinel platform.
Michael Hanley is managing editor for Telephony. He can be reached at mhanley@intertec.com.