Tekelec, Verisign simplify ENUM sharing

Tekelec and Verisign this week implemented a draft IETF spec that will make it easier for service providers to manage ENUM addresses across multiple carrier networks.

ENUM is a core capability for bringing together traditional telco networks and new IP networks, providing mapping and process capabilities for transforming telephone numbers to identifiers consumable by IP-based carriers.

The new solution makes it easier for calls to pass more directly between two “peered” IP networks by ensuring interoperability between Verisign’s Network Routing Directory and Tekelec’s ENUM address resolution technology, which runs on its TekPath Route Director Platform.

In addition to ensuring interoperability between Verisign and Tekelec, the solution speeds resolution by enabling local caching of ENUM addresses via replication with Verisign’s ENUM directory service, said Robby Benedyk, senior product manager for Tekelec’s TekPath.

“To be able to provision and share IP access points, service providers need to be able to share this info,” Benedyk said in an interview at NXTcomm08 last week.

For Tekelec, the new ENUM capabilities can reside alongside its existing number portability solution on the TekPath, providing operators with a full solution for managing phone numbers and IP addresses/identifiers, Benedyk said.

In addition to providing simple VoIP number translation, peer-to-peer ENUM routing makes it possible for service providers to offer enhanced IP-based voice, data and video services – while also reducing costs -- by keeping the entire call path on an IP, SIP-based system.

Tekelec has submitted the specification detailing the ENUM peering solution to the IETF and has been testing the provisioning protocol with registries like Verisign for the past six months, Benedyk said.