Fixed line or IP telephony: what to choose. Fixed communications: from “young lady” to digital PBX

Since the beginning of the last century, businessmen, military men and professional revolutionaries knew for sure that if they controlled communications, this would guarantee them at least half of their success. MGTS has been providing telephone services for 127 years. It began operating in 1882 as a manual telephone exchange at 6 Kuznetsky Most in the house of the merchant Popov, and is now one of the largest local wire communications companies in Europe. It is through her example that we will consider all stages of the development of telephone communications in Russia.

Fixed connections

When it opened in 1882, the Bell Telephone Company had only 26 subscribers. But even before the beginning of the new century, she managed to gain about 3 thousand more - for those times the record was truly remarkable. By the way, back then the numbers consisted of only four digits - it was difficult to get lost, and telephone directories were not as voluminous as they are now. A little later, on December 31, 1898, the longest Moscow-St. Petersburg intercity line in Europe opened. By the way, the intercity station was located on Myasnitskaya Street, where the Central Telegraph Office was located (now the building of the Main Moscow Post Office).

The first telephone sets, external bells (the machines didn’t have them at first) and switchboards.

A telephone set mounted on the wall - there is no dial dial, all connections are through the operator, but there is a knob on the right, by turning which you could call a “young lady”.

But fixed-line communications gained true scope at the very beginning of the 20th century, when ownership of the Moscow telephone network passed to the Swedish-Danish-Russian joint-stock company. To popularize the service, talented managers lowered prices and began modernization - easily torn wires (the so-called "air wires") were removed into underground cables and in four years they built a Central Telephone Exchange with a capacity of up to 60 thousand numbers - this capacity was not immediately mastered and was introduced into operation gradually. The main working instrument of that time was a multiply (connecting) switch - an object vaguely reminiscent of a piano. At the time of the opening of Hall “A” at the Central Station, there were 112 such “musical instruments” along the walls. And behind each of them sat a young lady with a headset - a set of earphone and microphone. Call processing was carried out manually - each incoming call was “taken” by the distribution operator and transferred to a currently free colleague, who connected with the called subscriber. It was with her that the subscriber spoke, naming his addressee. The work of a “telephone lady” was difficult - 200 hours a month she had to sit on a hard chair with an iron microphone headset attached to her chest, heavy headphones and quickly get plugs into the cells of the switchboard that stood in front of her. In an hour, it was possible to make up to 170 calls (excluding “sorry - busy”), but the work was wearing out. By the way, already in 1909, the first 26 public telephones were quickly installed within the city and 17 outside it. The fee for the conversation was quite an impressive 10 kopecks, but it was “unlimited” - there was no limit on the duration of the conversation.

One of the first payphones - for 10 kopecks you could talk without interruption.

A later payphone - there are clear instructions for the user on how and what to do to establish a connection.

One of the versions of the operator connecting switch is not the very first, but a later one, from the 30s of the 20th century.

The trademark plaques are still in use today.

By the beginning of the revolutionary year of 1917, communications in the capital were so well established that V.I. Lenin, in his article “Marxism and the Uprising,” clearly set the task for his subordinates to “take over the telephone and telegraph,” and in addition, “to locate our uprising headquarters near the Central telephone exchange" for convenient communication not only with factories, but also with loyal army units. That is, the slogan “The main thing is communication with the masses” was carried out precisely thanks to telephone communications. Already in 1918, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the use of Moscow city telephones" was signed - in accordance with it, all Moscow telephones were transferred to the disposal of a special commission, and police departments, military commandant's offices, institutions and enterprises of the city were first to be provided with telephones , and only then - the population. The Bolsheviks did the most to install telephones in the capital - the latest technical solutions appeared in our country, although late, but they worked for a long time and reliably. Fast and reliable communications were given great importance - fulfilling the party's instructions to organize reliable communication lines to govern the country, I.V. Stalin himself in the early 1920s, after consulting with communist engineers, organized a contract with the Ericsson company. Under this contract, starting in 1930, the company supplied the first automatic telephone exchanges to Moscow. A little earlier, with the installation of a 100-number CB-100/20 switch in the Kremlin telephone room in September 1918 and the installation of an automatic telephone exchange (ATS VTsIK) in the Kremlin in 1922, the beginning of the ATS-1 system, better known as the “turntable”, was laid ". Unlike a conventional telephone network, where at that time the connection took place through an operator, subscribers connected to each other using a PBX and a rotary dialer. Subsequently, the system was intensively expanded, and was also equipped with access to other government and military communications systems (the so-called HF), which were often also popularly called “turntable”. At the same time, in the mid-30s, wired communications descended into the metro - the strategic facility was completely telephoned from the very beginning of construction.

Strict design of telephones - such devices could be located in the apartments of senior employees or connected to a “turntable” in their offices.

Special communications in the metro were organized using such devices.

Various formats of telephone directories - "turntable guide" in the center.

Special telephone directories (thick red books, the format reminiscent of a modern credit card) were regularly published for senior officials - there you could quickly find the numbers of all the country's leaders. “Beautiful numbers” were not valued at that time - even the top management was assigned them one by one, without any exceptions (however, the head of the Cheka, Comrade Dzerzhinsky, had number 007). The installation of the stations was carried out by foreign specialists, for whose services significant sums in convertible currency and gold were allocated. Domestic specialists learned quickly and not only absorbed foreign experience, but also created the so-called system at an accelerated pace. wiretapping - monitoring telephone conversations in the interests of state security. Although the number of subscribers was increasing, everyone was known personally, many conversations were recorded on tape recorders, not only party comrades, army and intelligence officers were under control, but also calls through payphones to foreign embassies. Since then, such a system has been modified several times and now operates under the names SORM and SORM-2.

A fragment of the first machine telephone exchange, installed in 1930, is a rarity of the communication system.

In 1942, the “young ladies” connecting subscribers to each other finally disappeared - everything began to be carried out automatically. By the way, one of these automatic ten-day-step stations is still in operation and is successfully used in the MGTS museum - despite its quite “combat” state, the main load has been removed from it, it works only as an exhibition item. The principle of operation in a simplified version comes down to the following: in one cabinet, one digit is typed with a characteristic click (a special lever is visually raised), in another - the second, in the third - the next, and so on for all seven digits. At this time, we hear a characteristic clicking sound in the tube. After the end of the conversation (when the subscriber hangs up), all raised levers are lowered. Since the mid-60s, in connection with the expansion of construction in Moscow, widespread installation of telephones began, then people often stood in line “for a telephone” for more than 15 years - longer than in line for apartments (yes, yes, there were no mobile phones yet at all).

At first, the body of payphones was made of wood, then vandal-proof ones were made of metal, and modern ones are made of durable plastic.

A typical mid-century telephone booth.

At the same time, widespread construction of a network of payphones begins - especially in new areas where there were no telephones at all in new buildings.

Domestic radiotelephones "Altai" were practically no different from Nokia, the only difference being that they were car-based, and Nokia was a wearable terminal.

Separately, it is worth mentioning telephone sets. The first models were, of course, imported, and the design was not ergonomic - the body of the device with a rigidly mounted microphone was attached to the wall. In this case, callers had to either stand on tiptoes or lean towards the microphone in order to be clearly heard. Only in 1927 the Krasnaya Zarya plant produced the first domestic telephone sets. By the way, it was domestic models that were equipped with both public payphones and the cars of responsible employees connected to the Altai radiotelephone network: approximately the same devices, in various modifications, of course, were installed in KGB and police vehicles. landline literally “land line”) - a telephone connection between telephone users, through wires - copper or optical cables. This term, as a rule, describes telephone services provided by telecom operators in various areas (cities, regions) of the country. In terms of connection type, it is significantly inferior to cellular communication, since the range of wired communication is limited to a short distance from the place where the access point is installed (for copper cable, usually about 100 meters). In cellular communications, the access point is located in the telephone and communication is carried out with a base station, the distance to which can be from several hundred meters to several kilometers. There is also the concept of “local telephone service,” which describes a telephone connection within a populated area. Wired telephone communication appeared much earlier than mobile communication and over more than 100 years of development history it has gained truly massive popularity. Telephone conversations became part of everyday life in society precisely during the peak of the development of wired telephony. Although the process of “telephonization”, i.e. The installation of the necessary telephone equipment, the laying of cable facilities and, in general, ensuring access to telephone communications (primarily wired) for all segments of the population in some regions of the world is still actively ongoing.

World statistics showed that in 2013 there were about 1.16 billion fixed-line subscribers in the world.

According to representatives of fixed-line operators obtained in 2008–2009, expenses for local telephone communications constitute a small share in the consumer basket and are the last on the list for reduction in crisis conditions. In the spring of 2009, telephone operators increased tariffs for local calls, apparently hoping to thereby insure themselves against further stagnation of income. However, this step may provoke the opposite effect - the transition of some subscribers to the unlimited tariff to lower tariffs (combined and time-based) with more active use of cellular communications (the emergence of a number of new dumping offers from cellular operators will contribute to this) and alternative voice services (Skype, SIPNET and etc.). However, such a scenario is possible only in the event of a noticeable intensification of crisis phenomena, when the share of communication costs becomes significantly higher than today's figures. Currently, the ARPU of cellular communications in Russia averages $10; The monthly expenses of Russians per telephone line are approximately the same.

Wired telephone operators believe that during the crisis of 2008-2009. Fixed-line communication has again become a favorite, refuting all predictions about its imminent demise. Moreover, in 2009, MGTS, for example, recorded “a significant increase in demand for the installation of fixed telephones.” In total, in 2008, 1.1 million applications for the installation of telephones were satisfied, and the number of applications for the installation of an apartment telephone as of January 1, 2009 amounted to 602.3 thousand.

In 2008, the probable forecast for the dynamics of the local communications market was assessed as a planned slight growth (generally lower than the growth rate of the entire market) at a level of several percent within the established tariffs.

Links

• UK Landline - Compare Landline with Homephonechoices.co.uk - Archived from the original on 18 January 2003
• http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2009/PIP%20Teens%20and%20Mobile%20Phones%20Data%20Memo.pdf

12/11/2017, Mon, 12:36, Moscow time

IP telephony is gradually displacing traditional fixed-line communications from the market. More than 150 operators provide similar services on the Russian market. How to choose the most reliable one from them?

IP telephony is one of the most actively developing areas of the Russian telecommunications market. Analysts at J’son & Partners talk about the growth of this segment by an average of 30% per year in the period from 2010-2016. According to TelecomDaily estimates, in 2016 the volume of cloud PBX services increased by 16%. At the same time, all experts note that growth is due to the displacement of fixed-line communication services in the B2B segment.

IP telephony services are available wherever there is a data network. Their undoubted advantages include the absence of costs for equipment and support - this is handled by the provider, speed of setup, convenient user interface and the ability to obtain analytics in real time. In addition, providers of such services are constantly working to expand functionality - integration with business applications, such as CRM and ERP, and the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of various advertising channels.

Among the main trends in this market are convergence, which increases the flexibility of business processes, mobility and the development of standard interfaces for rapid integration. Customers want to be able to independently and quickly change the configuration of a cloud PBX and its capacity, and add new services.

Despite the undeniable advantages of IP telephony, today in the Russian market it is most in demand by small and medium-sized businesses. Large companies are traditionally more conservative and wary of the idea of ​​abandoning fixed-line services in corporate communications. At the same time, large operators in Europe and the USA are already preparing to completely stop supporting traditional channels by 2025 and switch to broadband networks.

How to choose a provider

The Russian IP telephony market is highly competitive. However, most of the companies represented there are regional, focused on small businesses and do not have the infrastructure and resources to provide this service with high quality. The list of operators capable of providing services that fully meet the requirements of medium and especially large customers for communication quality, adaptability, security, reliability, SLA is not so long. Among them is the Beeline company, which has its own infrastructure and powerful technological base, has the resources to invest in technology development, and also has world-class expertise in IP telephony.

Today, IP telephony is actively developing thanks to cloud solutions - intelligent platforms, for example, “Mobile Enterprise”

07.09.2010

Traditionally, for services based on information technology, the principle is “newer means better for consumers.” How could it be otherwise, since this is the basis of technological progress?

Since the invention of the telephone in the 19th century, technology has stepped far forward - not only the appearance of the devices is changing, but also the very principles of telephone communication - it is difficult to imagine a workplace, apartment or house in which there is no telephone...

However, in the case of such an “old-fashioned” service as fixed telephone communication for individuals, everything is not so simple. New technology, having appeared, sometimes for many years, makes its way into life, improving and overcoming numerous problems. The most difficult thing here is usually ensuring full compatibility with everything that has been created before (and over the more than 130-year history of telephony, a lot has been created). Until this process is completed, the consumer of such a service suffers. This is currently happening with IP telephony.

Disadvantages of IP telephony compared to traditional telephone communication

1. Georeferencing
Traditional fixed telephone communications, in accordance with legal requirements, provide subscribers with an emergency call (01, 02, 03). To do this, the telecom operator organizes a connection at the local communication center and a connection with local emergency services. This means that if you dial 01,02,03 or 04 in your city, you will be taken to the appropriate services in YOUR city, in addition, emergency services will immediately know where the call came from.
In the case of IP telephony, there is a 99% probability that there will be no contact with emergency services at all, or they will not be made in the area where the IP telephony service is provided. By calling an ambulance in Lyubertsy, you risk ending up, for example, in Krasnogorsk.

2. Energy independence and reliability
Traditional telephony is provided over copper wires running directly from the telephone exchange. The fault tolerance of such a network is as high as possible: a copper pair is intact - there is a connection. The reliability of the service actually depends only on the integrity of the cable; everything else is very stable. According to legal requirements, the PBX is provided with reliable uninterrupted power supply with 24-hour backup. Even if the lights in your home go out due to an accident, traditional telephone service continues to work! You can easily call emergency services using your phone.
IP telephony is provided over home data networks, and ends with subscriber active equipment (IP telephony gateway, which allows the subscriber to receive a regular telephone signal from the data network). This entire design has a lot of points of potential unreliability: problems with software, problems on the data network (viruses, attacks, network storms, etc.), problems with power supply at any stage, equipment freezing, etc.

3. Compatibility with telephony networks
By connecting to a fixed telephone connection, you can be sure: faxes and modems will work, calls to all telephone numbers and from all telephone numbers will reach the addressee. In the case of IP telephony, fax operation is not guaranteed. In some cases, all these services have to be set up and launched independently, for which the subscriber needs to have special knowledge.

4. Private security
Private security alarms (PSS) operate without problems through traditional fixed-line telephone networks. This service cannot be enabled via IP telephony; more expensive GSM alarm systems from commercial security agencies must be installed.

Someday, in 10 years, the boundaries between classical and IP telephony will be completely erased, but for now fixed-line telephony is preferable for consumers.

However, IP telephony also has its advantages - it is an alternative to conventional landline telephone or mobile communications if your home does not have a landline telephone or there are not enough telephone lines from the telecom operator, or perhaps you are in an area of ​​​​uncertain cellular network reception , but you have internet. This service is mainly aimed at corporate clients to create specific configurations that require greater capabilities.

Category: .

Telecommunications operators, consulting companies and equipment manufacturers unanimously say that fixed communications are currently on the verge of big changes. In this regard, the question inevitably arises: “What is this transition, and what will be the first step that operators should take along this path?”

Structural changes

In July 2005, the world-famous consulting agency Gartner published the results of a study conducted in the field of telecommunications. It turned out that total revenue from voice and data services in 2005 was $478 billion and $261 billion, respectively. It is expected that by 2009, revenue from fixed-line voice services will fall by 14% to 411 billion, while revenue from data services will grow by as much as 67% to 387 billion. Currently, the Asia-Pacific region is experiencing strong economic recovery, however, despite this, not many fixed network operators can boast of high incomes. Moreover, this trend is global.

The factors that stimulated such processes include: a) general saturation of the market for fixed-line communication services; b) a shift in subscriber preferences towards mobile communication networks when choosing voice services. Although advances in broadband access technologies have expanded the overall capacity of fixed-line networks, broadband networks cannot provide the same ROI (return on investment) as TDM multiplexing-based switching. In addition, new broadband technologies and applications such as VoIP, video services and text messaging are well within the profit margins of TDM voice technologies.

The rapid popularization of broadband access, as well as the emergence of a large number of Internet providers, stimulated the emergence of complex non-voice services, including data transmission, content and integrated data. It is obvious that currently there is still no established infrastructure for broadband services, there is no generally accepted management strategy and profit generation policy.

Recently, a huge number of new technologies and standards have appeared. Broadband technologies, WiMAX, HSDPA and GPON are able to provide efficient voice communication methods and, by and large, can completely replace traditional copper transmission methods. Technologies are being unified, and differences in the level of technical development between different countries are disappearing. A large number of Internet companies, software manufacturers and system integrators have turned to the field of voice communications. A significant event was the alignment of positions of brands such as Skype and MSN.

Today, the field of telecommunications is undergoing significant changes. Fixed network voice services are gradually being replaced by similar mobile communication services, some operators are absorbing others, completely new information and communication technologies are replacing traditional ones, and additional types of services are beginning to prevail over basic ones. The vast majority of the world's leading operators unanimously support the transition from traditional separate services to integrated ones.

Fixed network modernization strategies

The evolution of the fixed-line network is a long process involving several stages. It is very important that each of them is completed efficiently and in a timely manner, since the previous stage predetermines the success of the subsequent one.

Each stage must be preceded by painstaking technical and economic analysis. In order for all ongoing transformations to be successful, it is necessary to perform a number of tests and assessments and predict the results.

One of the most important aspects of modernization is the review by operators of traditional business models and the development of new operating mechanisms in accordance with the latest technologies. An integral part of this process is the transformation of the structure of the operator company itself.

From a service perspective, the NGN network aims to provide high-quality, differentiated, next-generation services. These services, operating alongside traditional services, are designed to provide telecommunications operators with new sources of profit. Revenue generated from traditional voice services is a source that can be used to fund the deployment of new equipment and services.

From a technical point of view, the restructuring of the network is carried out by adding SoftSwitch equipment to its structure, with the help of which a new type of IP network is created with an open, distributed architecture and support for various applications. Some of the advantages of this equipment are its large capacity, distributed and open architecture. They help reduce the cost of network construction, simplify the process of updating old services and introducing new services.

With such an IP solution in place, operators will not be afraid of any transformation that may occur in the future. After the SoftSwitch equipment is deployed in the network, you can begin to implement various service networks, unify the structure, and begin deploying certain services throughout the entire network. This avoids the large costs associated with the high cost of deploying and maintaining separate service networks, and also greatly simplifies the administration process.

SoftSwitch equipment has been successfully commercially validated and can be used to replace legacy switching equipment and provide long-distance VoIP services along with integrated C5 business applications. For most fixed-line operators, the availability of sufficient copper line resources is very important to operate broadband access.

Using SoftSwitch equipment, operators will be able to provide low-cost voice services with QoS guarantee. The next step after implementing SoftSwitch equipment is the creation of an IMS system that will be responsible for multimedia services.

Long term prospects

Long-term prospects for the development of fixed-line networks include the following areas: support for broadband access; introduction of intelligent and personalized services; focus on compactness and accessibility. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to carry out significant transformations at the level of the core network, access network, service platform, as well as in the field of management and operation.

Core network

One of the most important qualities that distinguishes NGN networks is effective management at the core network level.

Working with integrated services that combine voice, video and multimedia is impossible without effective management at the core network level. SoftSwitch equipment, by supporting all necessary protocols, including SS7, H.248/MGCP and SIP, allows operators to create competitive services of this type.

The second important condition is the presence of a unified user database. The disadvantage of traditional TDM switches is that their databases are integrated and, as a result, are isolated from the rest of the equipment. This creates certain difficulties during its deployment, which ultimately leads to high financial costs. The solution in this case is to create individual databases for each user, accessible from anywhere on the network. This will make user access more flexible and universal, and will provide the opportunity to work with various services. A single platform with broad functionality will allow you to effectively manage all parameters of subscriber services (quality and class of service, tariffs, etc.).

The third requirement is sufficient core network capacity. The traditional IP transport network is often unable to provide the speed required for the latest real-time services. In addition, subscribers, as a rule, draw conclusions about the quality of the operator’s work precisely on this basis. This is why operators simply need to increase the capacity of their core networks.

The fourth requirement is the availability of standard open communication and control interfaces. This allows you to significantly speed up the process of transition to a new type of network, involving a larger number of providers and stations, and fully use the available network resources. In the case of closed interfaces, the process of managing the network, its resources, databases, as well as centralized management of subscribers will be impossible, which will significantly complicate the transition.

Access network

Today, the key areas of development of core networks are DWDM, ASON and IPv6. As for access networks, the main trend here is the introduction of broadband technologies.

Operators try to select access equipment in accordance with the amount of resources available at a given level, the requirements for broadband access and service deployment, as well as the level of technical development and economic considerations. Currently, ADSL technology continues to develop. Its ADSL2+ version has already been launched into commercial use. Due to its practicality, an integrated MSAN access network based on this technology has become widely used among fixed-line operators. It supports TDM, ADSL, FTTH and WiMAX voice interfaces, a number of EPON and GRON optical interfaces, which, according to experts, will soon become one of the generally accepted standards for the access network.

Service platform

In the NGN architecture, the service layer is an integrated access platform, which, in addition to traditional services, is responsible for providing users with various remote services, multimedia services, and also performs management functions. For this purpose, a traditional intelligent SCP, an AAA server, an application server and an open interface gateway are used. In the future, NGNs are expected to have more open APIs and platforms to support a variety of broadband and mobile applications.

In terms of management and administration, it is necessary to develop effective management strategies, a convenient charging system and a profit distribution algorithm.

Stages of modernization of fixed communication networks

As noted above, the evolution of the PSTN network to NGN is a gradual, long-term process. It involves the introduction of new equipment at the core network level, broadband access network and the creation of a new service platform. This process includes the following steps:

Stage 1:
a) Implementation of Softswitch equipment
b) Cost reduction by optimizing the network structure

There are two strategies for PSTN network evolution. The first involves a complete restructuring of the network, the second - modernization using existing capacities.
It is clear that the latter is preferable for most operators. As part of this strategy, SoftSwitch equipment is being introduced into the network structure at the hardware level, on the basis of which the entire process of modernizing the PSTN network is being implemented.

The main goal of the modernization is to optimize the network architecture and reduce maintenance costs. At the same time, resources of copper lines are preserved and replacement of existing subscriber terminals is not required. As for the strategy that involves a complete restructuring of the network, it is more suitable for those operators who are introducing new remote services using special multimedia terminals. Statistics show that such people are in the minority.

In order to modernize based on this strategy, the operator's core network must be an IP network, and the core network must fully support MPLS. In addition to implementing SoftSwitch equipment, it is necessary to create user databases at the management level. In the future, this will enable smart narrowband and broadband services. In addition, BOSS and OSS should be fully supported.

Due to the global spread of broadband access and the popularization of IPTV services, the level of access is undergoing a major restructuring. Huawei proposes an integrated IP gateway (MSAN) architecture that provides narrowband and broadband services as the most rational solution for organizing this layer structure.

Stage 2:

a) Strategic business planning
b) Expanding the range of services by introducing video services, streaming and ICT

This stage can be divided into 3 phases:

The first phase involves optimizing the network architecture through the introduction of SoftSwitch equipment, an independent user database and an integrated MSAN access gateway. This allows you to work with a new IP network, preserving existing PSTN resources, and significantly reduce operating costs. At this stage, it is necessary to develop a business strategy that would stimulate the creation of new remote branches, and use the full potential of SoftSwitch and MSAN equipment.

Next, it becomes possible to use PCs and multimedia PDA terminals to work with video conferencing, universal personal services and ICT services. Content databases can be created, streaming, and multimedia services can be provided - such as IPTV, VOD, VoIP, Triple Play, etc.

The last phase involves a gradual expansion of network capacity, centralization of services and ICT provision, the creation of new methods of system integration, consulting and outsourcing.

The focus at this stage should be on creating a strong business model for the transition from CT to ICT, as well as an effective strategy for providing broadband access. A well-developed business model in this case is the key to transforming a telecommunications service operator, in the generally accepted sense, into a provider of universal information services.

Stage 3:

Evolution of Softswitch equipment

Softwitch equipment can further evolve to IMS (IP-based multimedia subsystem) and provide IP multimedia services with QoS guarantee. Over the next 3-5 years, IMS systems pioneered by 3GPP are expected to mature to a mature level. SoftSwitch hardware has the potential to evolve to IMS and further to AGCF and MGCF, and databases can be upgraded to HSS. Thanks to their expandability, access gateways can continually increase capacity at a relatively low cost. The use of the SIP protocol will make it possible to completely separate the network core from the access layer, combine fixed and mobile networks, share TDM and IP technologies, implement end-to-end resource management, dispatch and differentiate services (voice, video and multimedia) based on QoS.