Traditionally, you had to work with the manufacturer of a switching system for support and advice.  But now you have a choice. 

AG Advice and Support can provide you with expert training, resource management and technical support -- on or off site.  We can advise you on industry trends to help you get the most from your legacy voice and data networks, and help you determine if its worthwhile to go with the next big thing like third party centrex-capable VoIP, or fiber-to-the-prem, or if GSM EDGE and CDMA-2000 providers should be thinking about UMTS...or not.  Your early-adopter customers are not the only ones who stand to lose if you buy into a new service that never becomes widespread.  And we can help you find that answer affordably.

 

Support

Some of the services we can help with include:

• Resource optimization of existing and proposed new equipment.
• Network engineering, analysis and technical support.
• Technical training of various telecom concepts and systems.
• Emergency system restoral and preventative measures.
• Network growth procedures.
• Interpretation of manufacturer's user guides, testing software, and specifications.

  

Voice

We have telecom expertise in many areas.  In voice switching, we are experts in hard-to-obtain GTD-5 switching system knowledge, and common interfacing equipment to CLASS 4 and 5 central offices, such as:

• GTD-5 EAX - all facets of support, growth, database, SMA analysis, troubleshooting.
• Operations Gateway (OG) - AMA, unix ksh, interfacing to polling equipment.
• SS7 - A links, F links, STP, SCP, ISUP messaging.
• ISDN - PRI and BRI interfaces.
• Transport Carrier - T1, ATM, IP, digital and analog trunking, radio, FOTS, electronic DSX.
• Power Distribution - transfer switching, rectifiers, batteries.
• Documentation - and specifications, including Telcordia, ITU and others.
• Training and Education -  maintenance and support, plus adjunct devices like OG, SS7, and AMA.

Voice?  But isn't everyone going packet?  We are concerned with the trends we see at times in the telecommunications industry.  There is little question that in the not-too-distant future, data packets will likely surpass PCM samples as the preferred way of boxing little bits of information and sending it around the world. But this ignores a simple reality:  Billions of dollars of reliable, voice-and-data capable infrastructure exists and operates today.  Even if you knew what type of packet solution you would use for the next 20, 30, or 40 years, how much would it cost to remove and replace all of the existing equipment used now?  How much time would it take?  And what extra functionality would it provide you that you do not already have?

It is prudent to begin trying and deploying small-scale IP offerings if you have not done so already, in order to build expertise and help demonstrate to your customers a commitment to new technology.  But we recommend an unbiased review of any proposed or existing packet solutions, especially if they were installed largely because "everyone else was doing it".  If it does not both improve your bottom line and help your customers, you should probably not be offering it.

And if you're tired of trying to fix a chronic backplane fault, or are finding that a simplex network is its normal operating mode, or you cannot turn-up a PRI trunk group to a DMS-100, we can help you solve those problems, and prevent them from occuring over and over again.

 
Data

Data -- and all of the ways it can be switched -- is not new.  Morse code and other data compression methods are actually older than voice, helping maximize the returns on the very high cost of the first transatlantic cables in the 1850's and 60's.  The problem is figuring out what protocol your customers are going to use and weighing that with what customers around the world use.  Not only does this avoid using a less-popular standard, which leads to higher support and equipment costs, but it helps ensure you offer the most competitive service, offering the best speeds and feature sets.

Other factors influence what you will want to offer, like the medium you use to transport the data.  Fiber is a great pipeline, but can you afford to roll-out the necessary fiber-to-the-curb program to support it?  With cable and wireless providers entrenching themselves with very effective data compression over their traditional media and networks, a better question may be how long can traditional phone companies rely on twisted copper?

Then there are questions like what sorts of features should you offer and support -- should you invest in centrex VoIP or a similar packet technology?  Many enterprise businesses find advantages to such systems, but many do not, or do not have the necessary uptime on their servers to run the solution with 99.95% reliability (a traditional measure in the phone industry for operating time, although many networks now operate significantly higher and lower).  Are soft-phones useful, or is a traditional phone with headset more productive (and less dropped calls)?  AG Advice and Support can help you with answers to all these questions, because unlike many planners who try their best to determine what will be useful, we have actually used several of these systems. Sometimes the expected advantages are of little practical use or importance, and other minor features become powerful.  Then again, the host computer may suffer from TAPI failures, lockups, or reboots due to periodic updates.  We doubt you want your bread-and-butter telephone system to be supported this way, but sometimes you won't find that out until you've purchased and installed it -- unless you found out in advance.

Mobile

We've come a long way from VHF radio telephones and "brick" cell phones.  Europe is largely using GSM EDGE, Asia is a mix that includes the superior UMTS, and North America is most dominant with CDMA2000 EVDO, all of which handle voice and high-speed data.  Do you go UMTS next?  Those who like technology have one answer, those who pay cellular telephone bills have another.  It's one thing to replace your old phone every 2 or 3 years, but you don't want to do that with repeater and backbone equipment.  

The real question is, how much extra revenue can be earned from improved wideband voice and data service? Text messaging has become ubiquitous, but surfing the internet or watching television on a cellular phone has not caught on in the same way.  Will customers pay for wireless, high-speed cellular, or will they prefer free wi-fi access in limited (though increasing) locations?

Manufacturers of 802.11 wi-fi equipment have prototypes of cellular telephone repeaters for the home, which work for voice and data.  Will that affect the footprint of CDMA, UMTS and GSM?  As mobile phones start to include high-resolution cameras, music players, GPS positioning, television and even word-processing and rich XHTML web surfing, a provider who bundles, or makes using all of these features easy to use, will have a significant competitive advantage.

If you know anything about radio, you'll understand how difficult it can be to offer full-signal strength everywhere, all the time.  But why do most major urban centers still have large neighborhoods that only support 1-of-5 bars signal strength?  Multipath, mobile vehicle users, metallic interiors, power, cell repeater site location, regulation, cost, etc. all have an impact, but how often are these neighborhoods reviewed for service problems?  What types of databases are used to track customer complaints?  Do capital projects regularly include a review of existing problem-areas when being planned?  Are ZIP codes and other market data analyzed to help offer premium serivces to neighborhoods that have the largest percentage of interested customers?

Training

If you're finding it harder and harder to train your employees in a timely and effective way, you're not alone.  New technologies emerge and disappear, while legacy equipment moves further into its mature lifespan, making it harder to find qualified trainers for either. 

Our expertise in the GTD-5 and general telephony is second to none.  We know how networks, which have increasingly become integral to telephony, are being used and likely ways it will evolve.  Whether you're trying to explain PCM or ATM, TCP/IP or VoIP, we will get your personnel up to speed with working knowledge in courses as short as 1 day.  And we can come to you, saving you lodging and travel expenses for students.