Communication is a routine activity of mankind, but the invention of telecommunication technology has brought a revolution to our world. There wouldn’t be anyone who would think that one day we can talk to someone sitting thousands of miles away. There wouldn’t be anyone who would have dreamt of doing business with a company located on another shore of the world. Well, all thanks to the telecommunication industry, which has been evolving over the years. From a circuit based dial phone to a transformational class 4 Softswitch, we have gone through many changes over the years.
If we talk about the modern era, digital communication mediums like class 4 or wholesale Softswitch has a vital role to play. It is one of those precious gifts of technology to mankind that have made our lives so easy. It is the tool that makes long distance calls possible. Moreover, it makes it cheaper, too. Isn’t it amazing?
We are going to discuss this interesting topic of evolution in class 4 Softswitch solution that has brought a revolution in the world. We will cover the following topics in this blog post.
Let’s delve deeper into this insightful topic right now.
1. Evolution of The Telecommunication Industry
Long distance communication has been part of human life for ages. At an early age, our ancestors used to use smoke or different types of noises to communicate with each other. Of course, the distance was not as long as we can reach now. We can make calls from London to India or Las Vegas to Zambia in the modern era of telecommunication, which was not possible at that time. All thanks to the technology inventors who contributed to making the world so connected.
Milestones in Telecommunication
- The first real invention was made back in 1876 when the first hardware based telephone system was introduced to the world. In 1891, the world got its first dial phone system. It also had an automation system.
- The real revolution in the traditional telephony system took place in 1919 with an American telephony organization AT&T.
- The next evolution in the telecom industry took place in the early 90s to mid-90s. Different inventors came up with transatlantic calls, area codes, and finally a touch-tone phone.
- The first cellular phone was invented back in 1973 to support remote telecommunication, which brought several revolutionary evolutions in this industry. For example, 2G technology, SMS, and more.
- In the 90s, the simplest form of VoIP was also introduced. In that, computer systems were connected to the internet and they could make calls over the internet network. By 2003, VoIP based communication became more popular across the globe.
- Since the early 20s, different evolutions have taken place in the telephony industry and VoIP world. 3G, 4G, and now even 5G networks took place in the world. VoIP based communication came up with several VoIP based solutions like a SIP Softphone, class 4 Softswitch software, IP PBX solution, class 5 Softswitch, calling card solution, fax server solution, and many more.
Read Also: Major VoIP Security Threats That Can Hamper Your Business
The telecommunication industry has been skyrocketing since the inception of VoIP based communication. It made individual and business communication cheaper, reliable, scalable, and compact. Moreover, unlike circuit switched telephony exchange, VoIP based systems are more compact. Additionally, it is scalable, flexible, and versatile, which makes it more affordable and easy to adopt. As a result, the demand for VoIP based communication has been at its peak for decades.
2. Class 4 Softswitch and Its Evolving World
In the VoIP network, there are a variety of communication solutions available. Firstly, businesses offer communication tools that provide end-to-end communication services. Secondly, these companies offer tools that facilitate communication between these VoIP solutions, so end users can enjoy collaboration. Henceforth, we will discuss more details about the best and most revolutionary VoIP tool, class 4 Softswitch.
It is a software based switch, that facilitates call transmission among carriers. The major goal of this solution is to provide long distance calling at cheaper rates. Therefore, when this switch was launched, it had just a single communication feature available in it. Traditionally, it had only a single call routing strategy, which is LCR (Least Cost Routing). As the name suggests, it chose the least expensive route to transmit calls. This helps users to enjoy long distance calling at cheaper rates.
Evolution
Over the years, the demand and role of this Softswitch solution was magnified. As a result, many other features were added to this switch. The software solution for wholesale call traffic replaced the old hardware based switch network. Along with call routing, this solution also started offering multiple other features to bring a real revolution in the world communication and telephony industry. It brought different call routing features. In addition to that, it introduced some security, compatibility, and portability related features. The modern switch is empowered with the next generation features and future-proof technologies.
Key Features
The modern day Class 4 Softswitch solution has a wide variety of features to offer. Let’s take a look at the major ones:
Call Routing
This is the heart of the whole concept of this VoIP Softswitch solution. It routes calls from one switch to another or carrier to carrier. The switch will have different call termination options and it will choose the route based on the selected rule. Unlike traditional days, the revolutionary evolution in this space has introduced several amazing and diverse call routing strategies including:
- Priority routing
- Prefix routing
- CLI and Non-CLI routing
- Least cost routing
- Lossless routing
- Hybrid routing
- And more
Transcoding and Protocol Conversion
In the modern VoIP telephony industry, different switches and carriers often use different sets of protocols, codecs, gateways, and other infrastructural components. This often creates chaos in signal or packet transmission. However, revolutionary evolution in the wholesale VoIP industry has bypassed these communication challenges.
The modern class 4 Softswitch software has features like transcoding and protocol conversion. These two features make the whole telephony network portable and compatible. Certainly, it ensures that any switch and network can communicate with each other. Additionally, they can exchange signals and packets. For example, the transcoding feature lets two different switch solutions or carriers operate with each other even if they have different codecs. Similarly, the protocol conversion feature lets two switch solutions exchange data and signals even if they have different protocols. This widens the reach and supports interoperability.
Security Features
The modern wholesale switch solutions also provide a range of security features. For example, switch monitoring is one of the features available in this system. It monitors the performance of this switch for different criteria. It not just provides an overview of hardware or software performance, but it can also indicate potential attacks. This system can also have an integrated fraud detection algorithm. Moreover, it will provide encryption, STIR/SHAKEN, and similar functionalities.
Reports
This has been one of the common features available in all VoIP based communication solutions. The modern day switch also provides a range of reports. These reports have different roles to play. It provides data to diverse teams like marketing, sales, customer care, technical, and more.
Billing
Wholesale VoIP billing is a tedious job, which is also prone to errors. Thus, it becomes necessary to use a more reliable tool for billing. To resolve this common concern, a VoIP billing solution is added to the wholesale switch solution. It automates invoicing and billing jobs.
3. Major Challenges with Wholesale VoIP Telecommunication Platforms
The journey of the wholesale Softswitch has been impressive. The modern day wholesale VoIP switch is capable of resolving all challenges. Still, it is worth taking a look at three major challenges.
Quality of Service (QoS)
It is one of the major concerns in all VoIP networks. For example, echo, jitter, lost packets during the transmission, etc. The modern wholesale solutions can resolve these concerns. They are better in functionality to let businesses enjoy the best quality of service with echo cancellation and crystal clear voice quality.
Scalability
The wholesale VoIP business faces several challenges related to security because it manages thousands of calls. Concurrent calls per second will blow your mind if you take a close look at it. As the wholesale VoIP business grows, the need to manage this call traffic also increases. The modern Softswitch solutions provide a highly scalable platform. These solutions can upgrade the capacity almost instantly because of cloud support and other features.
Security
Security threats lurk across all VoIP solutions and networks due to the involvement of internet based communication. As this switch manages massive call volume, some common security risks are always there. For example, toll frauds, DoS attacks, DDoS attacks, and more. A modern class 4 solution that provides secure access to calling card solution is essential for long-distance calling users. Integrated fraud detection management, firewall, encryption, and similar security mechanisms are part of this solution.
4. Revolutionary Evolution of Class 4 VoIP Softswitch
The world of the class 4 Softswitch solution has taken revolutionary shifts in recent times. Here are descriptions of some of the emerging trends that will shape the future of the wholesale VoIP and telecommunications industries:
Distributed Architecture
Traditionally, this Softswitch architecture was centralized. So, the whole switch and all its components were centrally located. There were several challenges associated with this architecture. The modern way of installing this solution includes a cloud network along with distributed architecture. Cluster architecture provides high availability and high performance. This network is also more reliable and flexible compared to the centralized network.
AI and Automation
Artificial Intelligence has been one of the most powerful technologies that empower this software. The wholesale switch solution now has increased efficiency, precision, and speed. It can fully automate the process of choosing the most efficient route. Even better, real-time call route updates and route decisions based on current prices are possible. To cut down on the amount of time spent troubleshooting, it swiftly diagnoses software, performance, and component issues. Moreover, it can automate the process of switch and network monitoring to enhance overall performance.
WebRTC and SIP support
The modern VoIP Softswitch solution for wholesale VoIP traffic also supports SIP calling and WebRTC based calling features. This can provide a turnkey solution. This solution performs the standard jobs of call routing, transcoding, protocol conversion, and more. Furthermore, it also provides calling functionalities. Undoubtedly, this provides a complete communication solution to the VoIP network.
Cloud Native Implementation
Cloud is flexible, scalable, secure, and robust. Everyone agrees on the benefits of using cloud architecture. The class 4 switch comes up with cloud native application implementation. This augments the benefits of using the stated platform.
Concluding Notes
In short, the telecommunication industry has evolved dramatically. From a circuit based telephony system to a software based VoIP telephony solution has changed the communication industry completely. In these revolutionary advancements, several VoIP tools have evolved. The wholesale Softswitch solution is one of the tools that is transformed completely. Call routing was the only feature available in the traditional solution. But now, you will get a whole range of features in it. Surprisingly, you also get support for SIP calling and WebRTC based collaboration features. This is a radical change for the communication industry.
In conclusion, the evolutions in the industry of wholesale VoIP industry have been magical. These innovations have made this system more scalable, secure, fast, high performing, and robust. Even more, innovations are paving the way to empower this solution. For example, artificial intelligence, cloud native applications, 5G network, VoLTE, edge computing, and similar technologies are being part of this powerful wholesale VoIP solution.
ASTPP is one of the leading providers of this Softswitch solution. Furthermore, we are one of the early adopters of advancements in tools and innovative technologies. We can provide you with the most advanced version of the class 4 Softswitch solution. To initiate the discussion, please contact us now!
