- sunrise communications AG selects InterconnecT in ASP contract
- InterconnecT ASP delivers ‘easy access’ to Interconnect billing for startup telcos
20th August 1999: sunrise communications AG of Zurich, the fastest-growing startup in the deregulated Swiss Telecommunications industry, has signed a contract for application service provision (ASP) with Intec Telecom Systems for its InterconnecT inter-carrier billing solution. The InterconnecT ASP facility will support sunrise communication’s forecast business growth over the next three years and will go live in October 1999.
ASP, meaning the off-site outsourced hosting and management of applications (with charges by use, rather than for licenses), is one of the latest service developments in the IT industry. Intec Telecom Systems launched the ASP service extension to its market leading InterconnecT solution in June 1999 to enable smaller telecomms companies and start-ups to have rapid and affordable access to the product.
Under its InterconnecT ASP service, Intec Telecom Systems will host InterconnecT for sunrise, looking after all hardware, database, systems and application provision and management; thus allowing sunrise to concentrate on its core business activities. sunrise is provided access to InterconnecT via its own workstations, through a 2mb leased line to Intec Telecom Systems and staff will access the application as though it were an internal facility. As sunrise originates calls which pass through other’s networks, or carries calls which have originated on other’s networks, so call data records (CDRs) will be processed by InterconnecT so that sunrise can verify interconnect charges, originate invoices as appropriate or otherwise negotiate interconnect settlements with its interconnect partners.
Bjarne Hjulmann, IT Manager at sunrise explained the choice of solution: “For sunrise to own, host and manage interconnect software would have meant recruiting specialist staff that would have been difficult to locate; yet a solution was essential given the complexity of interconnect billing agreements. The InterconnecT ASP service means we can benefit from the best product on the market, get access to the skills needed, implement quickly and at a cost based on the volume of calls we process; i.e. directly related to our business success.” “We wanted InterconnecT from Intec Telecom Systems because it is highly scalable and will grow with sunrise. It also offers extensive functionality including being able to handle a wide range of services including Voice, Data and Internet (VPN and VoIP).”
As a crucial part of the service, Intec Telecom Systems is working with sunrise to define and build call scenarios and model the interconnect agreements it makes with other carriers. Intec Telecom Systems will build, load and test a set of rules and instructions for InterconnecT to enable it to process sunrise interconnection business according to the company’s specific business model.
Recent benchmarking tests by Sun Microsystems and Intec Telecom Systems proved the scalability of InterconnecT allows new entrants to the telecomms market to begin with a minimum system or the Interconnect ASP service, knowing that it will scale as their business grows. InterconnecT can scale up to a powerful and reliable, multi-processor, multi-domain Enterprise 10,000 Server installation capable of handling the level of call volumes carried by the largest of Telecomm Service providers.
sunrise communications AG
sunrise communications AG is a pioneer in the liberalised Swiss telecommunications market. It is a joint holding of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and UBS. International partners Tele Danmark and BT (British Telecommunications plc) as well as AT&T, one of the largest telecommunications companies worldwide, bring to sunrise their longstanding experience of liberalised markets combined with vast expertise. sunrise currently employs 615 people, has well over 300,000 corporate and private customers and is constantly expanding. sunrise has the only high-performance network in Switzerland, connected to the 45,000-km long pan-European fibre-optic network. Via Concert - an international alliance of leading telecommunications providers, including BT and AT&T - sunrise is also connected to the global network, thanks to which sunrise is a one-stop provider on the Swiss market for a comprehensive range of data, voice, internet and multimedia services.