A switch you can actually get changes made to
ICS operates the CommSwitch platform: a pre-integrated Class 4 and Class 5 softswitch with media server, billing and OSS in one stack. Turn-key, running on commodity hardware, with the shortest practical time to market.
Start with the numbers, because everything else follows from them
These are current availability figures for the platform as deployed, not a roadmap. Editions differ, so the applicable figure is confirmed per deployment.
| Switch class | Class 4 and Class 5, with session border controllers |
|---|---|
| Signalling | SIP, XMPP, WebRTC |
| Compliance | Built on industry standard protocols, fully compliant with globally accepted RFCs |
| Hardware | 100% software running on standard commodity hardware |
| Resilience | HA clusters for every element in the platform |
| Distribution | Reliability and manageability to support thousands of premium-grade calls across a highly distributed network |
| Deployment model | Pre-integrated and turn-key, for the shortest time to market |
| Typical use | Hosting differentiated telephony and messaging applications, including rolling out telephony in under-served areas |
How it sits in your network
The platform bridges the TDM world and the IP world, which is what lets an operator modernise without stranding existing interconnects.
Platform elements provisioned on day one 28 elements
Each of these would normally be quoted separately by a different supplier.
- Auto attendant
- Call hunting
- Real-time billing
- Tariff management
- IP Centrex
- Voicemail
- Carrier billing
- Subscriber billing
- Prepaid calling cards
- Callback
- Prepaid management
- Postpaid management
- CUG short dialling
- Call shop
- Online payment processing
- Roles and privileges
- Reseller management
- Direct inward dial
- Administrator provisioning
- Subscriber self help
- Advanced call routing
- CDR and financial reporting
- Subscriber and CDR database
- SIP softswitch
- Media server
- Billing, OSS and BSS
- Hosted receptionist
- SIP trunking
Server-side and client-side components 2 groups
Server side
- Class 4 and Class 5 softswitches and SBCs
- Media server for IVR
- Prepaid and postpaid billing, analytics and extensive reporting
- Prepaid consumer applications
- Class 5 residential and enterprise applications
- SMS platform
- Audio conferencing
- Carrier call recording
- Voice value added services: CRBT, voice broadcasting, IVR gaming
- Instant messaging server over SIP and XMPP
- Contact management server
- WebRTC gateway
- Advertising server
Client side
- Mobile SIP client: voice, SMS, instant messaging and video calling
- Android and iOS platforms
- Mobile SIP and OTT clients
- Audio conferencing bridge
- Carrier call logging
- Voice broadcasting
- Missed-call applications
Client applications can be white-labelled to the operator's brand. See Software Development.
What operators actually launch on it
Five solution families, all running on the same platform, so an operator can add a revenue line without adding a vendor.
Wholesale
- International VoIP route provision, into 148 countries
- Class 5 switch with unlimited port capacity
- Carrier interconnect and contact centre traffic aggregation
- Prepaid wholesale traffic aggregation
Consumer VoIP
- Mobile VoIP through branded apps
- PIN and PIN-less calling cards
- Favourite number service
- Callback service
- Global DID and toll-free
Residential
- Community and group-housing intercom
- Class 5 voice and video over broadband
- VoIP offload to GSM and CDMA subscribers
- Real PSTN numbers with prepaid or postpaid billing
Enterprise
- SIP trunking
- Hosted receptionist
- IP Centrex and hosted PBX
Residential deployment detail, for FTTH, DOCSIS, Metro Ethernet and 4G operators 7 points
- Inter-apartment and inter-house calling over IP, with intercom numbers keyed to building, tower and apartment number for easy recall
- Intra-group and inter-group calling
- Numeric and alphanumeric CLIs allotted to subscribers
- Real PSTN numbers for subscribers taking landline voice over IP
- Prepaid and postpaid billing packages per subscriber
- Both intercom CLI and PSTN CLI on one account, with the correct CLI presented based on call type
- SIP connectivity for video door phones, cameras and paging systems within a community
Roaming and mobility
Mobile VoIP roaming and VoIP mobility for landline subscribers run on the same switch. Operators launch revenue-generating VoIP to consumers and enterprises through mobile applications, on a true prepaid or postpaid basis.
- Private-labelled apps. Subscriber downloads carry the operator's brand, which raises recall of the operator rather than of ICS.
- App to app calling, free. Plus paid app to PSTN outbound calling and SMS.
- Advertising and cross-promotion. Revenue-generating placement inside the app, and promotion of the operator's other services.
- Free instant messaging and video calling. Available depending on edition.
- Call shops. Outbound calling to consumers with booth-level prepaid billing and call control.
- Enterprise calling accounts. Web portals where an admin allocates calling funds or quotas per employee or group and tracks spend and balances in real time.
- White-labelled reseller partitioning. Resellers strong in a given region can be brought on with full control to generate their own cards and subscribers.
- Calling cards where data is thin. PIN and PIN-less card service via access numbers, for markets where 3G, 4G and wifi penetration is not high enough.
Voice logging and lawful intercept
Call recording
- Operators can record calls to or from a defined region where the law requires it
- Call recording can be offered as an additional value added service to mobile, landline and enterprise customers, including PRI and SIP trunks, where approved by law
- Large enterprises can use the platform as a voice logger alongside an existing PBX
- Capacity for thousands of simultaneous calls on high-availability architecture
- 100% software, running on commodity hardware
Lawful intercept
- Enables authorised security agency personnel to place subscribers under surveillance, listen in real time and record for later retrieval
- Multiple intercepting agencies can intercept a call, with provisioning interfaces and access rights granted only to interceptors
- Transparent monitoring, so subscribers are not aware their calls are being monitored
How the platform is secured
Security is built into the platform rather than bolted on, and the operator keeps control of the perimeter.
The platform has a number of security measures built in for safe operation. These are the five that matter most in an audit.
- Segregated access rights. Administrators, NOC engineers, financial controllers, resellers and subscribers each perform only the functions the administrator has allowed.
- Complete activity logs. Every action by any system user is recorded, so any change can be traced at any time afterwards.
- Scheduled credential rotation. User passwords are changed periodically by the system and issued by email, with SMS delivery able to be incorporated.
- Operator-owned perimeter. The platform resides behind the operator's firewall, not ours.
- IP allow-listing. Access is available only through prescribed IP addresses for administrators and NOC engineers.
Support, and the handover you get with it
Support model
- Technical support available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- ICS provides Level 3 product support; the operator retains Level 1 call centre and Level 2 NOC
- Every issue is raised through a trouble-ticketing system and tracked to closure
- Reachable by CRM portal, telephone, email and instant messaging
- Agreed timeframes for problem acknowledgement, status response and software updates
Knowledge transfer
- Five days of on-site training for your NOC and support staff
- No cap on participant numbers during the training period
- Functional description of every building block, expansion options and system analysis
- Installation practice, failure analysis, operation and maintenance requirements
- Theoretical and practical fault-finding and service restoration
- An assessment at the end, to identify any gaps before independent operation
- A detailed administration guide plus tutorial videos to refer back to
Questions we get from operators
Is this your platform or are you reselling?
ICS operates it. That is the reason this page can publish capacities, protocols and a security model instead of pointing at a vendor datasheet.
What does the platform run on?
Standard commodity hardware. It is 100% software, which is what keeps the entry cost down and lets capacity be added a node at a time rather than as a forklift upgrade.
Can you support us outside New Zealand?
Platform work and support are delivered remotely, so geography is less of a constraint than it is for the on-site side of the business. Lawful intercept capability is subject to the licensing regime in your country.
How long does a deployment take?
The platform is pre-integrated and turn-key specifically to shorten this. Actual timeline depends on interconnect, numbering and regulatory steps on your side, which we will map out in the first technical call.
Talk to the people who run the switch
Not a salesperson with a slide deck. A technical conversation about your interconnects, your numbering and what you are trying to launch.