The Commetrex Outlook | February 2016

Call-Progress Analysis…Some Science, Plenty of Art

Every time we place a call, we instinctively perform call-progress analysis (CPA). We listen for dial tone before dialing, detect ring back, busy, answer, and so on, without giving it much thought. But duplicating the nearly unfailing precision of human-based CPA in a multiline communications system requires considerable technical accomplishment and even more experience and inventiveness.

Most of you know that CPA is essential for outbound PSTN calls, but it’s also necessary in SIP-based systems, since, once a SIP call is answered, there is no more SIP signaling, a SIP system still must have in-band CPA to classify the answer. Is it a voice answer or SIT (system intercept tone)? How about CED, the fax-answer tone? And, in outbound call-center applications, it’s critically important to know whether voice answer is a person or an answering machine. The difference between a less-than-effective answering-machine detection in CPA and one that achieves better than 90% accuracy, such as Commetrex’ CPA, can mean a savings of over $100,000 per year in a moderate-sized call center.

There is plenty of debate over how to best detect answering machines. Some systems rely on beep tones, but they are unreliable and of indeterminate frequency. And there is no spectral signature of answering machines. So, what to do? Well, the answer lies in Commetrex’ 10 years-in-the-field CPA.
Our CPA uses frequency analysis to discriminate between voice, which has frequencies throughout the PSTN bandwidth, and CPA tones, which are between 200 and 500 Hertz. But once we determine that there is voice answer, is it a machine?

The answer lies in the differences between how we answer a call in person, and the type of message we record for our home systems. Have you ever heard an answering machine just say, “Hello”?

Commetrex’ CPA gives you the features that allow you to differentiate between “Hello” and “Hi, this is Ted and Alice. We’re not in just now, but…” You can license this highly effective CPA, which is used on BladeWare, for your telecom equipment. Many have and you can too. But now it’s finally in BladeWare 3.0.

Want to know more? E-mail us at sales@commetrex.com.

Channel Partners Expo Invitation

Come visit the sister-company of Commetrex, NetGen Communications, at Channel Partners 2016, March 16-18 at the Venetian in Las Vegas, NV, in booth 769. There, you can see the complete product line offered by NetGen, which includes the Smart ATA®, MX Gateway series, and the WROC and OM series of wireless/IP PBXs. NetGen combined its patent-pending Smart FoIP® technology (eliminating the top two causes of FoIP failures) with VoIP and network technologies from New Rock Technologies Inc., which is utilized by nearly 100 ITSPs to reduce costs and increase revenues.

We are pleased to extend this special invitation for you to join NetGen at Channel Partners! NetGen is proud to be exhibiting at this year’s event, and has a special opportunity to pass on to you.

For a limited time only, you can receive $50 off an all-access Full Conference & Expo Package or a FREE Expo Only

package with promo code CPEXH16.

Click Here to register or call (800) 454-5760 and use promo code CPEXH16 to take advantage of this discounted offer today!

The Carrier Routing Challenge…Beyond Smart FoIP

We have learned that the biggest challenge facing carriers in setting up an FoIP call is…setting up an FoIP call. Although it’s changing over time, many providers are even now still unaware that FoIP calls require special handling. This means the FoIP equipment vendor must have highly adaptive call control to work effectively within the constraints and misdeeds of all the different service providers.

What do we mean?

Click Here if you would like to schedule an evaluation.We will provide a complimentary analysis to help you meet your needs.

Advertisement: Fax Is Dead

You’ve been hearing that now for over 15 years. But here’s the deal: fax will still be a requirement when we pull the plug on the PSTN. And, as you know, fax was designed for the PSTN , so we’d better figure out real-time FoIP. (Not proprietary store-and-forward schemes.)

Now, there are ATAs and gateways that support FoIP, usually with T.38. But in most cases FoIP is an afterthought, not just for the hardware developers, but by the carriers. Some of them don’t even take FoIP trouble tickets. “Best effort,” they say. What you, the service provider and channel, need is a vendor with the passion necessary to help you slay the FoIP beast.

Enter NetGen Communications with their Smart ATA®. Michael Coffee, CEO of NetGen Communications, believes firmly in Fax Over IP (FoIP). He has that passion, and he passes it on to the entire NetGen team. Moreover, NetGen has the patented Smart FoIP® which solves the two biggest problems with FoIP. But, do you care about how it works, or do you care that you or your customers have their faxes reliably completing?

If you could send your document via UPS in less than a minute, you would! You know how trucks work. Smart FoIP is a truck you can understand. It maneuvers the T.38 and G.711 problems, which is similar to navigating “Spaghetti Junction” in Atlanta, the “Five and Dime” in Los Angeles, or the streets of New York City. It solves the problem. If you want to read how, click here.

Oh wait, you are also asking “what is in for me?” How about happy customers? By adding NetGen’s HX/MX ATAs and gateways to your portfolio, you eliminate FoIP trouble tickets, failed faxes, and consolidate POTS lines into your SIP network.

Please contact us at 770-449-7704 to learn how you can add the NetGen products to your portfolio, and meet the needs of your customers. But, if you are in need of this solution as an organization, this will work for you too. Same number.

Do You Like Starbucks?

Commetrex, in coordination with NetGen Communications is conducting a survey of telecom-industry participants to forecast the state of the service-provider and channel market in 2016. The survey, “State of the Union: Telecom Survey 2016”,which takes two minutes to complete, is available on-line at www.netgencommunications.com/survey_2016. As an incentive, all participants are entered for a chance to receive a $50 Starbucks gift card, and will receive the full report.