FUSE 3 Communications improves service with NexOSS

The Challenge

FUSE 3 expanded their IT offerings to include hosted PBX service and needed a solution that could keep costs low and provide customers with the same quality of experience that they expected from other FUSE 3 managed services.

Result

TransNexus is an Acme Packet partner so we integrated fully with FUSE3’s Acme Packet SBCs. These technology ecosystem partners represent a wide range of companies that interoperate with Acme Packet’s product suite. “TransNexus was really built to take advantage of the information collected by Acme Packet. Out of the box, TransNexus was ready to go with our network.”

Customer Take Away

“Since using TransNexus and Acme Packet to implement our hosted PBX offering, we are able to provide an end-to-end solution customized to individual business needs.”

“Overall, we couldn’t be happier with TransNexus. Their support, response, and product offering just cannot be beat.”

Creating a Hosted PBX Offering with Acme Packet and TransNexus

About FUSE 3 Communications

Since 1997, FUSE 3 Communications has been focused on fulfilling the technology needs of the small and medium business (SMB) market in California by providing a complete hosted technology infrastructure. FUSE 3 delivers an array of managed and ala carte Information Technology solutions and services, including desktop support, collocation, data backup and recovery, voice and data cabling, T1 connectivity, and consulting. Using a state-of-the-art Network Operations Center with remote management tools, and an experienced team of engineers, FUSE 3 has made it their mission to design, implement, and maintain enterprise-quality, scalable IT infrastructures and solutions that unlock business potential and increase productivity.

The Challenge

FUSE 3 had a goal of providing complete hosted technology infrastructure for their customers, and one area of technology that they were lacking was telephony. FUSE 3 decided to expand their IT offerings to include hosted PBX service. FUSE 3 needed a solution that could keep costs low and provide customers with the same quality of experience that they expected from other FUSE 3 managed services. FUSE 3 wanted to be able to offer a variety of features that many of their clients thought were out of their reach including voicemail, voice to email, internal extensions, and call recording.

FUSE 3 used its experience in providing hosted services to build its hosted PBX platform in-house. To ensure the highest level of security and reliability for their customers, FUSE 3 purchased the industry-leading Net-Net Session Director session border controller (SBC) from Acme Packet. These SBCs provided critical control functions to deliver high quality interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—across IP network borders. In addition to its hosted PBX platform and the Acme Packet Net-Net Session Director, FUSE 3 also needed a service provider operations support system (OSS) for dynamic least cost routing, Direct Inward Dialed (DID) routing, quality of service (QoS) reporting and alarms, and trouble shooting.

The Solution

“TransNexus was referred to FUSE 3 by Acme Packet our session border controller vendor,” said Michael Greco, CTO of FUSE 3. “We had multiple conversations and meetings with TransNexus and their experience was a tremendous help. With the support of the TransNexus staff we put together a detailed implementation plan and quickly deployed the TransNexus solution with our Acme Packet SBCs.”

Acme Packet’s SBCs generate comprehensive Call Detail Records, which TransNexus software converts into robust traffic and QoS reports. “TransNexus was really built to take advantage of the information collected by Acme Packet. Out of the box, TransNexus was ready to go with our network,” said Greco.

The complete TransNexus Routing, Operations and Billing Support System (ROBSS) consists of the NexOSS software suite and the OSPrey routing server, which work with any SBC for dynamic least cost routing and comprehensive reporting. TransNexus ROBSS works both for outbound calls and inbound Direct Inward Dial (DID) calls. With this solution, FUSE 3 was able to offer customers a telephone number and route inbound SIP calls from the PSTN.

TransNexus creates a routing table with up to 100,000,000 translations, which ensures that FUSE 3 never loses money on a call. In addition, TransNexus offers routing by calling and called number, time of day, day of week, and jurisdictional routing. This allows FUSE 3 to offer a variety of routing products to their customers, including multi-office connections and “Find-Me” services.

How It Works

1. SIP INVITE from a Customer device to the Acme Packet Net-Net Session Director session border controllers.
2. Acme Packet Net-Net Session Director sends SIP INVITE to OSPrey server.
3. OSPrey makes an optional query to the number portability database (NPAC) if it is present to determine if the called number has been ported and to get the Location Routing Number (LRN). If an LRN is returned, the call will be routed using the LRN.
4. The OSPrey server returns a SIP 300 Redirect message ordered list destination devices to the Acme SBC.
5. The Acme Packet Net-Net Session Director sends a SIP INVITE to the first destination (5a). If the call attempt fails, Acme Packet’s SBC retries the call to the next destination (5b). This process continues until the call is completed or until the call has been attempted to all destinations.
6. The Acme Packet’s Net-Net Session Director sends RADIUS Call Detail Records (CDR) to the OSPrey server for each call attempt.
7. The same process works in reverse for inbound calls in a DID call scenario.

The Results

With the TransNexus system in place, FUSE 3 was able to complete their portfolio of IT solutions with VoIP telephony. “Since using TransNexus and Acme Packet to implement our hosted PBX offering, we are able to provide an end to end solution customized to their individual business needs,” said Greco.

TransNexus reporting solutions monitor the FUSE 3 network in near-real time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. According to Greco, “The TransNexus solution we implemented has allowed us to dramatically increase profits and customer satisfaction by providing us complete insight into call flow, call quality, and traffic patterns.”