|
|
Archive
Flanagan Consulting
Network Analysts and Consultants
"We Have the Experience"
------------------------------------------------------------
ViewsLetter on Provisioning 4 August 2003 #26
------------------------------------------------------------
A fortnightly look at provisioning automation--chips to business software.
IN THIS ISSUE:
-- Subscription Verification
-- BROADBAND YOU CAN PROVISION YOURSELF
============ + ===== + ===== + ===== + ============
VIEWSLETTER SUBCRIPTION VERIFICATION
Please forward ViewsLetter to associates who might
be interested. New subscriptions on www.viewsletter.com will be
confirmed by email (double opt-in). Subscribers are asked for
some demographic information, but only the email is required.
You can still pick up each issue from our archive or through
www.Webtorials.com, but it's easier to subscribe--and you'll get your copy earlier, too.
All are welcome to subscribe at the ViewsLetter web site,
http://www.viewsletter.com/SubUnsubVLprov.html
Webtorials users can get "express registration" at
http://www.webtorials.com/main/newsletters/viewsletter/index.htm
(If this text URL is not 'clickable,' cut and paste into your browser.)
============ + ===== + ===== + ===== + ============
>>Analysis
DO-IT-YOURSELF BROADBAND ACCESS
ON DEMAND AT MANY HOTELS/MOTELS
--By William A. Flanagan, Editor and Publisher
Here's another glimpse of the future for service provisioning that
popped up on a recent trip. The hotel room offered Internet
access via 10 megabit/second Ethernet, and a web portal to sign up
(turn it on). This was very basic self-provisioning--only one
level of service offered, at a single price per day. But the
means for more complex offerings are available now.
Recent announcements about a more-complex version of this
self-provisioned data service show that MUCH more is possible.
The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas offers a wide range of services in
addition to guest-room Ethernet for Internet access. Exhibitors
in that hotel's convention center can order wireless connectivity from
exhibit booths at four different throughputs (256 kbit/s to 1
Mbit/s)--temptingly priced to double your bandwidth for just a fraction
more money. Wireless delivery means that the users of this
broadband service in the trade show display can also use it with their
notebooks in the restaurant or lobby (even the bar), but at a lower
throughput.
The platform that makes possible this instance of self-provisioning is
Nortel's Shasta product. It has enough processing power to keep
track of 16,000 simultaneous users and give each of them a virtual
router, individual traffic shaping (bandwidth allocation), firewall
protection, and encryption for VPN connections. It also
authenticates each user and integrates with the provisioning web
portal.
Nortel and other vendors offers these "service-enabling platforms" to
incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers and Internet service
providers so the SPs can add more features to basic Internet
access. Already mentioned are firewalls and encryption, but
these platforms also provide virus protection and some defense against
denial of service attacks such as a barrage of SYN packets.
Firm believers in the old saying that "You don't have a service
if you can't bill for it," Nortel integrates eCommerce software that
offers an API to accounting programs and has a link to a merchant
account at a processing services (this thing takes credit cards), or
passes charges to the hotel's bookkeeping system to add on the
guestroom account. The billing transaction follows the service
order automatically.
If you are the manager of a venue that offers data services on demand,
you'll want to optimize income. For example, you can make Voice
over IP (VoIP) a premium service by blocking RTP or the signaling
messages, to reduce cannibalizing revenue from normal voice service
through the PBX. To use this power, you may have to develop some
of the application yourself--the services are not standardized and you
may want to "invent" something that fits your own situation. Most
vendors provide software tools and design services to help with
implementation.
But you do have to be realistic about what you expect. Mandalay
Bay reports a payback calculation of 6 months, for a very busy location
with good existing IP infrastructure. Nortel tempers that
enticing prospect with a more realistic forecast of about 13 months on
average.
Even then, you'd best be careful to test, test, test to remove bugs,
make the provisioning interface absolutely clear and user-friendly, and
ensure the system works reliably. The experience mentioned to
start this report wasn't entirely satisfactory--for me, the hotel, or
the service provider. The service lost connectivity several
times, and throughput was very low. I complained; ended up
not paying for the Ethernet link--an opportunity lost all around.
It's sad, but even a few experiences like this one can slow down the
adoption of new technology by reinforcing our natural resistance to
change. Next time traveling, will I want to spend the time and
money for a connection method that failed me in the past? Or
shall I go for the well-known dialup modem? Eventually, the
answer is Ethernet--the service as defined and promoted is very
attractive.
The hospitality industry just doesn't have enough experience yet to
support new telecom technologies the way we'd like. So looks like
it's up to the telecom industry to make it easy for everyone
else--KISS, "keep it simple, stupid." However, as engineering
students learn, keeping it simple can be the hardest part of a good
design, and we haven't finished all the hard parts.
============ + ===== + ===== + ===== + ============
MORE LINKS
-- Visit www.flanagan-consulting.com when you need independent review
and verification of network architecture, product positioning, or
your marketing message within the telecom industry.
-- The archive of past ViewsLetters is available at www.viewsletter.com
-- Special thanks for supporting ViewsLetter to www.webtorials.com,
your best source for communications tutorials and white papers.
============ + ===== + ===== + ===== + ============
"Flanagan Consulting" and "ViewsLetter" are
Service Marks of W. A. Flanagan, Inc.
Updated: 17 July 2004 2003
|
