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In the News
NOC NOC, Who's
There? Lots of room, lots of technology and
the most skilled network monitoring specialists in
the industry -- General Telecom's 24x7x365 Network
Operations Center (NOC) in Golden, Colorado is an
industry showcase for traditional and IP network monitoring.
The world-class NOC includes:
- 14 screens lining a 15-foot-high tall wall
- Dual, flat-panel LCD monitors at each of seventeen
workstations
- Redundant power sources, including UPS and a backup
generator on all NOC systems
- Advanced environmental controls on all the equipment
As part of our headquarter move, we completed a full
NOC relocation and upgrade in December 2003. The new
NOC is better equipped to monitor and manage over
3 billion minutes of traffic per year that is distributed
all over the globe via both TDM and IP technology.
In addition, the NOC provides 24x7 element and fault
surveillance to proactively support our 7 international
gateways, as well as monitoring 5 additional gateways
on behalf of our customers, and to support all of
our IP elements. The gateways and equipment are located
throughout the U.S. and overseas, but are all tied
to this critical, core hub for continuous, proactive
monitoring, maintenance and support.
To arrange a physical tour of our NOC, please contact
sales@gentel.net
or call 303-239-1025.
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| Loop Around
at CompTel Ascent Anaheim Another productive,
profitable and *fun* Loop Around is being hosted by
General Telecom. We'll be gathering at the spectacular
Hilton Anaheim Towers on Tuesday, February 10th, from
4:00-6:00 p.m.
Loop Around Events are held in a relaxed, social
setting where current and prospective members of our
Global Village of carriers meet face-to-fact to mingle...and
find new opportunities to expand and grow revenues.
If you're interested in joining or learning more about
how the Global Village can provide increased access
to more markets without the need for local loops,
contact sales@gentel.net.
If you're unable to attend the Loop-Around, you can
meet Global Village members online to conduct business
365 days per year. Log into the Global Village at
www.gentel.net/globalvillage.
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| Enhanced Foreign
Exchange - Your Virtual Number Solution International
telecom and associated long distance has changed dramatically
in the past decade, and dramatic change continue.
VoIP Telephony provides unique, cost-saving services
that continue to revolutionize the marketplace - with
more services evolving daily. One service is of particular
interest to carriers around the world - the ability
to provide virtual numbers.
A virtual number is a regular DID that through IP
magic is re-directed to ring at a location other than
its home central office or exchange. A Dallas, Texas
number can be pointed to ring at a call center location
in Kansas City, MO. In this scenario, local Dallas
customers are dialing a local number (no charge) and
the phone is answered at a foreign exchange in Kansas
City. There is no long distance charge to the caller
or the called. Taking this situation one step further,
a NY number can be redirected to ring in Paris, France.
Long distance charges to transport the call across
the ocean vanish - the call is free.
 How is this possible? Since VoIP does not strictly
meet the definition of telecommunications service,
it is currently unregulated. While this may change
in the future, the courts continue to reaffirm that
as the Internet is not regulated in this country,
nor should voice applications over the Internet be
regulated, at least until clear affirmative national
rules are developed for its regulation.
"The thing it points out is the virtual nature
of IP telephony and the power it brings to the
death of distance", says NGT CEO Rich Grange.
"It's a good example of the many different and
creative services that are going to be very disruptive
and change the way that telecommunication services
are delivered."
Soon, General Telecom will be able to offer an outsourced
service called Enhanced Foreign Exchange that enables
carriers to provide virtual number to their customers.
A trial version is currently active between Mexico
and the US (see Ekonom
Case Study), and we are in the process of productizing
the offering. Components include VoIP telephony seats,
VoIP features & functionality such as voice-mail,
call forwarding, call waiting, secure web-enabled
dashboard, and DIDs. Enhanced Foreign Exchange provides
end-users with the mobility required for efficient
global commerce with free calling for communities
of interest - and it provides Service Providers with
another revenue stream.
For more information about how you can take advantage
of Enhanced Foreign Exchange services, contact sales@gentel.net
or call 303-239-1025.
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Editorial/Issues
VoIP Services Launch - Considerations
For Service Providers
For Service
Providers considering a launch of VoIP services into
the retail marketplace, there are a range of issues
to consider at the planning stage. Perhaps none is
as central to your product development program as
Which market will we focus on? The most advanced
market adoption witnessed to date is the consumer
secondary line segment, although even here we don't
believe that the inflection point on the traditional
market maturity curve has yet been reached.
Having identified a target market, Service Providers
must turn their attention to a host of readiness and
delivery issues. If, for example, provision of IP
PBX solutions to the Small & Mid-Size Enterprise (SME)
market is your aim, then the schematic below provides
a simplified view of the basic areas to consider.
A more detailed list of specific areas needing attention
during the planning phase for service development
and launch is shown below. Effective delivery and
support of the SME customer requires: a plan to deliver
appropriate telephony features; determination of which
optional services will be supported; detailed procedures
for LAN / WAN assessment; processes for smooth provisioning
of key technical elements, such as Internet access
and applications server seats; and high-impact sales
& marketing programs.
Within your operation, both network and back-office
components will require significant attention and
planning. Critical among these are: acquisition and
support of an applications feature server; support
of network servers & firewalls; overall network readiness
audit and task list development; establishment of
Customer Service capability; appropriate billing function;
DID service provisioning capability; gateway provisioning
support.
Many of these activities are supported by General
Telecom's parent company, New Global Telecom, through
our 6DegreesIP managed wholesale
service offering - specifically, those shown in green
below. Furthermore, our experience and knowledge in
the VoIP marketplace enables us to support you in
many other valuable ways as you attack all the issues
you'll need to address in defining and delivering
services to your end-customers.
NGT is releasing Version 2.1 of our 6DegreesIP
product suite later in February - ask us about details
of the upgrades available with this product release.
And, significant future enhancements to 6DegreesIP
are now in development.
The VoIP services market is heating up right now
- it will be an $11.3 billion opportunity by 2007,
according to Gartner Dataquest. As you assess approaches
to capturing a lucrative portion of this tremendous
new growth market, talk with us about how NGT's and
General Telecom's complementary portfolios can help
you.
For more information, contact sales@gentel.net
or call us at 303-239-1025.
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Customer News
Vendors
and Global Village Online
Just like
our world-class NOC, The Global Village never sleeps!
We're open 24x7x365. So, in addition to our famous
face-to-face Loop-Around Events, our Global Village
members can interact with other members in our online,
password-protected web site. Once online, you can
do the following:
- Post routes to sell or routes you may need - include
price, ASR or specific codes
- View routes for sale or routes needed - reply
directly to the Global Village member
- Contact any Global Village member - view the list
and profiles of carriers, and contact them directly
to establish business
Global Village offerings include: VoIP Direct, Virtual
Local Loop, co-location services, IP provisioning
and connectivity as well as our flagship offering
of switch partitioning services, which now includes
free access to TrafficVision and Traffic Performance
Alarm reports as part of the standard service offering.
In addition to product and service innovation, we've
succeeded in growing our Global Village of carriers
to provide a greater trading place for all our customers.
Since the November In the Loop issue, we've
added three new customers to our Global Village -
please welcome: Orange Dominicana,
Computer-Tel, and Intone.
If you're looking for routes to the Dominican Republic,
Orange Dominicana can help you out. For details, contact
Arturo Pealo, apenalo@orange.com.do.
Computer-Tel has Mexico routes available - for more
information, contact Hagi Ariel at hvalle@computer-tel.com.
Intone specializes in routes to India, and you can
reach Peter Boyapati at peter@intonenetworks.com
to arrange Loop-Arounds. For personal assistance on
using the online Global Village, do not hesitate to
contact either Suzanne or Lisa in our customer service
group, 646-328-5800 option 1, or email cservice@gentel.net.
Please log into the online Global Village and test
the new capabilities. If you've forgotten your user
name/password, please contact customer service, 1-646-328-5800,
option 1 or email cservice@gentel.net.
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Events
CompTel/ASCENT
Anaheim
In addition to the Loop Around event at CompTel/ASCENT
Alliance's Spring Convention & Expo, both General
Telecom and NGT are exhibiting at this show. Stop
by booth number 626 and find out more about the latest
news on the exciting launch of our wholesale suite
of IP services called 6DegreesIP. You can also talk
to our reps and learn more about our outsourced switching
management services marketed under the General Telecom
brand, including: switch partitioning, co-location,
network management services (NMS), VoIP Direct, account
management services (AMS), and our state-of-the-art
network operations center.
Most important, you can learn about our exclusive
Global Village of carriers, where our customers gain
increased access to more markets without the need
for local loops. To meet with either GT or NGT at
this show, please email sales@ngt.com,
call 303-239-1025, or - if you're at the show - visit
General Telecom and NGT at booth #626.
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Upcoming
Events
General Telecom will be attending
the following events and conferences:
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Internet Telephony Conference & Expo
2004 - Internet Telephony is the place
to learn about the tremendous promise of IP telephony,
February 11-13 in Miami, FL. Rich Grange,
New Global Telecom's President & CEO will
be speaking on a critical topic at 1:30 p.m.,
Friday February 13th - "Rolling Out
Services - Effective Launch Strategies For Rapid
Takeup". For more information on
Rich's presentation, please email sales@gentel.net.
For more information on this show, please visit
http://www.tmcnet.com/itexpo. |
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Spring 2004 VON Conference and Expo
- This is the place to be if you are looking to
understand and take advantage of the changes brought
about by the VoIP Communications Revolution. March
28 - April 1, 2004 in Santa Clara, California.
For more information, please visit http://www.von.com. |
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April ISPCon Spring 2004 -
April 14 - 16, 2004. Washington, D.C.
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If you'd like to meet with General Telecom at any
of these shows, please send an email to sales@gentel.net,
or call General Telecom at 646-328-5800.
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In The Loop Q & A
Expert
answers to customer questions
How
do I maintain consistent quality and rates to the
most-in-demand destinations?
Telecom traffic moves quickly, and so does route quality
and rate structures. How can you provide consistent
quality and rates to your customers while your sources
fluctuate? One of the best answers is to have several
sources for routes and a rolodex of contacts to ensure
that a replacement route is never more than a phone
call or Loop Around away. With General Telecom's Global
Village - you have just that - and the ability to
email the Global Village rolodex via our Global Village
Route Trader whenever you need a route. If you prefer
more physical rolodexes, be certain to fill up your
Global Village Passport* with Global Village members'
cards at the next Loop Around Event. If you have questions
about how the Global Village - a free service from
General Telecom - can benefit you, please contact
Customer Service at 646-328-5800 option 1 or email
cservice@gentel.net.
 *The Global Village Passport is a
business card holder. To request another passport,
please email solutions@gentel.net.
Passports will be available at the Comptel/Ascent
Loop-Around on February 10th.
In each issue of In the Loop, experts will
answer your questions about emerging technologies
and tools that can help our customers exploit the
global marketplace. This kind of feedback is invaluable
in helping us understand your needs and concerns,
and so we can continue to innovate the services you
need to succeed. If you have a question, concern,
or current challenge, please write us at solutions@gentel.net.
Remember, input from our customers helps us innovate
new solutions!
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Telecom Tip of the Month
Client Services Becomes More Customer-centric
It's never been a better time to be a General Telecom
customer. We've recently hired Charlene Pinelli as
our new Director of Customer Operations in charge
of our Network Operations Center, Data Translations,
Provisioning and Billing groups. She brings proactive
customer support and management experience to existing
processes and procedures. "In my role, I represent
customer interests in all of my interactions with
our IT and Operations groups. It is my goal to ensure
that our customers feel they are being provided with
exceptional, proactive service at all times," stated
Charlene. Customers would agree that she brings an
increased customer-centric perspective to the role
and the smooth functioning of our Network Operation
Center.
 General Telecom employees and customers benefit
from her unbridled enthusiasm, and she has also been
instrumental in creating the new 6DegreesIP
Provisioning and Customer Service training modules
being released in version 2.1. If you've never spoken
with Charlene, you may reach her directly at 303-239-1031
or via email charlene.pinelli@ngt.com.
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