Comparison with VoIP Architecture

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Here is a comparison of the data and signaling transferred under VoIP.  As is evident from the illustration, both the signaling data (call setup, dialed numbers, etc.) and the actual call transit the Internet, and are susceptible to all the risks associated with the Internet.

But What About VoIP, ENUM, SIP? Isn’t the embedded base too large to walk away from?

While VoIP/ENUM/SIP has many undesirable qualities, as suggested in this article, there no doubt will be economic realities that will cause vendors to want at least a transition period from VoIP to the Next Generation MultiMedia. Here’s how.

As suggested by the above illustration, SIP depends upon the DNS system to find the DNS service agent (in this case, ISP.com) for the called system.  

Now having the IP address of the ISP.com SIP proxy server, the caller may send an INVITE to that proxy server for the called party.

The illustration above shows the concept of a “private DNS” operated by carriers wishing to operate legacy VoIP alongside Next Generation MultiMedia.  The “private DNS” relates SIP domains that are participating in Next Generation with an SS7 address of the SIP server for that domain.  If there is an entry for a domain in the “private DNS” then call establishment can proceed as described previously.  If there is no entry, then the SIP call is handled normally.

Although this arrangement may take a bit of work to perfect, it is fairly straightforward in concept.