Web 2.0 Featured Article

With competition from telcos with TV to the home, satellite outfits, and from 3G+ wireless and VoIP and video riding on top of that, cable broadband operators and ISPs are looking for ways to stay competitive by optimizing their networks, enhancing quality, and managing their costs.

 

In response, IBBS has come out with a set of new and updated solutions to assist these firms increase performance and operational efficiencies and fairly manage their networks and in the process attract and keep customers, and profits.

 

The first of these is the IBBS (News - Alert) Network Services, which is a new cloud-based Web 2.0-architected open agnostic service platform that has the following features:

 

*          Real-Time Dashboards. This is an interface to view real-time data that enables users to react to changing network events, protect service level agreements (SLAs) and uptime, and maintain network availability

 

*          Alarms and In-Depth Reporting. This tool shortens the Mean-Time-to-Repair (MTTR) through quicker problem identification, diagnosis and recovery using the integrated advanced event correlation, performance management reporting, and service and application monitoring

 

IBBS Network Services also includes instantaneous alarm capability for notification via e-mail, pager, or SMS. The reporting component includes event forensics and it supports multiple metric types, formats or feeds. Historic data is also available to trend over time and better plan for future growth and capability.

 

“Broadband operators worldwide are facing the daunting challenge of how to optimize their respective networks and avoid any downtime to ensure the highest possible customer experience,” explains IBBS Vice President of Product Management, Doug Johnson. “A benefit of working with more than 230 cable operators is that our engineers gain firsthand knowledge of the most pressing issues affecting broadband providers. IBBS Network Services is an immediate, long-term remedy to the issues related to network optimization and the related subscriber churn.”

 

IBBS has introduced a bandwidth management solution supporting net neutrality in the latest version, 4.7, of its Broadband Explorer (News - Alert) (BBX) diagnostics and provisioning software. Known as Fair-Use Bandwidth Management the new feature allows operators to manage high bandwidth users without penalizing the entire subscriber base. It provides an application-agnostic approach to enforce bandwidth quotas and address IP traffic congestion to ensure customer satisfaction.

 

BBX 4.7 also provides Forced Redirect, which enables operators to interact with subscribers by redirecting them to captive user portals.  Forced Redirect can be used to communicate acceptance of usage policies, as well as to provide notifications when they have exceed the defined policies.

 

The new application in addition writes Birth Certificates. This tool permits operators to capture the baseline threshold levels of installed devices, creating enforceable QoS (quality of service) levels and greater accountability. With reporting features to identify installation trends and performance variances, operators can ensure that devices are installed successfully, reducing costly and energy/environment-wasting truck rolls. The ‘Birth Certificates’ can be re-set at any given point for previously-installed subscribers to provide a benchmark from which to begin tracking future performance levels.  

 

BBX 4.7 builds upon BBX 4.6, which introduced Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) management, rule based policy exception notifications, Bandwidth Xcelerator “power burst” technology, and usage billing data.

 

“To maximize profit margins while maintaining optimum user satisfaction, broadband and cable operators need powerful network tools to evaluate and assess network congestion and peak usage,” says IBBS’s Johnson. “The advanced functionality inherent in BBX 4.7 enables these service providers to implement cost-effective, yet fair bandwidth management policies that are both easy to enforce and communicate to subscribers, improving the overall subscriber experience.”