VoEX Pairs IP Infrastructure with Carrier ENUM

By Khali Henderson

VoEX Inc. launched its SuperRegistry, a carrier ENUM database with more than 250 million IP-addressable phone numbers, which the company claims is the largest registry of its kind in North America. Unlike other registries, VoEX pairs its ENUM database with its own IP transport infrastructure and is able to create peering between IP and PSTN callers.

Cyril N. Matthews, director, registry and network services, for VoEX explained: We have a media gateway that sits on the edge of our IP network and connects in essence over the last mile to a traditional telephony provider. Because we do that, we are able to put those numbers into our ENUM registry and associate the IP address of that media gateway with those telephone numbers, so that anyone who uses our network and needs to route to those destinations doesnt need to go through the PSTN as they normally would, they can go through the VoEX network all the way to the edge.

Carriers and service providers that have registered their network entry points on VoEXs ENUM-based SuperRegistry gain managed IP access through VoEX to each others endpoints. They can terminate traffic TDM, IP and hybrid combinations of both for each other at costs below local tandem rates. They also get global VoIP reach while avoiding capital expenditure and eliminating some PSTN database query charges.

As opposed to a Neustar or VeriSign that only have a registry, we couple the registry with a network, so we can actively deliver to those IP end points, said Matthews. If you dont have a way to route to that IP address, or if its over the public Internet, there is not a strong assurance of quality or capability to deliver the call.

In addition to having multiple routes within its network to get to the numbers in its registry, Matthews said VoEXs routes typically have fewer hops than going over the Internet. We also have those relationships [with carriers] so we are managing quality of service and service levels to make sure the quality is equivalent to PSTN if not higher.

Assured end-to-end VoIP quality is necessary to support future applications including rich content, collaboration and presence-based communications applications, push-to-talk, gaming, video and media services, the company said in a press statement.

VoEXs customer base includes about 50 wireless and wireline carriers, MSOs, cable operators, VoIP service providers, large enterprises, universities and e-communities like Yahoo and LinkedIn. Matthews said about half dozen customers are using the registry today.

The SuperRegistry currently includes a significant amount of North Americas wireless telephone numbers, and is expected to reach additional wireless phone numbers and a majority of wireline numbers by the end of 2007.

The multichannel capability of ENUM also has the potential for registering multiple endpoints and subscriber preferences under one registration record, providing a path for e-mails, text messages and faxes as well as voice calls to any of several devices.

VoEX Inc. www.voex.com