The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has announced that Study Group 11 of the Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T) has approved its work on defining the requirements for the fourth version of the Intelligent Network Capability Set (known as IN CS-4).
The IN CS-4-based requirements are defined in nine new standards of the Q.1240-series. All were approved by using the fast-track approval process called "alternative approval process" or AAP (see www.itu.int/newsroom/projects/AAPLaunch.html).
"The IN CS-4 expands previous Intelligent Network capabilities, enabling the provision of telecommunication services, service creation, and service management," said Yukio Hiramatsu, Chairman of Study Group 11. This version contains new capabilities to interwork with evolving service applications based on Internet Protocol (IP) platforms.
"This convergence of circuit-switched and packet-switched technologies will provide valuable capabilities for deployment by service providers," added Hiramatsu.
The new IN CS-4 set enables a variety of existing ITU-T defined basic and supplementary services to now be provided to Voice over IP customers with the flexibility needed to add new services that may become available in future. This built-in flexibility makes it possible for service providers to quickly respond to changes in the marketplace, a boon to better meet customers requirements and thus retain their loyalty.
The standardisation of Intelligent Network (IN) also gives service providers the freedom to offer services that are independent of switch vendor software and hardware.
Many aspects of interworking between IP network services/applications and Intelligent Network services/features are also covered. These include IP connectivity through gatekeepers/proxy servers and call servers or enhanced telephony services such as call redirection, number portability, freephone service, prepaid service, and virtual private networking. Furthermore, the IN capabilities enable Internet-based service customisation and termination of Voice over IP to reach users in the telephone domain.
Such service customisation is enhanced by the introduction of Application Programming Interface (API) functionality, based on CORBA, Java, or other platforms. And through media transformation enhancements to the Specialised Resource Function (SRF), speech-to-text and text-to-speech can be supported.
"This set of IN CS-4 Recommendations will foster the evolution of network technology and applications by combining packet switched and legacy circuit switched-based network capabilities," said Jay Hilton, Chairman of Study Group 11, Working Party 1.
Work is already under way to develop further the specifications so as to better support alternative service control capabilities.
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