MERA Wins Oz Softswitch Deal

TORONTO -- MERA Systems, a forefront supplier of carrier-grade solutions for intelligent management of VoIP networks, today announced its first deployment on the Australian continent. HiTech Telecom, a leading Australian VoIP wholesaler, has deployed MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch (MVTS) for transit switching of VoIP calls going though its international VoIP network.

Business Case
As one of the biggest VoIP wholesalers in Australia, HiTech Telecom needed a robust solution that can provide efficient handling of VoIP calls in its multivendor network. HiTech Telecom has deployed MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch (MVTS) in its headquarters in Sydney as the core element of its network. MVTS collects VoIP calls from the Telco’s points of presence (PoPs) in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia and routes them to its multiple partners, ensuring that each call is sent to the most reliable and cost-effective routes. MVTS provides a RADIUS interface for interaction with HiTech’s proprietary external routing tool, which enables call routing based on a wide variety of real-time parameters – including cost/quality ratio, network load and availability, route performance and many more. Using this real-time information, MVTS enables least-cost routing (LCR), quality of service routing and other advanced call handling capabilities that increase profit generating capacity of HiTech’s network.

Another benefit of MVTS for the Sydney-based wholesaler is the ability to seamlessly unite its multivendor points of presence and establish ready interconnections with partner networks across the globe. As an example, MVTS is utilized for cost-effective interconnects with such major carriers as iBasis, Teleglobe, Primus, Global Crossing and other global leaders. The MVTS softswitch is “off-the-shelf” interoperable with iBasis’ global VoIP network – one of the ten largest carriers of international voice traffic in the world - based on the results of the compatibility testing between MERA and iBasis carried out under the MERA Friendly interoperability initiative and iBasis Direct VoIP program. Since 2004, both MERA and iBasis continue their effort to ensure that carriers utilizing MERA technology can establish fast and cost-effective interconnects with iBasis’ Cisco Powered™ network.

“We have chosen MERA as one of the most flexible softswitch solutions available in the market,” comments Amadu Yahaya, CEO of HiTech Telecom. “A big advantage of MERA is their ability to deliver exactly what you want – they tailor the product to your specific needs. When we were deploying the solution, MERA’s highly competent engineers have made several very important product enhancements by our request. We are pleased to know that MERA is willing to ensure that their softswitch provides a hand-in-glove fit to our requirements – and this is a value that is not so easy to find nowadays. Besides, a critical requirement for us was ready scalability of the softswitch, in view of our planned network expansion in the next few months. MERA’s distributed architecture provides for fast and easy capacity upgrade, which makes us ready for future growth.”

“As softswitch technology matures, we are ensuring that our network is interoperable with leading softswitches through our DirectVoIP Certified interoperability program,” comments Paul Floyd, iBasis senior vice president of R&D, Operations, and Engineering. “Working together with MERA, we are helping carriers utilize high quality softswitch technology and an efficient interconnection to our global network without extra cost or significant modifications to their network topology. Such partnership between vendors and carriers is one of the drivers of VoIP industry growth.”

“We are proud to work with HiTech Telecom and iBasis to contribute to the development of the Australian VoIP market”, comments Konstantin Nikashov, CEO of MERA Systems. “We have designed our softswitch to enable carriers like HiTech Telecom to quickly expand traffic volumes and enhance business capacity. For this purpose, we are running our MERA Friendly interoperability program, to ensure that carriers can develop their business working with world-leading partners like iBasis. We at MERA do our utmost to deliver what VoIP telcos need at the moment – and we look beyond that to anticipate their requirements for tomorrow. We grow our solutions as the telecos’ business grows, and we will be there to provide them with the right, best fitting solutions - anytime, anywhere.”

MERA Systems Inc.