Although the softswitch — a central device in a telephone network that connects calls from one phone line to another entirely by means of software running on a computer system — has been employed for some time it wasn’t until recently that the VoIP Softswitch began gaining traction.

The work of the softswitch was formerly carried out by hardware, with physical switchboards to route the calls.

Now, as business continues to migrate to IP, VoIP networks are becoming an important element for enabling real-time communications. For this reason, the VoIP Softswitch, connecting calls using software that runs on a computer system, is gaining steam. The VoIP Softswitch is now connecting calls using software that runs on a computer system. Typically used to control connections at the junction point between circuit and packet networks.

The VoIP Softswitch routes and translates different traffic and clears a path across the network, but it also offers authentication and authorization.

A single device containing both the switching logic and the switching fabric can be used for this purpose.

While VoIP Softswitch brings voice and data together onto a single network, and allows only signaling to go through the Softswitch, the VoIP Softswitch costs less and uses bandwidth more efficiently.

In fact, maintenance costs are also reduced with the VoIP Softswitch, and power and space in the host office are also decreased.

The VoIP Softswitch is a hardware-software complex solution for billing, routing and monitoring. It also helps to optimize an existing VoIP network or create a new one.

The weak point of any softswitch solution, however, is hardware performance along with quality of software used. Database access time and performance and switch core quality are the most important stability indexes of softswitch solution. That is where the VoIP Softswitch comes in.

The larger the volumes of traffic sent, the more performance you need from your VoIP softswitch. And by creating a fast and reliable VoIP Softswitch the difficulty lays in controlling the system when your volumes are millions of minutes per month. It is always better to rent a switch in a situation of the kind.

Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To see more of his articles, please visit Tim Gray’s columnist page.

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