What is basic difference between IP and ATM networks? How can we integrate an IP-based solution into an ATM network in a call center environment?
QUESTION POSED ON: 16 MAY 2005
QUESTION ANSWERED BY: Oscar Alban
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) was originally implemented to meet the transport requirements for local, metropolitan and wide-area network applications. IP or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) allows voice, data, fax and video signals to share a common networking infrastructure. This promises to drive down costs and create a single platform for reporting that is not available today, among other things.
The two can and do co-exist. For example, a call may start through an IP gateway, transport over an ATM network and complete through another IP gateway. The ATM Forum has a lot of research on this. In case you're not familiar with them, it is made up of users, vendors and carriers. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) also has quite a bit of information on how IP-based and ATM-based internetworks can coexist. There are also some good books available on the topic. For example there is Voice over IP Technologies: Building the Converged Network by Mark A. Miller, P.E.
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