Microsoft's grand plan to eliminate phone numbers

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Five 9's

99.999% uptime (6 minutes downtime/year) for phone networks. Any outage longer than that goes for a root cause analysis. If the MS platform is routing the calls, or providing the database (they aren't getting rid of phone numbers, just hiding the number behind a global handle).

Their platform is not five 9s.

A few other flaws as I read them.
Echoes will assign a local mobile number to each Windows Live contact

That isn't how it works, each NPA-NXX-X is assigned to a carrier and each one is assigned in an HLR (wireless talking here), it is permanent, and so echo's assigning local numbers is not valid. (Unless it is part of the once provisioning process, in which case echos is simply another flavor of the myriad billing systems in use today).

I don't see how this handles number portability. I as an AT&T customer can move my number to Verizon (taking one of the npa-nxx-xxxx numbers that belongs to AT&T) and register at the number portability national registry so that calls actually arrive at the Verizon HLR. It is complicated, and can't see how the above fits in. (Again, unless simply an adjunct to the billing system in use today)

How do they integrate this into existing call routing functions? If any telco tries to mandate "Live, and Messenger", etc, well, good luck. With a penetration level of 5 to 50%, how does it integrate. The Echos' platform will route the calls to the PC seamlessly, I doubt it, using what service, skype, vonage?

Numbers will be able to ring simultaneously on multiple devices/systems.

There's a piece of magic I would like to see. It's called Flexible Alerting, been standard since 1997, and is rarely used because few networks are compliant. How any platform is going to handle simultaneous calls is a complete mystery.

If I had to guess, this is simply an "extra" not part of the telecom network. Users who use live, etc can have the MS platform add contacts to their phone as aliases, but all call routing, existing functions, etc are not handled by the platform. The phone will be intelligent enough to know if you are sending an SMS, or email, which "handle" to use.

Please post more details, I couldn't find any more on the web.

I also have to ask, what problem is such a complicated (and I would not want to be the one testing the integration into a wireless network, what I actually do for a living) process and distruptive technology (in terms of radical change to existing networks) is going to solve?

How often is it that we want to call someone we IM with and don't actually have a phone number for? (privacy issues, I may not want echos sending the ability to call me to those I IM with)? How does one prevent scam calls, sign up for Live, register a few thousdand "friends" then call them to offer them aluminum siding at 97% off MSRP?

TripleII

Posted by: TripleII   Posted on: 05/29/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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