With the switch off for the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) still very much in discussions across the telecoms sector here in the UK, this article explores Operator Connect and how you can prepare your network to be a key delivery partner for the new era of digital telephony.
Operator Connect allows businesses to directly enable PSTN calling from their current carriers within Microsoft Teams. Make and receive external calls on any teams device and also networks can sign up to be part of the Microsoft Operator Connect Program.
What isn’t so commonly known, is that in order for ISPs and networks to deliver this service to their end users, having the Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) is a prerequisite.
The PSTN switch off
The switch from traditional telephone lines to digital has unearthed questions and complexity not initially considered when this project was launched. Hence now, the official date for the switch off has been pushed back to January 2027 giving us all enough time to educate ourselves and others, on how to enable digital telephone services.
The project will see every telephone line in the UK move to a fully digital network across Internet Protocol (IP). There are many networks that offer Voice Over IP Services (VOIP) however, in order to be a Microsoft Operator Connect Partner, you will need a peering relationship in place.
So how does LINX play a part in this?
Here at the London Internet Exchange (LINX), we provide networks with peering services and more across our redundant and resilient dual LAN fabric in London, and at our regional interconnection hubs in Manchester, Wales and Scotland.
One of these services is the exclusive Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) and this is available at our London and Manchester locations in the UK.
Direct peering to Microsoft using MAPS is a requirement for all VOIP networks wanting to become resellers of Microsoft Operator Connect service.
Shehram Malik, Solutions Engineer at LINX says;
‘This is a very interesting approach that Microsoft have taken with this product compared to Direct Routing where MAPS was not a prerequisite. Voice Providers are seeing the importance of adding Operator Connect to their product portfolio due the ubiquitous use of Microsoft Teams in almost all sectors of the market.’
Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS)
MAPS is a networking service that enhances the connectivity to Microsoft cloud services. This service provides direct peering with Microsoft over LINX’s infrastructure with no minimum traffic levels to meet.
Our member networks, present at LINX can optimise their connectivity between Microsoft cloud services and offer their end users high availability and minimal latency by using MAPS.
The underlying benefit of MAPS for our members is the process known as “Cold Potato Routing”. The global BGP anycast announcement ensures traffic ingress and egress happens at Microsoft network’s closest point to the user.
Microsoft routes traffic in its global network by using Software Defined Network (SDN)-based routing policies which spans over 160,000 miles of fibre with over 165 edge Point of Presences (POPs).
Services available across MAPS are as following;
- Microsoft Office 365
- Dynamics 365
- Microsoft Azure
- Other Microsoft SaaS
- Any Microsoft services accessible via the public internet
MAPS use cases
Enterprise networks that have a hybrid cloud strategy which includes Microsoft Azure can migrate and then synchronise workloads more effectively across MAPS. They can also improve user experience by reducing latency to Microsoft’s services in general compared to using the internet.
Shehram continues;
“The MAPS offering from LINX is very competitively priced with no requirement to sign long term contracts. All of our existing members can enable this service through the LINX portal very quickly if 802.1Q trunking is already enabled on their ports. Networks with access ports will need to make configuration changes that can be planned with LINX’s NOC team to enable MAPS going forward”
For more information or to schedule a meeting to learn more about this topic reach out via the website https://www.linx.net/services/microsoft-azure-peering/
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