As I’ve discussed in my previous blogs in this series, smart networks are becoming increasingly important in an ever-increasing range of industries. These smart networks can deliver significant benefits, but there are some risks, challenges and issues associated with moving to “smart”. In my final blog in the series I will discuss what is required from a modernized communications network to counter some of these risk, challenges and issues.

With communications evolving at a dizzying pace, service providers of all stripes are challenged to adopt the latest technologies and reshape their businesses for the new world. Telco Cloud, an area Ribbon is deeply focused on, is one of the key components in helping operators transform successfully.

Rail operators rely on their communications network to support an increasing and varied set of both legacy and modernized systems to improve safety, reduce carbon footprint, manage expanding freight and passenger loads, increase customer satisfaction, grow profitability, and comply with regulation.

Meeting bandwidth capacity needs of customers is a crucial business objective for today’s providers. While both coarse wavelength-division multiplexing (CWDM) and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) are modern forms of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) that effectively solve those increasing bandwidth needs by upgrading the utilization of new and existing fiber, they are each designed to tackle different network challenges.

As hybrid and remote work continues to become the norm for businesses of all sizes, organizations are increasingly gravitating to cloud-based unified communication tools to boost internal collaboration and stay connected to customers. Microsoft Teams is already one of the most popular choices for chat and meetings and it is becoming a popular tool to use as a cloud-based business phone system.

Today’s telecom, cable, and data providers constantly compete to provide the best, most reliable service to customers, while investing in the right technologies to maintain the integrity of data and enable the separation of users. Because of this, service providers often spend countless hours searching for cost-effective, yet future-proof solutions that fit their business needs. This is where DWDM comes in.

Receiving a phone call from an unfamiliar number—and deciding whether or not to answer that call—has become an increasingly pervasive problem for nearly everyone. Sophisticated robocalls and Caller ID spoofing are now a regular (albeit frustrating) part of consumers’ daily lives.

Remote and hybrid work have made Microsoft Teams a core tool in nearly all large organizations. Many business leaders and IT administrators would like to extend the value of Teams to enable users to make and receive business phone calls. This improves the productivity of their employees by keeping them connected with customers, business partners, and co-workers in the office, at home, or even on the road.

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are an ongoing issue for communications service providers, putting critical systems at risk, undercutting service level agreements, and bringing unwanted headlines. In the first half of 2022 6 million of these attacks were reported. Some metrics of DDoS attacks in 1H2022 compared to 2H2021.