Clear Communications introduces Telecom industry's first integration software for migration from legacy databases to object-oriented applications.LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1996--Clear Communications today announced the immediate availability of Clearview(R) LegacyGateway(TM), a flexible software solution that automatically extracts vital data from telecommunications legacy databases and translates it into information objects for immediate use by UNIX-based network management applications. Carrier providers can use the LegacyGateway to download circuit- and customer information to any network management application that requires integration with existing legacy systems such as TIRKS TIRKS Trunk Integrated Record Keeping System (Trunks Integrated Record Keeping System). Systems integrators and applications developers--both in-house and independents--can speed their time-to-market for new applications while ensuring product quality, through their use of LegacyGateway object class libraries. LegacyGateway is already deployed at one Regional Bell Operating Company The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against American Telephone & Telegraph. History (RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company) The Bell telephone companies that were spun off of AT&T by court order in 1984 (the Divestiture). Also known as the "Baby Bells," the initial seven RBOCs were Nynex, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Southwestern Bell, US West, ) and just successfully completed rigorous acceptance testing (programming) acceptance testing - Formal testing conducted to determine whether a system satisfies its acceptance criteria and thus whether the customer should accept the system. at US WEST, which is in the initial stages of deploying the product. US WEST intends to use LegacyGateway as a means of automating its proactive maintenance Proactive maintenance is a maintenance strategy for stabilizing the reliability of machines or equipment using Proactive maintenance services. Its central theme involves directing corrective actions aimed at failure root causes, not active failure symptoms, faults, or machine wear efforts. LegacyGateway is the third of five modular applications in the Clearview Network Window(TM) product suite, unveiled in March. The suite addresses a whole range of carrier network surveillance concerns, from proactive maintenance to quality-of-service reports to smooth migration of legacy-based information. MIGRATION ISSUES "One of the major problems facing many large carriers--especially in the wake of deregulation--is how to speed new broadband service See broadband and broadband service provider. offerings to market in a cost-efficient manner," said Clear Communications Clear Communications was a telecommunications company based in New Zealand. Until merging into Telstra's operations in 2001, it was the biggest rival to Telecom New Zealand. Vice President Mehran Musai. "New competitors, including local service units of large, long-distance carriers, are constructing their networks from scratch with new technology, and can quickly deploy new services using the latest in client-server platforms and databases. These object-oriented applications are being deployed by telecommunications carriers in support of state-of-the-art broadband networks  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. ." Musai pointed out that these networks are being built according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the ITU-T's Telecommunications Management Network The Telecommunications Management Network is a protocol model defined by ITU-T for managing open systems in a communications network. It is part of the ITU-T Recommendation series M.3000 and is based on the OSI management specifications in ITU-T Recommendation series X.700. (TMN (Telecommunications Management Network) A set of international standards for network management from the ITU. It is used by large carriers such as Sprint, Verizon and AT&T. ) standard, a highly scaleable, distributed architecture. However, he said the RBOCs are saddled with large, monolithic, proprietary databases inherited from vendors like AT&T and Bellcore prior to deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. . These legacy systems represent a huge investment in dollars and staff-years of data entry. The Bellcore-supplied TIRKS database, for example, contains hundreds of thousands of carrier circuits and customer information gathered over many years. "Current carrier work processes have been built around legacy ordering, network monitoring, and work-force administration systems," said Musai, "but the data in these systems is hard to extract by conventional means and does not map to the object-oriented UNIX-based management systems needed by SONET and other broadband networks. This situation puts the carriers -- especially the RBOCs -- at a tremendous potential disadvantage." Clearview LegacyGateway ensures that the carriers' enormous investments in the old, proprietary systems will continue to pay off. The software rapidly and accurately moves circuit- and customer data from old legacy databases to new distributed management applications. LegacyGateway can be purchased by carriers as a complete system. Carriers and independent systems integrators can also purchase LegacyGateway object class libraries for quicker development of new legacy-to-TMN applications. DATA EXTRACTION Key to LegacyGateway is its ability to translate the extracted data into information objects immediately usable by UNIX-based management applications. A second critically-important feature is the software's flexible routing of data and information to and from multiple legacy and UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). operating support systems. Musai said carriers focus on legacy data extraction techniques, but the real issues are: How do you turn that data into information the UNIX systems can understand, and how quickly and efficiently can you do the necessary routing? The Clearview LegacyGateway extraction methods for initial downloads and dynamic updates are among the most advanced in the industry. They do not rely on the usual terminal emulation, or "screen-scraping" to extract legacy data. "Screen scraping solutions tend to be unreliable and suffer from very poor performance, especially where synchronization of data between the legacy and UNIX domains is a requirement," said Musai. "Instead, Clear's system utilizes established contracts and FCIF See CIF. formatting, a bi-directional machine-to-machine interface that is flexible enough to work in different environments." LegacyGateway is priced starting at $160,000 and is available now. -0- EDITOR'S NOTE: Clear Communications Corporation is the leader in Intelligent Surveillance(TM) applications for the telecommunications industry. Clear provides software-based solutions enabling the deployment of advanced communications services. Its Clearview Network Window helps network operations predict problems before disruptions occur, isolate problems without costly dispatches, deliver graphical proof of service quality, and provide a transition to TMN network management without abandoning investments in legacy systems. Clearview software is available in the form of complete systems and reusable object class libraries for custom developments. Customers include US West, AT&T, Pacific Bell, British Telecom, GTE GTE General Telephone & Electronics GTE Génie Thermique et Énergie (French) GTE Gas Turbine Engine GTE Global Tropospheric Experiment GTE Geothermal Energy GTE Gas Turbine Efficiency plc (Sweden & USA) and other major local exchange and interexchange carriers. Clearview is a registered trademark of Clear Communications Corporation. Clearview Network Window and Clearview LegacyGateway are trademarks of Clear Communications Corporation. All products or trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. CONTACT: Don Harrison, 770-392-8615 donald.harrison@cbpr.com |
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