Carrier Grade is a telecommunications term applied to best-in-class networks and products that meet rigorous high standards of availability, performance, and reliability. If a service provider refers to their product as “carrier grade”, they are promising the best available experience. Carrier-grade systems are designed to handle high volumes of traffic, operate with little to no downtime, and recover quickly should failure occur.
This article will go over what carrier grade means, what makes a network carrier grade, advantages of having a carrier grade network, and how these networks can assist VoIP and UCaaS solutions.
What is Carrier Grade?
Carrier grade is a designation applied to telecommunications networks, products, or services that meet high performance, reliability, and availability standards. Carrier-grade systems can withstand extreme network conditions while maintaining a high uptime and protecting sensitive data. Carrier-grade networks must meet the following standards:
- High Availability: A 99.999% (five nines) uptime resulting in only about 5 minutes of annual downtime
- Fault Tolerance: Fail-safes like backup power supplies and multiple global points of presence ensure networks continue to operate smoothly even as components fail
- Security: Strong measures against cyber security risks, data breaches, and regulatory compliances. VoIP security measures include, but are not but not limited to, network segmentation, real-time traffic monitoring, end-to-end encryption, firewalls, and compliance with data protection regulation like GDPR and HIPAA
- Low Latency: Minimal delays in data transfer speeds for reliable real-time streaming and communication
- Scalability: Ability to handle the necessary connections and adapt to increased traffic needs without compromising performance
- Advanced Monitoring and Management: Carrier-grade networks provide users with comprehensive monitoring, diagnostic, and remote management tools
Carrier-grade networks are a must for mobile operators, internet service providers (ISPs), and telephone networks to ensure uninterrupted, high-quality calls.
Data centers leverage carrier-grade reliability and performance to host their cloud services and storage applications. These data centers need high data transfer rates and quick recovery when failures occur. ISPs use carrier-grade networks to facilitate large volumes of data traffic, provide seamless connectivity, and keep on-demand services available to millions of users daily.
Key Components of a Carrier Grade Network
Carrier-grade networks are built on foundational components that ensure the titular standards for availability, performance, reliability, and security are met. The following components come together to form “carrier-grade” networks:
Redundant Infrastructure
Carrier-grade networks contain redundant links–numerous independent network paths that circumvent interruptions should primary network links fail. Redundant power supplies like backup generators and duplicate system components serve as contingencies during outages. Carrier-grade networks employ load balancing and failover mechanisms to distribute traffic over many different paths to keep operations running in the event of failures.
High-Quality Hardware and Software
Carrier-grade networks use top-of-class routers and switches meant to handle large traffic volumes with low latency. Optimized software and firmware supports large real-time operations while adhering to performance and reliability standards. These networks regularly update and proactively replace obsolete devices to reduce downtime risks.
Network Management Systems (NMS)
Carrier-grade solutions use network management systems (NMS) to constantly monitor the health, performance, and traffic of a network, proactively detecting and addressing issues. An NMS can automate routine tasks to improve overall efficiency and cut down on human error. Network management systems often provide troubleshooting and diagnostic tools alongside predictive analysis for proactive network maintenance.
Quality of Service (QoS) Mechanisms
Networks that are carrier-grade ensure critical services like voice calls or video streaming receive the necessary bandwidth to cut down on latency and jitter. QoS mechanisms allow providers to meet service level agreements (SLAs) that guarantee a high level of performance. Carrier-grade networks employ dedicated network segmentation to efficiently handle various types of traffic.
Advantages of Carrier Grade Networks
Carrier-grade networks offer an array of advantages, whether through intelligent design, redundancy mechanisms, or adherence to the most rigorous standards of performance. The following benefits make them ideal for mission-critical operations in the telecom, cloud service, and enterprise-grade spaces.
Reliability and Uptime
55% of organizations have reported experiencing a data center outage in the last 3 years.[*] Five nines availability (99.999%) minimizes the chances of network downtime to ensure uninterrupted service. This availability is bolstered by built-in failsafes and redundancies that keep networks running even when hardware and software fails.
Enhanced Performance
Low latency is key to optimizing a network for minimal delays. Carrier-grade networks enable smooth large-scale use of real-time applications like video calling or live streaming. High quality hardware and optimal VoIP codecs keep data transfer rates fast, even under heavy use. Carrier-grade networks employ QoS mechanisms like smart traffic management to prioritize or automatically reroute crucial traffic.
Better Security
Carrier-grade networks incorporate proactive and advanced threat detection using firewalls and system monitoring mechanisms to mitigate real-time security threats. These networks prioritize data privacy through enhanced encryption protocols and compliance with regulatory standards (like GDPR or HIPAA) to protect sensitive information. Threats evolve, so networks should regularly update and comprehensively build their security frameworks to sidestep unauthorized access and data breaches.
Cost Efficiency
Approximately 60% of data outages cost companies more than $100,000 in total losses per incident.[*] Carrier-grade reliability cuts down the probability and scale of loss by maintaining services even during peak times. Carrier-grade networks dynamically allocate resources based on demand to reduce waste and optimize your operating costs. Automated network monitoring and fault detection reduces the maintenance expenses of manual intervention. While carrier-grade networks come with initial costs, the longevity and low failure rates provide strong return on investment over time.
Scalability
Carrier-grade networks are built to scale quickly and easily to support millions of users, connections, and data-heavy applications when demands inevitably grow. Resource elasticity and modular architecture come together to integrate additional capacity or newer services without increasing downtime. Carrier-grade networks can take on fluctuating workloads to adapt to peak traffic times.
Carrier Grade in VoIP and UCaaS
Carrier-grade networks enable strong call quality and reliability for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platforms. They also assure scalability and compliance with industry standards to protect customer data and evolve with your business needs.
Ensuring Call Quality and Reliability
Carrier-grade powered VoIP and UCaaS systems retain “five nines” uptime for uninterrupted business operations. QoS mechanisms prioritize and route voice traffic, cut down on common VoIP problems like packet loss and jitter, and ensure low latency. Redundancy for voice paths and call servers provide continued service during outages, while real-time monitoring proactively identifies potential problems.
Scalability for Enterprise Deployments
UCaaS platforms need carrier-grade networks to scale and accommodate the thousands of users working from different locations–hybrid, remote, or in-office–large and growing operations rely on everyday. Elastic infrastructure allows these networks to dynamically scale resources up and down based on call volume to ensure business can meet ever changing demands without losing performance. In tandem with carrier-grade networks, UCaaS platforms provide global connectivity across different regions all the while ensuring strong call quality requirements and regulatory compliances are met. Carrier-grade networks are modular and flexible enough to work with existing legacy systems to aid companies in their transition to more advanced platforms down the line while encouraging cost savings. Teams won’t have to be retrained because they can use existing tools.
Compliance with Industry Standards
Carrier-grade VoIP and UCaaS solutions meet telecom standards like GDPR, HIPAA, and FCC compliance to ensure secure handling of sensitive data while maintaining user privacy.. Enhanced security protocols like strong encryption standards (TLS, SRTP) as well as multi-layer authentication mechanisms protect voice data to prevent eavesdropping or unauthorized account access. Carrier-grade networks offer SLAs that guarantee performance metrics like low latency, call quality, and uptime.
Upgrade To A Carrier Grade Network
Carrier grade denotes the highest reliability, performance, and security benchmarks. to contact centers, UCaaS platforms, and other cloud communications solutions. Ask VoIP providers if they leverage carrier-grade networks, what their guaranteed uptime is, and if they have redundant data centers across the globe. Carrier-grade networks ensure users and organizations get the seamless, high quality secure experience they need.
