Ethernet is becoming the predominant fixed access technology to next-generation networks (NGNs), supporting the networking of a variety of converged communication services and solutions. By fully managing the crucial first mile, from customer site to its NGN, the new Managed Ethernet Access connections provide Thus customers with greater service assurance and reliability.
Using Ethernet Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) standards, Thus network management centres are able to fully monitor these access connections for enriched alarm and event data, proactively managing any service degradation, and to use advanced remote diagnostic tools to rapidly isolate and fix critical faults. With converged corporate networks becoming ever more business critical and central to the smooth operation of organisations, minimising the effects of network downtime can have a significant impact on a customer’s bottom line, as well as their operational efficiency.
Nigel Stevens, Product Director at Thus said: “Proactively managing the first mile connection allows us to make a significant difference to the level of service we can guarantee. It is this level of reliability and efficiency that shows that Thus is taking our next generation Ethernet based converged communication services and solutions to the next level. Thus was one of the first providers capable of doing this in the UK and builds on our experience of delivering advanced next-generation solutions for the benefit of our customers.”
Managed Ethernet Access can now be used to access a range of services from Thus including MPLS IPVPN, Internet and IP Exchange Line services and are an essential component to Thus new City and National Ethernet Managed services. With these services, customers not only benefit from the assurance that Thus is able to fully manage the first mile Ethernet access connections, they also enjoy end to end, connection specific, Quality of Service (QoS) level guarantees for latency, jitter and packet loss. Whether these connections are used for mission critical data centre connectivity, LAN extension or to access centralised ICT applications and services, the end to end QoS levels provide certainty of service and application performance over the wide area network.
City and National Ethernet Managed customers also benefit from practically real time network performance, degradation and critical event reporting tools namely Performance Track Plus and Network View. These include end to end, circuit specific QoS reporting and visibility of EOAM alarms and events seen by Thus network management centres.
E business and rich content applications and the increasing move towards ICT centralisation, is causing many companies to increase bandwidth and introducing scalability onto their fully converged networks. With this comes a need for greater service assurance and to make the network more visible. Managed Ethernet Access and Services address this need in a way that demonstrates an understanding of the customer’s business applications and optimises their performance from a service perspective.