Spitfire has completed an upgrade programme of its network replacing its PSTN interconnect switch with a new platform called the Next Generation Switch (NGS).
Spitfire has been offering voice services using its own telephone exchange equipment since 2001 when the company became what was known then as an Annex 2 interconnected operator.
The Spitfire NGS has been developed in-house using open source software to perform basic telephony functions with Spitfire creating its own proprietary switching, routing and control software code.
In the new switch Spitfire has reduced proprietary hardware and software to the absolute minimum necessary, preferring to have control over as much of the software as possible.
The NGS overcomes the limitations of Spitfire's old platform and allowed for the introduction of new services. In particular the flexibility to configure customer diverts is greatly enhanced and Spitfire will soon be offering the option to configure diverts through the customer portal.
Resilience of the Spitfire voice service has been improved by deploying three separate NGS exchanges spread across two geographic locations with each NGS connecting to multiple BT POPs.
Diverse IP paths have been created for SIP to TDM traffic and power to each NGS is taken from separate feeds. NGS allows Spitfire to now offer fully resilient SIP trunks that allow for automatic failovers and more complex disaster recovery scenarios.
Spitfire's Engineering Solutions Director Dominic Norton stated: "The creation of the Next Generation Switch is a landmark in Spitfire's history, seeing us going from a switchless reseller in 1999, an interconnected operator in 2001, through to 2017 where we have developed our own switching solutions for the benefit of our customers and partners.
"With the ending of the public ISDN network by 2025, Spitfire's ability to offer our customers and partners resilient SIP trunk connectivity, based on our advanced IP engineering skills, gives us a critical advantage in the UK market."