Service Improvements for a VoIP Provider

Abstract: This thesis project is on helping a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider by improving server side of Opticall AB's Dial over Data solution. Nowadays, VoIP is becoming more and more popular. People use VoIP to call their family and friends every day. It is cheap, especially when users are abroad, because that they do need to pay any roaming fee. Many companies also like their employees to use VoIP, not only because the cost of calling is cheap, but using VoIP means that the company does not need a hardware Private Branch eXchange (PBX) -- while potentially offering all of the same types of services that such a PBX would have offered. As a result the company can replace their hardware PBX with a powerful PC which has Private Branch eXchange PBX software to connect all the employees and their VoIP provider. At the VoIP provider’s side, the provider can provide cheap calls for all users which are connected by Internet. The users can initialize and tear down a session using a VoIP user agent, but how can they place a VoIP call from a mobile device or other devices without a VoIP user agent? Users want to place cheap VoIP call everywhere. VoIP providers want to provide flexible solution to attract and keep users. So they both want to the users to be able to place cheap VoIP call everywhere. Although VoIP user agent are available for many devices as a software running on a computer, a hardware VoIP phone, and even in some mobile devices. However, there are some practical problems with placing a VoIP call from everywhere. The first problem is that not every device can have a VoIP user agent. But if you do not have a VoIP user agent on your device, then it would seem to be difficult to place a VoIP call. The second problem is that you have to connect to a network (probably Internet) to signal that you want to place a call. Thus at a minimum your device has to support connecting to an appropriate network. If your device is connecting to a mobile network, you can send signaling to set up a VoIP call through General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). However, the bandwidth and delay of the GPRS networks of some mobile operators is not suitable for the transfer of encoded voice data, additionally, some mobile operators charge high fees for using GPRS. All of these problems make placing VoIP calls via a mobile device difficult. However, if your mobile device has a VoIP user agent and you have suitable connectivity, then you can easily use VoIP from your mobile device[.] To provide a flexible solution to VoIP everywhere -- even to devices that do not or can not have a VoIP user agent, Opticall AB has designed Dial over Data (DoD) solution. By using this solution, you can place a VoIP call from your mobile device or even fixed phone -- without requiring that the device that you use have a VoIP user agent. This solution also provides a central Internet Protocol-Private Branch eXchange (IP-PBX) which can connect call to and from to Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones. Both individuals and companies can use this solution for call cost savings. Max Weltz created the existing DoD solution in an earlier thesis project. This thesis [1] provides a good description of the existing DoD solution. As a result of continued testing and user feedback, Opticall AB has realized that their DoD solution needs to be improved in several area. This thesis project first identified some of the places where improvement was needed, explains why these improvements are necessary, and finally designs, implements, and evaluates these changes to confirm that they are improvements. An important result of this thesis project was a clear demonstration of improvements in configuration of the solution, better presentation of call data records, correct presentation of caller ID, and the ability to use a number of different graphical user interfaces with the improve DoD solution. These improvements should make this solution more attractive to the persons who have to maintain and operate the solution.