Text service being removed from Eircom Landlines

There's no reason why someone couldn't provide SMS for alarm monitoring on the landline network other than eircom.

Its just using a trick of caller ID to deliver the messages.

I'd say the issue is that they're getting no traffic over it and they're probably just about to upgrade their voice network to an IP-based system so, maybe its just not something they're too bothered with supplying anymore.

Someone doing alarm monitoring could easily buy the gear to continue the service.

It's not actually part of the exchange systems or anything like that. When you send an SMS you're making a very simple modem call to a number that recognises your caller ID.

I'm not aware of #anyone# who actually uses the landline SMS service for anything else.

The phones never really had very good interfaces and nobody's going to send private texts to a non secure shared landline anyway. It's really a solution in search of a problem other than that it's been very handy for alarms.

I'd say either the server's too old and needs replacement or they're replacing whatever aspect of the network it runs on.

It's possible the vendor mightn't even exist anymore or pulled support too.

BTW: Did anyone officially announce that eircom were removing the service or is this just an unsubstantiated rumour?

I don't think they'd actively withdraw a service unless it were costing them money or they weren't keen on upgrading whatever equipment supplies it.

It's worth understanding how the voice network actually works though to understand why these services might be or not be impacted by changes.

Structure:

Core Network: You've 46 exchanges called MSUs (Main Switching Units). These are the main exchanges in every area. Many of them also connect end users, but some only talk to other exchanges. These are where most of the intelligent features of the network live at a local level and they handle all the fancier functions of routing, billing, sending traffic to other networks etc.

Some routing and intelligent network stuff is done at this level too. These are all hugely interconnected as a big mesh network that was literally built with the cold war in mind! If a town disappeared off the map, the network would work around it.

Then you've got over 1200 Remote Subscriber Units. These are usually what most people will know as their local exchange. Effectively they're just a part of the MSU remotely located near end users to avoid vast amounts of copper wiring. They're pretty simple, dumb equipment that just contains lots of line cards that connect end users. The MSU manages everything they do.
Then you've got tertiary services delivered by switches and servers that sit on top of the network. These include things like international connectivity (International Gateway Switches), certain connections onward to other networks where they're done centrally, intelligent network services that do things like provide premium rate calls, 1800, 1890 etc.. etc... It's likely the SMS system is just a server sitting at that level somewhere.

Eircom, in common with most other telcos around the developed world is migrating from TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) networking (old style digital) to IP (Internet Protocol). This means they'll be basically sending all their voice and ISDN traffic through the same network as any other type of data and using highly managed QoS (quality of service) to ensure that the packets all come out at the correct time. The result is that you end up with a much higher capacity and more efficient network.

To do that they basically replace the tertiary services (already done AFAIK) and then the MSUs with more modern IP equipment.
The local exchanges and the familiar services that we use on landlines are unlikely to be impacted at all and they've no particular plans to end POTS service in any plan that I've ever seen them publish or submit to ComReg anyway.

I don't see any particular reason why the upgrades would require them to ditch SMS services on landlines as they're just injected into the network from a server somewhere.

Where it might not work is if you were to move to a VoIP service delivered over your broadband line rather than using the line cards in the local exchange. Although, I can't see why not as it's just using a trick of Caller ID and a very very slow 1200 bps modem to deliver the SMS.

To send an SMS the alarm or phone just dials a number, modem answers - sends 1200 bps modem traffic very quickly. The server recognises your caller ID and sends it on and bills you.

To receive an SMS, the server rings you showing a specific caller ID, your phone/device recognises that's the SMS centre and immediately answers - modem sends 1200 bps data stream and that's your incoming SMS.

It's just a way of hacking on SMS to a network that never really supported it in the first place.

The most likely reason is actually the equipment vendor has pulled the plug on support. I don't think the landline SMS service has been popular anywhere in the world.

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Apparently eircom know nothing about the service and don't even know how many customers use the service.

It's been left working away without any real expertise within eircom.

From what I've been told there's approx six months left of the service.

The problem is that people don't really use the service.

How often does an alarm system send an SMS?
Maybe a few times a year at most?

They are making maybe 20 cent out of each alarm at that rate maybe every 6 months!

Perhaps the sensible solution might be to offer it as a subscription service for say €3.99/month and see if there's any uptake before they close it down.

Eircom would have no idea that you were using the service for an alarm, they might just see that you've sent 3 text messages in 2013 which wouldn't really indicate that you're actively using the service at all.

Bear in mind that there were 2,021,691,852 SMS messages sent in Ireland in the last quarter!!
I'd doubt eircom's landline SMS service is even seeing .0000001% of those.

IP is definitely the way forward both for alarm monitoring and for the voice network itself too.

I just think it's a little unreasonable to continue updating a system that's generating almost no revenue.

They basically dial into the monitoring centre over a PSTN line and send a very short amount of information using a modem.

Because it's 1 line of data being sent at most, they can use a very simple modem that means you've no need to do all that checking of the line and complicated handshaking that high speed modems used for dial up internet access need to do.

I'm not sure if the more modern panels use IP over GSM data. They certainly would be capable of doing that.

There are still a few systems, including alarms and also Sky's set top boxes, that are over reliant on voiceband modems for communication.

The problem is that there's a huge difference between how a traditional digital PSTN line (i.e. bog standard eircom line) and a VoIP service handle audio. To your ear, the VoIP service may actually sound better, but the compression can be much more dynamic and adaptive than a PSTN line resulting in all sort of chaos for the modem.

Basically, a PSTN line just samples at 8kHz and with only 8bit resolution using a somewhat non-linear system that's adapted to ensure human voices sound good.
VoIP and also mobile phone networks can be way more flexible than that but it kills modems that are totally restricted to the PSTN approach to things.

At this stage, we're at the tipping point where PSTN lines are becoming less common than they once were and IP services are replacing them.

The alarm companies and Sky would want to seriously catch up! They're lost in the 1990s somewhere.

PSTN phoniness are rapidly becoming about as relevant as fax machines.

Are there any adaptors that might send the SMS traffic through an IP system?

i.e. some kind of a device that contains a modem and can produce the necessary dial tone and PSTN voice paths to connect to the panel and then transmit the data back to the monitoring centre over IP or that could convert it back to GSM SMS ?