Anthony Ricigliano Technology News - Choosing Satellite Technology by Anthony Ricigliano

Oct. 13, 2011 - PRLog -- Anthony Ricigliano - Anthony Ricigliano Technology News and Advice: Selecting a satellite provider to meet your telecommunication needs can be a complicated process. Because this market satisfies a diverse set of requirements, it’s important to carefully evaluate each option before making a final decision. Here is a set of considerations to keep in mind when comparing providers:

1. The Core Architecture
As a best practice, choose a provider with a flexible architecture that can adapt quickly to your changing needs. Referred to as a universal system or platform, this system can support any type of application, satellite band, or topology. Although a specialized system might appear to be a better fit at first, you have no guarantee that it will be able to change to meet your expanding needs.

2. Scalable Design
Choose a provider with a modular structure that can grow with you. This allows you to launch your project with a minimal financial outlay and add services and features as you need them. Leasing equipment instead of buying whenever possible can also keep your expenses as low as possible.

3. Efficient Bandwidth Usage
To minimize costs, it’s important to not only right-size your capacity based on network usage, but to allocate the available bandwidth across your resources in an efficient manner to prevent waste and bottlenecks. Look for a provider that can split capacity multiple ways including using different methodologies for inbound and outbound channels.

4. Quality of Service or QoS
Advanced QoS capabilities should be a minimum requirement when choosing a satellite provider. This feature allows parameters to be dynamically adjusted based on a wide range of possible network scenarios for the highest level of flexibility and cost savings. With this feature, resources can be prioritized based on almost any condition including specific application or even weather conditions.

5. Secure Transmissions
Before using satellite technology to transmit sensitive information over the network, evaluate the provider’s data security protocols. At this time, the best platforms use a combination of the Advanced Encryption Standard, or AES, and dynamic key exchange. Transmission Control Protocol, or TCP, can also be used to ensure adequate throughput.

6. Terrestrial Network Integration
The satellite platform should be capable of integrating with a wide variety of terrestrial networks to provide your organization with a seamless infrastructure regardless of location. This should hold true for your most remote locations as well as those in urban areas, and this capability shouldn’t be impacted by international borders.

7. Mobility Concerns
In addition to supporting your core telecommunication needs at static facilities, a flexible service provider should also be able to meet your mobile needs without requiring any major hardware investment or a different network management system. Known as Communication-on-the-Move, or COTM, this technology has been adopted by the military as well as aviation and maritime industries, but the opportunities for a mobile workforce shouldn’t be overlooked.

8. Management Capabilities
Evaluate the efficiency of the service provider’s Operations Support System, or OSS. This is the internal system the provider uses to set up a client’s system, manage resources, and troubleshoot system issues. An efficient OSS should be able to monitor the entire network within one interface as well as provide real-time weather and satellite information.

9. Your Ability to Access Information
Although most service providers are not willing to provide you with the necessary privileges to change network parameters, the ability to view certain information in the OSS could prove to be a valuable feature. In addition to providing a tool to manage your use of expensive resources, this visibility can provide a first-hand view of system performance or an advance indication of possible problem areas.

10. An Established Brand
A well-established brand name delivers a number of benefits. It indicates that the company has a proven track record of reliability and satisfied customers as well as fewer compatibility issues if you partner with other companies who use the same provider.

By carefully evaluating each potential satellite telecommunication provider, your company will have the best chance of choosing the one that meets your needs at the lowest possible cost.

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