Aptela’s Virtual PBX Technology
Facility & Servers
Aptela’s primary data center facility is hosted by Equinix. Located in Ashburn, Virginia, the center is home to one of the largest Internet exchange points in the world. Engineered to reach high standards of availability for Aptela's virtual PBX services, each of our carrier-grade servers is equipped with a fully redundant power source, which is backed up by an N + 1 UPS power subsystem. We have an on-site diesel generator that can provide power to our servers indefinitely in case of an extended power outage. To further ensure availability, we dual-monitor our facility with a redundant external monitoring service utilized to ensure immediate response in a crisis.
Cooling is provided through an N + 1 redundant HVAC system. In line with our efforts to support and promote Green Computing – the practice of using computing resources efficiently - we have decreased the burden on our cooling systems by moving to servers that feature dramatically reduced power consumption.
Network and Carriers
Our core network uses Cisco 7600 series routers and 6900 series switches to provide a fully redundant carrier-grade network and routing environment. Even though we own and operate on our own AS(Autonomous System) number, we do not solely rely on the relatively simple routing provided by BGP(Border Gateway Protocol) for all of our traffic. While this may provide the least number of hops for traffic, in our experience it is not necessarily the best indicator for Quality of Service (QoS). Instead, all voice and data entering and exiting our network is dynamically monitored in real-time and optimally routed across a multitude of Tier 1 and Tier 2 carriers to maximize QoS.
Our carrier partnerships deliver extensive nationwide coverage. Multiple partnerships give us the flexibility to route around the occasional carrier outage.
Application
As one of the first movers in the field of Hosted VoIP and Virtual PBX technology,we have unparalleled expertise, which gives us a leg up on the competition. We know and understand the intricacies of SIP, RTP, virtual PBX, and VoIP like few others and have used this experience to continually innovate and advance the capabilities of the Aptela platform - the proprietary infrastructure on which all Aptela's services are based. Our platform is fully standards-compliant and has successfully passed interoperability testing with numerous hardware, software and telephony providers.
Security
We take the security of our servers extremely seriously, knowing full well that the communications service that we provide is the lifeblood of our clients. Our data centers are staffed and monitored 24x7. In addition, access is restricted through a number of "high-security" features, including interlocking man-trap doors and biometric hand-geometry scanners.
Regulation
Providing Aptela services is not just a matter of spinning up a number of servers and inking carrier-agreements to carry voice traffic. Telecommunications services - including Hosted VoIP - are regulated by the FCC, and as such there are a number of rules and regulations that must be followed. Unlike some other providers out there, we take these regulations – such as E911, TRS, CPNI – very seriously and have formal processes in place to maintain full compliance. This industry is still quite young and the regulations are evolving. We constantly monitor the activity at the FCC to stay on top changing rules and regulations, which benefit our clients and our company.
