📡 Communications & Connectivity

The Rails for Everything IP — Engineered, Secure, and Proven

Communications (voice, video, messaging, contact center) and Connectivity (fiber/coax/5G/satellite/Wi-Fi/private 5G, plus campus/metro fabrics) are one system now.
SolveForce designs and operates the end-to-end stack—from access circuits and RF to SIP/SBC/UC/CCaaS to cloud on-ramps and SD-WAN—wrapped in Zero-Trust security and evidence pipelines so every call, packet class, and change is measurable and auditable.


🎯 Outcomes We Optimize

  • Clear voice, fast apps— EF lanes for calls/alerts and assured classes for video/control; stable p95/p99 latency for apps.
  • Resilience by design— dual underlays (DIA + 5G/Fixed Wireless/Coax/GPON), SD-WAN brownout steering, Anycast ingress for UC/CCaaS.
  • Security by default— TLS/SRTP, STIR/SHAKEN, ZTNA/SASE/NAC, WAF/Bot, DMARC to p=reject; device posture enforced.
  • Evidence on demand— OTDR/light levels, RFC 2544/Y.1564, MOS/jitter/loss, DSCP preservation, E911 tests, BGP policy, change diffs → SIEM/SOAR.
  • Predictable cost— TEM/FinOps dashboards, commitment plans, unit economics ($/site, $/1k req, $/min, $/GB).

🧭 Reference Architecture (rails → fabric → overlay → comms → cloud)

Access & RF rails
  • Fiber DIA/Ethernet, GPON/XGS-PON, Coax (DOCSIS 3.1/4.0), Fixed Wireless, 5G/LTE (private APN optional), LEO satellite tertiary. → /connectivity
Campus/Metro Fabric
  • LAN/WLAN/CAN/MAN with EVPN/VXLAN or routed access; multigig PoE to APs; MACsec uplinks; metro EPL/EVPL/E-LAN or wavelengths for DCI. → /lan/wlan/man/wavelength
Overlay & Policy
  • SD-WAN SLOs per app, packet duplication for EF, FEC for video, breakout/backhaul strategy; Anycast UC/API ingress. → /sd-wan
Communications Plane
  • SIP trunks & SBCs (TLS/SRTP, topology hiding, media anchoring, codec policy, STIR/SHAKEN), UC/UCaaS, CCaaS, E911/NG911. → /sip-trunking/hosted-voice/ccaas
Cloud & On-ramps
  • Direct Connect / ExpressRoute / Interconnect, BGP policy/communities, transit hubs; Private Endpoints in landing zones. → /direct-connect
Identity & Security
  • SSO/MFA, ZTNA for private apps & admin, SASE for web/SaaS; NAC 802.1X at the edge; WAF/Bot; DMARC/BIMI; keys in HSM/KMS, secrets in vault. → /ztna/sase/nac/waf/email-auth
Observability & Evidence
  • NetFlow/telemetry, logs/metrics/traces + config diffs, quality boards, E911/IVR tests → /siem-soar; QBR/audit packs.

📦 Service Catalog (what we build & run)

  • Circuits & RF— qualification, diversity letters, LOA/CFA, turn-up & acceptance (OTDR, 2544/1564), static IPs/IPv6, private APNs.
  • Campus/Metro— EVPN/VXLAN cores, QoS templates, MACsec, WLAN 6/6E/7, Private 5G/CBRS.
  • SD-WAN— app classes & path policies; packet duplication for EF; FEC for video; Anycast ingress for UC/CCaaS.
  • Voice & Contact Center— numbers/LNP, SBCs, STIR/SHAKEN, E911/NG911, recording/redaction (PCI/HIPAA), UC/CCaaS integration.
  • Security— ZTNA admin & app access, SASE, NAC, WAF/Bot, DLP; email trust to p=reject.
  • Cloud on-ramps— DX/ER/Interconnect, BGP policy, Private Endpoints; inspection hubs.
  • Evidence & DR— SIEM pipelines, Object-Lock backups, DR runbooks, drill artifacts.

🔢 Planning Tables

A) Access Technologies (typical business-grade)

TechDown/Up (typical)p95 Latency (metro)Best ForNotes
DIA (Fiber/Ethernet)0.5–100+ G sym.1–5 msHQ/edge, cloud on-rampsSLA, BGP/IP Transit options
XGS-PON1–10 G / 1–10 G3–10 msBranch hubs, analyticsShared; good price/perf
Coax (DOCSIS 3.1/4.0)0.1–8 G / 0.02–1–2 G8–25 msRetail/clinics; rapid turn-upsSymmetric in select DOCSIS 4.0 cities
Fixed Wireless50–1000 / 25–500 Mb/s5–20 msRooftops, fast installsSite survey/LoS
5G/LTE (biz)100–600 / 20–100 Mb/s20–40 msPrimary/backupPrivate APN + IPsec for inbound
LEO Satellite20–220 / 5–40 Mb/s40–80 msRemote/tertiaryClear sky view

B) Voice Codecs (incl. overhead)

CodecBandwidth/CallQualityUse
Opus (wideband)30–50 kb/sHighSoftphones/UC
G.722 (wideband)~100 kb/sHighDesk phones
G.711 μ/A~100 kb/sLegacyInterop
G.72930–40 kb/sOKConstrained links

C) MEF Carrier Ethernet (metro)

ServiceTopologyVLAN TransparencyBest For
EPLP2PYesL2 private line (storage/VDI)
EVPLHub/SpokePer-EVCMulti-site spokes
E-LANAny-to-anyYesMulti-campus L2
E-TreeRooted multipointRoot→LeafDistribution networks

🔐 Security That Sticks

  • Edge— 802.1X EAP-TLS everywhere; posture profiling; dynamic segmentation (VLAN/SGT); rogue controls; DHCP snooping/DAI/IPSG.
  • UplinksMACsec; control-plane policing; bounded L2; routed access preferred.
  • Admin & appsZTNA for private consoles; SASE for web/SaaS; WAF/Bot on portals/APIs; DMARC/BIMI for trust in comms.
  • Custody— KMS/HSM keys; vault secrets; rotation ceremonies logged.
  • Compliance— PCI/HIPAA/NIST/SOC2/ISO; E911/NG911 test evidence for voice.

📐 SLO Guardrails (you can tune these)

DomainKPI / SLO (p95 unless noted)Target
Call setupPost-Dial Delay (local/long-haul)≤ 1–2 s / ≤ 2–4 s
Voice qualityMOS (wideband)≥ 4.1
Jitter / LossOne-way / sustained≤ 20–30 ms / < 0.3–0.5%
Site latencyBranch→cloud (regional)≤ 20–50 ms
SD-WANBrownout steer time≤ 1–3 s
WLAN join/roamAssoc+802.1X+DHCP / handoff≤ 2–4 s / ≤ 50–150 ms
SecurityZTNA admin attach≤ 1–3 s
TrustDMARC rolloutp=reject ≤ 60–90 days
AvailabilityDual-underlay effective≥ 99.95%
EvidenceTests/logs → SIEM≤ 60–120 s
Unapproved changesPolicy gate= 0

Breach handling: SOAR opens a case and runs guarded plays (reroute, packet-dup enable, codec shift, WAF rule, re-key, rollback), attaching artifacts. → /siem-soar


🧪 Acceptance Tests & Artifacts (we keep the receipts)

  • Optical/Access— OTDR traces, Rx/Tx light levels, splice maps; modem RF levels; static IP confirmations.
  • Ethernet/TransportRFC 2544/Y.1564 throughput/latency/jitter/loss; CoS verification.
  • Routing/BGP— peering screenshots, prefix filters, MED/local-pref/communities; Anycast failover tests.
  • Voice/CC— synthetic MOS/jitter/loss, post-dial delay, STIR/SHAKEN headers, TLS/SRTP cipher checks, E911/NG911 test logs.
  • WLAN/Private 5G— join & roam timers, coverage heatmaps, voice MOS under load.
  • Security— ZTNA admits/denies, NAC posture logs, SASE/WAF events, DMARC/TLS-RPT headers, KMS/vault rotations.
    All artifacts stream to /siem-soar and roll into QBR/audit packs.

🔁 Use-Case Patterns

  • Branch @ Scale— DIA + 5G/Fixed Wireless/Coax, SD-WAN duplication for EF, SASE breakouts, Anycast UC ingress.
  • HQ/Colo/Cloud Edge— 10/40/100G DCI, SBC clusters, private on-ramps, WAF/API security; DR runbooks.
  • Retail/Clinics— XGS-PON/Coax primary + LTE tertiary; captive portal Wi-Fi; PCI tokenization; HIPAA DLP for transcripts.
  • Events/Pop-ups— 5G primary, packet-dup voice lanes, portable SBC/UCaaS; quick demobilization.
  • Industrial/OT— Private 5G + Wi-Fi split; OT segmentation; alarm lanes; IEC/NERC overlays.

🧱 Best Practices (field-tested)

  • Engineer diversity— separate laterals/bridges/POPs/providers; get and keep diversity letters.
  • Keep EF clean— mark at source, trust at access, verify end-to-end; don’t over-classify.
  • Use packet duplication selectively— EF lanes, high-value queues; cap for cost.
  • Bound L2— prefer routed access; EVPN/VXLAN when L2 stretch is required.
  • Plan MTU— account for IPsec/SD-WAN and NVMe-oF; test fragmentation.
  • Anycast ingress— health-gated withdraw for UC/API edges.
  • Object-Lock backups— configs and recording stores; test restores.
  • Document everything— cable IDs, VLAN/VRF maps, number/LNP plans—publish in the Knowledge Hub.

📝 Communications & Connectivity Intake (copy-paste & fill)

  • Sites & underlays(addresses, DIA/Coax/GPON/5G/Fixed Wireless/Satellite, target speeds, diversity needs)
  • Voice/CC(UC/UCaaS/CCaaS platforms, SIP trunks/SBCs, numbers/LNP, E911/NG911 scope)
  • LAN/WLAN(ports/PoE, SSIDs/6 GHz, NAC scope) • Metro/Optical (EPL/EVPL/E-LAN, wavelengths)
  • Overlay(SD-WAN vendor/policies, packet-dup/FEC)
  • Security(IdP/SSO/MFA, ZTNA/SASE/NAC, WAF/Bot, DMARC, keys/vault)
  • Cloud(DX/ER/Interconnect POPs, regions, Private Endpoints)
  • Compliance(PCI/HIPAA/SOC2/ISO/NIST/etc.), artifact retention
  • Operations(managed vs co-managed, SIEM destination, change windows, escalation)
  • Budget & timeline, success metrics (MOS, jitter/loss, data p95 latency, availability, cost)

We’ll return a design-to-quote with carrier options, SBC & QoS designs, SLO-mapped pricing, compliance overlays, and an evidence plan you can reuse in audits and QBRs.
Or start at /customized-quotes.


📞 Make Communications & Connectivity Work—Together, Securely, and With Proof

From circuits and RF to SBCs and SD-WAN, from LAN/WLAN to cloud on-ramps, we’ll deliver communications & connectivity that are clear, fast, resilient—and auditable.

Key terms in plain language

Open a term for a concise explanation of language used on this page.

Fiber Internet

Internet delivered through strands of glass using light. Fiber commonly supports high capacity, low latency, and strong upload performance, but availability must be confirmed for the exact address.

Latency

The time it takes data to travel between two points. Lower latency improves voice, video meetings, cloud applications, gaming, and other real-time services.

Dedicated Internet Access (DIA)

A business-grade Internet connection with capacity dedicated to the customer rather than shared in the same way as typical consumer broadband. It often includes symmetrical speeds and an SLA.

SD-WAN

Software-defined wide area networking. It manages multiple connections and chooses paths based on application needs, performance, and policy to improve resilience and control.

Unified Communications (UCaaS)

A cloud-based combination of business calling, messaging, meetings, presence, and collaboration tools managed as one communications service.

SIP Trunking

A service that connects a business phone system to the public telephone network using Internet Protocol, replacing or supplementing traditional phone lines.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software accessed as an online service instead of being installed and maintained entirely on the customer’s own computers or servers.

Disaster Recovery (DRaaS)

A plan and service for restoring applications, data, and operations after an outage or disruption. DRaaS provides recovery infrastructure through a managed cloud service.