News

iconectiv has announced that two of its employees have been selected to take part in the Women in Cable Telecommunications’ (WICT) 2020 Rising Leaders Program. Sharon Oddy, head of marketing and corporate communications, and Kim Carter, senior software developer, will join other industry leaders for the immersion program that prepares women to undertake increased leadership responsibilities.

Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Leadership Program iconectiv leaders to attend immersive leadership development program for the fourth consecutive year What’s the News: iconectiv’s Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications Sharon Oddy and Senior Software Developer Kim Carter have been selected to participate in the Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) 2020 Rising Leaders Program. Why it Matters: This is the fourth consecutive year iconectiv has taken part in this competitive program aimed at developing strategic practices, building alliances and effective advocates for diverse leadership in the telecommunications industry. Who’s it for: For all members of WICT and all stakeholders in the cable and telecommunications industry including service providers, mobile network operators (MNOs), application providers and enterprises.

In these days when ‘in-person’ is not often a viable option, the importance of adapting our means of communication via technology cannot be understated. The need and ability to connect is mission critical in a world without boundaries. Yet, while technological advances make communications simpler and more ubiquitous, interconnecting it across the infrastructure and delivering it to the right person is enormously complex. That’s what iconectiv does best. Efficiently interconnecting disparate applications, networks and devices in a world where accessing and exchanging information anywhere, anytime needs to be simple, seamless and secure.

Mobile phone numbers are the primary personal identifier in the U.S., with the vast number of Americans owning a mobile phone. Now as consumers use their mobile phone numbers to register for products and services, this data has become an attractive target for fraudsters. This is why organizations are looking to use mobile phone numbers to better assess risk, mitigate fraud and protect both their business and customers. The challenge is that many of these businesses are unaware of where this phone number data comes from, how to verify if it is accurate or if it has been obtained legitimately

I recently came across a 1984 article written about Mervin J. Kelly, the legendary American physicist whose career with Bell Labs spanned 23 years and multiple positions, from Director of Research to Chairman of the Board and everything in between. Described as a motivator who asked the right questions and found the best people to answer them, he is hailed as the driving force that steered the famed research enterprise into solid-state physics, a novel field of study that resulted in the 1948 invention of the transistor and the semiconductor chip. The building block for all digital communications, from home computers to space shuttles, its inventors, Bell Lab physicists William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, won the Nobel Prize in 1956. Upon Kelly’s retirement in 1959, he, too, won a top prize, the John Fritz Medal, the highest honor reserved for engineering greats such as Alexander Graham Bell, Alfred Nobel, Charles Kettering, George Westinghouse and Orville Wright.

Chile’s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication has awarded a 5-year contract to manage the country’s mobile number portability (MNP) database Telcordia Technologies Chile, S.A. Under the terms of the contract, Telcordia Technologies Chile, S.A. will now continue as the MNP database manager until 2025. In November, telecom regulator Subtel said a total of 19.3 million mobile numbers have been ported in Chile since the introduction of number portability in January 2012.

In the U.S. market, the LNP program is administered through a national database called the NPAC (National Portability Administration Center) which contains the routing information for over 800 million ported and pooled numbers.

Robocalls make up nearly half of all phone calls so frustrated consumers simply don’t answer incoming calls and businesses can’t get through to customers when they need to reach them. At the same time, phone numbers have become the defacto personal identifier for consumers and—if verified— can provide valuable information for companies looking to mitigate risk. As communications security professionals gather at this year’s Communications Fraud Control Association’s (CFCA) annual convention, iconectiv will highlight the role of trusted communications and how the industry is working together to maintain the integrity of the phone number to protect businesses and businesses.

At the end of the day, it’s not about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about surrounding yourself with smart talented people who can use their unique skills to drive projects forward and get the best possible result. Everyone has a voice and should communicate their ideas openly. A leader must be able to listen, respond, stay on track and move in a direction that will allow the whole team to be successful. The bottom line: Successful projects require great leadership and the skillsets to execute. Success in almost everything requires ruthless planning, focused execution and a relentless — “never give up” drive to the finish line. “Good luck” is often the result of good planning.

When it comes to investigations, timeliness matters. The Enhanced Law Enforcement Platform (ELEP) allows you to securely look up telephone numbers and view porting history dating back to 2004 to identify the service provider of record for phone numbers. Sourced from the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), the data can be accessed via a web-based interface or application programming interface (API). ELEP supports telephone number searches by range and specific number.