AIN offers agility. (advanced intelligent network; AT&T's new 5E10 switch upgrade software)

AT&T's new switch software release makes customers more responsive.

"Responding to customers' drivers" was the strategy behind AT&T's new 5E10 software release, according to Moe Grzelakowski, vice president-infrastructure for AT&T Network Systems. Those drivers include quicker feature introduction, keeping network costs down, new revenue opportunities and network quality issues. Says Grzelakowski: "We really hit the mark on many of them."

Generic switch upgrades often pay little attention to critical competitive concerns such as new service introductions and time to market. Rather, massive standard feature sets and long release intervals are the norm. But with …