In June 2021, the Department of Telecom issued a new set of regulations around OSP compliance. These regulations radically simplified the OSP norms – which reduced the overhead associated with OSP compliance. This has been good news for BPOs, KPOs, and other such companies that rely on voice-based support as a business. However, this simplification has given rise to a few myths that need to be addressed. Here are some of the more salient myths:
Myth 1: OSP compliance is no longer required.
OSP regulation has been simplified, not discarded. Companies are still expected to adhere to OSP requirements and there are consequences for being non-compliant. The voice network of the OSP needs to adhere to rules around:
- Toll Bypass
- Maintenance of records and logs
- Security conditions
- Connectivity requirements between POPs and OSP Centers
- Remote working agents
For instance, consider a scenario where a company has a POP based in Singapore and agents working in Bangalore. What kind of network connectivity does the Department of Telecom mandate?
Another example: If a company houses both a service desk and a development center in the same Hyderabad office, and has a POP located in Frankfurt, can both departments use the same infrastructure?
Myth 2: Companies can set up their telephony networks in any manner whatsoever.
A pernicious myth that has gained prominence is that, in the new relaxed OSP regime, any and all voice network architectures are valid and allowed. This is a particularly dangerous myth because it exposes organizations to needless non-compliance with government regulations.
Even worse, we have come across legal firms that seem to literally pick sentences from multiple clauses and combine them in Frankensteinian ways in order to justify any architecture that an organization comes with. This is especially dangerous because companies depend on their legal teams to tell them how to remain on the right side of the law, but when they are found to be non-compliant, it is the companies that have to deal with the regulators, not the legal firms.
Here is an example we came across recently: A company’s agents work at the OSP center, and the company has SD-WAN connectivity across its offices, including the POP location. The company believed that since SD-WAN is ‘allowed’ per the latest OSP norms, it is compliant. In reality, OSPs are permitted to route voice calls over SD-WAN only if the underlying connectivity itself is MPLS/IPLC/NPLC.
Myth 3: Calls over regular internet/broadband are allowed.
This has been an especially problematic myth, because it contains a kernel of truth to it. The kernel of truth is that agents who are working from outside of office (working from home, for example), are indeed allowed to connect over regular internet/broadband. However, this benefit is a special carveout created by the DoT – it is by no means allowed for OSPs to connect their centers over regular internet to their POPs.
Assertion has been in the business of OSP compliance for over 7 years now, and we are dedicated to ensuring that our customers, by being provably compliant, avoid the heavy hand of regulatory enquiry. With that in mind, we take a careful, thought-through, well-structured approach to compliance — ensuring that our customers face zero issues with OSP norms. In case of any inquiries from the DoT or Telecom Service Providers, Assertion takes responsibility for addressing them, allowing you to concentrate on your core business activities.
With Assertion on your side, you can be confident that OSP regulatory challenges truly become a non-issue. Get in touch with Pradeep Vasudev, the expert in OSP Compliance to learn more about how we can help you remain compliant.