Only a week after announcing its newly formed partnership with Tollgrade, a supplier of network service assurance products, Minacom has made news again. The VoIP test solution provider for cable multi-service operators (MSOs) has introduced an addition to its DirectQuality R7 service level test automation platform.
This platform has long allowed operators to test VoIP service quality directly to subscriber-installed multimedia terminal adapters (MTAs). However, with this new functionality, the DirectQuality R7 test platform offers test coverage for cable MSOs deploying and managing VoIP services. The Minacom patent-pending MTA loopback testing technique lets operators perform both analog/audio and IP/RTP-based end-to-end VoIP quality tests from PowerProbe service level test probes installed in hubs and/or the network operation center (NOC). IP/RTP loopback testing measures VoIP media streaming performance and quality at the packet level, while analog/audio loopback testing provides true user-perceived speech quality analysis including the impairments audio codes introduce when performing digital/analog and analog/digital speech conversion and compression.
The technique is compatible with widely deployed MTAs compatible with data-over-cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) version 2.0 or later, including devices from Arris, Motorola (News - Alert), and other leading manufacturers.
In addition to testing VoIP quality within a cable MSO's network, Minacom PowerProbes can conduct loopback tests from the PSTN-side of media gateways and softswitches to fully assess the effects PSTN/IP conversion has on VoIP quality. As most cable VoIP customers regularly place calls outside the MSO's network, testing VoIP as it is delivered to the PSTN is a critical part of most operators' quality assurance test strategies.
Minacom's MTA loopback testing method is compatible with PowerProbe software test agents capable of measuring all industry-standard speech quality metrics, including MOS, R-factor, packet loss, jitter, latency, echo, noise, call volume, and DTMF transparency, as well as common network times and call connectivity measurements such as dial-tone delay, post-dial delay, billing-duration and call completion ratio.
In addition, loopback testing can also be used to validate Internet / video and data transmission performance.
Minacom's DirectQuality R7 test automation solutions are specifically designed to help Telcos and Cable MSO's deploy and maintain VoIP/telephony, IPTV (News - Alert), video, internet, fax and modem services. DirectQuality's web-based OSS interacts seamlessly with legacy operational support systems, integrating service quality into existing business processes including fault management and customer support systems.
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Cindy Waxer is a Toronto-based freelance journalist specializing in business and technology. She has written for publications including TIME, Fortune Small Business, Business 2.0, Computerworld, Canadian Business, and Workforce Management. To see more of her articles, please visit Cindy Waxer’s columnist page.