You might have noticed the increasing migration of communications networks from traditional time-division multiplexing platforms to Internet Protocol systems. Yes IP communications can save you money and yes they let you hook up more cool apps and other stuff to your system. But, they also add another layer of complexity to what is no doubt an already overburdened IT departments – not to mention an unwelcome bump to your IT expenses.
A recent white paper explained how CA Technologies (News - Alert) is offering eHealth for Voice as a way to “simplify voice management and ensure the delivery of reliable, toll-quality voice service for a wide variety of TDM and IP-based voice systems and applications,” company officials assert.
Basically, the product puts performance, fault and voice management for all network services under a single point of control, as CA officials say. No doubt you can see the efficiency and problem-solving advantages of this. The solution also addresses the need for better call quality.
“Name one of the most prevalent issues in VoIP environments today and probably the first thought that ran through your mind was poor call quality,” TMC reported in April.
But you can stop kicking your server. According to officials at Tone Software (News - Alert), a software development firm specializing in voice management, telecommunications, and IT infrastructure management solutions, 60 percent of VoIP quality problems have nothing to do with the VoIP call server. As a result, voice management support teams often “struggle to identify and address the right quality problems,” Tone Software officials say.
The way the CA software works, it collects data and polls processes automatically via modem, IP, and secure access systems, data from calls, voice mail, e-mail, faxes and instant messaging, and puts it in a central database where reports can be generated covering anything the broad view to as granular as you want to get, be they ad-hoc or historical reports.
You want timely Mean Opinion Score calculations based on such QoS metrics as packet delay, jitter and loss? It can do that. Want to create thresholds and performance policies for dozens of system variables? No problem “as thresholds are violated, eHealth for Voice will send alarms via e-mail, pager, text message and SNMP trap.”
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.Edited by Carrie Schmelkin