[February 8, 2005]

Avaya Releases Remote IP Telephony Monitor

BY JOHANNE TORRES

Companies will now be able to remotely monitor and manage their converged Internet protocol telephony networks thanks to Avaya. Business communications provider Avaya Inc. announced today that it released a real-time management solution for enterprise IP telephony networks which will be commercially available, placing voice and data sharing capabilities in one same network infrastructure without disrupting voice service.

The new service called Avaya Remote Managed Services for IP Telephony—designed by Avaya Global Services is a software-based service that proactively monitors the relationship between voice and data IP applications, as well as their shared physical network infrastructure. With this service, businesses can quickly detect and in many cases automatically resolve performance issues at their source, before they can affect network operation.

Latency problems over an IP telephony connection could dramatically degrade the sound of a voice conversation. The new Avaya solution monitors converged networks by constantly measuring capacity, performance and other key metrics of a healthier network. It analyzes the root cause of problems, such as high latency, and uses Avaya software to fix them and learn how to identify them more quickly if they happen again.

According to Avaya, its software and Enterprise Service Platform that comprises the company’s Remote Management Services for IP Telephony were designed to help more companies take advantage of the many advances IP telephony enables — such as increased mobility and productivity for employees and improved service for their customers — by enabling businesses to have a more stable IP telephony network.

"IP is enabling organizations to embed communications into the heart of their businesses," said Peter Licata, Avaya’s vice president of Managed Services. "Once the decision to incorporate the benefits of IP communications into their processes is made, IT executives face a higher level of urgency in that they need to ensure that voice is always available and that quality of service is being delivered throughout the organization. Monitoring voice and data separately does not provide a complete view of network operations. Unless you monitor the applications as well as the infrastructure, identifying issues that affect network performance is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

One of the first organizations to deploy the Avaya Remote Managed Services for IP Telephony is Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology in Ontario, Canada. Centennial has an Avaya IP network that includes Avaya media servers and gateways, MultiVantage Communications Applications, an Avaya Call Management System and Avaya wireless access points. The network, which connects more than 42,000 students and four main campuses, provides the school's main voice communications and supports a call center that handles inquiries for admissions, registration and financial aid.

Centennial's IT department worked with Avaya Global Services to implement a remote management system for the college's voice and data network. Because Centennial was able to get the latest remote management tools without having to invest in infrastructure, it eliminated its communications-related capital expense and reduced its total cost of ownership, while enabling 24x7 network reliability.

"Communications is at the heart of our ability to function as an institution of higher learning," said Lan Nguyen, Centennial's CIO and top officer for IT innovation and partnerships. "With our e-learning initiative, enabling our student population to learn wherever and whenever they choose, and our new Science and Technology Centre, with wall to wall wireless access for students and faculty, we must be sure our network is performing at top levels. We expect that Avaya Remote Managed Services for IP telephony will enable us to reach that goal and make sure that we provide excellent service to our students and faculty."

Avaya's new Secure Intelligent Gateway, a smaller server style computer which runs the new Avaya Remote Managed Services software, is the core of the managed services delivery Enterprise Service Platform. The solution is available now in North America and will be available globally later this year.

Avaya Inc.
www.avaya.com