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May 23, 2008
• Vol.30 Issue 21
Page(s) 26 in print issue
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Boosting Confidence In Your VoIP System
Techniques Include Deploying Monitoring Tools & Seeking Outside Help
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VoIP is a hot technology taking the corporate world by storm. And why not? As the marriage of data networks to telephony traffic, VoIP can deliver some significant savings for businesses that want to cut communication costs and maximize the return from their existing data networks.
But there is trouble in VoIP paradise: According to a study by Network Instruments (www.networkinstruments.com), only 25% of the study respondents said they are confident in their VoIP systems. While that 25% is better than last year’s 13%, the fact remains this number is hardly a resonant vote of confidence in VoIP.
 A Lack Of Confidence?
It's important to look beyond the raw statistics and take into account the trend revealed by the data. Stephen Brown, product marketing manager at Network Instruments, says even though a 25% rate of confidence in VoIP systems might appear low to an outsider, the rate has doubled between last year and this year. Brown attributes this doubling in confidence to more engineer experience with VoIP systems, as well as the development of more robust VoIP systems.
In most cases, product reliability improves as a technology evolves and product vendors enhance their offerings and work out the bugs. So, says Lisa Pierce, a vice president at Forrester Research, overall IP PBX reliability is improving but varies from vendor to vendor. “If we compare IP PBXes against TDM (time-division multiplexing) PBXes, especially IP PBXes from a few years ago, they were less reliable,” says Pierce. Of course, she adds, reliability varied from vendor to vendor; challenging issues included difficult patch management and buggy software releases for certain products.
Alan Weckel, senior analyst for the Ethernet switch and IP telephony enterprise market at market research firm Dell’Oro Group, says the main reasons behind the apparent lack of confidence in VoIP systems are VoIP’s status as a new technology and the fact that VoIP must be converged onto an existing data network. Convergence of VoIP with existing data networks, says Weckel, can be challenging and lead to new kinds of problems that don’t exist in dedicated voice networks.
Common VoIP Issues
Lack of confidence in a technology from potential buyers can be the kiss of death. After all, busy IT administrators don’t want to inherit new issues and challenges. So what are some of the common issues that tend to rain on the VoIP parade?
Network Instruments’ Brown says contention, the impact of existing applications on VoIP and vice versa, is the most common cause of problems with VoIP. According to Brown, businesses sometimes roll out VoIP without the proper planning and tools, which can lead to difficulties down the road. Administrators must make certain that the existing network can handle added VoIP traffic and existing applications won’t impact VoIP performance, he says.
Timeliness is a critical issue for VoIP traffic. Even though a delay of a few milliseconds is no big deal when it comes to email or Web browsing, VoIP is a real-time application, where any performance degradation is noticeable immediately, Brown notes. Audio clipping can result when it takes longer than 150 milliseconds to move voice packets around, he adds.
Weckel says issues with VoIP boil down to the fact that these systems are new and coexist with data applications on converged networks. So, he says, the bugs in the technology remain to be worked out as the issues inherent with the deployment of new technology on a converged network make themselves apparent.
It appears those seeking to deploy VoIP are faced with a double whammy: Not only must they solve the issues that inevitably crop up with new technology, but they must also figure out a way to get traditional data network applications and VoIP to play nicely together and effectively share limited bandwidth within a single network.
A Confidence Boost
For starters, says Forrester’s Pierce, administrators should ask themselves if the way the company managed its TDM-based telephone infrastructure is the best way to manage IP telephony systems. She says even though many administrators assume the answer is yes, the fact is that VoIP is still maturing as a technology, which means IP telephony systems require more care and vigilance than admins may be able to provide.
So, says Pierce, seeking outside help, whether via managed or hosted services or by hiring third parties to monitor system performance, is a way to boost confidence in today’s VoIP technology. Pierce expects VoIP to continue maturing for at least five more years, so the use of third parties for VoIP management, hosting, or monitoring will continue to be a viable alternative for the next few years.
Network Instruments’ Brown says companies should perform a series of steps to boost confidence in VoIP systems. These include deploying monitoring tools, conducting predeployment assessments, achieving an understanding of proper network performance via daily monitoring, and setting alerts that provide notification of potential problems before they affect end users.
Analysis tools should offer in-depth VoIP analysis alongside other applications running on the network, says Brown. “By only monitoring VoIP, it’s impossible to understand the impact of other business-critical applications on call quality,” he notes. Analysis tools must consider the whole picture behind VoIP performance, and that includes the other applications running alongside VoIP on the converged network.
Also, says Brown, businesses should conduct site surveys before deploying VoIP, understand overall bandwidth demand and application performance, and establish benchmarks for acceptable network performance. These activities are critical for determining how the network will handle the new VoIP traffic and identifying any required changes to support VoIP, he says.
Above all, administrators should keep in mind that VoIP deployment and management is an iterative process, says Dell’Oro’s Weckel. They should understand how VoIP will integrate with the IT infrastructure before deployment. Also, he adds, they must be responsive to users and to network performance post-deployment; feedback is critical to determine what network upgrades and QoS tweaks may be necessary. 
by Sixto Ortiz Jr.
Tips To Boost VoIP Confidence
Survey your network. Before plunging ahead with your VoIP implementation, be sure you clearly understand the capabilities of your network and any upgrades that may be necessary.
Understand your needs. VoIP is an appealing new technology with a significant wow factor, but does your business truly need it?
Commit to improve. Once you identify the network improvements required, commit the resources to getting your network ready for VoIP.
Listen to the users. Users who interact with the system daily are a gold mine of information. Be sure to listen when the inevitable complaints pointing to system glitches occur.
Invest in monitoring tools. Many experts believe monitoring tools are an essential piece of a VoIP system; investigate this thoroughly.
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