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Conducting
A VoIP Readiness Assessment of Your
Corporate Network
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by:
TelCon Associates, Inc
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2005
is predicted to be the year of voice over IP (VoIP) solutions for a
growing number of corporate enterprises - both large and small.
If you have been considering the benefits of implementing VoIP, you are
certainly not alone. In its just-published "2005 Telecommunications
Report," Harris Interactive found that 87% of business decision-makers
are familiar with VoIP and, of that number, 12% currently use it in
their organizations.
So what's the big attraction?
Cost mainly. But lowering company telecom expenses is just one aspect
of the lure of implementing VoIP solutions. Other advantages include
the potential for value-added services and the capability of more
advanced features made possible through the integration of voice and
data (e.g. videoconferencing, advanced voicemail features,etc.)
Sounds good, but here's the rub...it's also been estimated that up to
85% of corporate networks are simply not ready to handle VoIP.
Combining voice with data is a tricky proposition. After decades of
getting used to near-perfect sound quality delivered over traditional
voice networks, even the slightest delays in voip can be very annoying.
Before diving in to a full-blown VoIP solution, it is advisable that
you conduct a voice over IP readiness assessment of your existing
network. This assessment will provide you with two very important
pieces of information:
1) The capability of your existing data network to deliver high-quality
voip calls, and;
2) the ability to evaluate the quality of these calls during a wide
variety of traffic scenarios.
Keep in mind that most data networks were not designed for VoIP, so
chances are that some upgrading of your existing network will be
necessary.
One critical requirement for VoIP to work is QoS. (Short for Quality of
Service, a networking term that specifies a guaranteed throughput
level). For QoS to work, the routers and switches that manage the data
traffic flow in your network must be able to prioritize VoIP data
packets via QoS.
4 Steps to a Successful VoIP Readiness Assessment
1) Conduct a complete inventory of your existing network. Identify
routers, switches and links in your network and store their
configuration data in a database. This step is crucial before you can
move to step 2.
2) Determine the current CPU, memory and bandwidth of your network
devices, routers and switches. This information will give you a
"baseline" of your existing network infrastructure and current
capacity.
3) Simulate and compare VoIP usage scenarios to estimate the call
capacity of the network.
4) Determine how well VoIP will perform on your network by measuring
simulated VoIP traffic and calculating call quality based on a Mean
Opinion Score (MOS).
We have recently added a VoIP bandwidth calculator tool to help you
determine various codec, MOS, and bandwidth scenarios. Go to
www.telconassociates.com for more information.
While VoIP can ride over the highways that your data currently does, it
is a new application with new rules. A VoIP readiness assessment will
give you the information you need to incorporate a VoIP solution
without unnecessary hassles and expenses due to lack of proper planning
and research.
If you are considering migrating to VoIP and need help, contact us and
we'll help guide you to the right sources.
TelCon Associates
For 32 years, TelCon Associates has helped companies of all sizes gain
control and reduce telecom spending through their proprietary methods
of telecom audits, telecom bill management and telecom audit training.
Visit www.telconassociates.com for more information and free news and
resources in the telecom industry.
About the Author
For 32 years, TelCon Associates has helped
companies of all sizes gain control and reduce telecom spending through
their proprietary methods of telecom audits, telecom bill management
and telecom audit training. Visit www.telconassociates.com for more
information and free news and resources in the telecom industry.
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