Voice over IP gets faster off the starting block

Voice over IP (VOIP, the idea of running voice and data over the one network) is getting closer to reality, according to Jim McQuaid, director of network monitoring solutions for e-business infrastructure management IT firm NetIQ. “It’s not mainstream yet,” he says, “but it’s at the take-off point.” Speaking shortly after his company launched new software to streamline both the deployment and management of VOIP infrastructures, he said that, with organisations like Dow Chemical in the US among many others putting in VOIP systems now, the writing is on the wall. “Greenfield applications are going in now,” he says, “and if companies are ripping out their infrastructure there are good reasons for them to go VOIP. Cisco is one of the leaders here, and they’re pushing it. Internally they’re all VOIP.” And with benefits ranging from reduced infrastructure and network management costs, as well as more future-orientated managed infrastructure functionality, like plug-in anywhere opportunities, the attraction is clear – although the initial costs might not be. But McQuaid says that to get these benefits as quickly and as sustainably as possible, firms need to facilitate and manage the introduction of VOIP. And that means first ensuring that their infrastructures can cope – and if not to find out what they need to do, the costs and so on. Second it mean keeping tabs on it once the system is up. And that’s where his firm’s new products come in. One is Chariot VOIP Assessor, the other VOIP Manager suite, and they do pretty much what their names suggest. The former is based on the the firm’s existing network testing technology, and allows systems integrators and network managers to determine a network’s readiness for VoIP prior to the purchase and deployment of VoIP equipment. It recognises that users are accustomed to the high reliability and quality of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and call quality drops off fast if packet loss, delay or jitter occur. The system can emulate 1,000 simultaneous VoIP calls across a network, collecting voice and network metrics, and allowing administrators to handle problems pre-deployment. Meanwhile, VoIP Manager Suiteis a scalable management platform for monitoring the health, performance and availability of VoIP installations once they’re in, including VoIP servers, applications and the underlying network. It includes functionality for alerts and exception reporting as well as automated problem management to maintain availability and quality of VoIP systems and networks. McQuaid says that with these new products, NetIQ will help overcome the biggest obstacles to VoIP deployment and running: concern over call quality, matching PSTN and cost. Chariot VoIP Assessor is out now and available on a one-month assessment license starting at $4,000 or perpetual licenses starting at $14,000. VoIP Manager starts at $10,000 for a typical pilot VoIP deployment.