VoIP network analysis and monitoring can no longer be
considered luxuries, according to a survey by Network
Instruments.
The research has revealed that compaines believe
that
VoIP applications change too fast for network hardware to keep
up. "People are adopting VoIP before it's maturing," said Charles
Thompson, manager of sales engineering for Network Instruments.
"And this is why monitoring is now so important and necessary."
Even though 45% of the US organisations surveyed had already
implemented VoIP, only 32% felt that they could properly monitor
VoIP performance. In addition, 36% of network managers and
administrators reported questioning their own personal ability to
implement a VoIP system, even though they expected to begin a
deployment in the near future.
"Many organisations adopt VoIP to save on telecom costs without
realising how sensitive VoIP performance is to other applications
running on the network," Thompson added.
Network Instruments is stressing the importance of a
pre-deployment network analysis. In addition to preparing an
existing data network for the added weight of a VoIP
implementation, the pre-deployment analysis establishes a baseline
for a post-deployment comparative analysis. Many enterprises find
that after a VoIP deployment has been finalised, usage of one
feature or another is greater than originally anticipated -- or
more features need to be added. The pre-deployment analysis allows
those additional features to be more easily implemented.
The Network Instruments survey also found that network engineers
are most concerned with monitoring VoIP quality of service
(
QoS), the reliability of VoIP applications when traffic is high
and the network's ability to handle the added VoIP traffic.
Given the size of many of today's enterprise-level networks,
VoIP can be very delicate to run, with its extreme sensitivity to
delay, jitter and packet loss -- especially when compared with
other network applications, such as Web and email services, which
are not real-time applications. Users are much more likely to
complain about delays on their phone conversations than about
momentary delays in receiving emails.
Thompson stresses the necessity of network monitoring -- before,
during and after a VoIP deployment -- as VoIP on an enterprise
network becomes denser. "Enterprises need to look at the long
term," he said, "to be aware of how the network might work
post-deployment and what features will be added in the future."