In one of the latest efforts to disentangle the
confusion about
VoIP solutions , Fluke Networks has launched a
VoIP Performance Management
Solution Centre.
VoIP continues to attract a lot of attention, but VoIP
deployments and widespread use have slowed, according to a
recent study by Forrester Research.
"Enterprises are aggressively moving forward with experiments
and limited deployments," Forrester indicated. "More customers are
evaluating these technologies or conducting initial rollouts than
ever before; only their complete deployments are stalled."
Offering nine technical documents that cover VoIP management
and its basic concepts, the Solution Center helps explain to
potential VoIP users why voice over IP is not just another
application. The Solution Center's documents cover topics ranging
from "VoIP performance management in the converged network" to
"VoIP basics for IT technicians."
"Voice is a different entity," said Mary Gary, Web editor for
Fluke Networks. "What we want visitors to carry away from the VoIP
Performance Management Solutions Center is that there are lots of
solutions."
Fluke Networks has found that customers are actively using its
Solution Center to learn more about how to manage VoIP in a
converged network environment, specifically a VoIP and ATM
converged network.
For one visitor, Fluke Networks' Solution Center provided
insight into locating network problems as they crop up.
"One of the hidden problems with VoIP is that when you put voice
on your data network, there's the problem that if you get a virus
on your data network, if it's not totally secure, your phone system
is just as subject to the issues affecting your data network," said
Lance Stovall, COO of iElement Inc., a company with eight offices
across the country providing telecommunications services for small
and midsized businesses.
Stovall and his team at iElement were happy to find information
on the VoIP Solution Center that helped them better understand how
IT services were being affected by VoIP on their LAN. Their
favorite aspect of the Solution Center is that so much of the
information that has been helpful to them is located in one
spot.
Centered mostly around case studies, product information and
technical documentation, the VoIP Solution Center also provides
users with virtual product demonstrations and a knowledge base of
customer-related solutions.
The VoIP Performance Management Solution Center was a tool
Jeremy Carter found almost by accident. Assistant director of IT
for Bartholomew County in Indiana, Carter was looking for new
network testing tools not long after taking the position with the
county, and while searching for these tools, he stumbled upon the
Solution Center.
For Carter, this proved to be a stroke of luck, as the existing
VoIP system at Bartholomew County had some lingering problems left
over from implementation. As the county wants to eventually expand
its VoIP network to the local hospital and increase usage of its
current videoconferencing capabilities, Carter needed to be sure
the existing VoIP network was 100% up to date.
Using the information he found on Fluke's Solution Center
enabled Carter to ensure that the VoIP system was running at the
levels required.
"The information on the Web site allowed us to compare the
options and decide what we would need to help ensure the quality
and uptime of our network," he said.
Relying on the philosophy that IT professionals are searching
for more than a sales pitch when they look at various VoIP
solutions, Fluke Networks has found that the addition of the VoIP
Performance Management Solution Center to its Web site has brought
about an increase in the number of multiple downloads that visitors
are performing.
"VoIP covers several areas, including data, voice and IP
groups," said Matt Gowarty, solution marketing manager for Fluke
Networks. "The VoIP performance management Solution Center is not a
configuration tool. But it will provide information that answers
users' questions and encourages them to think through the whole
portfolio of VoIP."