TELECOMMUNICATIONS: NETWORK MANAGEMENT & DESIGN

Enterprise voice networks are very dynamic. Economic cycles, mergers and acquisitions, consolidations, expansions and reorganizations can all cause dramatic fluctuations in network load. Increased use of alternate technologies, such as mobile phones, e-mail and VoIP, are driving down the use of traditional PBX networks. And, while the transition to VoIP makes configuration management easier, the complexity of performance management has dramatically increased. VoIP requires bandwidth capacity determination, QoS management and abnormal call processing resolution. Given the intermingling of these factors, determining and maintaining optimal network capacity levels is a difficult task at best. Getting blindsided by network service problems is a real threat.

Calibrating network capacity with demand is an on-going challenge. Whether you are managing a TDM network, preparing for or in process of a transition to SIP, or managing a SIP network, you need the right metrics and methodology to optimize your network. And, how do you determine the impacts of day-to-day business operational changes, such as consolidating office locations or transitioning to work-at-home call center agents?  Solutions with Impact calibrate network capacity throughout the full life cycle of technology migrations and on-going economic cycles with these unique capabilities:

Call Route Intelligence
Caller experience is not simply based on the capacity of one particular trunk group but instead how calls can be serviced collectively by all available trunks as defined by your call routing schemes.  Where route plans join trunk circuits and callers together, true grade of service can only be determined by an examination of their pooled results. Do you have a system that accounts for route pools, usage peaks that may not be cumulative and large resource efficiencies? If not, you may fall into the trap of maintaining or purchasing excess capacity that will not improve your service levels. Don’t risk spending money where no value will be received.

Beyond Busy Hour
The Busy Hour metric is simplistic and ineffective. You can go beyond busy hour and leverage an accurate, up-to-date holistic view of network utilization by showing the maximum circuits used:

• Over a selected range of time
• Over the last seven (7) days
• So far today
• The latest reported period

Displayed graphically these metrics provide a detailed view of network performance for large voice networks in a single display. Deteriorating conditions are easily identified and opportunities to cut or reallocate circuits are readily seen. To separate aberrations in call traffic from underlying changes in calls volume trends, other graphs showing circuit utilization by quarter hour or hour over days, weeks or months. Service levels are protected and definitive decisions on network capacity are achieved quickly and easily.

Management by Exception
Don't wait for daily or weekly reports to learn there is a problem in your network.  You can know about problems and abnormalities almost as they occur, sometimes even before. If there are all trunks busy (ATB) conditions or trunk group utilization is suddenly high or trunks have no usage even during the peak periods, get an email alert now. 

What-If Modeling
Given the dynamic nature of networks, the flexibility to determine the impacts of changes is a critical component of a network planning application. You need the ability to analyze the impact that changes – such as site expansion or technology migrations – will have on your network performance. Don’t guess! Can you model scenarios such as:

• Convert TDM load into VoIP bandwidth and channel requirements
• Define factors for growth in call volume or changes in call length
• Adjust for calls that receive busy signals
• Evaluate varying service levels
• Determine the impact of pooling trunk groups

Solutions with Impact overcome the limitations and complications of the industry’s traditional methodologies.  Impact provides a simple, more reliable alternative to manage your telecommunications expenses and network engineering in a proactive manner.