VoIP Testing

Plenty of vendors are selling good VoIP solutions, but the truth remains that the overwhelming majority of enterprise networks are not ready for VoIP Testing. That does not mean you have to undertake a major overhaul of your LAN and WAN infrastructure to enjoy the benefits of converged voice. In fact, sometimes the only problem with a network is a quality-of-service or duplex setting. The time to discover such problems, however, is before you initiate VoIP switch deployment and VoIP Testing.

Early VoIP Testing is essential for VoIP success. So, here are some lessons about testing learned by early VoIP implementers.

Lesson 1: VoIP Testing is iterative: A lot of people make the mistake of running a single test before putting their switches in place. Typically, an initial test reveals one or more problems. After those problems are fixed, another test has to be run to confirm that the fixes actually worked. Even if they did eliminate the egregious problems found in the first round of testing, a new set of less-severe issues are then discovered. Once an effort has been made to fix those, a third round of VoIP Testing is necessary to confirm success. So, incorporate multiple test sessions into your VoIP project plan.

Lesson 2: Applications matter: Many VoIP Testing tools only allow you to simulate voice traffic, but the performance of voice communications on an IP network is often impacted by the behavior of other applications on the network. Those application behaviors can change over time as more users generate more traffic. So, to be sure your network is ready to handle VoIP, you should test voice in scenarios where utilization of your other applications grows during VoIP Testing and in general.

Lesson 3: Performance vs. diagnostics: Beware of VoIP Testing tools that can only give you a mean opinion score and some statistics about dropped packets and jitter. You need good diagnostics that can zero in on weak links and problematic switch/router settings.

Lesson 4: Avoid “tool creep.” Because companies often do not understand their VoIP Testing needs in advance, they wind up acquiring multiple tools. They start with a performance tool, and then realize they need a better diagnostic tool, and then might eventually buy a better simulation tool, as well. This is expensive and requires too much learning–spring for a bigger, better tool that can handle the whole job.

Lesson 5: Look for Web-based tools: If you are setting up a VoIP network across the country or to overseas offices, having a competent technician at each location is not a good idea. Instead, consider using a tool with Web-based agents that can be downloaded via a browser by any moderately PC-literate, non-technical employees at those locations.

Lesson 6: Get help: If you have little VoIP experience, you can make yourself crazy trying to figure out what is messing up your voice quality. You can also wind up thinking you have done good pre-deployment testing, only to discover that you missed some intermittent problem. A specialist with a good track record can help you avoid such issues. He can also give you someone to blame later on if things go awry.