“If you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution.”
- Steve Jobs
When I’m out on the road meeting customers, I always ask one important question - do you have any voice quality issues? Surprisingly, the answer that I hear the most often isn’t a straight “yes” or “no”. It’s actually “no idea”.
At first, this intrigued me. How, I wondered, could IT managers be totally unaware of whether or not their enterprise’s network had problems with voice quality? Then the fog cleared a bit. In the absence of any complaints from network users, most IT managers simply assumed that everything was functioning exactly as it should. After all – out of sight, out of mind.
Yet this was only the beginning. As I delved deeper, I unearthed additional maladies. If users did happen to complain about the voice quality, how could IT managers identify the cause of the issue? And what if users never complain because they assume that voice issues are a given (force majeure) and that nothing can be done about them?
All this seemed to make perfect sense at first. But the more I thought about it, the more it struck me that I was encountering severe cases of learned helplessness on an almost daily basis. It was almost like being stuck in a loop: “If nothing can be done to fix the problem, why should I go out of my way to make a complaint? In any case, nothing can be done to fix the problem.”
Now, having made the right diagnosis, how could I, well, help? It just so happens that we at AudioCodes have designed and built the One Voice Operations Center (OVOC) network management application to identify and remedy voice quality issues. And it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.
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OVOC combines management of voice network devices and quality of experience monitoring into a single, intuitive web-based application. It enables administrators to adopt a holistic approach to network lifecycle management by simplifying everyday tasks and assisting in troubleshooting all the way from detection to correction.
Now we’ve gone even further.
AudioCodes has recently partnered with NEC to provide a multi-layer voice and data monitoring and analytics solution. This collaboration adds NEC’s MasterScope to OVOC, making it possible to:
- Simplify voice network operations, improve user experience and reduce downtime.
- Monitor, analyze and troubleshoot voice and data layers from a single pane of glass.
- Access all current and historical call data and underlying data layer information with just a few clicks.
- Get intelligent insights into network trends and performance to assist in planning and design.
OVOC MasterScope Voice Quality Data Layer Monitoring
When performing root cause analysis, OVOC displays all related call information, signaling and media. It presents a schematic view of all device legs, including direction and quality issues, and also shows the call quality trend and the SIP ladder. All the busy IT manager needs to do is click on the problematic leg, and OVOC will call up the MasterScope application for data layer monitoring and analysis.
MasterScope really gets down to business by showing a data layer topology map which includes all elements such as routers and switches. By analyzing SNMP alarm metrics and flow data, MasterScope identifies the data element that is likely responsible for the quality issues. It initiates a comprehensive data analysis on the suspected problematic element and presents all of the interface’s traffic and applications activity. MasterScope then recommends the required data network configuration changes to eliminate the voice quality issues and prevent their future recurrence.
We always knew that OVOC was a winner, but pairing up with MasterScope gives it even more of an edge in today’s competitive market. If your network is showing symptoms of poor voice quality, the cure is right here.
Want to find out more?
Click the button below and we’ll be in touch.
