Companies looking to improve the management and performance of their IP telephony systems could be tempted by recent software releases from enterprise storage giant EMC and application delivery specialist NetQoS.

EMC has released Smarts VoIP Performance Manager and Smarts VoIP Performance Reporter, which, according to EMC Smarts senior global practice manager Tom Griffin, are aimed primarily at global enterprises or managed service providers that are looking to replace legacy PBXs.

“They perform different functions. Performance Manager gives helpdesks and [network] operation centres real-time data to help with short-term problems, while Reporter analyses the data to help with long-term capacity planning and the ‘traffic load’ profiles over companies’ IP telephony sites,” Griffin said.

EMC’s Smarts packages are designed to make it easier for companies to monitor and enforce service level agreements by providing real-time data about voice quality, service availability, call volumes and route patterns. The packages currently support Avaya Communication Manager 3, Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) 5, Cisco Unified CallManager 4 and Cisco CallManager 3.

Griffin said the new Smarts releases “easily integrate with other third-party management systems ­ but we’d use our system integration partners and professional services people to do this”.

The tools, available now, cost between £13 and £18 per phone, depending on volume. There is also an annual maintenance fee covering technical support and software upgrades that is pegged at 18 per cent of the software purchase price.
NetQoS’s VoIP Monitor, meanwhile, is aimed at large enterprises and is a Cisco-focused system that performs passive, centralised monitoring of CUCM environments. The tool can measure IP device response times to check whether existing applications are being impacted by VoIP traffic, and monitors voice quality.

VoIP Monitor runs on an appliance and can be deployed “in a matter of hours”, according to NetQoS. The system is available now as a standalone appliance or as multiple units for use in distributed environments with a dedicated management appliance. Prices start from £14,600 + VAT.

BT recently released a report looking into the adoption of IP telephony by UK business. The BT Convergence Services Report 2007 is based on a survey of 250 firms carried out by market research firm Coleman-Parkes Research in October 2006. Of the firms surveyed, 64 per cent had begun using simple VoIP systems. Firms sending voice over their local area network accounted for 43 per cent of respondents, while 36 per cent sent voice over their WAN links.

However, the report judged that only 13 per cent of respondents had adopted a fully converged voice and data network.