While UC enhances business processes, it can overwhelm networks when application performance isn’t closely monitored. Any performance delay will be immediately noticeable to the user. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Organizations are always looking for ways to cut expenses. This is particularly true in the current economic climate. Unified communications (UC) represent an appealing alternative to traditional communication processes due to the potential savings once they are implemented. As more companies ...

Network infrastructure is evolving at an unprecedented rate and, with mixed vendor environments the norm rather than the exception, management of those systems has become a labour intensive exercise. Unlike fault and performance management, Network Change and Configuration Management (NCCM) has no common harmonised management method or protocols; Even the first level engineering teams have to be proficient in numerous different configuration languages and interfaces for the simplest of tasks. In...

As IT environments become more complex, so does application performance management. IT professionals need tools that are up for the new challenge. "Applications are becoming increasingly difficult to troubleshoot, and [it's becoming more difficult to] understand how users are interacting with them," said Jonah Kowall, research vice president of IT operations management at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. "Because applications are so diverse, there are a lot of different approaches and solution...

In managing network performance, user experience takes priority. Being proactive in managing performance means not only tracking the network and application, but obtaining an in-depth view of the underlying infrastructure health. There are two primary ways to obtain this information: agent or agentless. Selecting the best method for your team requires understanding the options and selecting the solution that integrates well with your existing resources. This IT Brief will: Define agent and agent...

The Coming Wave of IP-based Live Videoconferencing The future of all telecommunications is undoubtedly IP-based. Voice over IP (VoIP) is now considered mainstream within enterprise organizations, and a growing number are embracing the next phase of this evolutionary track by deploying IP-based live video communications. IP videoconferencing has strong appeal – it can effectively deliver ever-important direct and interactive human communications that typically occur only during face-to-face meeti...

In today’s connected world of smartphones, social media, text messaging, and Web browsing, customers have never been more vocal – and ears have never been more willing to listen. Contact centers thus may feel lost in the sea of new digital customer touchpoints and interaction avenues. Staying ahead of these trends is critical to successful customer service, and technology plays a large part in catering to these evolving needs. There are several solutions out there for businesses to leverage, eac...

It’s that time of year again – when we all look back as well as forward, regret the things we haven’t done, then promise to make them right once more. Instead of doing the typical forecast and prognostications that most analysts pump out this time of year, I prefer to take a different tact – to simply raise attention regarding the things we know we should do in network management but really haven’t got around to doing yet. Based on the research that I’ve done in the past year as well is that I p...

Employees' new mobile devices could cause the age-old security versus productivity debate to resurface Christmas is fast approaching. Now, and after the office is back to normal after the first of the year, employees are going to return with several shiny new gadgets, along with the expectation that they'll "just work" in the corporate environment. Security will be a distant afterthought, because it's still viewed as a process that hinders productivity. The back and forth between security helpin...

ONE Single platform for IT Service Assurance   Network Monitoring Devices Servers Applications Business Processes VoIP Monitoring SNMP v3 NetFlow v9, sFlow, IPFix Real-Time/Trend/Historic IPv4, IPv6 Auto Device Discovery Auto Network Discovery Inventory & Graphical Topology Group network devices to fit business needs Audit trail of configuration changes Automate the back up process and security checks Thresholds Error Management Event Management Event Correlation Root-Cause Analysis eMa...

One of the more popular developments happening in IT departments worldwide is the growth of unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solutions. The cost-savings from integrating the many disparate communications software and hardware pieces typically found in a large organization is too compelling to ignore. But there is a danger in underestimating the effort needed to roll out a UCC implementation that runs smoothly and efficiently. One could watch Michael Jordan and marvel at how he made...

Avoiding The Perfect VoIP Storm Although now a mainstream technology, managing VoIP remains a challenge for even the most seasoned IT pro. The application’s sensitivity to packet loss and delay and users intolerance for anything less than audio perfection can create a troubleshooting nightmare. 1. Understand and measure call quality There are a variety of metrics and variables you can use to assess VoIP call quality, including jitter, MOS, R-Factor, gap density, burst density, Quality of Service...

As an IT manager, you need visibility into every corner of the network, from the edge to the core. A distributed analysis solution can provide the coverage you need, but where should you deploy probes for maximum visibility at minimum cost? This paper describes by example how to plan and implement a monitoring/analysis infrastructure based on distributed probes. Because every network is different, the examples shown may not look like your network, but the concepts demonstrated will be applicable...

When every second counts, buyers of hospital clock systems time and time again turn to Inova’s OnTime Ethernet clocks. Ok, so maybe there are too many puns in that opening sentence, but there are absolute truths buried in there. Take, for example, a hospital system in Indiana that needed around-the-clock support. (Ok, I’m done now) But seriously – when Reid Hospital in Richmond, Indiana purchased 450 Inova OnTime™ Ethernet clocks, they did so to fit their existing technology footprint. Reid Hosp...

The Biggest Videoconferencing Challenge? Real-Time Performance Management Did you know that according to Enterprise Management Associates EMA analysts, 95 percent of organizations have VoIP on their network- and more than half have deployed videoconferencing? IP videoconferencing has strong appeal to businesses through its promise of significant cost and time savings. But how simple is the transition to video? For end users, video communications are expected to be smooth, seamless, and simple. F...

Almost every contact center leader analyzes the rich data coming from their Avaya Aura system in order to improve the effectiveness of their agents, better determine trends, accurately schedule their workforce, lower costs and drive additional revenues. A good deal of the information used is based on historical data from previous intervals (ex. day/month/year) for planning purposes, and in terms of their ability to predict things like agent shrinkage and call volumes. However, that data doesn’t ...

The June 2013 issue of Contact Center Pipeline included “Underutilized Metrics,” an article written by Jay Minnucci. Minnucci highlights three metrics that could be used with more frequency and effectiveness to provide a more comprehensive understanding of contact center performance: Contacts per customer – While the expectations for this metric will vary across industry, understanding the contacts per customer within your center and industry can help you answer questions about your customer bas...

This one hour presentation from CMIQ brings together 4 panelists to help you understand the pitfalls of implementing new technology today. When implementing technology we are constantly asked to do more with less, while maintaining or drive better customer experience, and increase or improve our return on investment. The first challenge in implementing new technology is to get funding, especially when the center can be considered a cost center. We then have to pick the right technology, either a...

HeartBeat™ Availability and Performance Monitoring for Voice Communications Solutions Contact center and communications solutions offer companies a significant opportunity to control costs and improve customer satisfaction if maintained properly. If solution performance is not maintained after implementation, the opportunity becomes a risk and eventually customers are negatively impacted. With HeartBeat™ availability and performance monitoring, you validate the performance of your end-to-end con...

Proper forecasting and accurate scheduling are critical to the success of your contact center. But accurate scheduling, by design, doesn’t leave much room for error and puts most contact centers dangerously close to the edge in terms of being over-staffed or under-staffed. Given the random nature of the arrival of contacts, being ‘right-staffed’ can be a fleeting concept. More often than not, you will have too many or too little agents available to address current demand. Add in the normal daily...

Superstorm Sandy roared into our lives following more than a week’s worth of warnings. Warnings are great and give you time to prepare, cross your fingers, and fret about your contingency plans. But why fret about your contingency plans? You can be sure they work. And don’t you owe it to yourself to be confident? Think about it - If a key system component or an entire site fails, your contingency plans have to work. Period. Because if the plans fail, your entire solution may completely malfuncti...