Integrating voice and data on the network involves more than simply buying VoIP phones and a call manager, configuring and installing them, then hoping for the best quality. When looking at network readiness for data applications, network bandwidth and server resources are often the only items that come under consideration. However, with voice services, there are more variables to consider before they can be deployed on the network, most importantly QoS, or Quality of Service. Conducting a pre-deployment network readiness assessment will save time and money when rolling out new voice services – network problems can be resolved, costly network upgrades can be qualified, and call quality configurations can be tested without impacting the users.
Whether you are planning a new VoIP deployment or an expansion to an existing deployment, it is essential you have answers to the following questions:
- Are the LAN and WAN circuits are capable of handling increased traffic from the VoIP deployment?
- Determine if it's necessary to implement Quality of Service (QoS) policies?
- What type of Mean Opinion Score (MOS) call quality you can expect?
- What is the major factor affecting voice call quality - delay, packet loss, jitter or Codec?
- How many concurrent VoIP calls the network can handle without impacting existing applications?
Assessing the network makes VoIP deployments faster, more successful and less costly by reducing post-deployment troubleshooting. View the Related Resources links to the right to learn how to perform a VoIP Network Assessment and answer the essential questions above.
¹Gartner, Inc. "Ignore IP Telephony Network Assessments at Your Own Risk" by Bjarne Munch (March 10, 2009, 16449)