CA NetQoS Unified Communications Monitor helps you ensure the quality of experience of your Microsoft UC environment, understand how well the converged network is supporting these mission-critical applications, facilitate faster problem resolution, and plan future updates.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published October 2010
Business Needs
The introduction of unified communications (UC) and Voice-over-IP (VoIP) presents specific challenges that can only be addressed with network-centric performance management products. Achieving optimal performance of UC and VoIP applications requires the simultaneous management of both UC Quality of Experience (QoE) and network Quality of Service (QoS).
Solution
CA NetQoS UC Monitor is a network-based voice and video monitoring solution that helps organizations ensure UC and VoIP quality of experience and network quality of service.
With CA NetQoS UC Monitor, you can assess the performance of your Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) environments by tracking, evaluating, and reporting on key metrics.
Within a single report, CA NetQoS UC Monitor displays call and video quality measurements against pre-defined and customizable thresholds. CA NetQoS UC Monitor fully integrates with the CA NetQoS Performance Center, to link unified communications quality of experience monitoring and reporting with additional data collection and analysis to provide a comprehensive picture of how the converged network is supporting the applications.
Features
•Comprehensive call quality data for audio and video calls in the system
•Mean Opinion Score (MOS) values supplemented by associated network impairment metrics, such as packet loss or jitter
•Call volume for tracking call activity and capacity planning
•Automated incident responses in the form of traps, e-mail notifications, or further investigation (e.g., traceroute)
•Customizable thresholds and threshold assignments for individual location-to-location alert levels
•Safeguards to avoid false alarms, such as alerts only when call performance problems affect a designated minimum number of voice or video transmissions
•Operations and network engineer views into call quality data, with separate administrator views for configuration and summary reporting for managers
•Ability to scale to monitor large numbers of phones for enterprise VoIP deployments
•Web-based interface with unlimited users—no per-seat licenses
Benefits
CA NetQoS UC Monitor helps you ensure UC and VoIP quality of experience, understand how well the converged network is supporting these mission-critical applications, and ascertain the potential impact on other application performance.
UC and VoIP delivery metrics — such as jitter, latency, packet loss, and frame loss — along with call quality metrics — such as MOS— provide full insight into UC quality of experience.
Application and system problems are resolved faster by isolating the source of problems to specific locations, transmission types or equipment. Customized alerts and thresholds help pinpoint where problems reside and help identify which network paths experience the most severe problems. You can quickly drill down into individual network locations or gateways to investigate further and leverage automated incident responses such as traps or e-mail notifications that put the information you require for quick problem resolution at your fingertips.
CA NetQoS UC Monitor helps you to track trends and can help you to more effectively negotiate contracts with service providers via capacity-planning reports for the entire enterprise or specific locations that illustrate busy-hour call attempts and call completions and the effects of call volume on call performance.
Delivery Approach
CA NetQoS UC Monitor is deployed quickly, without server agents or client-side probes, to provide you with tangible benefits quickly. CA Technologies unites professional services, support and education under a single umbrella, providing your entire IT organization a seamless and fluid customer experience.
Why CA Technologies
CA NetQoS Unified Communications Monitor bridges the gap between unified communications and voice-over-IP quality of experience and network performance. It integrates with the CA NetQoS Performance Center and many CA Technologies, third-party, or custom IT management tools and embodies CA Technologies Service Assurance vision of simplified, dynamic IT management.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published October 2010