Posts from ‘phone system’
VoIP Network Monitor ‘SIPQOS’ Launches Beta
Many of us have struggled with VoIP Network Monitoring, keeping tabs on our network without having to manually review the health is always a hassle and concern. For every network my team erected we needed to erect a proper monitor. For smaller networks and even VoIP phone systems the traditional Network Monitors were far to expensive to implement and required port mirroring which meant servers had to be deployed in the VoIP network that required monitoring.
So, we created SIPQOS… SIPQOS is a service that allows VoIP network administrators to attach virtual SIP endpoints to their network which send calls to-and-fro and monitors those calls for interruption. It’s a simplistic approach to a complex problem, if the network drops a registration or if a call fails it’s likely (from personal experience at least) that the issue applies to the entire network and other endpoints are experiencing the same problem. SIPQOS won’t take the place of more expensive in-network solutions but it does a great job of providing redundant VoIP network monitoring and SIP-based VoIP phone system monitoring as well.
An excerpt from the announcement we made on the 10th…
VANCOUVER, February. 10 – SIPQOS (pronounced SIP-KWOSS), a new entrant in the VoIP network monitoring market has launched a beta of its remote VoIP network monitoring service today. SIPQOS released the first product to bring the power of remote VoIP network monitoring by combining embedded SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) User Agents, web services and some secret sauce. SIPQOS monitors VoIP networks remotely and alerts network administrators when a problem has been detected.
SIPQOS is doing a great job for us and provides redundant VoIP network monitoring on a production network we run today. It also fills a void where others solutions fell flat, SMS alerts are critical and SIPQOS delivers in spades on that front. Those interested should give it a whirl, it’s free to sign up and the plans after the 30 day trial are cheap by anyone’s standards.
Written by Erik Lagerway - Visit WebsiteIt’s only a few months after Microsoft finally put its Response Point (RP) System in the spotlight with the release of SP2 and John Frederiksen’s keynote speech at ITEXPO East in February 2009, and the wings of the entrepreneurial RP team seem to have been cut. It is clear that the latest wave of Microsoft lay-offs has impacted the RP team and some cryptic statements on the official Response Point Team Blog indicate that Microsoft wishes “to take a good look at the next version of Response Point and ensure it addresses the needs of Small Businesses.”
SIP trunks are simply another way of saying VoIP Provider for your phone system. A SIP trunk is a connection from a PBX (phone system) using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to an ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider).
It might sound complicated but it’s really quite simple, SIP trunks take the place of your legacy telephone company. Most phone systems out there today are more than a couple of years old and are likely based on circuit switched technology. Newer IP-PBXs use packet switching technology, which means they leverage the Internet to deliver the same features you have now, and then some. The difference could be minor or major depending on what your PBX is capable of and what your ITSP can deliver in terms of features and functionality.
Since the PSTN (public switch telephone network) is tied to aging circuit switched technology it has limitations in terms of what media it can support. Essentially, it can deliver low quality voice, that’s it.
SIP Trunks replace older PRI and POTS interfaces that we are used to and bring to the table a wide variety of communications options. Depending on your IP-PBX and your ITSP you could potentially look forward to HD (High Defenition) Voice and potentially HD Video.
HD voice (and video) for small business in Canada will happen, it’s only a matter of time. As broadband providers increase upstream bandwidth and dual WAN link-failover devices become common place, SIP trunking will accellerate in growth and on-net (calls made on the ITSP network) HD Voice will become common place.
Unfortunately, HD communication off-net (eg. PSTN) is not going anywhere at any great speed. Jeff Pulver is back as he reboots the communications industry with his new HD Communication Summit. I welcome Jeff back with open arms, if anyone can convince operators to increase speed towards wide-band/HD adoption it would Jeff Pulver.
Today we can see SIP trunking providers and hosted pbx providers supporting wideband codecs and devices on their networks. This will allow user to communicate in high definition with other users that have devices that support it, in brief you could have better calls between you and your colleagues in the office and remote office workers connected to the same PBX, and that is a step in the right direction.
Written by Erik Lagerway - Visit WebsiteSubscribe
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