| ClearSight Analyzer 4.0 |
OVERALL
RATING |
|
 Company: ClearSight Networks Cost: $8,000 for all software. Pros: Supports standard and proprietary VoIP call-control protocols; best layout and easiest to use; displays both overall VoIP bandwidth and specific call bandwidth; excellent RTP replay capability. Con: Summary stats of VoIP activity could be improved. |
|
| OptiView VoIP, ProtocolExpert Plus and Link Analyzer 6.1 |
OVERALL
RATING |
|
| Company: Fluke Networks Cost: From $6,700 for software; $21,795 for Gigabit-capacity probe appliance. Pros: Supports many deployment topologies; effectively monitors proprietary VoIP protocols. Cons: Tedious interface; easy to confuse monitor and capture modes, which yield different stats. |
|
|
EtherPeek VX 1.0 |
OVERALL
RATING |
|
| Company: WildPackets Cost: $10,000 for software. Pros: Super peer map features shows all active VoIP connections; clear breakdown of active vs. closed VoIP calls. Cons: Sees only SIP and H.323-based VoIP activity; displays are generally clear but static, not customizable. |
|
| DNA MX and TNA software 4.5 |
OVERALL
RATING |
|
| Company: Agilent Technologies Cost: $20,000 for central server; $7,700 for TNA software. Pros: Supports many LAN/WAN interfaces; scales well across multiple sites, distributed topologies. Cons: Hard to maneuver around main VoIP table; poor online help; hard to interpret date in some instances. |
|
| WinEyeQ 1.3.5 |
OVERALL
RATING |
|
| Company: Touchstone Technologies Cost: From $6,500 for all software. Pros: Excellent alerting; easy to set up, use; VoIP screens are well organized. Con: Sees only SIP and H.323-based VoIP activity. |
|
| BrixMon 2.1 |
OVERALL
RATING |
|
| Company: Brix Networks Cost: $31,000 for central server package; $1,800 to $7,500 per probe/site. Pros: Best for long-term status monitoring in large networks; reports many telephony metrics that others don’t. Cons: Most complex system to set up and tedious use; not oriented to assessing individual VoIP calls. |
|
NetAlly RealTime and VoIP
Assessment 4.0 |
OVERALL
RATING |
|
| Company: Viola Networks Cost: $12,500 for base software with five agents. Pros: Special tool for Cisco VoIP reporting; very good for pre-VoIP deployment network analysis. Con: Doesn’t monitor or assess real user VoIP traffic. |
|
| The
breakdown |
ClearSight Analyzer |
Fluke OptiView VoIP, Protocol Expert Plus, and Link Analyzer |
WildPackets EtherPeek VX |
Agilent DNA MX and TNA |
Touchstone WinEyeQ |
Brix BrixMon |
Viola NetAlly RealTime and VoIP assessment |
Real-time VoIP monitoring 40%
|
5 |
4.5 |
3 |
3.5 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
| Usability; data clarity, navigability 30% |
5 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
4 |
3
|
3.5 |
| Configuration and deployment10% |
4 |
4.5 |
4 |
4.5 |
4 |
2.5 |
4 |
| Reporting (alerts, MOS) 10% |
4 |
3 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
4 |
3 |
| Special & unique features 10% |
4 |
3 |
3.5 |
3 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
3 |
| TOTAL
SCORE |
4.7 |
3.9 |
3.65 |
3.55 |
3.4 |
2.7 |
2.45 |
|
|
| Scoring
Key: 5: Exceptional; 4: Very good; 3: Average;
2: Below average; 1: Consistently subpar |
|
