Ten IP telephony management requirements, Part 2

Today, we’ll continue with our list of the top 10 requirements for managing an IP telephony system. We published the first five requirements earlier this week; now we’ll cover six through 10.

Today, we’ll continue with our list of the top 10 requirements for managing an IP telephony system. We published the first five requirements earlier this week; now we’ll cover six through 10.

6. Security management is an entry-level requirement for any IPT solution. IP-based phone systems can be as secure as the legacy PSTN. First, IPT systems must provide alert and alarm pass-through from the firewall to the IPT management system. Second, firewall device management can and should be integrated with an IPT management system. Third, pre-planning must set “if/then” business rules for taking appropriate corrective action.

7. Even with the best pre-planning and highest-available level of fault tolerance, IPT QoS will suffer an eventual breakdown; therefore, IPT management systems must provide troubleshooting tools.

8. Once the network designs are complete, pre-assessment should include modeling for automated failover protection where possible. Obviously, ongoing operations must also include a means to automatically manage a failure or problem wherever possible within the parameters of network design.

9. Call management, call reporting, and call detail records are “table stakes” for any IPT system. However, how those reports are used by the network and how they can be used by the network’s administration is what sets apart an ordinary call reporting module from an excellent system.

10. Effectively managing the people who are affected by changing technology is as important as any of the more technical aspects in change management.  Overall, the complexity of converged networks will increase, but the users will receive benefits that far outweigh the management complexity. Business managers who plan, test, gracefully migrate, learn from, and apply all their experience from one deployment phase to the next will do well.

If you’d like a more complete discussion of our top 10 list, check out a white paper Larry wrote on the topic at: https://www.myrego.com/integratedresearch/paper.cfm?p=p010nw