Tips

Tips

• Cloud-based apps need to federate with other services

  Leverage native integration capabilities, third-party products and user account management in order to bridge cloud-based apps and on-premises services.  Continue Reading

• Before deploying cloud telephony, inspect your networks

  A cloud telephony forecast: Before implementing a cloud IP telephony service, be sure to address your current infrastructure performance and needs.  Continue Reading

• Cost savings, agility drive adoption of cloud telephony services

  With cloud telephony, small companies see savings, while larger companies see mounting costs over a long lifecycle. But cloud agility is still appealing.  Continue Reading

• With cloud video conferencing, the sky's the limit

  Cloud video conferencing becomes more popular as companies look to curb infrastructure costs and extend conferencing beyond their network boundaries.  Continue Reading

• Cloud video conferencing demands well-designed network

  For high-quality cloud video conferencing, be sure your enterprise data network has sufficient bandwidth with low-latency and low-jitter performance.  Continue Reading

• WebRTC applications could disrupt UC market

  Convergence among WebRTC apps, enterprise messaging and project management vendors challenge established UC players.  Continue Reading

• The right SIP trunking provider is key to VoIP migration

  Follow these VoIP migration tips whether you replace your whole telephony infrastructure or interface a PBX system with a SIP trunking provider.  Continue Reading

• Video conferencing services break out of the boardroom

  Desktop, cloud and mobility capabilities spur enterprise adoption of video conferencing services. Low entry costs and greater availability help, too.  Continue Reading

• Design redundancy into VoIP communication systems

  Implementing redundancy at the VoIP and network infrastructure levels is an integral part of VoIP communication, ensuring call and business continuity.  Continue Reading

• Five techniques for getting a robust VoIP infrastructure

  A VoIP expert stresses the importance of a separate voice VLAN setup, quality-of-service enablement and edge routers for a robust VoIP infrastructure.  Continue Reading

• DiffServ QoS model works wonders for VoIP networks

  Properly configured QoS models help VoIP networks run smoothly. The DiffServ model, in particular, is cost-effective and scalable.  Continue Reading

• UC services must move from products to platforms to innovate

  UC services must shift away from being a set of products to truly foster innovation in the communication space.  Continue Reading

• It's time to take cloud UC seriously

  Cloud UC has become the delivery model that best fits today's computing environment and mobile workforce.  Continue Reading

• Four reasons to build WebRTC mobile apps

  Developing WebRTC mobile apps that include voice and video calling is a lot easer than many developers think, and many vendors have switched to the technology.  Continue Reading

• Rethinking enterprise video conferencing

  While major vendors are taking a conservative approach with WebRTC, others are rethinking enterprise video conferencing to make it more useful across an organization.  Continue Reading

• WebRTC technology predictions for 2015

  WebRTC technology developments in 2015 will revolve around Web browsers, video conferencing, consumer and enterprise VoIP, call centers and the adoption of video codecs.  Continue Reading

• Preparing for IETF-mandated WebRTC video codecs

  Expert Tsahi Levent-Levi said enterprises will face challenges in the IETF decision to require VP8 and H.264 codecs for WebRTC video in browsers.  Continue Reading

• SIP security checklist helps lock down your SIP trunks

  Part five of our series, SIP Trunking Explained, walks you through the dos and don'ts to prevent SIP security breaches that could lead to toll fraud using a layered approach.  Continue Reading

• SIP trunking advantages make the case for VoIP

  In part four of our series, SIP Trunking Explained, find out how SIP trunking advantages have made it the preferred method of providing VoIP communications in the enterprise.  Continue Reading

• Calculating VoIP bandwidth needs for SIP trunk services

  Part three of our series, SIP Trunking Explained, looks at the amount of VoIP bandwidth you'll need to avoid latency for SIP trunk services via a dedicated line or an Internet connection.  Continue Reading

• Finding SIP trunking providers that meet your needs

  Part two of our series, SIP Trunking Explained, offers advice on how to find SIP trunking providers that meet your needs and how to enable your legacy equipment to make SIP trunking services possible.  Continue Reading

• What UC costs: The real TCO of unified communications

  The total cost of ownership for unified communications has risen significantly since 2012. Learn why and which vendors offer the best value.  Continue Reading

• Can VoIP softphones replace desk phones? Six ways to make it work

  Enterprises looking at VoIP softphones for employees with laptops and mobile devices should follow six guidelines to boost user adoption.  Continue Reading

• Three use cases for Wireshark VoIP and UC network forensics

  Find out how to use Wireshark VoIP and UC packet capture, and learn from three main use cases why they are valuable to VoIP administrators.  Continue Reading

• How to expand your UC and collaboration mobile capabilities

  Unified communications and collaboration can have mobile capabilities, but need a variety of technologies to manage them.  Continue Reading

• How to build a successful enterprise mobile platform for UC

  A strong enterprise mobile platform is critical to ensure mobile UC technology is successfully deployed within an enterprise.  Continue Reading

• Four main uses illustrate need for WebRTC gateways

  WebRTC promises easy communication between browsers for video conferencing and voice, but the need for WebRTC gateways is clear.  Continue Reading

• How to evaluate mobile UC capabilities and mobile integration limits

  As employees bring their mobile devices to the enterprise, IT architects must evaluate the capabilities and mobile integration limits of UC plans.  Continue Reading

• Detecting malicious traffic on VoIP-enabled networks with Wireshark

  Network engineers can detect malicious traffic on their VoIP-enabled networks using a free network sniffing tool called Wireshark.  Continue Reading

• TDoS attacks on the rise: Who is at risk and what to do under attack

  Telephone denial of service, or TDoS, attacks are increasing and no one is exempt. Learn what to do during a TDoS attack and how to prevent one.  Continue Reading

• How to get a Wireshark VoIP packet capture

  To see what is going across your network, you can use packet sniffing tool Wireshark to detect VoIP traffic. Learn to sniff your network in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Wireshark packet capture filtering: How to parse your VoIP traffic

  Learn how to filter your Wireshark packet capture for VoIP-specific data to properly analyze your voice traffic.  Continue Reading

• How to extend UC to the right mobile user

  Enterprises must choose appropriate mobile users and learn to manage them before embarking on a mobile UC deployment.  Continue Reading

• UCaaS ROI formula calculations and methodology

  Before you deploy unified communications, whether the service is in the cloud or not, you must calculate the ROI of your project.  Continue Reading

• The truth about mobile UC&C uptake

  As much as vendors tout their mobile UC&C clients, adoption is still very low. Find out why and what could make true solutions meaningful.  Continue Reading

• Does WebRTC support IPv6?

  Will WebRTC support session enablement in IPv6 environments? This article explains how this real-time communication protocol functions in v4 and v6.  Continue Reading

• Calculating TCO of hosted unified communications solutions

  Learn what elements to account for when calculating the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your hosted unified communications solutions.  Continue Reading

• Wireless voice over IP: What 802.11ac will do for VoIP

  Learn what promises IEEE 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi standard will have on wireless VoIP in the enterprise.  Continue Reading

• SIP trunking services close cost gaps around mobility

  SIP trunking services can not only reduce costs around PSTNs but mobile networks as well. Find out how in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Defining an enterprise strategy to reap social media benefits

  In order to reap social media benefits, enterprises must define a social media strategy, which includes revisiting technology and security policies.  Continue Reading

• How are softphones being used in the enterprise and beyond?

  Softphone bandwidth can be an issue while on the road, so how can network managers track softphone traffic and the user experience?  Continue Reading

• Mobile device adoption alters UC strategies

  As the BYOD revolution unfurls, enterprises find that mobile device adoption requires an alteration to current unified communications (UC) strategies.  Continue Reading

• Understanding unified communications components

  You must first understand unified communications components before selecting a UC product, service or determining an organization's needs.  Continue Reading

• Session border control: The good, the bad, the ugly

  Session border controllers do well in securing VoIP connections, but enterprises should carefully analyze whether they should manage those borders.  Continue Reading

• 10 questions to ask your potential collaboration vendors

  Having a hard time deciding between collaboration vendors? Ask them these 10 questions to help you choose the right service for your business.  Continue Reading

• Hosted UC, UCaaS offer five major advantages over on-prem UC

  Hosted unified communications or Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions offer five main advantages over on-premises deployments in the new IT reality.  Continue Reading

• SIP trunking service adoption growth driven by WAN strategy alignment

  As SIP trunking adoption increases, more enterprises want to align the technology with their WAN strategies. Learn about the benefits and challenges of that alignment.  Continue Reading

• Adding up the real costs of so-called 'free' Microsoft Lync

  Using Microsoft Lync as a corporate UC system is cheap -- free, even, right? While Lync licenses are free, installing Lync may cost more than you’ve bargained for.  Continue Reading

• Video conferencing security: Keeping private meetings private

  Common approaches to building a formidable video conferencing security architecture include encryption, presence and identity management and acceptable use policies.  Continue Reading

• Robust WLAN infrastructure key to strategic mobile UC

  Having a robust WLAN infrastructure is no longer a convenience, it's a necessity. Modern WLAN deployments are costly, but there's a silver lining enterprises often overlook.  Continue Reading

• Understanding the real meaning of pervasive video

  Pervasive video and ubiquitous video conferencing are not interchangeable terms. Knowing the real meaning of pervasive video may change the standard approach to video deployment.  Continue Reading

• Federated identity management key to SaaS office and cloud-based UC

  Federated identity management addresses the security risks associated with identity management while providing users SSO to multiple cloud-based UC services and SaaS office apps.  Continue Reading

• Top 5 trends in enterprise IP telephony

  What comes after full-scale IP telephony deployment? There are five important trends shaping the future of enterprise IP telephony.  Continue Reading

• Pulling the plug on desk phones and PBX phone systems

  Desk phones and PBX phone systems have been the de facto standard for years. Not sure if you’re ready to let go? Ask yourself these questions and find out.  Continue Reading

• The future of IP telephony still trapped in the PBX era

  The future of IP telephony and the IP PBX is still locked in the PBX era. Enterprises need to stop treating IP telephony systems like TDM systems.  Continue Reading

• Making sense of unified communications and collaboration tools

  Shopping unified communications and collaboration tools is demanding since collaboration tools and packages vary across vendors. This tip provides an overview of UC collaboration tools from top vendors, like Microsoft, IBM and Avaya, and will help ...  Continue Reading

• The truth about five nines availability in unified communications networks

  Five nines availability is attainable with traditional telecommunications networks, but is it attainable with a unified communications network? This tip explains how to calculate availability and how it relates to unified communications software and...  Continue Reading

• Integrating video conferencing with unified communications

  Integrating video conferencing with unified communications enables users to initiate video connections through presence, much like they do with instant messaging. This tip explains how to integrate video with unified communications with examples ...  Continue Reading

• Video conferencing MCU location is important

  The location of video conferencing MCUs (multipoint conference units) makes a difference in your video conferencing deployment, affecting the number of users supported and ability to scale in the future. Learn why the WAN core is a good spot for the...  Continue Reading

• Secure video conferencing: Traversing the firewall

  Providing secure video conferencing means overcoming the inherent design differences between video conferencing and firewalls. Discover the pros and cons of using a direct Internet connection, configuring a DMZ, or deploying traversal servers and ...  Continue Reading

• IP telephony QoS: VoIP traffic management and prioritization

  When conventional solutions don't improve IP telephony QoS issues, VoIP traffic management can help. Learn how to prioritize VoIP traffic, address voice delay and provide Class of Service-based routing.  Continue Reading

• When SIP trunks fail: Disaster recovery for SIP trunking

  When your SIP trunks fail, do you have a disaster recovery plan for SIP trunking to support troubleshooting and resolution of SIP trunk failures, or are you solely dependent on what the carriers and/or ITSPs tell you?  Continue Reading

• When SIP trunks fail: ITSP SIP trunking disaster recovery plans

  When SIP trunks fail, having a well-vetted ITSP with a strong SIP trunking disaster recovery plan is crucial.  Continue Reading

• Challenges of SIP trunking for telecom managers and network admins

  The challenges of SIP trunking for network administrators include interoperability and compression issues, service availability, security, SIP trunking architectures, lack of fax services, E-911 support and SIP trunk monitoring tools.  Continue Reading

• Differences among cloud computing, virtualization, SaaS and SOA

  Cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), virtualization and service-oriented architectures (SOAs) are technologies designed to reduce the IT costs of supporting business operations. Each technology addresses business challenges in a different ...  Continue Reading

• Legacy devices and analog telephone lines still useful, despite VoIP

  Supporting legacy devices and analog telephone lines will be part of your due diligence well into the foreseeable future despite the high rate of VoIP and IP telephony deployments. Find out which legacy interfaces you can expect to use in the future...  Continue Reading

• Implementing a mobile unified communications (UC) solution

  Mobile unified communications (UC) can provide many major benefits to an organization. In this tip, you will learn about the major strategies available to implement a mobile UC solution and fixed mobile convergence (FMC).  Continue Reading

• Transforming healthcare with video conferencing

  Video services like video conferencing have taken healthcare to a whole new level. With the ability to confer and train with doctors anywhere in the world, many hospitals and healthcare institutions have changed for the better. Learn about a few ...  Continue Reading

• Social networking and discussion forums for the enterprise

  Social networking for the enterprise is bringing new value to discussion forums, helping organizations keep customers and staff connected and informed.  Continue Reading

• Streaming Cisco's IP Communicator to an HP thin client

  Find out how to stream Cisco's IP Communicator (VoIP client) to HP's XPe thin client (t5720) using Citrix Presentation Server Platinum Edition (now XenApp Platinum). Streaming VoIP to the end point offers many benefits over traditional solutions, ...  Continue Reading

• What makes a UC system?

  Confused about what makes up a unified communications (UC) system? You're not alone! The answer can depend on whom you ask. It's universally accepted that presence is the cornerstone of UC. But understanding the difference between UC and the ...  Continue Reading

• VoIP service selection: MPLS, VPLS or Metro Ethernet?

  Creating secure, reliable VoIP connections over a multi-site enterprise network requires knowledge of your specific infrastructure. Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) and Metropolitan Ethernet (Metro Ethernet) ...  Continue Reading

• Presence: SIMPLE versus XMPP

  SIMPLE and XMPP are the two main presence-associated standards. Learn about these standards and how to leverage them to your advantage.  Continue Reading

• Intro to SIP packet routing: Using the SIP route header and via header

  In the last of a series of three tips introducing the basics of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Brien Posey discusses the four types of headers SIP employs to ensure that information packets travel the correct path when communicating between ...  Continue Reading

• An introduction to SIP verbs: Register, subscribe, invite

  Part 2 of a three part series on the Session Initiation Protocol, this article discusses commonly used SIP codes and response verbs, and explains basic SIP operation.  Continue Reading

• An introduction to SIP and SIP functions

  The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is the primary protocol that's used by most VoIP and unified communications (UC) products. This is part 1 of a three-part series that will explain how SIP works.  Continue Reading

• What's the value of unified communications?

  Implementing unified communications within an organization requires careful planning and strategy. The processes of every group within your company are involved, and you should ask yourself key questions to determine whether UC is right for you and,...  Continue Reading

• Unified communications security risks and countermeasures

  Unified communications introduces specific security risks. Learn about them and the countermeasures you can take to prevent vulnerabilities.  Continue Reading

• Instant messaging security essentials

  Instant messaging (IM) has many benefits for the workplace, but introduces security risks. This tip outlines security essentials for organizations using IM.  Continue Reading

• Understanding presence technology

  Presence technology is an integral part of unified communications, making it possible to locate and identify a device or user wherever it might be. Learn why presence is important.  Continue Reading

• Why you need VoIP to move to unified communications

  Making the move to unified communications is an intricate five-step process that requires a solid foundation based on a reliable IT staff and network. VoIP is the cornerstone for both unified messaging (UM) and unified communications (UC) ...  Continue Reading

• Microsoft's OCS is finally here, for better or for worse

  Zeus Kerravala reports on the long-awaited launch of Microsoft's OCS. Find out what areas end users should be cautious about and the features that will benefit organizations, regardless of their unique communication requirements.  Continue Reading

• Open source PBX: Risk or value?

  Open source IP PBX systems like Asterisk have benefits and risks. Learn what they are and assess your readiness for the IP PBX implementation in this tip from Gary Audin.  Continue Reading

• VoIP security -- Free IP telephony fuzzing tools

  Protect your organization's VoIP security with free VoIP security tools designed to test IP telephony vulnerability.  Continue Reading

• Routing basics -- What VoIP managers need to know

  Voice over IP (VoIP) requires that an organization's voice staff understand many of the fundamentals of data networking. Routing is an essential data networking function that also applies to VoIP. In this tip, learn more about the routers and ...  Continue Reading

• VoIP traffic: Five steps to prepare your network

  VoIP traffic is much more sensitive to latency, jitter and packet loss than most network applications. It is crucial that you ensure that your network is ready to handle this new demand.  Continue Reading

• VoIP security -- problems inherited from data networking

  VoIP security problems present a challenge for voice and network staff because IP telephony brings with it not only the security problems of data networks but also new, added threats specific to VoIP. In this tip, learn about the data network ...  Continue Reading

• How silence suppression saves WAN bandwidth

  Silence suppression, or voice activation detection (VAD), technology is used to save WAN bandwidth used by VoIP traffic, while comfort noise generation (CNG) counteracts negative affects on VoIP speech quality.  Continue Reading

• IP PBX: Ten reasons to switch

  Should you throw out the old PBX and replace it with a new IP PBX? This tip from WindowsNetworking.com provides ten compelling reasons to do so, along with a brief explanation of what an IP PBX is, how it works in a computer network and how it ...  Continue Reading

• VoIP bandwidth: Calculate consumption

  The bandwidth needed for VoIP transmission depends on compression technology, packet overhead and the network protocol used. In this tip, learn how to calculate how much bandwidth your VoIP implementation will need.  Continue Reading

• VoIP bandwidth -- Rightsize your WAN for voice traffic

  Up-front rightsizing and WAN bandwidth capacity planning are critical aspects of VoIP, and should be done prior to deploying an MPLS network or implementing VoIP.  Continue Reading

• How voice compression saves bandwidth

  Compression of voice traffic can save bandwidth on your IP network, but can cost quality or cause delays. Learn more about the CODECs or standards for voice compression -- and their effect on call quality -- in this tip.  Continue Reading

• What's in a VoIP packet -- An introduction to bandwidth for VoIP

  Learn what makes up a VoIP packet, how headers work, what protocols transport voice traffic over the Internet and how this traffic uses network bandwidth.  Continue Reading

• VoIP management tools: Calculating ROI

  Before purchasing management tools for VoIP, you may need to calculate the return on investment (ROI) to justify the cost of those tools. In this tip, Gary Audin explains how to calculate ROI and provides specific checklists for calculating the ROI ...  Continue Reading

• VoIP maintenance: Creating a schedule for patches and upgrades

  VoIP systems fall under the same type of maintenance guidelines as other networking equipment. In this tip, learn guidelines and best practices for scheduling your VoIP systems maintenance.  Continue Reading

• Why you need to learn VoIP for your Cisco certification

  Because of the increasing importance of VoIP and Cisco's growing emphasis on it, the networking giant has increased the significance of VoIP in its certification exams. In this tip, David Davis looks at the VoIP focus in popular Cisco certifications...  Continue Reading

• VoIP traffic encryption tools

  Securing VoIP traffic remains one of the biggest obstacles to its mainstream enterprise use. VoIP traffic tends to be unencrypted, but that doesn't mean that it has to be. In this tip, Brien Posey explores various options for VoIP encryption, ...  Continue Reading

• VoIP services overview: Defining VoIP terms

  The vast majority of conversations about the convergence of voice and data could benefit greatly from a generally accepted vocabulary. The primary culprits in this smorgasbord of confusion are the terms "VoIP" and "IP telephony," which are used ...  Continue Reading

• TFTP servers for testing IP phones

  Testing a software upgrade on a single IP phone can present a challenge. In this tip, learn how to implement your own TFTP server for testing your phones' configuration information.  Continue Reading

• Five VoIP security recommendations

  Before beginning a successful VoIP rollout across your organization, there are several things you should consider.  Continue Reading