Tips

Tips

• 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

• The benefits of mobile unified communications

  With its cost efficiency and portability, mobile unified communications (UC) is an attractive option for companies looking to update their UC capabilities. Learn about the benefits of mobile UC, including the applications and the technology behind ...  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

• SIP interoperability and testing

  Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol typically used for telephony, instant messaging and Internet conferencing. This article discusses the interoperability and testing being done to support this protocol.  Continue Reading

• Product review: USB Cordless DUALPhone provides easy Skype access

  The USB Cordless DUALPhone is a good solution for small to midsized businesses looking for a compact, do-it-all cordless Skype/POTS handset. This advanced IP telephone is absurdly easy to configure, install and deploy. Learn more about its features ...  Continue Reading

• CDP and multi-vendor networks don't mix

  Cisco switches and CDP go hand-in-hand, but when non-Cisco switches and CDP meet, interesting things happen.  Continue Reading

• Defining traffic telecommunications style

  There are three types of traffic: voice, data and image -- each with its own set of requirements for transmission. Find out here how these different types of traffic are quantified.  Continue Reading

• Turning analog phones into VoIP phones

  How an ATA or broadband phone works and what kind of features and performance you can expect from them.  Continue Reading

• IP telephony implementation planning

  Expert advice breaks down a successful IP telephony implementation into two distinct and easy to understand steps.  Continue Reading

• The trouble with 911 and VoIP

  A look at the issues involved in the VoIP/911 dilemma.  Continue Reading

• Working with the Layer 2 data link layer in an IP telephony deployment

  This IP telephony deployment article provides solutions to performance issues in Layer 2, the data link layer.  Continue Reading

• Learn IT in 10 easy steps: VoIP

  This handy guide to VoIP provides you with an overview of the technology, including key terms, trends, challenges and more.  Continue Reading

• System components of VoIP

  This is the second tip in a series excerpted from a report by Ohio State University. The report analyzes issues and challenges in the evolving VoIP technology.  Continue Reading

• Introduction to Internet telephony

  This is the first tip in a series excerpted from a report by Ohio State University. The report analyzes issues and challenges in the evolving VoIP technology.  Continue Reading

• Probing to maximize MTU efficiency and deliver QoS

  A method for increasing MTU size to improve QoS.  Continue Reading

• Policing and shaping within QoS

  Learn about the policing and shaping methods within QoS that allow IT professionals to smooth traffic flows for VoIP transmission.  Continue Reading

• QoS congestion avoidance techniques to clear way for VoIP

  Learn about QoS congestion avoidance techniques that you can use to clear the way for VoIP.  Continue Reading

• VoIP and IP telephony in IT certifications

  A look at some of the certifications that cover VoIP and IP telephony.  Continue Reading

• DHCP for VoIP

  Learn how to set up DHCP for Voice over IP (VoIP) in this article.  Continue Reading

• Don't forget to use multicast

  The benefits of using multicast.  Continue Reading

• Survivable remote site telephony

  Fault-tolerant telephony solution for smaller remote sites.  Continue Reading

• VoIP? Think about voice mail

  Consider what the implications for voice mail are when you use VoIP.  Continue Reading

• A case of the jitters

  Testing for specific problems affecting VoIP.  Continue Reading

• Watch out for asymmetrical routing

  Asymmetrical routing can cause trouble that's tough to diagnose.  Continue Reading

• Enable the hookflash relay

  How to enable it. You'll need it.  Continue Reading

• VoIP user experience questionnaire

  VoIP user experience questionnaire  Continue Reading

• Tune spanning tree for VoIP

  Tuning settings to account for the vagaries of spanning tree protocol.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshooting voice

  Codes for determining what happened when something goes wrong.  Continue Reading

• Testing VoIP connectivity on IOS

  An undocumented command that makes testing easy.  Continue Reading

• Private line automatic ringdown

  How you can connect two phones to one another exclusively via VoIP.  Continue Reading

• Check for full duplex capability

  How to find out if hardware supports full duplex record and playback.  Continue Reading