Quality assurance for Voice and Video over IP networks: Telenet presents “ProLab for the Enterprise” by Radvision

Munich, 27 May,  2008. The development and operation of Voice and Video over IP networks demands high-quality service, that offers customers a communication experience with long-term satisfaction. A mere network analysis cannot meet this requirement. Network distortions caused by latency, duplicate or dropped packets as well as jitter cause problems for operators of Voice and Video over IP networks. The Radvision ProLab test solution simulates different applications to determine the criteria of network distortions. In this way, the equipment as well as the network itself can be tested for their suitability for Voice and Video over IP.

In order to provide and maintain the level of quality that customers have come to expect, Voice and Video service providers are faced with a variety of challenges. For various reasons, the quality of audio and video applications can deteriorate, resulting in poor quality pictures, indistinguishable speech, distortions and latency. A proactive approach to ensure the network’s readiness prior to live operation of the audio and video services is therefore indispensable.

A variety of features of voice and video applications must be considered in real-time across IT networks:

• Are voices clearly audible or are they distorted?
• Are pictures clear?
• Can the voice and video applications interact with one another?
• Does the quality vary at different locations?
• What happens when the available bandwidth is reduced?
• How does VoIP affect other applications on the network?
• What Codecs are best for the network? Which Codecs should not be used?
• Are all components compatible?

All these and other questions are answered by the ProLab Testing Suite from Radvision. It is able to emulate a wide variety of network conditions and real-life applications, in order to test the readiness of Voice and Video over IP networks. This includes end system emulation, media data analysis with quality analysis, automated processes, extensive test results with analyses and reports including alarm functions that display system errors in real time.

The ProLab Advanced Report Builder offers new additional features for the enterprise edition. This product provides an extensive overview over the test results with a summary report and diagrams as well as a pin-point analysis of any test, any time.

Markus Kesting of Telenet GmbH Kommunikationssysteme, distributor of Radvision to German-speaking customers, explains: “The ProLab test solution is an ideal tool for voice and video-service providers and network operators, who wish to successfully deploy and operate their services in an IP environment. The product offers an extensive range of functions and supports both standard as well as customer-specific scripts, scenarios and media data. This allows the emulation and testing of network components in order to ensure the quality of applications. Moreover, the system allows pre-qualification for the operation of Voice and Video over IP in real time.”