Service-management use cases

The following are representative use cases that show how network operators can successfully implement CEM in all-IP networks using next-generation monitoring, analysis and optimization solutions:

SLA compliance for SIP trunking: A fixed-line CSP can deploy probes to guarantee service availability and reliability, with measurable QoS rates, for enterprise customers. By virtue of SLAs, or service-level agreements, companies can be confident of a set level of service with their provider, which in turn can monetize SLA guarantees.

Voice-quality measurement: Network operators can measure and analyze mean opinion scores (MOSs) and R-factor metrics to document voice-quality parameters and identify problem areas that need improvement. Help-desk personnel can better respond to customer issues, network designers can better utilize resources, and peering partners can be more effectively measured.

Network optimization: End-to-end monitoring of an IP network allows it to be optimized so that an organization can deliver superior service to customers and utilize network assets more productively.

Fraud detection: Unlike traditional call detail record (CDR) analysis tools that examine switch records after the fact, next-generation fraud detection and prevention solutions use passive network probes to proactively and continually analyze network traffic in real time. The probes can be installed in both enterprise and CSP networks to detect attacks, in which case the fraud management application would instruct the session border controller (SBC) or another network element to drop or block suspicious calls.

Troubleshooting: The sooner that network operations staff can diagnose a network problem, the less time customers, and their experience, will be impacted. Without a passive monitoring capability on an all-IP network, operations personnel must rely on the manual correlation of trouble tickets, but by using ladder diagrams, dashboards and real-time access to operational information, network operations can swiftly diagnose, isolate and resolve network issues and accelerate MTTR, or mean time to resolution.

Implementing next-generation monitoring and troubleshooting

Network operators can successfully manage the customer experience on all-IP networks by deploying next-generation service-monitoring solutions. This requires a vendor-agnostic, passive service-assurance suite that enables proactive monitoring, rapid troubleshooting and an array of reporting options by capturing traffic from IMS, LTE and VoIP networks, collecting raw messages from various probes, and correlating those messages into end-to-end call setup/teardown, registration and other session message flows. Operations staff can utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) measured at the probe or mediation layer that are rendered in a web interface, and drill down to gain a per-message view for root-cause analysis in order to quickly solve customer problems.

Software-based probes are typically deployed across the infrastructure to obtain network-wide views of performance and to analyze trends. They collect signaling and media data, which is compressed, processed and forwarded to a mediation engine, and can be deployed on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware platforms or session-delivery platforms like SBCs so that network operators can reduce costs as well as complexity.

After the mediation engine receives the compressed signaling and RTP (real-time transport protocol) data, it performs further processing of data- and database-related functions. It also executes a massive processing of various messages, furnishing the necessary correlation to show a single, network-wide view of a call; this information can then be shared with other applications for traffic and trend analysis.

Real-time monitoring via dashboards assist in streamlining real-time, proactive unobtrusive monitoring, while troubleshooting is streamlined by real-time visibility into KPIs and call statistics. Scripting APIs (application programming interfaces) and standards-based interfaces enable the integration of NMS, BI and CRM applications (network management system, business intelligence and customer relationship management, respectively), thus allowing enterprise network managers and CSP operations centers to integrate next-generation service monitoring of an all-IP infrastructure into their companies’ existing operational infrastructure.

Next-generation service monitoring provides the real-time information and correlation capabilities that make it possible for network operators to move beyond individual element management and benefit from real-time, network-wide visibility into multivendor IP communications networks, helping their companies to effectively manage the customer experience.