Empirix Releases Solution for Testing VoIP Infrastructure and Applications

ORLANDO, Fla. - Empirix Inc. released a solution for deploying enterprise Voice over IP (VoIP) infrastructure and applications. The Hammer® VoIP Test Solution for enterprises allows enterprises to assess how their infrastructure and applications will perform as a live, enhanced IP service for the rollout of VoIP services and IP telephony applications (such as messaging, speech self service, conferencing and CTI).

Empirix enables enterprises to test applications running on VoIP networks in their own environments, and the capability for enterprises to perform upgrade and migration testing on an ongoing basis. In addition, Hammer VoIP Test Solution for Enterprises can be used to analyze and troubleshoot both VoIP networks and hybrid IP/TDM environments.

According to Jessy F. Cavazos, industry analyst and communication test sector leader for research firm Frost and Sullivan, "Empirix has been testing VoIP technology since it first emerged in labs years ago - extending its capabilities into the enterprise is a natural next step," said Cavazos. "By combining its VoIP expertise with its enterprise applications experience, Empirix will set itself apart from the vendor-specific test solutions and simple network assessment tools on the market."

UpSource, a provider of customer service solutions for small to mid-size enterprises, has begun using Empirix's solutions to test and troubleshoot its current and future VoIP offerings. This includes current testing of remote call center agent positions using VoIP and testing for VoIP interoperability issues, and future load testing of IP-based speech self-service (IVR) applications and tuning their network for best voice quality. "Empirix's test and troubleshooting solutions will give us the flexibility and confidence to add new VoIP services on demand," said Mark Burns, chief technical officer for UpSource. "We were able to start troubleshooting within hours. And load testing of our network infrastructure and our IP-based IVR applications will identify issues before our customers see them, saving us untold hours and headaches. As a result, we are even more confident in our ability to add new remote VoIP agents and roll out new IP-based applications and VoIP capacity on demand."

The Hammer VoIP Test Solution is comprised of three elements:

• Hammer FX-IP, a test platform for IP environments that generates test IP calls and evaluates voice quality;
• Hammer CallMaster™, a graphical scripting and reporting tool for creating test call flows; and
• Hammer Call Analyzer™, a diagnostics and troubleshooting solution that enables users to visualize and debug signaling and voice quality problems in VoIP networks.

Organizations that need to test converged IP/TDM environments can add Hammer FX, which generates test TDM calls. Existing Empirix customers who are migrating from TDM to VoIP and already have Hammer FX and Hammer CallMaster need only add Hammer FX-IP for generating IP test calls and Hammer Call Analyzer for diagnostics and reporting.