Hammer introduces test system for IP

Tapping into the excitement surrounding voice over Internet protocol, Hammer Technologies last week introduced its IP test system, which monitors the quality of voice on IP networks.

"Heretofore there has not been a system that addresses the convergence of voice and data," explained Barbara Duquet, Hammer's market segment manager for voice over IP. "The voice world is entering a new territory [that presents] new issues about providing voice quality."

The test system automatically tests voice quality, measures audio quality and includes a voice-over-IP protocol analysis tool as an IP traffic generator.

Service providers receive alerts if the quality degrades below a designated threshold. And network administrators can analyze traffic patterns and simple network management protocol data to locate problem areas.

The system can be implemented as a one-box solution, checking the voice traffic as it passes through the network. Or several boxes can be deployed on each side of the gateway, and a separate IP test system will monitor them all, he said.

The Hammer system is an objective measurement method, said Patrick Fetterman, product manager for IP telephony at Natural MicroSystems, which provides Hammer's digital signal processing interface boards.

"It's the first system I've seen in wide deployment that samples different qualities in the voice, [such as] the dynamic range covered, that gives you a more technical definition of the quality of speech," he said.

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