SieTec New Zealand Ltd Solves VoIP Problems

Company Profile

SieTec NZ Ltd is the New Zealand distributor of one of the world's largest manufacturers of communications systems, Siemens. Combining these innovative systems with a highly skilled service and support team, SieTec NZ Ltd has proven capability in offering businesses fully integrated solutions that leverage voice and data technology. SieTec NZ Ltd. aims to help customers meet their business goals, assist in limiting their ongoing commitment to capital, protect them against obsolescence and provide ongoing operating cost reductions and control.

Challenge

SieTec’s staff of 75 in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand provides nationwide coverage to more than 3,000 clients. 85 percent of their employees work in customer service, ensuring their clients receive quick resolution to problems that might occur. With customer service a high priority, employees needed a way to determine the source of intermittent problems with their Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones. The VoIP gateways used log aggregate data for all calls and for individual calls originating from the gateway. In working to identify the source of the problem this proved to be insufficient when fault events were occurring on the telephones intermittently and randomly.

Solution

In order resolve the client’s specific VoIP problem, SieTec used PRTG in conjunction with GetIF, an SNMP browser and graphing tool, and Ethereal, a network protocol analyzer. SieTec had evaluated other traffic grapher applications but found them to be ineffective; the team required data based on five second averages versus the five minute averages most graphers provided. Using PRTG, SieTec created custom sensors and started capturing the IP packets with Ethereal. After observing PRTG graph events of interest, they noted the time, identified the Ethereal log files and made screen captures of the graphs for pasting into a Microsoft Word document. This document and the Ethereal logs were then sent off to Siemens, the producers of the VoIP phones and gateways, for comment and resolution.

“PRTG definitely has played a valuable role for without it observing events, both minor and significant, could not have been done so decisively, particularly for intermittent events that were happening over numerous devices, “says Robert Fear, sales technical support with SieTec NZ Ltd.

Paessler Router Traffic Grapher

PRTG Traffic Grapher results may be viewed either via Windows interface or Web interface. Sample reports may be viewed at http://www.paessler.com/prtg. PRTG is available in both a Freeware edition and in Commercial editions that provide monitoring for several network devices and multiple ports simultaneously. PRTG works with most routers and firewalls, including systems from Cisco, Draytek, Bintec or LANCOM and Windows servers. PRTG also operates with most other SNMP enabled devices.