Imagine a crowded grocery store checkout area, where the express lanes aren’t being used properly. Some express lanes are open, but customers don’t know it. In other express lanes, customers with too many items are clogging them up.
This, folks, is what mismanaged queues look like in bandwidth-constrained, WAN-based VoIP networks. In order for clear calls to take place, VoIP packets must pass through the network quickly, efficiently and reliably. Yet this is impossible when high-priority VoIP queues go unused, or become overused.
The main problem is that most network teams lack basic visibility into their carrier-provided Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) routers. Most carriers, for that matter, can’t even see into their own MPLS routers, either. So even when carriers and enterprise customers try to work together to find queue-related problems, it’s still very challenging because neither side has the ability to dig deep into the network to see what is going on.
In order to gain even marginal queue visibility, an administrator would have to enter commands directly into a router’s CLI. It’s inefficient, and difficult to identify problems this way if you’re not a master at interpreting queue configurations.
Because it’s so difficult to gain visibility into MPLS routers—which are the most common kind—call queue resolution is typically a major blind spot for VoIP and network folks.
It’s time to stop letting your mismanaged queues lead to call quality issues in your network and our next post will show you how! Or, if you’re going to be at Enterprise Connect stop by our booth (844) and see our new QoS Queue Management software in action.
