Applications | Web-Based Management

There are three fundamental applications where Web-based tools can provide a significant benefit: individual device configuration and management, browser access to sophisticated management applications, and corporate IS access to network status data.

Device configuration

The capability of configurating and managing individual devices via a Web browser is aimed at managers of small networks who may not have their own network management system. These users want to configure and monitor the devices on their networks as easily as possible, and perhaps even gain some remote device management capabilities as well.

This can be accomplished by providing the equipment to be configured with an agent that includes a native HTML interface. The manager then enters basic configuration parameters for each device by completing a simple online electronic form. Remote monitoring of simple device statistics is also possible via the browser, using tabular and graphical displays of basic device information and performance.

Advanced NMS capabilities

Web-based access to advanced, network-wide management functions is an application targeted at enterprise network support staffs who already use network management systems. Their goal is to monitor the network, understand potential faults and alarms, and provide their users with continuous network availability. Network management solutions working in conjunction with popular platforms like Hewlett-Packard's OpenView, provide the foundation for these networks. Building on this foundation, Web browsers provide several low-cost options for easily accessing important information. For example, a staff member out on the manufacturing floor troubleshooting a network segment may need to access a particular management application. Through a Web browser running on any PC or laptop in the organization, the user could access the necessary functionality and continue the troubleshooting process, regardless of their location—saving time and effort.

Network status data

Web reporting of network status information for access by IS management and others via the organization's intranet is aimed at those who do not necessarily operate the network nor get involved in extremely technical detail. Instead, their goal is to quickly obtain information about the state of the network, review trends over time, and receive notification of any potential trouble spots.

Various people within an organization have different needs for different types of information. The Web can be used for distributing this type of information to people who do not have ready access to traditional management systems. Members of the finance group, for instance, may need usage accounting information, while database users may need to determine system status or submit an online trouble ticket and follow it through to resolution.

The convenience of Web management is very appealing. A Web-based management tool is easier to use than the command-line interfaces of Unix systems. It is geographically independent and can be used from any notebook, desktop PC, or workstation with a browser to access network information. This also means network planners, designers, and managers do not have to load specialized client software on their portable computers. With a Web browser, they can access the network at any time—in any building, while traveling, or even at home.

Web-based management offers several other benefits. In being able to access performance data and implement routine management tasks over the Web, companies with global networks do not have to distribute management platforms to every remote site. The Web's ubiquity also has the potential to reduce the cost of managing transmission facilities and services by eliminating the need for proprietary, high-priced equipment offered by carriers.

IP-Centrex System : Features and Applications

The effective use of features (within the phone system) and applications (attached to the phone system) is the key benefit promised by IP-Centrex. With legacy PBX systems and Centrex services, most users do not know what features are available and are uncomfortable with some that they do know (e.g., establishing a three-way conference call). Additionally, the integration of desired applications has proven to be complex and expensive with PBXs, and almost impossible with Centrex, due to management and physical separation.

With the next generation networks, as typified by IP-Centrex, voice service features and applications will be created by a wide range of developers, including specialist software companies, the service providers, system manufacturers, and the user community. These improvements can be grouped into three categories:

High-volume services for many users will reside on centralized application servers, next to the carrier's softswitch. These will include address/number translations and other directory services, toll-free number services, nationwide number portability, and links to wireless services.

Applications for work groups that need specialized services, such as contact centers, but that are also physically distributed and frequently changing. A wide variety of occupations, such as brokers of all types, public relations personnel, sale executives, and consultants, spend much of their day on the phone and are highly mobile. These applications need to be flexible and logically distributed, but will mostly be implemented on shared, centralized servers.

Personalized features will involve customization at the endpoint, with an intelligent device. These include features such as call blocking of specific codes or numbers, user-specific icons or audio interfaces, and caller-identifying ring patterns.

Hosted Internet protocol (HIP) telephony is an almost ideal application service provider business model, in that voice services do not involve customization for particular vertical markets. At the same time, other applications, such as CRM and enterprise resource planning (ERP) can be attached to the voice services and tailored to specific industries. Most users of the features and applications that will be delivered through IP-Centrex will need an IP telephone, while some will be served by a softphone within a PC.