NetIQ Fortifies IP Monitoring Tool

Due out this week, VoIP Manager 2.0 increases support for VoIP products from Cisco Systems and integrates with other network management tools. The upgrade provides realtime monitoring of call quality, network and gateway performance, and availability of IP telephony systems from one console, said Steve Joyce, director of networking technologies at NetIQ, San Jose.

VoIP Manager 2.0 brings six new management modules, which solution providers can use to customize client deployments, Joyce said. The new modules add monitoring capabilities for Cisco's Unity unified messaging servers and Personal Assistant voice-recognition and automated call-routing servers. Other new modules monitor IP telephony servers running on Dell Computer hardware, forward VoIP manager events to Micromuse and Hewlett-Packard network monitoring tools, and simulate and monitor IP phone registration and call setup using the H.323 protocol.

Though VoIP Manager 2.0 likely will appeal to enterprise clients with established network management capabilities, solution providers also can use the product to offer VoIP management to smaller clients as a managed service, said Steve Fitzhenry, vice president of sales at 4Front Systems, a Raleigh, N.C., solution provider. "People in larger accounts that already have a big investment in [management technology are definitely going to use the product," he said.

4Front's VoIP sales are gaining momentum as customers become more comfortable with the technology, Fitzhenry added. "We're seeing a considerable swell for VoIP," he said. "It's getting ready to take off."

Enterprise deployments of VoIP technology are on the rise, but the real breakthrough is three to four years away, said Paul Bugala, an analyst at research firm IDC. Still, tools like VoIP Manager 2.0 help steer VoIP toward the mainstream, he noted.

NetIQ plans to add modules to VoIP Manager 2.0 to support VoIP systems from more vendors, such as Nortel and Avaya, Joyce said. Pricing for VoIP Manger 2.0 starts at $2,500. A typical pilot starts around $5,000.