Quality of Service

CIRS Process Overview

The Avaya CIRS network assessment is designed to provide assurance to Avaya customers that their data network is capable of supporting VOIP applications before the installation of any IP Telephony solution. The CIRS process can be broken down into two distinct phases:-

Phase 1

Promotes Design & Implementation best practise with regard to the existing IP infrastructure and proposed VOIP deployments. It will determine if significant issues exist that must be dealt with prior to deploying the newly proposed VOIP solution.

Phase 2

Instigates the Test phase, this may follow any network enhancements identified in phase 1. It will provide evidence that prevailing network conditions – Delay, Loss and Jitter - derived from the network components are within Avaya recommended thresholds for the successful deployment of IP Telephony deployment.

Networks First is certified to perform CIRS tests that are endorsed by Avaya NCS. It is a Consultant lead activity that requires a meeting with the Network Manager and or Technical representative responsible for the infrastructure during our time on site to confirm network solution details, provide network access, and confirm related issues.

Required Information – Avaya Pre-requisite Forms

There are two Avaya forms that have to be completed by the Customer prior to any CIRS activity; we require completed Avaya Site Configuration Survey and EMEA Notification forms to invoke CIRS process officially with Avaya. This along with a requisite PO will enable Networks First to initiate the CIRS process and schedule resources as required.

The forms should include the following information:-

• Hardware Models & Software Revisions - LAN Switches and WAN Routers.
• A Topology Diagram - Showing the main components and links between them.
• Number of Users – Number of Users at each site, any plans to expand?
• Typical Applications Used - Any new applications anticipated or proposed.
• Network Protocols – IP / other protocols?

Typical Timescales

Please note that the elapsed time from initial enquiry to a completed CIRS report can be as long as between 6 - 8 weeks. This is mostly to do with the logistics of running the Test, Consultant availability, analysis and ratifying raw information into a coherent report, which is subsequently endorsed by Avaya.

The CIRS process covers and promotes two main aspects – Design best practice for VOIP network infrastructure and the Test itself which measures underlying prevailing network conditions to determine if the network is within acceptable tolerances for supporting the proposed VOIP deployment. It measures – Delay, Jitter, Loss, and MOS metrics over a period of approx. 1 week.

How CIRS Software Works

For the CIRS performance assessment we use an Avaya tool called Expertnet Lite Assessment Tool (ELAT). It will record several performance factors against network components identified to the test system by IP address and SNMP community string, by generating ICMP and SNMP packets to destination devices and gathering and collating the responses. The devices to put under test are network components such as LAN Switches and Routers that may be in the telephony path. This includes core and access Switches and, if multiple sites are in scope, WAN routers. Each LAN Switch or WAN Router will be identified by one IP address and one SNMP READ community string.

Hardware Required for Test Software.

The CIRS software ELAT has to be loaded onto a dedicated PC (provided on site either by the Customer or Reseller) for the duration of the test, typically 3-5 days. This PC should have the following specification:

• PC with 500MHz CPU, 256 MB DRAM, 3 GB free disk space.
• Windows 2000 or Windows XP Operating System.
• The system must employ only one 100Mbps Ethernet adapter.
• PC must be dedicated to this job during the testing period.
• PC may not be part of any Windows domain.
• PC should have a relevant IP address hard-coded onto the system – this may require a reservation to be set on the resident DHCP Server.
• Software-based firewall must be disabled, to permit access for the ELAT software.
• Automatic updates, for instance to Windows and Virus databases, should be disabled for the duration of the test.
• Other software which may generate traffic to or from the PC during the test should be disabled.