Actix Unifies the Troubleshooting Process for Wireless Carriers and Manufacturers; Actix's New Service Troubleshooting Products Deliver Streamlined, Detailed End-to-End Analysis of Wireless Networks and Services.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Keeping wireless subscribers happy just got a little easier, thanks to Actix, the global provider of wireless network performance engineering solutions. That's because Actix just released its new line of end-to-end service troubleshooting products, Unify3G and UnifyIP, designed to reinvent the troubleshooting process for wireless carriers and infrastructure manufacturers.

Troubleshooting wireless data services is becoming an even greater challenge for wireless industry players. Using 3rd generation technologies like EV-DO and WCDMA, wireless operators have migrated from offering simple messaging services to supporting more complex wireless data services such as streaming video and music downloads. At the same time, the number of data subscribers continues to grow, which adds to the strain on existing networks. And as operators quickly expand and upgrade their networks to meet this growing demand for wireless data services, they are running into the performance snags that are typically experienced when deploying new technologies. This all adds up to greater operational costs for both wireless carriers and their infrastructure partners as they spend more time and money troubleshooting wireless networks and services.

For example, today, when wireless data subscribers are having trouble loading Web pages or downloading a ringtone, finding the problem can be very difficult. Often, engineers have to manually process and evaluate network measurements and signaling using several separate tools in order to determine where a problem is occurring. The analysis can take days.

With Actix Unify3G and UnifyIP, the same analysis can be completed in just minutes. Engineers can correlate and analyze data from all elements of the wireless network. They can do an automatic failure analysis, which, for instance, can track the behavior of every object on a Web page. They can analyze issues such as delays and packet losses introduced by various network elements, thus allowing them to quickly see whether the problem is in the device, the server or at some point in between.

Put simply, Actix's new end-to-end troubleshooting products allow engineers to quickly solve problem areas in all portions of the network by unifying the complete set of network and service information available to network engineers into a single platform for analysis.

"Uncovering network problems and fixing them quickly - particularly when troubleshooting wireless data services - is not an easy process today," says Henry McDonnell, head of product marketing for Actix. "We've changed that with Unify3G and UnifyIP. Actix provides a new approach to troubleshooting that allows wireless engineers to spend their time solving problems, not processing data."

There are two products available as part of the new line:

Actix Unify3G enables wireless operators and vendors to troubleshoot tasks that are linked to the connection and movement of a device through the wireless network, such as registration, call set-up, handoff and call termination. Unify3G combines measurements made by standard protocol analyzers, drive test equipment and other test and measurement equipment to provide engineers with the ability to isolate and troubleshoot network problems, beginning at the device all the way through to the core network.

Actix UnifyIP enables wireless operators and vendors to troubleshoot all types of wireless services, ranging from web browsing and music download to streaming video. It enables them to quickly evaluate the behavior of packet data services and provides tools to troubleshoot the causes of poor data service performance. By correlating packet data sessions across network interfaces, from the client to the application server, key service-impacting issues such as lost packets and high latency can be identified, isolated and diagnosed.

Solutions based on the Actix platform can normalize and merge data from more than 50 different data sources, independent of the type of wireless technology being monitored (e.g. GSM, UMTS, CDMA, GPRS, etc.) as well as from the manufacturer of the data collection equipment.

Some of the operators using Actix's 3G solutions include: Orange France, 3GIS, Hutchison 3G UK, Swisscom, Mobilkom, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless, Bell Mobility, Sprint PCS, and Qwest Wireless.

About Actix

A privately held company founded in 1991, Actix is the international market-leader in Wireless Performance Engineering software. Actix solutions address two of the biggest issues facing wireless operators today: the need to squeeze more out of their existing network investments and the race to generate significant new revenue from wireless data services.

Actix Intelligent Performance Engineering solutions enable wireless operators and manufacturers to optimize network performance, enhance service quality and gain detailed awareness of the customer experience. The company's vendor-independent solutions analyze data from all major wireless vendors and technologies, from 2G to 3G. Applications include: network performance troubleshooting, verification of customer-perceived service quality; competitive analysis and accelerated new-technology rollout.

Over 5,000 engineers from more than 200 operators globally - including Verizon, Orange, Vodafone, Hutchinson 3G and T-Mobile - depend upon Actix software everyday to improve their wireless operations. Actix has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and China. For more information, see www.actix.com.