Tolly Group Study Finds Shoreline3 Superior to Cisco's AVVID Call Manager in Terms of Architecture, Cost of Ownership.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2002 In Comparison of Enterprise IP PBXs, Complexity Equates to Higher Cost An in-depth study comparing enterprise VoIP approaches from Cisco Systems “Cisco” redirects here. For other uses, see Cisco (disambiguation). Cisco System,Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO, HKSE: 4333 ) is an American multinational corporation with 54,000 employees and annual revenue of US $28.48 billion as of 2006. and Shoreline Communications concludes that "Cisco is trying to use its dominance in one market (switches and routers) to force-feed a fundamentally flawed VoIP solution on its enterprise customer base." "Cisco vs. Shoreline: The Impact of Voice Over IP Architecture on Management, Functionality and TCO (1) (Total Cost of Ownership) The cost of using a computer. It includes the cost of the hardware, software and upgrades as well as the cost of the inhouse staff and/or consultants that provide training and technical support. See ROI. ," was commissioned by Shoreline and released Nov. 7 by independent test lab The Tolly Group. The Tolly Group study found that complexity emerged as the single greatest differentiator between the two companies' VoIP approaches. While Shoreline offers "a compact, distributed VoIP design that scales to fit enterprise needs (and is) simple to install and configure," Cisco's AVVID AVVID Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (Cisco) AVVID Architecture for Voice Video and Integrated Data is "enormously complex," with "over 100 product devices and options that must be cobbled cob·ble 1 n. 1. A cobblestone. 2. Geology A rock fragment between 64 and 256 millimeters in diameter, especially one that has been naturally rounded. 3. cobbles See cob coal. tr. together to provide basic VoIP functionality," according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the study. This has significant cost-of-ownership implications, both up front and over the lifetime of the product. The Tolly Group conducted a real-world simulation of an enterprise VoIP-enabled network encompassing three tiers of the enterprise: a headquarters site serving 500 employees, a regional office with 100 employees, and a 15-employee branch office. The test examined the four primary functions of enterprise VoIP: call management, VoIP gateway service, PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) The worldwide voice telephone network. Once only an analog system, the heart of most telephone networks today is all digital. In the U.S. interface, and value-added IP functions such as voice mail and unified messaging Having access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. For example, unified messaging may send faxes and digitized voice mail to a mail server that turns them into e-mail attachments. . Different Architectural Approaches: 'Invasive Integration' versus Application Overlay The study found Cisco's and Shoreline's architectural approaches to VoIP to be worlds apart. While Shoreline provides purpose-built voice switches, Cisco retrofits its existing switch/router product line, essentially "ripping open the network infrastructure to accommodate VoIP." While Shoreline's VoIP is an application that can exist on top of any vendor's IP network infrastructure (in The Tolly Group test, Shoreline functioned "flawlessly" on Cisco, Dell, Extreme, Hewlett Packard and 3Com LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. gear), Cisco recommends a Cisco-only infrastructure. And while Shoreline's VoIP functionality is fully distributed Fully distributed A new stock issue that has been completely resold to the investing public and is no longer held by dealers. fully distributed Of or relating to a new issue of securities that has been sold out. , with call-control intelligence residing in every ShoreGear switch, Cisco's CallManager is a centralized application running on a dedicated Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. server. These disparate architectures have wide-ranging implications for the enterprise VoIP user VoIP User is a community driven and financed SIP based VoIP network. The projects aim is to introduce people to the concept of VoIP by allowing members to experiment with SIP and IAX2 devices. : Reliability. With Shoreline's distributed architecture, each switch handles its own call setup/teardown and features, so there is no single point of failure. With Cisco's AVVID, enterprises are forced to buy extra hardware and install server clusters to approach what Shoreline delivers out of the box. Installation and configuration. Because Shoreline's solution is pre-packaged in purpose-built VoIP appliances, costly network upgrades typically are not required. Cisco's AVVID takes an "invasive integration" approach that forces the user to install new WAN interfaces, upgrade IOS (1) (Internetwork Operating System) An operating system from Cisco that is the primary control program used in its routers. IOS is widely used and robust system software that supports the common functions of all products under Cisco's CiscoFusion architecture. software and reconfigure VoIP options on routers and switches -- often requiring device downtime. For each site, the Cisco user must determine which of 10 hardware platforms Each hardware platform, or CPU family, has a unique machine language. All software presented to the computer for execution must be in the binary coded machine language of that CPU. Following is a list of the major hardware platforms in existence today. See platform. is best. And whereas Shoreline deployment can be done by a single person, Cisco requires "a team of specialists to perform open-heart surgery just to get the Cisco switches to support AVVID." Maintenance. The non-invasive Shoreline solution continues to operate while infrastructure changes are being made. Cisco's AVVID is so closely integrated with IOS that VoIP services may need to be updated every time a new IOS version comes out. In addition, because AVVID depends on a wide variety of different hardware platforms, users must stock a large inventory of "hot spare" blades and modules, and conduct far more extensive training. Flexibility. While Shoreline supports both analog and IP phones -- the user can mix and match as desired -- Cisco recommends its own IP phones, which drives the demand for more switch ports and thus more Cisco infrastructure gear. Cost. All of these issues -- but especially capital outlay capital outlay See capital expenditure. for added infrastructure and more complex support issues -- lead to a vast spread in cost of ownership. The Tolly Group study found the total cost-of-ownership of Cisco VoIP solutions to be three to five times that of comparable solutions from Shoreline. (Total cost-of-ownership includes acquisition and installation plus ongoing management and maintenance.) Read the Report, Hear the Webcast A Nov. 7 Webcast with Tolly Group President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Kevin Tolly discussing the study can be heard at http://webevents.roadshowmedia.com/Shoreline/20021107/. The full study can be obtained by registering at http://www.goshoreline.com/purposebuilt. About The Tolly Group The Tolly Group, an independent testing and strategic consulting organization based in Manasquan, N.J., offers a full range of services designed to furnish both the vendor and end-user communities with authoritative and unbiased information. Additionally, The Tolly Group is recognized worldwide for its expertise in assessing leading-edge technologies. For more information on The Tolly Group's services, visit its Web site at http://www.tolly.com. E-mail inquiries to info@tolly.com, call 732/528-3300 or fax at 732/528-1888. About Shoreline Communications Shoreline Communications, Inc., has been shipping IP PBX systems since October 1998. The company's award-winning IP telephone solution is based on a distributed call-control architecture that creates a seamless single telephone system across multiple locations within an enterprise, delivering high system availability and eliminating the "single point of failure" problem common to other products. An intuitive PC-based user interface gives management an unprecedented level of control, and end users unmatched ease of use, compared to traditional PBXs. The Shoreline system also provides a rich set of integrated voice services and standards-based interfaces to third-party voice applications that enhance personal and organizational productivity. For more information, visit http://www.goshoreline.com or call 877/80SHORE. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion