Spirent Communications Announces Skinny Support

Enterprise Networks & Servers, Nov 2004

Spirent Communications now offers support for Cisco's SCCP (Skinny) protocol on its Abacus 5000 IP Telephony Test Migration Platform. With the addition of Skinny protocols, Spirent says its Abacus 5000 now offers the most comprehensive analog, digital and VoIP protocol support in the testing industry.

"In 2005, 80 percent of enterprises will be migrating to VoIP," said Zeus Kerravala, vice president of Enterprise Infrastructure, Yankee Group. "As networks continue to converge, testing will be crucial for enterprises to safely migrate to VoIP. Many companies hold back from implementing VoIP because of the risk. With the proper testing tools and techniques, companies can be assured of the performance of their VoIP network before it goes live, reducing risk and accelerating the adoption of VoIP."

Spirent's Abacus 5000 is a fully integrated VoIP and PSTN test system in a single platform. It allows Enterprises to test VoIP calls within the enterprise, and calls both from and to the PSTN, to reduce the risk of VoIP migration.

Abacus 5000 has integrated analog, TDM and Ethernet interfaces for comprehensive testing of converged network elemerits. Abacus 5000 eases Enterprises' migration to next-generation networks by testing the integration with legacy systems, and addressing scalability, performance, and voice quality in real-world scenarios. As a fully integrated test system, Abacus 5000 simplifies the testing of converged devices and networks, and reduces the overall cost of testing by reducing the need for multiple boxes of different types.

"The capability to test the Skinny-based networks alongside PSTN-generated analog calls is fast becoming a requirement for leading enterprises migrating to VoIP," said Bahaa Moukadam, vice president, IP Telephony, Spirent Communications. "Testing before deployment can mean the difference between a seamless transition to VoIP and critical down time that can cost both money and lost customer confidence if calls can't get through. Spirent Abacus 5000 can ease the transition to VoIP for Enterprises."

In addition to Skinny, Abacus 5000 supports a range of protocols, including SIP, H.323, MGCP, Megaco, NCS, CAS, PRI, SS7, NFAS, V5 and GR-303. The solution supports multiple payload types such as voice, fax, modem, tones and video and over a wide range of physical interfaces.