Hosted VoIP

Digital Hands, a global provider of remote call center support for desktops, laptops, servers, networks and PDAs, has announced the launch of VoIPWorks. This Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) assessment, readiness and support service suite includes an unbiased assessment that simulates traffic over local area networks to enable service providers and their customers discover issues prior to implementations.

When adding VoIP installations to their solutions mix, one of the biggest challenges VARs and other providers face is lack of expertise in assessing their customer’s local area network (LAN) and the lack of the technical staff needed to correct problems.

Gartner (News - Alert) maintains that 85 percent of today’s router-based data networks are not ready for successful VoIP deployment and that through 2008, 75 percent of enterprises that fail to perform pre-implementation analysis of their networks will not achieve a successful VoIP implementation.

The lack of proactive visibility to the network and associated hidden issues result in increased costs for provider and customer, compromised VoIP service quality, business interruptions, and a poor service experience.

"Gartner's assertion resonates with what we hear from our customers and partners all the time," said Charlotte Baker, chief executive officer of Digital Hands, in a Tuesday statement.

"We developed VoIPWorks to help service providers address LAN readiness issues. It offers them the advantage of foresight prior to installation and access to beneficial resources they will need in order to prepare the customer's LAN for a successful installation."

VoIPWorks is positioned as producing a maximum benefit when used prior to implementation. It also is designed to come to the rescue of providers struggling with existing, troublesome VoIP implementations.

"We can diagnose the source of the trouble remotely, prescribe what needs to be done, and we will either fix it or tell the customer how to do it themselves," Baker continued. "This saves the provider the expense of hiring on LAN specialists or bringing in other providers to share the job which ultimately can invite competition and lengthen the sales cycle."

When Digital Hands is contacted by a VoIP provider to schedule a VoIP assessment, a Digital Hands technician deploys the Digital Hands agent directly on to their customer’s networks. Traffic is simulated to mimic the desired number of simultaneous calls that can be made while maintaining a high level of quality.

Digital Hands compiles the results and delivers a report to the service provider in a format that is easily interpreted and designed to be understood by sales representatives and their customers.

Service providers delivering VoIP service to their customers are under increasing pressure to ensure that their customers not only have service continuity, but also that the quality of service is consistent. Customers are used to traditional landlines and expect the same service from their VoIP implementation.

Digital Hands is enabling these providers to quickly determine the problems occurring on their network and to remedy the problem, hopefully before it is even noticeable to the customer base. In doing so, these providers not only save time and money, but ultimately deliver a better experience for the customer.