The September 11th Telarus Tuesday call brought national VX channel manager, Karie Huzzey, to talk about CenturyLink’s perspective on Information Security.

What Causes Hosted UC Mistrust?

It’s important to understand this to sell a hosted UC solution. Gartner, in a Frost & Sullivan survey, recently asked customers “why didn’t you choose hosted UC?” The number one reason was performance/reliability, and the second reason was control. We know that most provider applications are running and need 100 percent uptime, yet three-quarters of buyers won’t go all-in because of perceived performance and reliability issues. The reason is that the customer’s environment and their internet route to the provider dramatically affect their experience, yet buyers can’t trust the internet at large because they don’t have a single entity that can be responsible for helping them. The mistrust stems from when users experience issues and pointing fingers at their IT buyer, and the IT buyer points a finger at the provider they purchased the cloud solutions from only to have the provider point their finger at the end user, their device, or their local network. Nothing is more important than creating transparency and trust between the buyer and the provider.

Why VXSupportLine?

VXSupportLine is a platform for cloud self-service. It enables providers to deliver a self-service workflow that creates relevant diagnostic information between the end user and the provider’s data center. VXSupportLine starts in the pre-sales process by removing fear and risk; it ensures applications will function as intended in the end user’s environment. It then establishes end-user empowerment by enabling customers to identify if the call quality issues they are experiencing reside on their own network or if they should contact their hosted service provider. By identifying this, you give the end user control of the situation. VXSupporLine is an unbiased validation to the customer and gives them transparency.

Telarus partners can test the voice quality from an end user’s computer to a beacon installed in the data centers of specific hosted service providers by simply visiting a URL. Based on standard network requirements, the test will reflect what the hosted user experience would be at that very moment, real-time and if the network performance can support a hosted environment. To run the test simply go to vxsupportline.com/enter supplier name here. The logos you see next to the map below are the suppliers that are currently participating in the program.

As soon as you access the website, the test will begin. The test takes 20-40 seconds depending upon the internet connection Below is a screenshot. When VXSupportLine reflects negative test results, it will show you a list of recommended steps (i.e., engage your IT or engage the service provider).

Here is what this data means:

• Find Server – Tests the DNS resolution required to get to the supplier’s data center is working.
• Check Firewall – Confirming the firewall is allowing the correct outbound ports.
• Upload/download Speed – Confirming there is good throughput and traffic speed.
• Ping tests – These are sent to the supplier’s data center and back down to the originating IP address.
• Delay/Packet loss – Confirmation if there is any (keep in mind this is ICMP, different than voice traffic).
• Traceroute – The number of peering points the test goes through to reach the supplier’s data center.

If you are looking to run more than a test voice call, you have the option to select “Run VoIP Test.” You will download a simple, self-contained, executable application called a SupportApp. This application will not remain on the computer long-term. The SupportApp sits in the download folder and will run until it is closed out or the computer is restarted. It will run ten VoIP calls between the computer up to the provider’s data center. The SupportApp will also give an overall quality rating similar to a MOSS score from the test VoIP calls completed. The objective of this test is to come to a binary decision. Either the network is performing as needed for good call quality, the call quality issues represented are on the customer’s network and they need to engage their own IT resource, or they should contact their ISP or hosted provider to begin troubleshooting.

The most important thing to remember with VXSupportLine is that this tool is 100 percent designed to open more opportunities so that you can have more conversations about hosted voice. With VXSupportLine you are helping your customer begin to understand how important data and analytics are to how their network performance impacts the technologies they are or want to use in their business. Customers today demand this level of transparency and accountability, when you provide this, you will win the business.

To learn more about VXSupportLine visit https://www.telarus.com/vxsuite/.