IP Service-to-Business Intelligence: Visualization and Reporting for Decision Makers
Service providers are rapidly transitioning to converged IP-based voice, video, data and mobile services and applications to deliver critical communications and entertainment to business and residential users. There are many reasons for this transition as flexible, efficient and cost-effective IP-based services and applications offer compelling operational benefits. Additionally, IP-based services and applications allow providers a better mechanism for managing end-to-end quality of service (QoS) and end-user quality of experience (QoE).
Although next-generation IP networks are more complex than traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM) networks, providers can extract significantly more data that can be used to continually measure and monitor service performance and quality across the network. By deploying an end-to-end converged service assurance solution, providers can collect key performance indicators (KPIs) and additional metrics from multiple points in the network and at the end-user level to truly reflect the performance and quality of any IP-based service.
As IP networks continually expand and subscriber rates grow exponentially, business owners and executives need greater visibility into service performance and a simple way of analyzing complex data to make smart business decisions. Significant challenges are how to consolidate data collected from various points of the network and interact with the information to gain valuable insight into patterns, relationships and customer assurance impact. Additionally, with new IP-based services critical to business success, more organizational stakeholders from technical to business managers to executive levels are interested in the results and demand their own unique visualization requirements. The effectiveness of the data is ultimately determined by if it’s the right data for the right people in the right format.
BrixView Advanced Analytics and Reporting
Seamlessly integrated with the BrixWorx™ correlation engine, BrixView enables the flexible presentation of performance and quality information to all decision makers. With interactive dashboard views, customizable reporting packages and individual content portals, BrixView delivers fast, simple access to information when it is needed and in the format it is needed for all levels of users across an organization.
In a timely manner, BrixView produces visualization and reports of varying levels to allow a broad audience to take the appropriate actions. With the appropriate information, network operators spend less time working with static charts and spreadsheets, and business owners and executives have the information and insights they need to make intelligent decisions and drive business value for the organization.
Custom Dashboards, Report Packages and Portals
The power of BrixView is in the simplified presentation and visualization of converged service assurance information. Each user can set up unique dashboards and portals to view only the information that is pertinent to them. Users can also create their own BrixView pages from which they can access specific prebuilt BrixView report packages, as well as their own custom reports. Technical staff members may want to view more detailed reports and information, while management level members may only desire a graphical, at-a-glance status view of the impact of data on take rates or churn. By streamlining the delivery of information, BrixView empowers its users to make informed decisions that lead to success.
Visual Presentation of Key Metrics
BrixView translates the network, service performance and quality data generated by the BrixWorx engine, into highly consumable information from which users can investigate patterns as well as track and monitor service performance and quality in multidimensional report types. By processing user-defined network and service KPIs (jitter, latency, packet loss, availability, MOS, etc.), BrixView enables users to view performance and quality over time (hourly, monthly, yearly), by specific location, by a customer/partner, and by organizational division/department.
Using a VoIP service as an example, BrixView dashboards, portals and reports monitor individual KPI performance and provide visibility into customer experience to monitor take rates, retention and churn based on service quality. By running multidimensional reports, users can quickly identify performance and quality degradations over periods of time, where they are occurring in the network, and who is being affected. In simplifying this information, BrixView enables users to make better, faster decisions and share results effectively throughout the organization.
Content Management and Security
BrixView’s single sign-on capabilities provide users with instant access to flexible, role-based dashboard displays and reports. Administrators control BrixView access and capabilities to create and run reports. Depending upon administrator-established user rights, users can access their own unique dashboard and portal views, public reports folders, and create and manage their own reports folder. BrixView’s intuitive navigation delivers the information each user needs in a secure, controlled fashion.
The Brix System: Comprehensive Converged Service Assurance Solution
Customers deploy the Brix System converged service assurance solution throughout their networks to gain end-to-end visibility into the performance and quality of the IP services they offer. By leveraging in-network monitoring sources (Brix Verifiers, third-party sources, and devices embedded with industry standards) across their network, the BrixWorx centralized correlation and analysis engine produces a vast amount of data that is essential to continually managing and monitoring service performance and quality. With the addition of BrixView, the picture is now complete and users have a dynamic, interactive visualization environment that makes it easy to convert that data into actionable information.