Ixia Enhances VOIP, IPTV TesterIxia Enhances VOIP, IPTV Tester

CALABASAS, Calif. -- Ixia (NASDAQ:XXIA), a leading, global provider of IP performance test systems, today announced the release of IxRave™ Voice, an enhancement of its IxRave service verification system that enables service providers to assure voice over IP (VoIP) quality of service and alerts service providers of problems before subscribers become aware of them. IxRave Voice is an inexpensive and efficient system that can be used with VoIP services provided over xDSL, optical or cable networks.

IxRave 3.0 also expands its IPTV service verification offering with support for QoS and QoE monitoring based on ITU-T Recommendation G.1080. Service providers have welcomed this standard method for QoS and QoE monitoring as an alternative to many proprietary methods that were fielded by vendors in the early stages of IPTV development.

With the explosive growth of VoIP services, service providers are seeking to identify and fix problems before subscribers notice and thus avoid costly technician truck rolls. This pro-active service assurance increases service providers’ bottom line by reducing churn for voice customers who have many alternatives for voice service. Early adopters of IxRave Voice include Buckeye Cable System of Toledo, Ohio, and Armstrong Cable of Butler, Pennsylvania.

“IxRave Voice enables us to isolate issues that can affect voice quality before our customers even notice,” said Don Tacik, VP – Technical Operations, Armstrong Cable. “It is very important in today’s market to have tools in place that allow service providers to retain their customers. The automated service verification of the voice quality along with the visual mapping techniques has proven to be a great tool at all levels of our organization.”

In a separate release:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and CALABASAS, Calif. -- Extreme Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXTR - News), a leading provider of Ethernet networking solutions, and Ixia (NASDAQ:XXIA - News), a leading, global provider of IP performance test systems, today announced that the companies have agreed to cooperate in the integration of their products to enhance post-deployment service verification. Extreme Networks and Ixia will integrate Extreme Networks’ Ethernet switch platforms and the ExtremeXOS® modular operating system with Ixia IxRave™ Converged Service Verification Solution.

With the combination of agile, scalable networking solutions from Extreme Networks and the industry-leading service verification testing of Ixia, service providers and triple-play enterprise users will benefit from the visibility and insight created by automated network service verification, validation, and active troubleshooting. Based upon configured network traffic event monitors, the power of the IxRave’s active testing can be engaged to provide technicians with the ability to diagnose problems down to a network component sub-interface. The combination of the two technology solutions also enables evaluation of infrastructure readiness for traffic demands on the network stemming from data, voice and video communications.

“Working with Ixia to further the intelligence of the network with our scalable Ethernet switching platforms brings greater value to customers who desire real-time insight into the performance of their mission-critical network services,” said Paul Hooper, chief marketing officer for Extreme Networks. “Combining the IxRave service verification system with ExtremeXOS, the industry’s first modular and extensible OS for carriers and enterprises, is an exciting development and makes for an ideal way to build more valuable, reliable and responsive IP networks.”

Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA)

Extreme Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR)