Ixia was selected by Microsoft as the official test house to qualify Microsoft’s Lync application against Wi-Fi networking and client devices.
With the trend of BYOD expanding, and as unified communications applications carrying voice and video traffic become pervasive, enterprises face significant challenges to guarantee application quality. With Ixia qualification, enterprises are now able to determine with certainty whether they can expect Wi-Fi performance equal to wired networks, a commitment that cannot be guaranteed without comprehensive qualification programs.
News highlights
Microsoft Lync, a UC platform providing a consistent, single client experience for presence, instant messaging, voice and video, continues to spread throughout the enterprise and across mobile devices. However, consumer-grade Wi-Fi features in devices that are now extensively being used in the enterprise lead to low adoption of critical UC voice and video features.
This combination of bandwidth-heavy UC tools and the increasing number of BYOD policies mean rising frustrations for both users and the IT departments tasked with fixing Wi-Fi and device issues. To solve this, Microsoft is collaborating with Ixia to test and qualify Lync’s complete Wi-Fi ecosystem, from access points to mobile devices, via the Ixia Wi-Fi test solutions.
—As the official testing house for the complete Microsoft Lync Wi-Fi ecosystem, Ixia works directly with potential Microsoft partners to test and qualify technology used with the UC system.
—Over a two-week time frame, Ixia will use the IxVeriWave solution to create real-world conditions by emulating a full range of scalable, media-rich application traffic.
—Once testing is complete, Ixia delivers a qualification report to Microsoft and the technology partner with the security and reliability findings. From this report, Microsoft determines whether the technology is qualified for use with the Lync platform.
—As a result, Microsoft now has confidence that Lync users will receive high-quality UC services, which equates to an increase in adoption of the powerful and essential collaboration tool.
Industry commentary
“With tablets and smartphones embedded in our everyday lives, Wi-Fi access to collaboration tools has become an integral part of today’s enterprises; however, poor quality over Wi-Fi has slowed that adoption. Microsoft is dedicated to ensuring our customers’ success, and qualifying the devices in the Lync Wi-Fi ecosystem is a major driver to enabling needed enterprise collaboration,” said B.J. Haberkorn, director of Lync Product Marketing at Microsoft. “Collaborating with Ixia to provide comprehensive, real-world Wi-Fi testing ensures that the power of Lync can be securely and reliably delivered to our customers.”
“Wi-Fi is a vital component of customer and enterprise adoption of UC collaboration tools, and the powerful but extensive video and voice capabilities have put a strain on Wi-Fi’s stability,” said Joseph Zeto, director of product marketing for Ixia. “By working together with Microsoft and potential Lync partners, Ixia is helping to ensure customers have the reliable networks they need to unleash the power of the Microsoft Lync collaboration tools.”