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PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Platform:
MONITOR MASTER
- Find problems before your customers do
- Get the diagnostics you need to fix them
- Keep services available
Your Network:
the Customer PersPeCtive
Understanding, measuring, and improving the
quality of your network services is vitally im-
portant to keeping your customers happy and
ultimately, subscribed. We all know this, but
how can we achieve it?
The simple answer: Monitor Master. With
over ten years of development and experience
behind it and over 100 customers worldwide,
Monitor Master is the best Quality of Service
measurement and service monitoring tool on
the market.
MONITOR MASTER
STATIONARy TEST PORTfOlIO
Your ChalleNges
You want to know your subscribers are getting a good service
n
– and be able to prove it
Some problems can't be detected from inside the network
n
If there's a problem, you need to know immediately
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When there is a problem, you need detailed information to fix it
n
– fast
You need to monitor a wide range of services now and even more
n
in the future
our solutioN
Monitor Master for end-to-end monitoring, regression testing,
n
content testing, roaming, and revenue assurance
Used by regulators, operators, and content providers
n
Active test probes run 24x7 to test any service on any bearer
n
Provides detailed diagnostic information for root cause analysis
n
Threshold-based alarms for automatic problem alerts
n
Centralized reporting and data warehouse for short-term, long-
n
term, and trend analysis reports
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Table of Contents
Related Manuals for ASCOM MONITOR MASTER - BROCHURE 1
Summary of Contents for ASCOM MONITOR MASTER - BROCHURE 1
- Page 1 PRODUCT PORTFOLIO Platform: MONITOR MASTER - Find problems before your customers do - Get the diagnostics you need to fix them - Keep services available MONITOR MASTER STATIONARy TEST PORTfOlIO Your Network: Your ChalleNges the Customer PersPeCtive You want to know your subscribers are getting a good service Understanding, measuring, and improving the – and be able to prove it quality of your network services is vitally im- Some problems can’t be detected from inside the network portant to keeping your customers happy and If there’s a problem, you need to know immediately ultimately, subscribed. We all know this, but When there is a problem, you need detailed information to fix it how can we achieve it? – fast You need to monitor a wide range of services now and even more The simple answer: Monitor Master. With ...
- Page 2 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts moNitor master overview End-to-end service monitoring Monitor Master is a software and hardware product for measuring the Centrally managed end-to-end quality and user experience of wireless and fixed line data and Extensive bearer support voice services. Monitor Master forms part of Ascom’s Symphony network Wide variety of services supported testing product range, which includes mobile drive-testing and optimiza- Multi-modal tion solutions. Central SIM server Highly flexible and configurable reporting Flexibility Monitor your services from the most Monitor Master has been designed to be a highly flexible product. It important viewpoint: the customer’s has been used by our customers around the world for a variety of activities Configure automatic alerts including large-scale revenue assurance testing, content testing, prelaunch Forecast problems before they happen multi-modal service testing and roaming solutions. Monitor Master is the Adapt easily to emergent technologies ...
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Page 3: Supported Services
MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING suPPorted serviCes Monitor Master supports a wide range of technologies and services available to your customers. Monitor Master has been developed with flexibility in mind. It is not fixed in its capabilities or scope of testing, but can test almost any service and provide a wide variety of metrics and diagnostic information at the same time. With its ability to simulate a user performing a wide range of activi- ties on a mobile device, Monitor Master is the most comprehensive test and monitoring platform on the market. Voice Calls SMS Web Browsing Voice Quality PESQ EMS Web 2.0 Voicemail MMS IP Testing iPhone Visual Instant Messaging Video Streaming Voicemail Email (POP3, SMTP, ... - Page 4 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING moNitor master arChiteCture Monitor Master components are built using our Quality Manager architecture, which provides the level of flexibility, reliability, and perfor- mance demanded by production environments. Over 100 customers world- wide use this proven architecture to provide their network quality of service measurements. The platform architecture has been designed with scalability in mind, with a central processing and management server, Quality Manager, which can manage and control a large number of test probes via IP. Quality manager – Central management system Quality Manager forms the central hub of the system. It performs the following functions in the system: System administration: - SIM management - Probe and modem management (including remote SW updates) - User management (roles/permissions/access) Test script management resource checks are performed by Quality manager to ...
- Page 5 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING Projector – data Consolidation Projector is a server that processes measurement data from the dis- tributed probes and consolidates it into a data warehouse structure for long-term storage and analysis. Projector is a highly scalable and robust data warehouse solution ® based on Microsoft SQL Server. It can handle hundreds of incoming reports per minute, from hundreds of agents simultaneously. For smaller installations Projector can use a single SQL Server instance; for large installations there is full support for distributed SQL Server farms.
- Page 6 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING measuremeNt ProBes Monitor Master software can run on a number of different platforms. The simplest platform is a PC/Laptop running only a Monitor Master Software Agent: this implementation is for customers who only require LAN/IP testing capabilities. To test over-the-air service, one of Ascom’s proprietary hard- ware agents is required. Three different types of agent hardware are available at present, to meet the varied requirements that you may have. Although each agent is different in terms of capacity and size, they all support or implement the following common technologies: Microsoft ® Windows XP based operating system Support for GSM, UMTS, HSDPA, CDMA, EV-DO, WLAN, LAN, PSTN, and ISDN interfaces SIM multiplexing in conjunction with the SIM server platform USB interface control allowing integration of USB devices, such as modems for mobile broadband testing Each agent is capable of running tests developed with Story Boarder, the test creation tool, and automatically updates the data warehouse with test data and metrics once a test has completed. agent X1100 The Agent X1100 is a rack-mountable (19” rack, 3U high) hardware appliance designed for large-volume service testing. It is capable of control- ling up to eight modems or phones simultaneously. The modem “blades” (four slots) can be swapped and are easily inserted and allows for easy field upgrades as new faster modems are available. agent X1100 agent X200 The Agent X200 is a smaller hardware appliance that can contain two ...
- Page 7 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING sim multiPleXiNg sim server The Monitor Master SIM Server is the key to a flexible and highly scalable SIM multiplexing solution enabling central SIM storage and distri- bution. A single SIM Server can store up to 336 SIM cards. The architecture allows for easy plug-and-play expansion. There is no limit on the number of SIM Servers and the system has been proven in live operations supporting more than 300 probes delivering several hundreds of SIM images. The SIM multiplexing platform supports SIM cards and Universal SIM cards (USIMs). Device Profiles Monitor Master Quality Manager North bound Device Test modeling Data Warehouse Alarms characteristics Test planning Reporting &...
- Page 8 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING voiCe voice Calling Monitor Master has full support for peer-to-peer voice calling on and between all available voice bearers, including public switched telephone networks (PSTN), circuit switched dialling (CSD), and voice over IP (VoIP). The calling and receiving parties can be on the same or different probes, which can be in different locations. This allows you to create any voice call situation you require. Monitor Master records a variety of KPIs (see Typical KPIs) for each party. voice Quality keY PoiNts Monitor Master can be used to measure the perceived quality of a ...
- Page 9 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING messagiNg sms, ems, and mms Monitor Master comes with comprehensive support for SMS and EMS, providing accurate timings and KPIs for sending and receiving messages. SMS-based applications are also supported, such as horoscope or lottery updates, sport notifications, or similar content in which the platform requests SMS-based data by sending an SMS with a particular key word. Monitor Master also has full support for MMS scenarios such as trans- mission/receipt of MMS via email or Web-based applications, and can also inject MMS traffic via the MM3, MM4, and MM7 interfaces. keY PoiNts visual voicemail (vvm) SMS, EMS, and MMS Although branded a voicemail service, this is actually an email-based iPhone Visual Voicemail messaging system. Apple developed VVM for the iPhone, deciding an IMAP Instant Messaging (MSN, Skype) email system would provide greater flexibility and more features to the ...
- Page 10 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING PrePaY Monitor Master can test prepaid subscriber services. Prepay specific services, like balance checking and prepay top-up can also be tested. Balance Checks Monitor Master can be used to perform prepay balance checks via USSD, IVR/SMS combination, and Web/WAP portal. These are just some of the common options, but many more are available. auto top-up Automated IVR top-up services can be tested with Monitor Master. keY PoiNts For example, a list of prepay voucher numbers, provided either in file Balance checks format or in a database table, can be accessed sequentially by Monitor ...
- Page 11 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING video video streaming Monitor Master comes with extensive video streaming test support. The system can connect to a variety of video stream sources, such as YouTube, and analyze the quality of the received video stream. A range of metrics and KPIs are calculated including buffering, bandwidth, and various other perceived quality measurements (see Video Quality below). Using Monitor Master you can also quickly verify the availability of all your video feeds through Video PING (VPING). As with all IP-based Monitor Master tests, IP packet level trace informa- tion is captured allowing detailed diagnostic work to be performed in the keY PoiNts event of a failure or poor performance. Video Streaming Video Call video Quality Video PING Monitor Master has full support for Video Mean Opinion Score (VMOS) YouTube support calculations ...
- Page 12 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING BrowsiNg Monitor Master is the most powerful platform on the market for testing and monitoring browsing services. With its user-transaction recording features, auto-browse capabilities, full support for WAP and Web, and extensive device simulation support, measuring any portal-based applica- tion is made extremely easy. The platform supports secure traffic and comes with low-level features such as segmentation and reassembly (SAR) of large data transmissions, socket reuse, and parallel HTTP fetches. keY PoiNts Monitor Master simulates real handsets using a handset emulation Simulates real users accessing the from our virtual device repository with hundreds of different devices. All ...
- Page 13 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING CoNteNt aNalYsis Monitor Master is the leading platform on the market for mobile con- tent analysis. With its unique analysis engine it can analyze all available content using the same methodology. In addition to the comprehensive support of content types, the flexible architecture of Monitor Master makes it possible to extend the analysis engine, to deal with the latest content types. markup and text analysis Using Monitor Master, not only can you measure the availability and performance of content services, you can also verify that the content keY PoiNts returned is correct and of the right quality. Automatically check downloaded content for text and images ...
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Page 14: Third-Party Integration
MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING data Monitor Master can test a number of different IP-based services, such as FTP, HTTP, ping, and DNS lookup. These tests can be conducted over-the- air, or via a LAN connection or broadband DSL line. FtP and httP Monitor Master can connect to, upload, and download files from both FTP and HTTP servers. HTTP interactions can be managed through the methods described in the Browsing section. FTP and HTTP tests both record a number of KPIs, such as connection keY PoiNts time, throughput, download, and upload time. Variety of IP based services sup- ported such as FTP, ping, DNS, HTTP Can integrate with third-party tools Packet capture available with Wireshark Layer 3 trace diagnostic data available Box office report showing FtP throughput over time tYPiCal kPis Throughput rates for FTP and HTTP ... -
Page 15: Protocol Analysis
PCAP – Wireshark support Layer 3 tracing GSM Layer 3, WCDMA NAS Signaling, WCDMA RRC Signaling, and CDMA Chipset statistics Phone Messages are available for tracing on each modem on the agent. Analysis with Field Analyzer Chipset statistics, such as Idle Reports, Neighbor Reports, and HSDPA Channel Root-cause analysis statistics are also recorded in the trace files. This data can be analyzed using Ascom’s powerful Field Analyzer tool, allowing users to drill down to pin- point the exact cause of failed or poorly performing tests. wireshark io graphs Field analyzer The signaling messages can also be processed by Monitor Master to produce: Precision timing points for KPI metrics, e.g. ETSI PDP Context Activation Time Error cause analysis Customized Box Office reports showing summarized trace data ... -
Page 16: Application Areas
MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING aPPliCatioN areas Due to the wide variety of tasks that Monitor Master can perform, it is sometimes simpler to describe the value that Monitor Master can provide by grouping its capabilities into application areas. The main application areas for Monitor Master that we see with our cus- tomers are End-to-End Testing, Functional Testing, Roaming, and Revenue Assurance. The diagram below outlines the types of testing associated with each application area: eNd-to-eNd regressioN / roamiNg reveNue testiNg FuNCtioNal assuraNCe Inbound / testiNg 24x7 Service Outbound Automate billing Monitoring Ad-hoc Service SIM Server record checks Customer Experience Testing Technology Generate call Measurement ... -
Page 17: End-To-End Monitoring
MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts eNd-to-eNd moNitoriNg Assess the quality of your services Modern services are complex and often involve third parties that you from the customer perspective cannot control. All the parts may appear to work properly and yet the service 24x7 round-the-clock automated still fails from the customer’s point of view. So it’s not enough to monitor the monitoring parts of the delivery chain, it’s vital to test each service from end to end. Instant notification of service issues via SNMP and auto-refresh reports instant awareness of issues Benchmark services against com- If a service is not working correctly every second costs you money petitors – and subscribers. So when something does go wrong, you need to know Analyze trends in service response immediately – and preferably, you want the information to diagnose and ... - Page 18 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts regressioN testiNg Test new and upgraded services Regression testing is essential when you need to know that new or prior to launch upgraded services are safe to launch to your customers. Interactively test services at any Modern, next-generation services involving Web 2.0 components or location VoIP services interact in such complex ways, even simple changes can cause Tailor reports to meet the needs of faults. Even traditional, hardened services like SMS or voice can fail given your new services the number of elements involved in delivering them. Before and after trend comparison The only way to be sure that your service is ready is to test it from the Trace level data for diagnosis of end user’s point of view. Manual testing is expensive, time-consuming, and issues error prone, and a real handset can’t give you the technical detail needed to diagnose a problem and fix it quickly. test Before and after Either by using our prepackaged Standard Scripts, or by creating your own, regression testing is a simple case of running your test(s) before and after the installation/upgrade of your new service and seeing the difference in results (easy to do with the built-in reporting tool, Box Office). A typical regression test suite for testing an MMS-C would send differ- ent content types to all your important handsets and verify that the content adaptation engine successfully transcoded all MMS messages depending on ...
- Page 19 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts roamiNg Centralized SIM Server allows SIMs Roaming scenarios add far more complexity to already complex mobile to be deployed to any agent systems: Geographically distributed agents Multiple operators, multiple carriers, and multiple network Test between different agents in elements different locations Ever-changing technologies, both in the VAS and network infra- IREG support structure areas – both locally and within roaming partners Mosaic™: Ascom’s managed roam- Physical distance, language barriers, and differing time zones can ing service make manual methods of fault finding extremely time-consuming With its excellent SIM-Server technology and the capability to deploy agents to anywhere in the world, Monitor Master provides state-of-the-art inbound and outbound roaming testing capabilities. managed service Ascom also offers Mosaic , the managed service option for customers who want to test outbound roaming scenarios without hosting their own Monitor Master probes in other countries. Mosaic offers an easy-access solution for all your outbound roaming requirements where you can either run our standard scripts or provide your own custom scripts.
- Page 20 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts reveNue assuraNCe Monitor Master creates CDRs for all Getting the bill right is important. Charging too much upsets your test interactions customers and gets the undivided attention of regulators; charging too Correlate CDR records against little upsets your company and partners. network charging center CDRs As networks and services evolve and expand, unforeseen errors can Automatic notification of billing introduce charging problems, and proving that the bill is correct is not irregularities easy. ...
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Page 21: Interactive Mode
MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts iNteraCtive mode Control a modem anywhere using Interactive Mode is a unique feature of Monitor Master providing direct Web browser, in real time control of up to four modems via a Web-based interface. Make calls By selecting an agent, modem and SIM, the user can effectively Send and receive SMS “be” any user in any location, making phone calls, sending messages, and Browse Web browsing the Web. All of this can be done from a desk with a PC running Generate CDR records a Web browser. Ad-hoc testing IREG testing making a voice call using two modems Not only is this perfect for ad-hoc testing of network services, but it ... -
Page 22: Report Types
MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts rePortiNg Web-based Box office Provides wide variety of reports Monitor Master’s reporting tool, Box Office, delivers outstanding reports (see below) and information based on data gathered by the test probes, including KPIs, Drill down capability metrics, messages, and trace information. Direct access to media produced Box Office comes with a wide array of standard reports, but can also by tests, such as audio, trace, and be customized quickly and easily to produce new reports that meet any logfiles specific requirement you may have. User group control Reports are edited via Automated report distribution the same interface as used Flexible structure allows users to to view reports – there is no create custom reports need for a separate tool. Auto-refresh capability Security ... - Page 23 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING keY PoiNts CustomiZatioN Meet your requirements without Monitor Master has the unique ability to be modified to suit unusual hardware or software upgrades or complicated requirements without any additional hardware or software, Develop complex scripts in-house or involvement of Ascom developers. Wide variety of pre-canned test Our test creation tool, Story Boarder, allows customers to create cus- steps available for use tom test scenarios by joining together a path of test steps, such as “Send Execute custom VBScript code SMS,” “Receive Email,” and “Make Data Connection,” in an easy, visual, drag- Integrate with third-party tools and and-drop manner. platforms In addition to these pre-canned test steps, Monitor Master can execute raw VBScript added using Story Boarder. This opens up a whole world of cus- tomization and third-party integration capabilities. The VBScript language is easy to learn and write, and gives an extra edge to the test creation tool. Here are some typical applications: Manipulating files in a file system Executing windows command line programs (which could be other custom programs that perform specific tasks) Performing complex regular expression matching and XPath analysis This kind of functionality has allowed our customers to integrate ...
- Page 24 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING ProFessioNal aNd eduCatioNal serviCes In addition to providing a speedy standard Monitor Master deploy- ment using our standard scripts and reports, we also offer the option of customizing the system to meet any specific requirements you have. Professional services Ascom can provide a turnkey solution with all the professional services necessary to assure a successful deployment, including design, installation and commissioning, scripting, report configuration, training, testing and acceptance, and documentation. Our experienced consultants have been working with Quality of Service testing for many years and will be able to provide all the assistance you need. We can also provide experienced full-time on-site Engineers who will remain on-site at your premises to assist in the day-to-day testing and manage the system as one of your employees. training Courses Ascom offers a variety of training courses. We can provide training at ...
- Page 25 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING Customer reFereNCe vodafone spain Based in Madrid, Vodafone Spain is a wholly owned subsidiary of “Quality is extremely important to us. Vodafone International. At the end of 2008 Vodafone Spain served more to ensure this we have implemented than 16 million customers via GSM & UMTS. Vodafone’s innovative wireless monitor master throughout our entire products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter product service lifecycle, from testing most. Vodafone Spain is the second-largest operator in Spain and multiple ...
- Page 26 – always able to adapt data translation that was then corrected, preventing customers to your current testing requirements. from experiencing call routing problems. ascom is the market leader within Quality of service testing, benchmarking, and optimi- Some examples of Monitor Master’s ability to adapt to specific cus- zation, with product solutions such as Qvoice tomer needs: for drive testing and benchmarking and tems VF live: When Vodafone launched their WAP portal, they integrated ...
- Page 27 The second mainstay of our strategy is our focus on organic growth. By offering innovative products and solutions, we want to promote further growth and thus achieve a lasting increase in Ascom’s enterprise value. Innovation enables us to maintain our technological advantage over our competitors. Our products and solutions offer the utmost security and reli- ability. They also offer the flexibility required to ensure quick and cost- efficient integration in our clients’ existing systems environments. In ...
- Page 28 MONITOR MASTER – PRODUCT PORTFOLIO STATIONARY TESTING tional structure that Ascom has today, will be further optimized on both, group as well as divisional levels. As part of the concentration on the two divisions Wireless Solutions and Security Solutions, internal processes will be reassessed and additional improvements and simplifications made. Our short and efficient information channels allow us to react quickly and flexibly to client needs and changes in the market environment. Ascom reserves the right to change specifications without notice. Ascom acknowledges all registered trademarks appearing herein. ascom Network testing inc. ascom Network testing ltd 1943 Isaac Newton Square Oak House, Shackleford Road Reston, Virginia 20190 | USA Elstead | Surrey GU8 6LB | UK T +1 571-203-4500 T +44 1252 705 705 F +1 571-203-4593 F +44 1252 705 706 www.ascom.com/networktesting...
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