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IP Telephony Configuration Guide
Appendix A
Networking
This appendix provides information on making your network run more efficiently.
Determining the bandwidth requirements
The design process starts with the an IP telephony bandwidth forecast. The bandwidth forecast
determines the following:
• LAN requirements: LAN must have enough capacity for the number of calls plus the overhead
• WAN requirements: WAN must have enough capacity for the number of calls plus the
overhead
Determining WAN link resources
For most installations, IP telephony traffic travels over WAN links within the intranet. WAN links
are the highest recurring expenses in the network and they are often the source of capacity
problems in the network. WAN links require time to receive financial approval, provision and
upgrade, especially inter-LATA (Local Access and Transport Area) and international links. For
these reasons, it is important to determine the state of WAN links in the intranet before installing
the IP telephony.
Link utilization
This procedure explains how to determine and adjust link utilization:
1 Get a current topology map and link utilization report of the intranet. A visual inspection of the
topology can indicate the WAN links anticipated to deliver IP telephony traffic.
2 Record the current utilization of the links that will be handling IP telephony traffic. For
example, the link utilization can be an average of a week, a day, or one hour. To be consistent
with the considerations, get the peak utilization of the trunk.
3 Determine the available spare capacity. Business Communications Manager intranets are
subject to capacity planning controls that ensure that capacity use remains below a determined
utilization level. For example, a planning control can state that the utilization of a 56 kbit/s link
during the peak hour must not exceed 50%. For example, for a T1 link, the threshold is higher,
for example at 85%. The carrying capacity of the 56 kbit/s link can be 28 kbit/s, and for the T1,
1.3056 Mbit/s. In some organizations the thresholds can be lower than those used in this
example. In the event of link failures, spare capacity for rerouting traffic is required.
Some WAN links can exist on top of layer 2 services such as Frame Relay and Asychronous
Transfer Mode (ATM). The router-to-router link is a virtual circuit, which is subject not only to a
physical capacity, but also to a logical capacity limit. The installer or administrator needs to obtain
the physical link capacity and the QoS parameters. The important QoS parameters are CIR
(committed information rate) for Frame Relay, and MCR (maximum cell rate) for Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM).
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