7.9 Working With Vivinet Diagnostics

When you run a VoIP Quality assessment, you can perform some real-time troubleshooting if you are also running NetIQ Vivinet Diagnostics on the same computer. Vivinet Diagnostics diagnoses problems with the routing, connections, and performance of VoIP phone calls on your network.

For more information, see the following topics:

7.9.1 Overview

By default, Vivinet Assessor automatically invokes Vivinet Diagnostics version 1.1 (or later) during the VoIP Quality assessment if it detects call quality that falls below a certain threshold. In such cases, Vivinet Diagnostics runs in the background, while the VoIP Quality assessment is still visible.

Poor MOS values calculated for the simulated calls sent between the endpoints determine whether Vivinet Diagnostics runs during an assessment. A MOS value is considered Poor if it falls into the Poor result range you configured for the assessment. For more information, see Section 7.8.1, Setting Result Ranges.

For any given call group, Vivinet Assessor distinguishes between a single instance of poor call quality and a potential problem by keeping track of the number of times the poor performance was detected. You can determine the number of times that a low MOS must be reported for a call group before Vivinet Diagnostics will be launched. For more information, see Section 7.9.3, Configuring the Vivinet Diagnostics Integration.

All the information Vivinet Assessor has gathered about a particular call group is saved in separate Vivinet Diagnostics-compatible files (.dgv format), which are stored in the Vivinet Assessor\Diagnoses folder. You can view these files by calling them up in Vivinet Diagnostics. If you run an assessment again (thus clearing its results), associated Diagnosis files are deleted unless you save them with new names, or to a new location.

The filenames assigned to .dgv files are a combination of the assessment name, the call group’s index (a value identifying it in the assessment database), and the time the Diagnosis was completed. If you run a Diagnosis again based on one of these associated files, you will be prompted to save it with another name first.

If you use the Save As or Export commands to create a copy of an assessment that has associated .dgv files, the new assessment will not have associated .dgv files.

7.9.2 Viewing Diagnoses in the Run View

When Vivinet Assessor and Vivinet Diagnostics are installed on the same computer, you will automatically gather diagnostic information to aid in troubleshooting the VoIP network. Diagnostic information is gathered by default during the VoIP Quality assessment. Once this information has been gathered and analyzed for a call group, you will see an indication in the Call Groups table of the Run view. Click the Diagnoses column to sort the table by call groups for which diagnostic information is available.

To view a diagnosis, right-click the relevant call group in the table and select View Diagnoses with Vivinet Diagnostics. Vivinet Diagnostics launches and displays the available diagnoses.

When multiple diagnoses exist for a single call group, you can select the diagnosis you want to view from a list that is available when you right-click on the call group. The existence of multiple diagnoses is indicated by a value next to the diagnosis icon.

In Vivinet Diagnostics, a particular diagnosis may be distinguished by its timestamp, which indicates the time a problem was detected on the network.

7.9.3 Configuring the Vivinet Diagnostics Integration

You can disable the Vivinet Diagnostics integration without uninstalling Vivinet Diagnostics. You can also determine the circumstances under which Vivinet Diagnostics is launched.

To configure the Vivinet Diagnostics integration:

  1. From the Assess VoIP Quality view, click Assessment Options on the Options menu, then click the Vivinet Diagnostics tab.

  2. Set the following parameters as necessary:

    Field

    Description

    Use Vivinet Diagnostics to analyze the causes of poor call quality for a call group

    Enables and disables the diagnostic feature. By default, Vivinet Diagnostics will be invoked automatically if poor call quality is detected for a call group.

    Invoke Vivinet Diagnostics for a call group when

    Thresholds that control the circumstances in which diagnostic information will be made available for a call group.

    The call group’s MOS is poor at least N times

    The number of simulated calls that must report poor performance (as determined by low MOS values) before Vivinet Diagnostics will be invoked.

    In the previous N calls

    The number of previous simulated calls to consider when counting calls with poor performance (as determined by low MOS values).

    Do not analyze the same call group more than N times per day

    Limits the number of times Vivinet Diagnostics will diagnose a VoIP problem between the endpoints in a single call group each day.