Methods, apparatus and computer program products for testing a voice over Internet protocol communication system

• US 20050271029A1
• Filed: 06/02/2004
• Published: 12/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Iffland, Frederick
• Granted Patent: US 7,573,825 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/348
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/323 for the arrangements providing the connection (test connection, test call, call simulation)
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for testing a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication system. A VoIP test phone call is generated through an Internet communication link to a VoIP service provider for a called telephone number. Success of the VoIP test phone call is determined. The success of the VoIP test phone call may be determined based on whether it is established with communication equipment at the called telephone number within a threshold time, based on whether it is established within a threshold number of attempts, and/or based on a measured quality of service in the VoIP test phone call when it is established. Further VoIP test phone calls to test the VoIP communication system can be scheduled.

Claims

1. A method of testing a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication system, the method comprising:

generating a VoIP test phone call from a VoIP test apparatus through an Internet communication link to a VoIP service provider for a called telephone number; and

determining success of the VoIP test phone call in the VoIP test apparatus.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a VoIP test phone call comprises communicating a VoIP test phone call through a local access Internet provider to the VoIP service provider.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

generating a VoIP test phone call comprises attempting to establish a VoIP test phone call through the VoIP service provider to the called telephone number; and

determining success of the VoIP test phone call comprises determining whether the VoIP test phone call is established with communication equipment at the called telephone number within a threshold time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

generating a VoIP test phone call comprises attempting to establish a VoIP test phone call through the VoIP service provider to the called telephone number; and

determining success of the VoIP test phone call comprises determining that the VoIP test phone call is not established with communication equipment at the called telephone number within a threshold number of attempts to establish the VoIP test phone call.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the threshold number of attempts based on what time of day and/or day of week VoIP test phone calls are generated.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

generating a VoIP test phone call comprises attempting to establish a VoIP test phone call through the VoIP service provider to the called telephone number; and

determining success of the VoIP test phone call comprises determining whether a busy indication is received from the VoIP service provider.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

generating a VoIP test phone call comprises establishing a VoIP test phone call through the VoIP service provider with communication equipment at the called telephone number; and

determining success of the VoIP test phone call comprises measuring a quality of service in the established VoIP test phone call with the communication equipment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein measuring a quality of service comprises measuring time delay in communication with the communication equipment.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein measuring a quality of service comprises measuring quality of communication signals from the communication equipment.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein measuring a quality of service comprises comparing a signal received from the communication equipment with a quality of service measurement signal.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein scheduling the generation of a VoIP test phone call comprises causing a VoIP test phone call to be generated at a periodic rate.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein scheduling the generation of a VoIP test phone call is based on the determined success of at least one previous VoIP test phone call

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising scheduling the generation of a VoIP test phone call based on a time of day of the VoIP test phone call and/or a day of week of the VoIP test phone call.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a notice indicating a result of the determination of success of the VoIP test phone call.

4. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining the threshold time based on what time of day and/or day of week the VoIP test phone call is generated.

16. A Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) test apparatus comprising:

a controller that is configured to generate a VoIP test phone call through an Internet communication link to a VoIP service provider for a called telephone number, and is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call.

17. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to schedule the generation of a VoIP test phone call.

18. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to generate VoIP test phone calls based on time of day, day of week, and/or determined success of at least one previous VoIP test phone call.

19. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to generate VoIP test phone calls at a periodic rate.

20. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call based on whether the VoIP test phone call is established with communication equipment at the called telephone number within a threshold time.

21. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call based on whether the VoIP test phone call is established with communication equipment at the called telephone number within a threshold number of attempts to establish the VoIP test phone call.

22. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call based on whether a busy indication is received from the VoIP communication system.

23. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to measure a quality of service in a VoIP test phone call established with communication equipment at the called telephone number, and is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call based on the measured quality of service.

24. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller is configured to measure time delay in communication with the communication equipment, and is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call based on the measured time delay.

25. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller is configured to measure quality of communication signals from the communication equipment, and is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call based on the measured quality.

26. The VoIP test apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller is configured to compare a signal received from the communication equipment with a quality of service measurement signal, and is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call based on the comparison.

27. A computer program product for testing a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication system, the computer program product comprising program code embodied in a computer-readable storage medium, the computer program code comprising:

program code that is configured to generate a VoIP test phone call through an Internet communication link to a VoIP service provider for a called telephone number, and is configured to determine success of the VoIP test phone call.