Empirix Inc., the industry's leading supplier of VoIP testing systems, today announced that Buckeye TeleSystem., a fiber- and cable-based competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) based in Toledo, Ohio, has selected the Hammer XMS(TM) monitoring system to support its VoIP service deployments.



Buckeye TeleSystem provides voice, data and video services to the Northwest Ohio business market using fiber optic backbone deployed by a sister company, Buckeye CableSystem. Buckeye TeleSystem's customers range from multi-site Fortune 500 firms to small offices. The Hammer XMS delivers the full range of scalable, carrier-class VoIP monitoring capabilities required for successful deployment and management of VoIP services.

"The selection and deployment of a VoIP monitoring system was key to our quality assurance strategy. Our operations, engineering and executive management were all involved in the extensive competitive evaluation we conducted," said Doug Ward, director of network operations for Buckeye TeleSystem. "Hammer XMS was a clear winner, delivering a user-friendly interface across multiple corporate divisions, as well as the ability to troubleshoot individual network calls, monitor overall network quality and provide detailed management reporting. Its compatibility with our installed Cedarpoint Safari softswitch was an added plus. The system is already playing a major role in assuring the highest levels of network and service quality for our customers."

Empirix is a member of Cedar Point's ServiceClass(TM) Partners Program, which helps accelerate voice deployments and new revenue opportunities for cable operators by bringing together "best-in-class" voice products and services into a set of standards-based, packaged solutions.

The Hammer XMS combines patent-pending, high-performance probes with a highly scalable architecture, enabling cable operators to efficiently monitor customer service level agreements and quickly identify and troubleshoot problems. The system tracks all VoIP and TDM protocol activity as well as media quality in real time for every call, 24x7. Data from multiple remote probes can be correlated and centralized, making reports and real time diagnostic data accessible through a Web interface. Configuration options range from cost effective single-site probe deployment for remote turn-up monitoring and trouble-shooting, to carrier scale deployment monitoring.

Buckeye CableSystem, founded in 1965, is the second oldest continuously owned large-city cable system in the country. Buckeye is a wholly owned subsidiary of Block Communications, Inc., a Toledo-based firm which also owns newspapers, broadcast television stations, and a home security firm, as well as Buckeye TeleSystem, which was founded in 1997.

Buckeye CableSystem serves some 150,000 customers in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan and in addition to offering residential telephone service to its cable customers through Buckeye TeleSystem, offers more than 400 analog and digital video channels, HDTV, Video on Demand, premium services, high-speed Internet access, and wireless hot spots throughout its service area.

Hammer products are the industry's most widely-used VoIP IP/TDM test solutions, as verified by four consecutive Frost & Sullivan market surveys. Since the introduction of its first VoIP test system in 1995, the Hammer product family has grown to include a full range of testing platforms, products and services that span the complete development and deployment lifecycle for next-generation services. Leading network equipment manufacturers, service providers, independent labs and enterprise network operators rely on Hammer's proven VoIP testing technology and patented innovations to cost-efficiently verify the functionality, performance and quality of service of next-generation equipment and networks. For detailed Hammer product information, availability and pricing information, please call 1-800-HAMMER IT (Outside the U.S., +1-781-266-3200) or visit www.empirix.com