Access services

When assessing the technical requirements for Access Services, consider the following factors:

What the link will be used for

Traffic type

Web browsing
Email
Instant Messaging
Voice (IP telephone)
Streaming media (sound or video)

Traffic characteristics - continuous or burst
Quality of Service
Incoming or outgoing traffic rates

User Activity

Number of users (also users per service type)
User activity type (low, medium, heavy)
Peak activity (timing, causes)
Roaming access

Organisation Geographical Location

Distance from exchange
Cabling length
Wireless LAN restrictions

Link Reliability/Redundancy

Reliability requirements
Single or multiple links
Failover plan

Addressing Requirements

Dynamic or fixed IP address
Single or multiple IP addresses
Address range size

Security

Firewall configuration
Managed or self-managed firewall
Incoming connection security, passwords, permissions
Encryption and authentication
Anti-virus and intrusion detection

Equipment Locations

At Perceval or at your location
Interface or termination type (Ethernet, serial, etc...)
Connection to existing internal network

Hardware Requirements

Existing hardware
Included hardware
Any additional hardware required

Capacity and Service Requirements

Contention ratio
Service guarantees

Service and support

Hardware support
Support reaction time

Monitoring, Reporting and Analysis

Monitoring levels
Reporting metrics
Reporting period

Contractual Implications

Contract length
Time to delivery
Time to upgrade/downgrade