The latest release from Interactive Group is making waves

Introduction

VUpt OA (essentials) has been recently released to the market and we are already seeing a strong interest, with multiple clients taking up licences, in order to leverage their existing investment in VUpt.

What is it?

VUpt OA (essentials) is all about monitoring the equipment (assets) that underpin your Critical Communications solutions, in real-time. As a fully integrated module of the VUpt Framework, VUpt OA leverages the dynamic data that underpins every component of the VUpt solution, and integrates seamlessly into the alerts and notification system at the heart of VUpt.

PING

Ping monitoring is a technique used to check the availability and responsiveness of devices on a network e.g. servers, routers,websites etc, by sending a small data packet called a "ping" and measuring how long it takes to get a reply.

Practical Uses of ping monitoring

•       When you "ping" a device, your system sends an ICMP Echo Request.

•       The target device replies with an ICMP EchoReply.

•       The time it takes for the round trip is measured as latency, and if no reply comes back, it’s flagged as a potential issue.

Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP)

The Simple Network Management Protocol, (or SNMP) is a standard protocol developed by The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and is a widely used for managing and monitoring devices on IP networks. It enables network administrators to gather information, detect issues, and control devices remotely.

Practical Uses of SNMP

Network Monitoring - Track bandwidth usage, uptime, packet loss, latency, and Monitor device health (CPU, memory, temperature).

Fault Management - Receive alerts when devices go offline or thresholds are breached, and Automate responses to common issues (e.g., restart a service).

Configuration Management - Push configuration changes to multiple devices, Schedule firmware updates or policy changes.

Performance & Capacity Planning - Analyse historical data to forecast future needs, and Identify bottlenecks before they impact users.

Who is using it?

Teton Communications – Idaho Falls USA

Teton Communications began as a beta client and has taken a staged approach to replacing the ping and SNMP monitoring capabilities that were previously provided by the Castle Rock solution. We have worked closely with Teton to provide the same (or better) capability as had previously been in place in their 110 channel P25 Trunked Radio environment.

Large Australian Mining company – North Western Australia

A large mining client also purchased the VUpt Operational Assets solution as an early adopter for one of their 6 x P25 Trunked Radio solutions with 44 channels. They have since rolled the solution out to the remaining 320 channels in a single large solution with the aim of achieving an integrated Trunked radio and infrastructure (assets) monitoring capability.

Part of their rollout is the extension of the Analytics capability already available for Trunked Radio features, into the relevant analytics for the ping and SNMP monitoring functions.

Conclusion

Leading industry communications users have shown great interest in a solution that focusses on achieving a fully integrated Trunked Radio and ping/SNMP monitoring solution in a single environment, rather than the traditional monitoring systems that required separate infrastructure and UI capabilities.

We are seeing rapid take-up of the VUpt Operational Assets solution as the missing piece of the Critical Comms management puzzle.

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