Traffic

Before initiating the analysis process, it is important to enter accurate traffic figures. Traffic figures are entered on a spreadsheet that is brought into view by clicking the Traffic tab above the workspace. Rows represent the From nodes and columns represent the To nodes.

Traffic figures can be entered in either Erlangs of traffic during the busiest hour or minutes of traffic per day (the unit used can be set as an application wide option in the Westplan Preferences Dialogue Box). It is important to enter accurate figures. These can be obtained from call loggers, switch statistics, CDRs, telephone company reports or careful estimates. It is best to try and establish the offered traffic levels at their point of source rather than using traffic levels carried by existing trunk groups. This is because traffic carried on existing trunks may have suffered a degree of blocking if those trunks have not been correctly sized. This means that a trunk group’s traffic figures may not be an accurate reflection of the traffic offered to a network.

When you add a node using the Add Node Dialogue Box, there are four options which you can use to define the traffic levels to and from the node These are No traffic, Low traffic, Medium traffic and High traffic. The actual traffic levels associated with these options are defined in the Project Properties Dialogue Box. You are strongly recommended to change the default values to traffic figures obtained from you call logger or statistics package in order to achieve more accurate results when analysing networks.