We depend on HipLink as a key component of our strategy to eliminate network and application downtimes.
– WR, Network Administrator, Law Firm
INTRODUCTION: Most of today’s leading law firms rely on numerous software applications to handle case, billing, and document management. Should one of these applications fail, a downtime can ensue with unpleasant consequences; for example, an attorney due in court in just one hour suddenly has no access to a case history file.
One major U.S. corporate law firm decided to combat this problematic issue by implementing a rapid response strategy. The following usage study describes the leading role HipLink wireless messaging plays in the law firm’s plan.
BUSINESS NEED: With offices located in several major cities in the United States and abroad, the law firm has a sophisticated technology infrastructure in place. Each of the firm’s 600 attorneys are equipped with a BlackBerry and wireless laptop, for 24/7 access to business-critical applications.
One of the primary responsibilities of the law firm’s IT team is to assure these applications stay up and running. At the first sign of an anomaly, the firm’s two network-monitoring applications, Microsoft Operations Manager and SMARTS, generate alerts that are then delivered to key IT personnel via email.
The law firm, however, wanted to instill an extra measure of precaution that critical messages were delivered to the right IT team members, even in the event of an email infrastructure failure.
CHALLENGE: As the communication hub of all network-related issues, the firm’s Network Operations Center is the first to get alerted of any network outage. Currently, about 10 IT personnel are responsible for all incoming alerts. On-call shifts are rotated so that staff is always available to receive and respond to network anomaly alerts. These alerts are generated by Microsoft Operations Manager or SMARTS, and then delivered to their BlackBerry devices.
While both monitoring systems have basic messaging capabilities which can send alerts to assigned email addresses, neither provides the message delivery reliability the law firm requires.
Given the vital need to keep applications up and running around-the-clock, the firm absolutely cannot depend on just email messaging protocols to deliver critical alerts. Should the email service go down, a dial-up message delivery protocol, like TAP, should be in place as back up.
With the IT personnel at the firm expected to grow threefold in the next several years, any alert messaging system would need to easily accommodate new users, new departments, and different messaging protocols.
SOLUTION: A technology consultant hired by the firm recommended an integration of HipLink, Semotus Solutions’ wireless alert notification software, with Microsoft Operations Manager and SMARTS. HipLink easily integrated with both systems through a simple command line interface. It assured reliable message delivery by supporting a host of protocols, including TAP, DTMF, GSM, HTTP, SNPP, SMTP, and WCTP.
The NOC group immediately configured HipLink to send alerts via TAP, so that assigned IT staff would receive critical alerts in real time - even if email service went down. The law firm was also impressed with HipLink’s ability to handle large message volumes. Certain anomalies often caused Microsoft Operations Manager to send a flurry of alerts at once, which HipLink efficiently fields and delivers with ease.
Since HipLink tested so successfully in the law firm’s home office, more IT teams in different locations are planning to adopt the wireless software. And as their needs evolve, more receivers and departments can easily be added to HipLink.
HipLink proved to be a smart and adaptable choice in this law firm’s strategy to eliminate network and application downtimes.
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
Customer Profile
Leading U.S. corporate law firm with over 1000 employees in national and international offices.
Business Requirements
Law firm’s IT department needed a reliable wireless messaging system to send real time alerts of any downed applications or network failures. The network monitoring systems in place only provided very basic messaging capabilities and could not send messages via dial up. This meant if the firm’s email infrastructure went down, critical alerts would never reach IT personnel.
What the firm needed was a messaging solution that could easily integrate Microsoft Operations Manager and SMARTS, send messages using any number of protocols, and accommodate new users and departments as the firm’s needs evolved.
HipLink Wireless Alert Notification
- Easy application integration
- Sends messages using various protocols like TAP, DTMF, GSM, HTTP, SNPP, SMTP, and WCTP
- Can accommodate almost any number of senders and receivers
Key Benefits
- Uniform messaging system
- Dependable message delivery
- Scales to meet custom needs