Developing an Advanced SIP Debugging Tool with QXIP

QXIP (QuickSIP) is a global research and development leader in packet capture, indexing, correlation and analytics and is dedicated to the open-source and commercial development of voice monitoring technology. Their typical users include large telephony operators and carriers, VoIP service providers, and voice equipment vendors, making them perfect partners for Telnyx.

By placing themselves at the core of many platforms, QXIP understands— through first-hand experience— the problems that companies will inevitably face, and aims to provide solutions to these issues. As they are an open-source centric company, the vast majority of their product development comes from inbound requests from companies who have already integrated their open-source products into their internal and external tooling.

To coincide with the release of the new advanced SIP debugging feature in the Telnyx Mission Control Portal, we sat down (virtually) with Anton Chernenko and Lorenzo Mangani of QXIP to hear how they have worked with Telnyx to integrate their SIP debugging tool, Homer, into the Telnyx platform so that it serves both Telnyx engineers and Telnyx customers.

QXIP and Telnyx: The Beginning

The relationship between QXIP and Telnyx began when Lorenzo met Telnyx’s Telephony Product Manager, Rogelio Perez, at the first OpenSIPS Summit in Amsterdam. Rogelio described some of the challenges that Telnyx was experiencing with SIP debugging at the time, and that’s when QXIP stepped in to help.

QXIP had developed an open-source software, Homer, to help users carry out SIP debugging in a more efficient manner. After speaking with Lorenzo, Telnyx decided to test run the Homer tool internally.

That’s where the fun really started. Through open communication and collaboration, Telnyx were able to identify ways to improve the solution for their specific use case, which helped QXIP to refine their product. “Telnyx was extremely crucial for us because we identified some blind spots of the solution," says Lorenzo. Over months and years, the QXIP team has worked on many iterations of the product that is now a core tool used by Telnyx engineers on a daily basis.

How does Homer help Telnyx?

“The primary function of Homer is to save time in getting from the problem to the solution," remarks Lorenzo, and that’s exactly the results Telnyx have experienced since it’s implementation.

Telnyx now uses Homer both as an internal debugging tool and as an advanced SIP debugging feature that’s available to users through the Mission Control Portal.

Starting with it’s internal use, the Telnyx telephony team began to use Homer to troubleshoot issues with SIP calls. The team found the tool so useful that they wanted to integrate it into their internal Call Analysis tool so the team could access troubleshooting data faster. This integration was made possible by homer-view.

“Telnyx sponsored the creation of the homer-view tool and cooperated with QXIP on the development process” says Perez. The homer-view tool allows Telnyx to embed the QXIP software into any iframe, allowing access from within internal pages. “The Telnyx telephony engineers now have easy access to troubleshooting data and advanced features that allow faster resolution of problems."

After a couple of months working with Homer, the telephony engineers knew that including Homer as a customer-facing feature would be a game changer.

Advanced SIP debugging in Mission Control

The QXIP team worked with Telnyx to develop Homer for integration to the Mission Control Portal. Thanks to Homer-view, Telnyx Portal users will now have access to advanced SIP debugging, with a host of new features , faster loading speeds, and a greatly-improved UI.

New Call Flow view for SIP debugging in Telnyx Mission Control

The new advanced view will give Telnyx customers a more in-depth view of their SIP calls and a better user experience, thanks to a greatly improved UI. The tool also loads call information faster than the basic debugging tool, saving users time and expediting issue resolution.

Perhaps most importantly, Telnyx users will now be able to export call flows in PCAP or text format directly from the Mission Control Portal. This highly-requested feature will enable users to carry out advanced packet capture analysis on a packet analyzer like Wireshark or share SIP logs in text format. Both features mean that customers can carry out more in-depth analysis on their call flows, leading to a greater understanding of where issues are arising and faster implementation of fixes.

Users can now export call flows in PCAP or text format for advanced packet capture analysis.

Going forward, QXIP and Telnyx expect that Homer will be used proactively so that call issues will be resolved even before customers complain. With increased granular detail of issues, companies will be able to carry out analysis on smaller issues that if fixed, could further improve both call quality and reliability.

For more on the new Advanced SIP debugging tool, take a look at the feature Release Notes or test it out for yourself in the Mission Control Portal.

QXIP (QuickSIP) is an R&D company that specializes in open-source and commercial development of voice monitoring technology, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.