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RingCentral bandwidth and network capacity
assessment
1. Introduction
For proper operation of unified communication services, RingCentral requires sufficient capacity allocation for public internet and private CloudConnect network connections. This article provides guidelines on how to calculate bandwidth and assess capacity on network links to allow proper endpoint operation in different use cases.
2. Bandwidth and network capacity assessment
Table 1 provides an example of a bandwidth calculation for a single enterprise site. Two methods can be used to obtain data for the table. One approach is to determine the number of deployed endpoints, their type, and the peak traffic load from logs or network data extracted from a still deployed legacy voice/video system.
Alternatively, information can be extracted from the RingCentral service web portal administration site. This data can be entered into the table columns. The table must be used as follows:
- Normally, users utilize one endpoint (phone or app) at a time. Such endpoints should not be double-counted in the Number of Endpoints column.
- The Headroom for Growth column indicates how many extra endpoints may be activated after the initial deployment of RingCentral unified communication services. It is useful to take this number into account in the calculation to ensure that network capacity is available to accommodate business growth or company mergers.
- The Simultaneous Use Factor (SUF), a number between 0 and 1, indicates the maximum number of simultaneously used endpoints. In voice contact center deployment, this number must be set to 1 for the endpoints involved, which may be a subset of the entire enterprise site endpoint population. As a consequence, extra table rows may be needed to accommodate different endpoint use cases.
- Since the bandwidth used for video calls is much higher than for phone calls, the SUF must be carefully selected so that, in all use cases, sufficient local and wide-area network link capacity is ensured. As an example, the SUF for video must be set to 1 for enterprises with a small number of users, where the total produced bandwidth is primarily determined by video calls.
- The Bandwidth per Endpoint Type is obtained from bandwidth tables (Section 5) and is stated in Mbps (instead of Kbps). For voice and video calls, codecs are dynamically selected based on priority, endpoint negotiation, and call scenario. For voice calls, the maximum bandwidth of 0.1 Mbps is always entered into the table to ensure that capacity needs are properly budgeted for signaling and all voice codec types that may be used. For video calls, maximum bandwidth is entered if transmit and receive bandwidth numbers are different.
- The Endpoint Type Total Bandwidth (ETTBW) in the last column is calculated from the combination of the numbers on each row.
- The Endpoint Type Total Bandwidth (ETT-RC-BW) for video calls is calculated as:
ETT-RC-BW = [(Number of Endpoints) + (Headroom for Growth)] x (Simultaneous Use Factor) x (Bandwidth per Endpoint)
- The Total Site Bandwidth produced by RingCentral traffic, TS-RC-BW is calculated as the sum of all Endpoint Type Total Bandwidth numbers.
- The calculated TS-RC-BW (Mbps) must be guaranteed in each traffic direction to/from the enterprise, both in the local enterprise site network and in the wide-area network connecting to the RingCentral unified communication services.
An enterprise WAN link may be shared for RingCentral and Data Traffic. In that case, the bandwidth for data traffic, TS-DATA-BW, needs to be added to the TS-RC-BW number to get the total bandwidth for the site. The TS-DATA-BW must be determined during a busy time and include headroom for data spikes and growth.
The following capacity condition must be met to ensure that the WAN link capacity is sufficient to transport RingCentral Unified Communication traffic:
(TS-RC-BW + TS-DATA-BW) < (Enterprise Site Provisioned WAN link Capacity)
If this condition is not met, then the WAN link capacity needs to be increased. The provisioned capacity is the capacity available on the WAN link connected to the enterprise site. This may be different from the physical link capacity. As an example, a 1 Gbps fiber WAN link may be connecting to the enterprise, but a port capacity of only 100 Mbps may actually be provisioned.
To avoid quality of service issues it is good practice to track the bandwidth used on a) each network connection at each enterprise site and b) on the carrier port connecting to RingCentral CloudConnect and proactively add network capacity as needed.
| Table 1. Transmit and Receive Bandwidth for Single Enterprise Site | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Endpoint Category |
Use Case |
Number of Endpoints |
Headroom for Growth |
Simultaneous Use Factor |
Bandwidth per Endpoint Type (Mbps) |
Endpoint Type Total Bandwidth (Mbps) |
Desk and Softphones |
Hard phone |
100 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.1 |
5 |
Hard phone - video |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0.65 |
1.3 |
|
Speakerphone |
5 |
0 |
0.25 |
0.1 |
0.125 |
|
Softphone |
20 |
0 |
1 |
0.1 |
2 |
|
Mobile phone on WiFi |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0.1 |
3 |
|
RingCentral Video |
Group video conference call |
5 |
0 |
1 |
4.6 |
23 |
2-party video call |
10 |
0 |
1 |
2.05 |
20.5 |
|
Group audio-only conference call |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0.1 |
0.4 |
|
RingCentral Meetings |
Group video conference call |
5 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
2-party HD video call |
10 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
20 |
|
2-party HQ video call |
10 |
0 |
1 |
0.6 |
6 |
|
Group audio-only conference |
4 |
0 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.04 |
|
RingCentral Rooms |
Triple screen |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
12 |
Dual screen |
4 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
16 |
|
Single screen |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
|
RingCentral Room Connector |
Triple screen |
4 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
24 |
Dual screen |
6 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
24 |
|
Single screen |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
TS-RC-BW (Mbps) = 169.725 |
|||||
3. Deployment scenarios
Other deployment scenarios which also need to be taken into account for bandwidth and network capacity assessment are:
- Internet-only enterprise sites: If an enterprise uses internet-only connections to leverage RingCentral unified communications services, it must be ensured that all enterprise internet connections have sufficient capacity under normal operation and failover conditions. If a primary or failover internet connection is shared for enterprise data traffic, this must be considered in capacity estimation.
- Internet-only home office users: Endpoints of users always working from home should not be included in the enterprise site calculation for Table 1 when they use an internet connection to connect directly to RingCentral unified communication services.
- VPN home office users: Some enterprises require the setup of a Virtual Private Network connection to the enterprise site before any application, including RingCentral soft-client endpoints, can be used. Such endpoints must be included in the calculation of Table 1.
- CloudConnect: RingCentral offers CloudConnect as a private network interface to connect enterprise sites with the unified communication cloud. It must be ensured that the private network ports at all enterprise sites and on the network service provider connection(s) to the RingCentral CloudConnect interface have sufficient capacity under normal operation and after failover to another CloudConnect interface to another CloudConnect interface and the internet.
- Add-on license: The RingCentral Video/Meetings bandwidth calculation must accommodate the RingCentral MVP Edition and Meeting Add-on license since it significantly impacts the bandwidth that needs to be supported by both the LAN network and WAN link. For example, with a Large Meeting Add-on, up to 200 people could simultaneously join a RingCentral Meetings session using video, and multiple of those sessions may be created concurrently. The Simultaneous Use Factor must be adjusted according to the expected use cases.
- Webinar: Enterprises may organize company-wide meetings during which each participant is using their own video endpoint. In that case, the generated bandwidth is maximized on all enterprise network connections. All previously indicated scenarios must have sufficient capacity to cope with this case, both in normal operation and under failover conditions. When insufficient network capacity is available, all users on an enterprise site may experience degraded voice and video quality.
4. Bandwidth overview
The next sections summarize bandwidth produced and consumed by each dedicated RingCentral endpoint type or sub-functionality within an endpoint.
The former is the case for regular desk phones. The latter is the case for the RingCentral MVP App, which contains both phone and video functionality.
- Table 2 states the bandwidth numbers for both the receive and transmit voice traffic of hard and softphones. The total bandwidth usage is variable depending on the user endpoints allotted to your company and the codec type used.
- Tables 3, 4, and 5 state the bandwidth numbers for both the receive and transmit traffic of RingCentral video conferencing endpoints. The total bandwidth usage is variable depending on the platform, setting, and user endpoints (participants) in a conference. Go to https://www.ringcentral.com/office/plansandpricing.html and scroll down to "Unlimited audio conferencing" and "Video meeting and participants" for the maximum number of participants per plan for audio and video conferences.
It is highly recommended that Bandwidth Capacity is measured. This will help to determine the maximum number of simultaneous RingCentral VoIP calls that can be supported on a broadband connection. For best results, please run this test when the connection is idle (i.e., the Internet is not in use by any other user or application).
4.1 Hard phones and VoIP application components
The endpoint bandwidth numbers in Table 2 include packetization and Ethernet framing. The codec used for a given call depends on the endpoint type, the codec preferences administratively applied in the RingCentral cloud, and the dynamically negotiated codec type.
| Table 2 - RingCentral Desk, Conference and Cordless Phone and VoIP App - Transmit and Receive Bandwidth | ||
|---|---|---|
Endpoint |
Codec |
Transmit and Receive Bandwidth (Kbps) |
Desk phone and IP Conference phone |
G.711 |
87 |
G.729 |
31 |
|
G.722 |
87 |
|
Opus |
60 - 80 |
|
Video* |
616 |
|
Desktop or mobile VoIP App component |
Opus |
60 - 80 |
*For some account tiers, 2-party extension-to-extension video calls for Polycom VVX 601/600 and 501/500 with detachable cameras are supported. This is an on-demand feature, which must be enabled by RingCentral Administration. A video call can be activated one way or in both call directions.
4.2 RingCentral Video
Table 3 summarizes the bandwidth numbers for the receive and transmit RingCentral Video traffic of an endpoint. As indicated, the numbers depend on the use case and indicate the maximum bandwidth that might occur.
Table 3 - RingCentral Video - Transmit and Receive Bandwidth |
|||
Use Case |
Transmit Bandwidth (Kbps) |
Receive Bandwidth (Kbps) |
|
Group video conference call (>10 participants) |
1750 |
4000 |
|
Group video conference call (3-10 participants) |
2250 |
6100 |
|
2-party video call |
3550 |
2090 |
|
Group audio-only conference call |
70-100 |
70-100 |
|
4.3 RingCentral Video and Rooms
Table 4 states the bandwidth numbers for both the receive and transmit traffic of RingCentral Video (RCV). As indicated, the numbers depend on the use case.
Table 4 - RingCentral Video - Transmit and Receive Bandwidth |
|||
Use Case |
Meetings Login Panel and Login Panel Setting |
Transmit Bandwidth (Kbps) |
Receive Bandwidth (Kbps) |
Group HQ video call |
Settings, Video, Capture HD video not checked |
600 |
2000 |
Two-party HD video call |
Settings, Video, Capture HD video checked |
2000 |
2000 |
Two-party HQ video call |
Settings, Video, Capture HD video not checked |
600 |
600 |
Group audio-only conference |
Start without video on RingCentral Meeting |
60 - 80 |
60 - 80 |
Table 5 states the bandwidth numbers for both the receive and transmit traffic of RingCentral Video Rooms. The transmit and receive bandwidths depend on the use case. The received bandwidth for video operation depends on the number of screens. The transmit bandwidth is always 2 Mbps because a single camera is used.
Table 5 - RingCentral Rooms - Transmit and Receive Bandwidth |
||
Use Case |
Transmit Bandwidth (Kbps) |
Receive Bandwidth (Kbps) |
Triple Screen |
2000 |
6000 |
Dual Screen |
2000 |
4000 |
Single Screen |
2000 |
2000 |
Screen sharing only |
150 - 300 |
150 - 300 |
Audio-only |
60 - 80 |
60 - 80 |