13 Performance Tuning

This chapter contains information on tuning the Oracle Voicemail & Fax system.

Improving Message Delivery Time

In a boarded installation, users in remote sites may experience a delay in hearing their voicemail messages. This can occur if the data packet size is too small and it takes multiple retrievals in order to have sufficient data to play a message. You can configure the buffer size so that larger packets of data are retrieved and delivered at one time.

The database buffer size can be set globally at the Voicemail & Fax group level, or it can be set locally at the Voicemail & Fax Application level. Navigate to the administration page and set the Collaboration Suite Database Read Buffer Size parameter. The global default is 102400 bytes, and the Voicemail & Fax Application is set to inherit this value by default.

Adding Threads and Processes

Generally, when you are tuning your Oracle Voicemail & Fax application, you want to start by adding threads to existing processes because there is less overhead with adding threads compared to adding a new instance. A general guideline is to keep the number of threads to no more than 10 -15 threads per process. Increasing the number of threads increases the amount of context switching between threads, thus increasing CPU usage. Depending on your situation and CPU resources, you will need to adapt this number. The sum of all the threads for all processes for a particular service should equal the number of concurrent users you are servicing on that particular Applications tier. For instance, the Routing Service answers all phone calls for the Applications tier. On a boarded deployment, if the Applications tier has 48 telephone ports available, then the total number of available threads for the Routing Service should be 48. The number does not need to be greater than 48 because the system will never have more than 48 concurrent calls. In most instances, the number can be fewer than 48 because it is rare that there will be 48 calls coming in simultaneously. Because the Routing Service is only used at the beginning of a call to identify the caller and route the call to another service, it takes only seconds for it to handle a call, pass it off, and be ready to accept another call. Once you determine the total number of threads required for a particular service, then divide the threads among the processes for that service.

If you find that performance does not sufficiently improve after tuning the number of threads per process, then you might want to consider adding another instance. However, when you add another instance, you incur the overhead of adding another process that has to be managed by Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server (OPMN), adding another connection to Oracle Internet Directory, and generating an alive message.

Adding Threads to a Process

The number of threads is configurable at the service level. Because the thread requirements vary depending on the service, this is not inherited from the global process parameters that are set at the Voicemail & Fax group level.

The threads for a process are set on the administration page for each of the services. The Threads Per Process parameter is found in the General section of the page. As a general recommendation, keep the number of threads to be no more than 10-15 per process. However, this may need to be adapted to your particular situation. Edit the number of threads and click Apply. The change takes effect during the next refresh cycle. Or, if you want the change to take effect immediately, navigate to the home page for the service and click Refresh or Reload.

Adding and Deleting Instances

You can add and delete service instances, as necessary, to improve the performance of the following services: Retrieval, Routing, Recording, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Call Transfer, Fax Receiving, and Message Waiting Indicator (MWI).

To add an instance:

Navigate to the home page of the service.
In the Components table, click Add One Instance.
When the message appears asking you to confirm that you want to add an instance, click Yes.

To delete an instance:

Navigate to the home page of the service.
In the Components table, select the instance you want to delete and click Delete One Instance.
When the message appears asking you to confirm that you want to delete an instance, click s

Note:

You can also add and delete instances from the Components table on the performance and administration page pages.

Tuning the Message Waiting Indicator Service

Generally, the average time between the point at which a caller records a message and the time it takes for the message waiting indicator to be turned on should be less than 60 seconds. If you find that it consistently takes longer than a minute, you may want to modify the number of threads and processes.

Each Oracle Collaboration Suite Database has an MWI_Q queue that allows you to monitor the message waiting messages on that database. Refer to Oracle Streams Advanced Queuing User Guide and Reference for more information on how to use the MWI_Q queue. In particular, you may find the GV$AQ view which provides information about the number of messages in different states to be useful.