Nu Echo Blog

A few weeks ago, I posted an article describing a real hands-on experience on implementing IVR unit tests in an CVP Studio application. But programmatic unit tests are not the only way to automate IVR application tests and provide a repeatable and reliable way of testing large portions of an application easily, in a matter of minutes. There are other ways to get most of the benefits of unit testing without even having to pick the phone (you have better things to do than make hundreds of phone calls a day, right?).

One of them is NuBot, Nu Echo’s hosted IVR application testing platform. With NuBot, there are basically three steps involved:

1. You instrument your application with DTMF sequences at specific places in the application’s call-flow. These sequences are used to synchronize the application with your test scenarios and are only played when the application is in test mode. (We also support speech-recognition-based synchronization, but only through our professional services at the moment.)
2. You program your test scenarios using the free NuBot integrated testing environment (ITE), an Eclipse plugin that can co-exist alongside the rest of your programming environment.
3. You schedule and launch your test on our hosted platform from the NuBot ITE, specifying which scenarios to use, how many ports are needed, how many runs of each scenario to do, etc.

Now as you modify your application, you simply keep your tests up-to-date and re-run them as needed. They can even be incorporated into an automated continuous integration process running every night. So if you break something in the application, you will know it fast.

Of course, in contrast to unit tests which are run on the developer’s machine, automated tests using NuBot require that the application is deployed on a server first. This requires some extra work. But you would have to do that anyway if you were to do your tests manually. And it’s worth it considering that you are doing end-to-end testing of your application, not just running some Java code.

Load-testing ready

Another advantage of using NuBot is that once your application is instrumented and you have all your test scenarios, they can be readily used for load testing. This way, you won’t have to start planning for the development of load testing scripts only after the application is fully implemented.

And of course, you’ll do the load testing it at your own convenience, all by yourself. This way, you stay in control of your testing process. (We do offer professional services if you prefer, but they are completely optional.)

Try it now!

Want to cut your testing costs while delivering more reliable applications? Give NuBot a try.

We also have an on-premise version if using a hosted platform is not an option. Contact us for more details.

We are proud to announce that the NuBot Testing Platform Beta 2 is now live and being used by the first beta program participants. As a reminder, during the NuBot Beta 2 Program, the NuBot Platform is available free of charge as a SaaS solution through the NuBot Hosting Service.

Automated testing should be considered a critical component of any rigorous development process. The NuBot Platform has been designed to address key limitations of existing IVR testing solutions. With NuBot:

• No programming skills are required to build test scenarios
• Numerous and varied test scenarios can be developed quickly and easily, even for large and complex applications
• Maintenance of test scenarios is facilitated thanks to built-in robustness to application changes
• A fully integrated suite of analysis tools are available to facilitate diagnosis of test failures.

To learn more about the NuBot Automated IVR Application Testing Platform or to enlist as a Beta Program participant, please contact us.

Most people know that IVR applications should be extensively tested before they’re deployed. They should be tested to make sure that they perform as specified and that they will continue to do so under load. Yet, most applications are not tested nearly as much as they should, sometimes with dire consequences when a major problem is detected after the application goes live. One reason for this, naturally, is cost. Another reason is time, as slips in the project schedule often mean less time available for testing.

That’s where automated testing comes in. Automated tests should be a critical element of any IVR testing strategy since they can greatly reduce the time required for application testing, lower development costs, accelerate software release cycles, and increase application quality and stability.

Unfortunately, commercially available testing offerings are usually costly, complex to set up and operate, or both, which is why they are so rarely used. To address this problem, we have developed the NuBot Automated IVR Application Testing Platform, which we demonstrated this week at SpeechTEK 2009 in New York City. The NuBot Platform is an affordable automated IVR application testing solution that is both powerful and easy to use.

During the NuBot Beta 2 Program announced earlier this week, the NuBot Platform will be available free of charge as a SaaS solution through the NuBot Hosting Service. If you’re interested to learn more about the NuBot Beta Program, please contact us at nubot-beta@nuecho.com.

Hurry because the Beta Program only lasts until the end of November, 2009.