Discover VoIP from multiple angles
Recently, network managers who exchanged their respective voice/data fusion experiences at the VoiceCon exhibition described VoIP as a new trick that the IT department has changed, a trick that must be cleverly grasped in both technology and management issues.
As companies such as American Express, Bank of America, Delta Airlines and New York Life introduce voice to their LANs and WANs, network managers of these companies say the correct implementation process and organizational changes at the beginning of the project are just as important as choosing IP phone equipment, architecture, and applications.
Although users come from different industries, their reasons for choosing convergence are nothing more than the following: management and reduction of cost savings from telecom bills, increased productivity, deployment flexibility, and disaster recovery capabilities are the main driving factors.
The exhibition attracted more than 4,500 IT and telecom managers to participate. The organizers of the exhibition said the event was the most participants in the exhibition history.
Related to people
As always, many VoIP adopters believe that the most difficult problem in the convergence process is related to people.
"Voice and data personnel disagree. Voice engineers are reluctant to move to IP, and they feel that IP is dangerous to them," said Jeff Denecke, vice president of New York Life.
New York Life deployed Cisco IP Phone and CallManager IP PBX last year to support all the company’s employees in Manhattan. This year, the company will deploy unified messaging technology to its desktop and connect branches to VoIP networks. However, Denecke said he had to align the insurer's voice and data team before deploying IP phones to the desktop.
Evaluation is first
Another important area of preparation for successful deployment is to assess the readiness of LANs and WANs – the infrastructure may appear to be running properly but may require modifications and upgrades, VoIP veterans say.
Delta Airlines switched to the VoIP call center architecture last year. "We had to make sure the data network was available for voice," said Allan Rubin, a network engineering manager at the company. "We had the data network I thought was high-end," but when Avaya (the manufacturer that provides IP call center equipment for Delta) conducted a network evaluation, "they found that there was no configuration error when delivering normal transport streams (TCP, HTTP transport streams, and even SNA). He said pre-installation evaluation was the key to making the deployment smoother. "This also means we won't be blamed in the future because I have Avaya's documentation that proves the data network is in good condition." ”
The network must also be tested before and after installation of VoIP devices. "We pre-simulated the VoIP traffic load," said Glaxo's technical manager. The simulation allowed the company to modify the QoS (Quality Service) device on the Siemens device and the Cisco LAN switches. Re-evaluation of the network after deployment showed that the PoE device on the Siemens IP phone sucked too much power from the switch, limiting the number of phones that could be connected to the subnet.
The advantages are obvious
When talking about the cost issue, New York Life said that the savings can be loaded on the car.
Denecke said that based on length and cable type, “on average, the cost of laying a cable is $100 to $300.” In the insurer’s new facility, those costs are cut in half by laying only one cable for both voice and data to the desktop.
Another user said its VoIP savings come from telecom costs. The company replaced the IP PBX to allow voice to be delivered on its fiber OC-3 network. This saves the company $25,000 a month.
The company's managers believe that VoIP "also provides management flexibility that we have never had before." The company changed its network management strategy after the September 11 attack. Previously, when voice and data were separated, “supporting these monitoring and management models was very troublesome.”
American Express uses IP call center technology to overturn the centralized call center model to better support agents working from home and overseas call center staff distributed around the world. Article entry: csh Editor in charge: csh
Recently, network managers who exchanged their respective voice/data fusion experiences at the VoiceCon exhibition described VoIP as a new trick that the IT department has changed, a trick that must be cleverly grasped in both technology and management issues.
As companies such as American Express, Bank of America, Delta Airlines and New York Life introduce voice to their LANs and WANs, network managers of these companies say the correct implementation process and organizational changes at the beginning of the project are just as important as choosing IP phone equipment, architecture, and applications.
Although users come from different industries, their reasons for choosing convergence are nothing more than the following: management and reduction of cost savings from telecom bills, increased productivity, deployment flexibility, and disaster recovery capabilities are the main driving factors.
The exhibition attracted more than 4,500 IT and telecom managers to participate. The organizers of the exhibition said the event was the most participants in the exhibition history.
Related to people
As always, many VoIP adopters believe that the most difficult problem in the convergence process is related to people.
"Voice and data personnel disagree. Voice engineers are reluctant to move to IP, and they feel that IP is dangerous to them," said Jeff Denecke, vice president of New York Life.
New York Life deployed Cisco IP Phone and CallManager IP PBX last year to support all the company’s employees in Manhattan. This year, the company will deploy unified messaging technology to its desktop and connect branches to VoIP networks. However, Denecke said he had to align the insurer's voice and data team before deploying IP phones to the desktop.
Evaluation is first
Another important area of preparation for successful deployment is to assess the readiness of LANs and WANs – the infrastructure may appear to be running properly but may require modifications and upgrades, VoIP veterans say.
Delta Airlines switched to the VoIP call center architecture last year. "We had to make sure the data network was available for voice," said Allan Rubin, a network engineering manager at the company. "We had the data network I thought was high-end," but when Avaya (the manufacturer that provides IP call center equipment for Delta) conducted a network evaluation, "they found that there was no configuration error when delivering normal transport streams (TCP, HTTP transport streams, and even SNA). He said pre-installation evaluation was the key to making the deployment smoother. "This also means we won't be blamed in the future because I have Avaya's documentation that proves the data network is in good condition." ”
The network must also be tested before and after installation of VoIP devices. "We pre-simulated the VoIP traffic load," said Glaxo's technical manager. The simulation allowed the company to modify the QoS (Quality Service) device on the Siemens device and the Cisco LAN switches. Re-evaluation of the network after deployment showed that the PoE device on the Siemens IP phone sucked too much power from the switch, limiting the number of phones that could be connected to the subnet.
The advantages are obvious
When talking about the cost issue, New York Life said that the savings can be loaded on the car.
Denecke said that based on length and cable type, “on average, the cost of laying a cable is $100 to $300.” In the insurer’s new facility, those costs are cut in half by laying only one cable for both voice and data to the desktop.
Another user said its VoIP savings come from telecom costs. The company replaced the IP PBX to allow voice to be delivered on its fiber OC-3 network. This saves the company $25,000 a month.
The company's managers believe that VoIP "also provides management flexibility that we have never had before." The company changed its network management strategy after the September 11 attack. Previously, when voice and data were separated, “supporting these monitoring and management models was very troublesome.”
American Express uses IP call center technology to overturn the centralized call center model to better support agents working from home and overseas call center staff distributed around the world. Article entry: csh Editor in charge: csh