Cisco – VOIP Phones Deployment Strategy & Unified Messaging Server Implementation 7910 7940 7960 The Pennsylvania State University - College of Engineering Electronic & Computer Services (ECS) L:\Big-Ten-Conference2003\VOIP-Implementation-Big10.ppt rev. 10/03 - sbp)

Introduction Tom Long – College of Engineering - VoIP ‘Unified Messaging’ Administrator Electronic and Computer Services (ECS) In charge of the Unity ‘Unified Messaging’ Server (Voice mail into Email) Sue Pysher – College of Engineering - Training and Support Coordinator In charge of providing VoIP training for users on new phone system Training and documentation provided to users

Format for Discussion Introduction – Reasons for Deployment Why we considered VoIP Pricing Added features

Format for Discussion Topic #1 - VoIP Deployment Strategy VoIP Implementation – Replacement of Existing Phones with VoIP Phone Models Initial implementation procedures Implementation timeframes User concerns after information sessions Hurdles Encountered During Initial Phase Major issues – scheduling, phone lines, email, training What Worked & What Could be Improved What we learned from our first year of implementation

Format for Discussion (cont’d) Topic #2 - Unified Messaging Server Implementation How Voicemail is ported into Email Working across borders Questions

Introduction Introduction – Reason for Deployment University is trying to entice subscribers to convert to VoIP University lowered the monthly telephone cost from $18/month to $11/month University lowered the monthly voicemail cost from $8/month to $4/month Subsidized the price of the phone The College of Engineering only agreed to start converting to VoIP if Unified messaging could be offered to our users. The University could not offer Unified Messaging so the College decided to add the service (College of Engineering does not charge for voicemail)

Topic #1 - VoIP Deployment Strategy Sue Pysher Training & Support Coordinator spysher@engr.psu.edu www.ecs.psu.edu/training/ www.engr.psu.edu/unity

VoIP Deployment Strategy – Existing Phones Being Replaced Existing Phone Systems in the College Merlins Meridians Standard Phone Sets (and answering machines) Plan – Replace with Cisco VoIP Phones 3 Cisco Phone Models 7910 – 1-line phone – w/ limited features 7940 – 2-line phone 7960 – 6-line phone Add-on expansion module 7914 – for additional phone lines - expensive

Pre-Installation, Installation, & Post-Installation PRE-Installation - What Happens BEFORE the phone is installed? ‘Informational’ meeting – University Personnel General information about new VOIP phone system Capabilities Phone Models available Timeframe Plan to meet with Individual Areas University Personnel will contact and meet with people within an area Determine phone configurations – work group issues, etc., phone model requested Forms are completed – official request made 6-8 weeks prior to implementation to obtain phones Training & documentation provided Installation – Phones installed by University Personnel – new phones activated Post-Installation – What Happens AFTER the phone is installed Setup by User of: Ring Type, Volume – under [Settings] VoiceMail Greeting VoiceMail <any other settings> Download/Install ViewMail Setup for Email client (optional-Exchange clients) Information at www.engr.psu.edu/unity/ Check Phone numbers & test out phone

Timeframes for VoIP Implementation Action Date(s) & Location Description Informational Meetings – Introduction to VOIP Week 1 Brief informational meetings to provide an overview of VOIP and its capabilities (J. Stimely & ECS (formerly CEDCC) staff) Individual Group Meetings (within your area/dept) Week 2 Individual group meetings to discuss/identify VOIP phone set requirements & line setup (J. Stimely) Submit phone set order & TSR Week 3 ITS submits phone set order and TSR Training & Documentation available Weeks prior to actual phone installation & activation Training on phones provided in Training Lab (153J Hammond) ECS (formerly CEDCC) Closet equipment installation Week 12 ITS Telecommunications closet equipment installation & patching cables to identified faceplates Phones placed within area & accounts configured Week 13 VOIP phones placed in offices by ITS and accounts configured – phones NOT activated Phones activated – service cutover Week 14 ITS & Verizon move service over to the new VOIP phone sets – old phones would not work after cutover

User Concerns about VoIP Phones Following Informational Meetings Major Issues: Loss of ‘Intercom’ capability Existing Merlin phone system provided intercom feature Wireless phone issues Lack of wireless phone support with VoIP Limited speed dials Dean’s Office had many speed dials on Merlin system They didn’t want to give up the number of speed dials they had with their existing Merlin system

Hurdles Encountered During First Deployment of VoIP Phones Dealing with less-than-ideal situations

Coordinating Phone Installations, Onsite Training, & Phone Issues 24-hour rollover with Verizon We needed to tentatively schedule dates/times, assuming that the installation of phones would be completed and phones activated Onsite training needed to coincide with the phone activation date If activation dates/times changed, it affected our scheduled training Dealing with phone line changes & hardware issues Phone numbers configured incorrectly, changes, etc. Expansion modules – issues with main office phone Some departments wanted to use the expansion modules for ‘speed-dial’ capabilities, others wanted to be able to see the line appearance and know when the faculty/staff phone line was in use Tom was available onsite and was able to correct or address any problems that occurred with TNS Problems were addressed immediately and we avoided user frustration

Training Onsite – Not Ideal Situation Training onsite within department was not ideal, but was the only alternative Training conducted within department’s main office area Interruptions – phones ringing, students needing assistance, etc. Faculty needed to leave for class or meetings Some faculty had not returned for Fall Semester Documentation was available – that saved us! www.ecs.psu.edu/training/ Brief Overview - since some users didn’t attend ‘Informational’ meeting Checklist for ‘Setting Up Your Phone’ – they could set up themselves Quick reference & Quick card for each phone model Had users set up recorded greeting and settings, then tested out basic features among the office staff Transferring calls, conference calls, call forwarding, etc. Assisted Individual Faculty members Time-consuming – all day Email issues -- Eudora users (POP clients - setting options)

Email Issues -- a Major Hurdle EMAIL Issues Varied Primarily Outlook and Eudora users in College Outlook users No problem – most were set up as Exchange clients using our ENGR mail server Ability to access voicemail via phone, Webmail, or through Outlook Eudora was another issue altogether Many users set up to use the University’s Mail Server, not ENGR’s mail server Mail was forwarded and accessing voicemail using phone or Webmail not available unless changes were made to the mail server configured or forwarding changed POP clients – once mail was pulled down from the server, voicemail attachments not accessible using the phone, Webmail or through email from a remote location Options to ‘Leave Mail on Server’ needed to be set where they weren’t before Our Salvation – brief ‘handout’ of Email scenarios (POP clients) Handout listed various email option settings and what a user could and could not do concerning voicemail access using phone, email, and Webmail Tom L. was also available to answer email questions and solve problems Documentation was available online as well as hard copy www.ecs.psu.edu/training/networkmanual.htm

What We’ve Learned So Far… What Worked… Inform and involve users from the beginning Overview meetings were really important Allow them to see and touch the phone(s) Sell them on the features and capabilities Give them some ownership in department plans Include them in decision-making process for their phones Answer questions before implementation Allow users to voice concerns Explain email considerations prior to installation This is really important –configurations or settings may need to be changed Assure users they have continuous support Address problems in a timely manner Follow up with departments after installation Provide documentation (both hard copy and online)

What We’ve Learned So Far… (cont’d) What Could Be Improved… Response times and coordination of timeframes between University personnel and our area Quicker response time University personnel slow to respond at times to departments wanting to formalize phone orders & begin implementation Involvement with University’s final implementation plans Scheduling was important because of 24-hour roll-over of phone lines & training Equip our training lab area with phones ‘Lab’ environment for phone training is the ideal Provide training for multiple users – user familiarity with phones as well as email capabilities before installation Better scheduling & communication efforts More advanced warning of installations – more lead time to prepare Notification of changes in installation plans Communication with University personnel/College personnel involved with planning department installations – preinstall issues, install issues, training We relied heavily on Tom L. to notify us of implementations and timeframes Provide departments with efficient electronic method (web form) of inputting phone information Data input electronically by departments via web form concerning phone assignments and lines, office locations, etc., and accessible in database or spreadsheet format for reporting purposes

Topic #2 - Unified Messaging Server Implementation Tom Long Unity ‘Unified Messaging’ Server Administrator tlong@engr.psu.edu www.engr.psu.edu/unity

I can’t answer that-I’ll let voice mail pickup University TNS (formerly OTC) ‘VOIP’ (Voice Over IP) Servers College Servers ‘Unity’ – Unified Messaging Services (handles VOIP voice mail and ties to our mail server) College FAX Server (handles incoming FAX’s and sends to mail server) Exchange MAIL Server (College’s Email Server) ‘Call Manager’ Voice Mail Message sent to Email server Received FAX sent to Email server Incoming Call FAX server FAX sent to Received Voice Message is saved as a .wav sound file attachment; FAX is also a file attachment Incoming Call I can’t answer that-I’ll let voice mail pickup Voice Mail message Unity server HOME or Remote Location OFFICE (w/ VOIP phone) University Centrex System Incoming Call No answer – Voice Mail left Explain when a call comes in, what happens to the call and how it gets into the email system Explain about the advantages of getting voice mail from home or a remote location Phone number to call (814-865-2700) you’ll need your ID (5-digit office phone #) AND 4-digit security password you set Login to exchange server (Webmail) Point out about the FAX capabilities that we’ll have as well Someone would FAX a number we’d be provided The FAX would be received by the University, then be sent to the FAX server, then to the Email server The FAX would be a file attachment Advantages: You’ll be able to get your voice mail messages either by phone or email from any place at all You can also have your cell phone programmed here in the Center (by giving the cell phone # to Tom Long) Tom would program your cell phone number and you wouldn’t need to enter a security # at all Incoming FAX To check your voice mail, you can: ON PHONE--Use the [Messages] button ** OR ** USING EMAIL - Check your email (if an Exchange client) At home or a remote location, to check your mail (email, voice mail, fax) , you can: Call 814-865-2700 to connect to your voice mail remotely (you’re prompted to enter ID (5-digit office phone #) & security password # (4-digit number) ** OR ** Log into your Exchange mail (WebMail, etc.), and check your email (if an Exchange client) ENGR: https://mail.engr.psu.edu/exchange/

Unified Messaging Server Implementation Working across borders Working with University deploying Unified server, University runs the Call Manager. Initially the University put filters in place locked down the server and we had to use a second NIC to communicate with our internal network where the Exchange server was located. Installed a firewall and removed the router filters, this allowed use to put the filters in place to communicate with our servers and the Universities Call manager.

VOIP Questions ? ? ? VOIP