1. 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)

2. 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 )
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

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

4. 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, , training
What Worked & What Could be Improved
What we learned from our first year of implementation

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

6. 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 voic 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 voic )

7. Topic #1 - VoIP Deployment Strategy
Sue Pysher
Training & Support Coordinator

8. 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

9. 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]
Voic Greeting
Voic
<any other settings>
Download/Install ViewMail Setup for client (optional-Exchange clients)
Information at
Check Phone numbers & test out phone

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

14. 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!
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
issues -- Eudora users (POP clients - setting options)

15. Email Issues -- a Major Hurdle
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 voic 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 voic 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, voic attachments not accessible using the phone, Webmail or through from a remote location
Options to ‘Leave Mail on Server’ needed to be set where they weren’t before
Our Salvation – brief ‘handout’ of scenarios (POP clients)
Handout listed various option settings and what a user could and could not do concerning voic access using phone, , and Webmail
Tom L. was also available to answer questions and solve problems
Documentation was available online as well as hard copy

16. 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 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)

17. 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 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

18. Topic #2 - Unified Messaging Server Implementation
Tom Long
Unity ‘Unified Messaging’ Server Administrator

19. 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
Server)
‘Call Manager’
Voice Mail
Message sent to
server
Received
FAX sent to
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 system
Explain about the advantages of getting voice mail from home or a remote location
Phone number to call ( ) 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 server
The FAX would be a file attachment
Advantages:
You’ll be able to get your voice mail messages either by phone or 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 - Check your (if an Exchange client)
At home or a remote location, to check your mail ( , voice mail, fax) , you can:
Call 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 (if an Exchange client)
ENGR:

20. 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.

21. VOIP
Questions ? ? ?
VOIP