CDW 0021
CDW 0021
CDW 0021
executive Summary
Faced with economic challenges, many businesses are looking for new ways for staff to not only communicate but also find, reach and collaborate more effectively all while reducing costs. Fortunately, telecom technology IP convergence to Voice over IP (VoIP) and eventually to unified communications (UC) is a way to accomplish these objectives. With increasing awareness of its value, VoIP business penetration is currently pegged at slightly less than 50 percent. However, a 2010 report, from the research firm In-Stat, predicts VoIP implementation at around 79 percent for businesses in the United States by the year 2013. So whats driving the enterprise toward VoIP? Basically its the opportunity to cut costs and increase productivity. This is made possible by the convergence of voice and data into a single unified network. The scaled-down infrastructure is easier and less expensive to maintain. Furthermore, migration can be gradual without abandoning legacy systems. While VoIP offers benefits to businesses, the technology comes with a promise to alter the way businesses do business. This is especially true when upgraded to a unified communications infrastructure offering increased productivity, better business responsiveness and an improved customer experience.
Table of contents
1 executive Summary 2 IP Telephony as a Strategy 2 VoIP and Beyond 3 converged networks 4 Telephony and VoIP 6 unified communications 8 cDW: a VoIP Partner That Gets IT
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IP Telephony as a Strategy
According to a 2011 survey conducted by the management consultancy firm Inzenka, 27 percent of small- to mediumsized businesses (SMBs) already use VoIP, with 50 percent planning to deploy the technology in the next two years. The same research shows the large business VoIP adoption rate at 43 percent. While VoIP technology is becoming more popular with businesses, industry experts note that a capricious economy may be one reason for less than stellar current adoption rates. In addition, large businesses may be dealing with some inherent assumptions regarding the VoIP solution set. Telephony has traditionally been held to a standard of five nines uptime basically, 10 minutes of downtime per year as well as having a very high level of voice quality. There have been concerns in telecom departments about the ability to provide both of those metrics through Voice over IP. In addition, companies worry about moving from a proprietary voice network, that is particular to just carrying voice, to a converged network where voice becomes an application. Larger firms have also succumbed to the misconception that they must totally abandon current phone assets to adopt the new technology. Fortunately, beliefs based on these assumptions are fading among enterprise IT managers. Eventually, every business will have to replace its legacy telecom system. The question is the best way to effectively integrate converged voice and data networks into a firms existing systems and processes.
combining IT Staff
After deciding on Voice over IP (VoIP), its not uncommon for a company to move the telecom function to an IT department managed by the CIO. However, the CIO, as well as the IT department, may not have sufficient knowledge regarding voice communications. To help assure success, both the telecom and IT staff should be trained in each others technologies. Points to keep in mind include:
provide a high-performance network with Quality of Service (QoS) and improved management systems to
allow companies to save on WAN costs. According to Nemertes Research, typical savings can be in the area of 23 percent. Furthermore, according to Nemertes Research, replacing PRI lines with SIP trunks can save about 40 percent off monthly circuit costs. And companies with many mobile employees can eliminate costly roaming charges by moving mobile calls to the corporate IP backbone.
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converged networks
In order to implement VoIP, businesses must first move all of their different types of communication media voice, data and video onto a single, converged network. This convergence is essential for integrating all aspects of VoIP, which wont work without a well-designed, well-implemented and wellmanaged network. With multiple networks, companies have to run multiple cables through their buildings to each users office. They have to purchase different types of devices for switching and routing traffic on each network. Technical staffs with expertise on these different devices are required. And separate service contracts with the various manufacturers of these numerous different devices have to be managed. With a single, converged network, all of these inefficiencies are eliminated. The enterprise can buy less equipment, operate with fewer technicians and maintain relationships with fewer vendors. Convergence also eases administration. With a single network, technicians can perform moves, adds and changes just once instead of having to perform duplicate tasks to provide a user with both data and voice service. Converged networks reduce errors because they eliminate the possibility of moving a users phone service to one location and data service to another. Whats more, because technicians have to perform only one set of operations instead of two, using a single converged network allows adds, moves and changes to be made more quickly. This benefit can be especially valuable today when companies must nimbly respond to changing requirements.
This puts IT teams face-to-face with the daunting task of ensuring that an assortment of moving parts function flawlessly. In addition, they must subscribe to the premise of delivering the necessary voice quality and service levels to meet company requirements often within demanding budget and time parameters. So, how do IT shops reduce the complexity of this critical communication environment and cost effectively manage infrastructure? The solution includes providing high visibility to key performance indicators and critical metrics provided by network management tools. Typically, when network issues occur, support teams must take action to review and compare data. Often this information comes from an assortment of network devices in different locations. This type of disjointed feedback can serve as a disadvantage, often tending to magnify the overall complexities of the environment. Instead, IT support specialists are better served with end-toend network visibility including in-depth access to every side of a multifaceted communications environment. This includes a single, consolidated view encompassing everything from core SIP trunks and IP-PBX to smartphones and softphones at the edge. The ability to see the converged network in total and comprehend the relationships between individual components can help to reduce network complexity. At the same time it can serve to cut the operation expense often associated with delivering communication service levels that prove essential to the organization. With this type of holistic network visibility, coupled with comprehensive voice metrics, the difficulty of determining the source of communications issues is substantially reduced. Using network monitoring tools, IT support can narrow down and determine real issues fast and more cost effectively. Fortunately, these types of tools, available from a number of vendors, can serve to keep firms ahead of the seemingly increasing plethora of converged network changes and demands. In addition to being technology enablers, these solutions can serve as catalysts to improve service quality, reduce cost and enhance security.
Wan architecture
Converged voice and data networks require WAN optimization and acceleration technologies. For this, the enterprise often relies on the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. MPLS is a scalable technology that consolidates all datacarrying transport media regardless of protocol. With MPLS there is no need for specific Data Link Layer (Layer 2) technology or networks. Instead, it allows for the prioritizing of network traffic and applications across the WAN and this prioritization is required for the successful deployment of voice, video and data across one network. MPLS offers the ability to ensure sufficient bandwidth, avoiding congestion and sending business-critical traffic over the guaranteed shortest distance and lowest latency path.
In the next five years, TDM technology will slip to less than 50 percent of the installed base of telephony lines in North America and Western Europe.
Source: HEAVY READING; UBM TechWeb
most flexibility and choice for the business in terms of device selection and service options. SIP Trunking allows a direct connection between a companys IP PBX telephone systems to the PSTN via the Internet. The same Internet access used for data is used by the SIP connection, thus simplifying administration and security needs.
Internet
Remote User
Make the necessary upgrades before VoIP is turned on. Design a high availability (HA) or clusters of servers
(i.e. voicemail, presence, IP PBX and others).
Highly reliable located on LAN Easy to administer same as LAN All the basic features of IP PBX Supports offsite agents Highly scalable
Multisite Offices
Main PBX traffic Voice & data PSTn Local & E911 Voice & data
From a practical standpoint, MPLS provides the groundwork for a fully integrated communication environment, enhancing and expanding the potential use of an organizations telephony and data systems.
Local & E911 Voice & data Voice & data Internet new Gen VoIP carrier
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This type of staggered approach also minimizes disruption and allows for the staggering of costs. A rollout in phases also allows for pinpointing, diagnosing and fixing any initial problems that might occur within a more manageable group. The VoIP footprint can then be expanded as more capabilities are needed. currently paying per user/per month for maintenance on their legacy PBX system. The cost savings from SIP trunking and free internal calls are good reasons to upgrade. For business justification, the ROI needs to be compelling. But it can be a slow path showing how companies can save money mapping to the specific needs of the organization including collaboration or PBX consolidation. The first step is to identify specific initiatives and determine how the workforce in the business communicates best and map that to the system selected. Keep in mind, the business case for upgrades can prove challenging since VoIP solutions need to be refreshed more often and voice is less relevant to the workforce that needs multiple forms of communication. Transferring to UC offers companies seamless and integrated communications
Increase in staff productivity Added resiliency and business continuity New and integrated applications for facilitating
collaboration
3. understand where the firm is in the cycle of its current telephony infrastructure.
How long is the lease on the current telephony system? Will the businesses be relocating or opening a new office
in the near future?
1. IP telephony: A key capability of UC is the transport and management of voice communication over the same IP network that carries data traffic, rather than on a separate telecom network. 2. conferencing and collaboration: Here UC leverages video, web and audio conferencing systems to empower users to collaborate as needed in real time. 3. Messaging: The UC technology allows users to flexibly utilize all types of nonreal-time messaging. These can include e-mail, voicemail, short message service (SMS text messaging to and from mobile phones) and fax, along with real-time IM. 4. contact center: By integrating voice communications onto the IP network, UC significantly enriches the capabilities available to agents in inbound and outbound contact centers.
Game-changing uc capabilities
Conferencing and collaboration are considered the cornerstones of productivity. When staff can quickly get in touch with each other, easily share important information and avoid redundant tasks, companies become more productive and efficient. UC applications are particularly useful for improving communication and collaboration because they unify, simplify and automate the workday activities of knowledge workers. They remove the obstacles that typically limit both individual productivity and team performance. Several component technologies of UC aid in building advanced applications for optimized communication and collaboration. Presence: A presence application registers and shares the status of any individual user within the enterprise. Presence automatically detects if a user is logged into any device anywhere on the network, currently on the phone or using some other UC application that would prevent that user from being available for immediate contact. UC presence mechanisms also let users manually set their status as Available, Busy or Away along with an active status message, such as In meetings until 4 p.m. or On deadline: do not disturb. Presence can be combined with other data to further facilitate workflows. For example, users can have areas of expertise associated with their directory listing and contacted based on that criteria. Instant Messaging: Real-time text communication in the form of instant messaging first became popular as a way for individuals to communicate with each other over the Internet. Chat technology has now been widely embraced by businesses of all kinds. IMs immediacy offers a major advantage. With the benefit of presence, users can see whether the person with whom they want to communicate is available.
anywhere, for any type of device, which often provides the ROI necessary to justify the change.
unified communications
UC technology integrates diverse communication media such as voice, e-mail, chat and video into a single, centrally managed environment. Typically, a companys communications travel over the same network, utilize the same directory services and are integrated to some degree with each other. Because UC encompasses so many diverse capabilities, it is generally not implemented as a single product or solution. Instead, it entails the integration of multiple types of software and hardware into one seamless multimedia communication environment. Four capabilities in particular characterize mature UC environments within larger organizations:
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Chat is faster than e-mail because, in some cases, users can see each others messages as they type them. And IM does not require the dialing and social conventions of a typical voice conversation. Mobility and Mobile Voice access: Smartphones have become a fixture of modern life, and they play an important role in organizational productivity. Staffers now take it for granted that they will be able to have a conversation with anyone at any time, no matter where they happen to be at the moment. But at many firms, smartphones still do not function in exactly the same way as office phones. They allow users to make and receive calls (and perhaps check and send e-mail messages), but little else. As a result, user productivity is still somewhat limited when users are away from the office. One option available, Ciscos Mobile Voice Access, addresses these shortcomings by enabling smartphones to harness inoffice telephony and UC functionality. With MVA, for example, a user who is out of the office can transfer a call to any other extension on the company network right from a smartphone. Single number reach and Single Voicemail: SNR makes smartphone use even more transparent by eliminating the need to use one number for the office phone and a separate number for the smartphone. Instead, SNR combines automated call management with presence detection to automatically direct incoming calls to the active phone. In fact, by using call forwarding in conjunction with SNR, users can create a truly universal find me/follow me model that can turn any phone anywhere into their office phone. Single voicemail allows users to consolidate all messages left at both the office phone and smartphone into a single mailbox. This saves users time by allowing them to check all of their messages in one place. unified Inbox: Companies can take a step beyond single voicemail by implementing a unified inbox, which allows users to manage all forms of communication, including voicemail, e-mail and fax, in a common application. With a unified inbox, staffers gain significant productivity advantages. They can find and organize all of their messages in one place, eliminating the need to continually toggle between multiple applications. This also makes it much easier to find information located in past messages. conferencing and collaboration applications: By flexibly mixing and matching multimedia capabilities, UC conferencing applications can significantly improve all types of collaborative activities. UC conferencing features include voice conferencing, shared content viewing (such as PowerPoint presentations, software demonstrations and instructional videos), shared web browsing, use of interactive whiteboards (which allows one or more users to draw, type or write on a shared display) and live video. There is also a collaboration component behind presence in which multiple individuals can be pulled together quickly to discuss a problem via IM and then voice, then video. These collaborative multimedia applications allow users in multiple locations to participate in interactive virtual conferences where they can readily exchange information, ask each other questions and build a strong team consensus.
e-mail) to an Internet virtual private network (VPN) to preserve bandwidth on the QoS-enabled network for
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Your CDW account manager and solution architects are ready to assist with every phase of choosing and leveraging the telephony and VoIP solution for your IT environment. Our approach includes:
An assessment review of your existing environment and Detailed manufacturer evaluations, recommendations, future Procurement, configuration and deployment of the Telephone support as well as ongoing product
lifecycle support final solution environment design and proof of concept
Savings over traditional PBX-based telephony systems Connect users quickly and easily regardless of location Add phone lines more quickly and cost efficiently
CDW can assist with VoIP migration in a number of ways. Along with products and services, our network infrastructure audit can help determine if your network is ready for voice and data convergence. In addition, we offer a variety of third-party telecommunication-related services including WAN, Internet, voice and hosting.
To learn more, contact your cDW account manager at 800.800.4239 or visit cDW.com/telephony-voip
Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 can help your organization create adaptive workspaces that build productivity, business agility, security and competitive advantage. With Release 7.0, Cisco has focused on three critical customer priorities:
enable smooth interoperability and deep integration with third-party solutions To build productivity and accelerate business transformation with comprehensive unified communications capabilities that are available anytime, anywhere, and on any device (TcO) By optimizing and securing network platforms and network management
ShoreTel offers a wide range of telephones for use within its business communication solution, each designed to help boost productivity and meet the needs of every userfrom busy executive to remote worker, and from operator to contact center agent. Each phone is preconfigured for quick and easy installation with the ShoreTel Unified Communications (UC) system and offers all the advanced features, high performance and quality required in todays constantly connected workplace.
Polycom creates location liberation so people can have more engaging conversations in new ways that defy the boundaries of distance, cost, time and significant business disruptions, such as terrorist attacks, pandemics or acts of nature. Through a highly visual and immersive unified communications (UC) experience, people can connect, speed their decision making, and increase their productivity to benefit their companies and individuals inside their organizations and beyond.
cDW.com/shoretel
cDW.com/polycom
The information is provided for informational purposes. It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors. CDW does not intend to make any warranties, express or implied, about the products, services, or information that is discussed. CDW , CDWG and The Right Technology. Right Away are registered trademarks of CDW LLC. PEOPLE WHO GET IT is a trademark of CDW LLC. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners. Together we strive for perfection. ISO 9001:2000 certified 88472 111028 2011 CDW LLC