sipfoundry colab 2013 - specific customer case studies for sipxecs and roi analysis against cisco...
DESCRIPTION
At the SIPfoundry CoLab users conference Pythian, Lafayette College, and Francis Tuttle University presented specific case studies on how they evaluated, selected, and eventually implemented sipXecs for their company or campus.TRANSCRIPT
Session 4, Moderated by Dave Deutschman, Sr. Director Customer Services
March 10, 2013 / Bentley University / Boston MA
Lightning Case Studies: Implementing Modern Enterprise Communications Across Industries
>Panelists:>Shawn Billings, Director IT, Pythian
> Skip Bachman; Systems Administrator, Network Infrastructure, Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>William Hayes, SVP Platform Development/IT, Selventa
>John Fulton, ITS Director of Network and Systems, Lafayette College
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Lightning Case Studies: Implementing Modern Enterprise Communications Across Industries
All capital projects in an Enterprise must be justified using financial, operational, and technological criteria. This includes implementation of an Unified Communications system. In the Customer Case Studies session, a panel of customers will present a synopsis of their reasons for selecting sipXecs / openUC for their Unified Communications Systems and whether or not their objectives have been met.
Shawn Billings, Director IT, Pythian
Lightning Case Studies: Implementing Modern Enterprise Communications Across Industries
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>Recognized Leader:•Global industry-leader in remote database administration services and consulting for Oracle, Oracle
Applications, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server
•Work with over 250 multinational companies such as Forbes.com, Fox Sports, Nordion and Western Union to help manage their complex IT deployments
>Expertise:•Pythian’s data experts are the elite in their field. We have the highest concentration of Oracle ACEs
on staff—9 including 2 ACE Directors—and 2 Microsoft MVPs.
•Pythian holds 7 Specializations under Oracle Platinum Partner program, including Oracle Exadata, Oracle GoldenGate & Oracle RAC
>Global Reach & Scalability:•Around the clock global remote support for DBA and consulting, systems administration, special
projects or emergency response
•Currently 250 staff , Last year company added 100 staff, 2013 growth projections another 100.
4Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
Challenge – Bring Pythian’s telecom system up to a level where it can support the aggressive corporate growth plans, and provide end-users with excellent
voice quality along with a feature rich voice platform.
5Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
>Key Requirements•Scalability for growth
•Excellent voice quality for all users internal or remote
•Ease of management
•Ease of deployment
•Feature rich - mobile app, presence, voice conference, user self management.
•Disturbed architecture to allow for local services and survivability across all regions.
•Reliability
•Reasonable TOC over 3 years
6Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
>Issues•Pythian aggressive growth plan will put stress on the current single server design
•Current architecture built and developed by previous team and current teams knowledge is limited
•Architecture leads to poor call quality in areas that have poor data connections
•Architectures Single server design could lead to failure
•No redundancy or regional distribution
•Lack of UC software has lead to the use of multiple chat clients, video chat clients and no presence capability
•No Voice Conference security on bridges
•Old hardware set for refresh
7Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
8Base Systems Features Asterisk eZuce Shortel
Distributed by designRedundantAutomatic failoverIntegrated IMKeep existing phonesMobile phone presenceCan be Virtual (non-appliance components)Development API for future DB integrationE911 readyautomatic cost based call routingNo SBC required (Ingate)phone VPN (remote users)Individual user languages (set menus and voice prompts)Peer to peer voice/media streamCentralized management99.998% reliablityCDR ReportingSite survivability
Administration advantages Asterisk eZuce Shortel
Quick Delivery/implementationsimple architechtureease of initial deploymentease of scalability deploymentLittle training requiredquick account managementsystem user accountsself administration of personal options
Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
>Deployment• Two initial sites, Canada and Australia, each with OpenUC server and gateways (SIP & PRI)
• 130 Internal Polycom SIP sets (all in Ottawa, CAN)
• 110 External SNOM SIP sets – with VPN connection into internal network
• Coordinated extensions/dialing plan between sites and Cost based call routing
>Challenges• Complex internal network structure maintained by Cisco ASA devices. (NAT, VLAN’s, Firewalls
etc…)
•VPN/IPsec adding delay.
• Remote home based connections providing inconsistent data connection quality.
• Varying latency with site-to-site IPsec tunnels
• Memory restrictions on Polycom SoundPoint IP sets
9Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
>Current State•Canada: Virtual OpenUC 4.6 server with AudioCodes PRI gateway and Ingate SBC. openVPN
server for remote SNOM sets.
•Australia: Ingate SBC and AudioCodes PRI gateway. openVPN server.
•All sets registering to one signaling server in Canada.
•Testing call quality and consistency over IPsec between Canada and Australia to determine need for second OpenUC server in Australia
10Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
11Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
>Current Issues•DTMF with G729 not being recognized by OpenUC when run as a VM.
•External Avatar not being displayed in Unite.
•IM status not updating when on calls.
•Outlook plugin status not updating
12Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
>Future plans•Add third and fourth site in India and UK
•Setup OpenUC Clustering
•Deploy Contact center to replace current Hunt Group setup.
•Replace remote set VPN with TLS/SRTP
•Mobile SIP client deployment (iPhone, Android, Blackberry)
•Integration:>MS Active Directory and RSA
>Internal ticketing system
>Internal Multimedia server
13Lightning Case Studies: Pythian
Skip Bachman; Systems Administrator, Network Infrastructure; Francis Tuttle Technology Center
http://www.francistuttle.edu
Lightning Case Studies: Implementing Modern Enterprise Communications Across Industries
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> Serves high school juniors and seniors who reside in one of our 5 partner districts
>Two Academy programs prepare high school sophomores, juniors and seniors for the academic rigor of university-level degree programs.
>Adults, with career-specific training to maintain a quality workforce.
>Francis Tuttle also offers complete business and industry training and consulting services, short-term training for career enhancement or leisure activities, and a variety of offerings via the online campus.
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One of largest Career Tech schools in Oklahoma Department of Career & Technology Education
Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>2,500+ Students in Career Training Programs such as Business Management, Culinary Arts, Health Sciences, Information Technology, Transportation
>9,000+ annual enrollments in Adult & Career short-term training classes
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>16,000+ attend Business and Industry training each year.
>Special initiatives in Aircraft Sheet Metal and Wind Turbine Technician
Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>2010 Telephone system expansion / replacement•Replace 15 year old digital PBX
>Telephone service for 200,00 sq. ft. expansion of Business and Industry Services; Culinary Arts and Information Technology
>Match existing phone system functionality
>IP based system•Minimal copper infrastructure to new buildings
•Loss of private fiber between 2 largest locations.
>Go Live in 4 months
>Budget conscience
17Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>What we have•Records out of date; required a physical survey across entire district
•Interviewed employees to determine features used
•100 multi-line phones; 400 single line phone
•50+ analog cordless phones 42 fax machines 6 external shop bells
>Features Used•Shared Lines
•Call Pickup Groups
•In one department, 8 staff monitor and answer department’s 20+ lines Every call answered
by a person
•Limited function ACD
•Call Volume Reporting
18Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>Solutions Evaluated:•Barracuda
•pbxNsip
•Asterisk
•SipXecs
>Lab Tested•8 weeks lab testing w/ 8 phones
>SipXecs 4.2 selected•Open Source code
•Consultants on contract for implementation / support
•Commercial version available
•Major University in neighboring state implementing SipXecs
•Low cost
19Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>Hardware selection•Compatible with other VoIP systems
•Industry Leader
>Polycom •SoundPoint IP 321, 335, 550, 650 6000
•AudioCodes Mediant 1000 PRI gateway; dual PRI
•Grandstream HandyTone 286
•Cisco/Linksys SPA2102
•Dell PowerConnect 3548P POE switches
>Dell R710 – ESXi 4.1•24Gb Ram – 80 GB Raid 1
•SipXecs 4.2 ISO
20Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>Plan•Integration with existing PBX via T1
•Build out new dedicated VoIP
infrastructure
•Phased Deployment by building / campus
>Configure
>Train•Develop curriculum and train users
•Bi-annual training for new users
•Training videos for self help
>Deploy•Phase I – 96 devices
•Final device count: 625 Phones, 140 ATA ports, 1000 SIP registrations
21Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>Obstacles•Existing Infrastructure
•Feature scale out limitations
•Shared Line appearance
•Call Pickup
•Performance on virtual server; moved to physical hardware after 4 months and increased load
•Overcome Legacy mindset
•ACD
•Reporting
•Queue Monitoring
>14 Month deployment
>4 Months of error free operation•Upgraded to 4.4
22Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>Expansion•2 additional servers for load balance
•ACD reporting prevents upgrade to 4.6
>3 server implementation•Stabilized ACD
•Ended bi-weekly need for system reset
>Issues•Random Free/Busy light errors
•Frequent need for device reset
>Solution•Upgrade to openUC 4.6
23Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
>Lessons Learned•Cost Benefit of open source product
•Plan / Plan / Plan
•Read / Read / Read : Live on the open source wiki.
•Hire a consultant for turn-key installation
Or Plan to become intimately familiar with the product
•SLA for maintenance
>WINS•Email notices with voice mail attachments
•User configurable options, ring duration; call forwarding; Personal AA
>Future•Instant Message
•Integration with Active Directory / Exchange / Outlook
24Lightning Case Studies: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
William Hayes, SVP Platform Development/IT, Selventa
Lightning Case Studies: Implementing Modern Enterprise Communications Across Industries
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>Selventa is a 40 person biotech company
>One main office with distributed personell across three continents
>We do business in the US, Europe and Asia
26Lightning Case Studies: Selventa
>Selection Criteria:
>Functionality•More modern phone system, easier integration with other phone systems (e.g. mobile, Skype,
etc.)
•Better conference room speakerphone quality
•Conferencing functionality built in – reduce/remove our reliance on other audio-conferencing solutions
>Cost•Not looking for cost reduction but happy to get one, can’t be more expensive
>Ease of management•One IT Ops manager – has to be simple and easy to manage, low effort
>Reviewed mostly hosted VOIP solutions
27Lightning Case Studies: Selventa
>Deployment process
>Tested server with a couple of desk phones and Bria prior to company deployment
>Rolled out openUC in the afternoon for almost seamless switchover (Dec 20th)
•Interestingly enough – most users opted for softphone (Bria client) only
•Linux users had trouble getting a SIP-client softphone setup
>Almost everyone has cell phones so company phone system is less critical to business operations
28Lightning Case Studies: Selventa
>Call quality is generally higher•Still having some problems with echo using softphone
>Audio conferencing works very well, but still working on education/awareness
>Some growing pains with the new Amazon hosting option•Some DoS attacks have caused problems
>Overall less expensive than previous system
>Mgmt overhead vs. previous PBX system is higher but indications are it will reduce to <= PBX as deployment matures with increased functionality
29Lightning Case Studies: Selventa
>Deployment, lessons learned, summary
>Successful switchover
>Softphones are still quite challenging for most users – though they like the option of having their phone with them at all times
>Love being able to set up a desk phone and ship it to field locations for them to plug in and use
>Conferencing lines are simple and easy to use
>More angst and effort involved in selection and planning than actual deployment
30Lightning Case Studies: Selventa
John Fulton, ITS Director of Network and Systems, Lafayette College
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>Lafayette College Overview•Approximately 2,400 student private liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton PA.
•Central ITS provides Network, ERP, Authentication, Web Hosting, Instructional Technology, and Support
•Computer Science majors are interested in contributing some code to sipXecs
•Endowment Driven ($700M)
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>ITS Network & Systems Overview•SA expertise in RedHat
•80% virtualized on RHEV (NOT vmware)
•Services in HA between two data centers
•MPLS segregated network >10 FW contexts
•Telephony was provided outside of ITS
•Replacing Avaya Definity G3 & Alcatel VM
33Lightning Case Studies: Lafayette College
>Philosophy driving project•Don't just do dial tone
•Video, Presence/IM, Voicemail to email
•One softphone with same features for: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android
>Criteria used to select a UC platform•Feature Qualities
•Cost
•Risk of investment
•Fit with skills and infrastructure
>We RFP'd our desired feature list to Cisco, Avaya.
>We evaluated RFP based on 2-4 above.
34Lightning Case Studies: Lafayette CollegeLightning Case Studies: Lafayette College
>Feature Qualities Evaluated •Hardphone
•Voicemail
•Softphone
•Video conferencing
•Architecture
•Support
•Initial investment
•TCO
•Integrator
•Mobility
•Company stability
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>Feature Quality Scores
Feature Quality ScoresLightning Case Studies: Lafayette College 36
>Cost Analysis Categories•Servers/Infrastructure
•Professional Services
•Gateways (e.g. AudioCodes, Acme Packet)
•Softphones
•Server Licensing
•Hard phones
•Add-ons
37Lightning Case Studies: Lafayette College
>Striking Price Differences
> Initial Investment:•Avaya & Cisco were 50% more costly than sipXecs
>Annual Costs:•Cisco was 3x more costly
•Avaya was 5x more costly
>Avaya Softphones were largest cost
>Cisco prof. services were largest cost
>sipXecs prof. services lowest of three
>sipXecs software was lowest cost•New HEP edu pricing makes this more compelling
38Lightning Case Studies: Lafayette College
>Risk•High risk: total goods and services that cannot be reused if vendor changes
•Low risk: total goods and services that can be reused if vendor changes
>Risk Findings
>Avaya: 77% High Risk•Can't reuse services, tablets, softphones, licenses
>Cisco: 80% High Risk•Can't reuse services, tablets, softphones, e911, licenses
>sipXecs: 55% High Risk•Can't reuse services, licenses
>All: reuse hard phones
Lightning Case Studies: Lafayette College 39
>Fitting into Infrastructure & Skills•sipXecs was supported on RHEV
•'yum install sipxecs'
•Leverage existing Linux skills
•Not a magical black box
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>Deployment: Adding VOIP to Network•3 PRIs from provider into Definity G3
•4 PRIs out of the Definity into AudioCodes
•IP out of Audio Codes into OpenUC
•All SIP and RTP traffic goes through SBC
•Isolation leads to good security
Lightning Case Studies: Lafayette College 41
>Deployment: Selecting Pilot Users•ITS; we were the first to go
•Picked departments who use phone often:>Development and Alumni Relations
>Athletics
>Communications
>Public Safety
•Met secretaries from these departments:>Invited them to coffee break
>Asked them how they use phones
>Showed them OpenUC features
•Invited them to joint training session
•RoncDid same day place and set
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>Evaluation: 1 year into 3-year project•Athletics & Development report time savings
•Some cost savings so far (retiring old PBX)
•Students get experience on real code
•Students using Bria/OpenUC in class:> Each student meets 4 times with WA
> Half of these will be over Video Conferences
> WA will be available for questions over IM
>3 & 4 best: Mission of the college is education
Lightning Case Studies: Lafayette College 43
>Lessons Learned•Make sure place/set vendor will do requirements gathering
•Whiteboard and ask questions until you're convinced that implementation details are correct (we did this, it paid)
•Find the right spot to insert OpenUC into the existing PBX for minimal interruptions
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Thank you!
Questions and Answers….
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