the role of voip for large university telecom networks ... · qos of cu’s current voice network....
TRANSCRIPT
The Role of VoIP For Large University Telecom Networks
Ethan Chambers Jamie Daubendiek
Kanu Gupta Brian McNelly
Monika Parulekar
ITP Capstone Advisor, Gerald Mitchell
University of Colorado at Boulder April 24, 2008
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank those individuals that provided valuable information and
contributed to our Capstone. This paper would not have been possible without the expertise and
generosity of the following:
Gerald Mitchell
Brad Bernthal Steve Carlson
Doug Chernow Victor O Mendez Ferreira
Jane Folger Luke Hartwig Dale Hatfield Scott Savage Jose Valdez Brad Wesley David Wood Valerie Yates
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Introduction ..............................................................................................................................3 Background ...............................................................................................................................4
Circuit-Switched Technology ...............................................................................................4 VoIP Technology...................................................................................................................5 CU Voice and Data Networks...............................................................................................6
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................7 Concerns for VoIP ................................................................................................................7
Quality of Service ..............................................................................................................8 Security ..............................................................................................................................9 Power and Reliability......................................................................................................11 E-911 ................................................................................................................................13 Proposed VoIP Deployment............................................................................................15 Costs.................................................................................................................................17
User Section.........................................................................................................................20 Avaya PBX Features .......................................................................................................20 Survey Features...............................................................................................................21
Other Universities With VoIP Implementation .................................................................23 Future Considerations for CU............................................................................................24
Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................25 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................27 Appendix .................................................................................................................................29
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Introduction
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is an emerging technology that is being adopted by
many organizations because of the enhanced voice features it offers and the reduction in costs
that may be achieved. Circuit-switched technologies that have worked well for voice
communication in the past are now starting to be replaced by VoIP.
The University of Colorado at Boulder (“CU” or “University”) will pay off a loan for the
campus private branch exchange (PBX) from Avaya in the summer of 2008. ITS will make a
decision on whether to keep the current circuit-switched infrastructure or to adopt a new voice
technology in order to reduce costs and increase features. This Capstone analyzed the perceived
cost savings and expected feature enhancements from VoIP to make a recommendation on
whether CU should adopt VoIP technology into the current infrastructure.
Based on the research of the Capstone group, a high-level VoIP network was designed
for future CU academic and administrative buildings in order to examine the possibility of a
VoIP implementation. During the analysis, shortcomings of a VoIP implementation at CU led
the Capstone group to conclude that there are no compelling reasons to adopt the technology in
the near future. The Information Technology Services (ITS) of CU should try to meet the needs
of the stakeholders (faculty, staff, administration and other users) by implementing add-ons and
upgrades to the current circuit-switched infrastructure. This is advised until the maintenance
costs of the PBX are greater than the investment required to implement VoIP.
The Capstone analyzed numerous case studies on deploying VoIP, however, these
contained little information on end user preferences and expectations. The Capstone group
developed a survey to understand if Internet protocol (IP) telephony could satisfy the current
telecommunications needs of the stakeholders. This research is focused only on CU’s internal
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network and did not consider the impacts of using VoIP over the public switched telephone
network (PSTN) or public Internet. This Capstone also did not perform testing on VoIP or
circuit-switched equipment. Case studies from other universities, data from CU’s network, and
the Capstone user survey (“survey”) were analyzed and used to answer our primary research
question; “Should CU and similar universities migrate to a VoIP environment?”
Background
Circuit-Switched Technology
After 125 years, circuit-switched networks are still used by many organizations as the
primary technology for voice communication. Circuit-switched technology was initially designed
to carry voice traffic and continues to perform very well today. During a circuit-switched call,
voice is converted to electrical signals and transmitted on a dedicated line to a central office
(CO). Once the call is established, there is no contention with other traffic for network resources.
The dedicated line is a great advantage of circuit-switched technology because it provides
security, quality of service (QoS), and reliability. In order for a third-party, who is not on the
call, to hear a circuit-switched voice conversation, they have to physically access the
transmission medium and perform a wiretap. Circuit-switched networks are designed to provide
five 9’s of reliability (99.999%), which means service is unavailable for less than five minutes
per year (Collins 2003). Also regarding reliability, a telephone receives power through the
transmission lines from a PBX or CO. Backup power in the PBX allows telephones to still be
available for service during a commercial electrical power outage. This high reliability of the
PBX is an advantage during emergencies because the dedicated line to each telephone allows
accurate physical location information to be sent to 911 responders. Although the dedicated line
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in circuit-switched networks will ensure reliability, the technology also produces bandwidth
inefficiencies, for example when the line is not utilized during periods of silence.
VoIP Technology
VoIP technology was developed in the mid 1990’s to replace the inefficiencies of circuit-
switched technology by transmitting voice traffic over a data network. VoIP can produce
significant cost savings and transmission efficiencies by combining voice and data services onto
the same IP network; eliminating duplicate circuit-switched cabling and call control equipment.
VoIP can offer more features to the user that will integrate functions of the voice and data
system. In VoIP, there is no dedicated physical line, causing voice packets to interact with other
traffic on the network. During network congestion, the voice packets may be delayed or dropped
leading to degraded voice quality.
There are also other problems with implementing VoIP, such as QoS concerns, network
security vulnerabilities, reliability, and more. For example, the real-time nature of voice can
withstand some packet loss and tolerates little delay. With VoIP, a university needs to consider
security threats like Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, man-in-the-middle, and eavesdropping.
Another concern is power for VoIP, which is different than traditional circuit-switched networks.
An IP phone needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet instead of receiving power from the
PBX. This causes concerns when implementing VoIP because special considerations are then
needed for 911 services. The mobility of VoIP requires dynamic IP addresses which leads to
concerns over the accuracy and integrity of enhanced 911 (E-911) location databases. Each of
these concerns will be analyzed below describing how CU should address the problems.
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CU Voice and Data Networks
The CU communications backbone provides high redundancy and sufficient bandwidth to
service traffic from the separate data and voice networks. The University’s voice network is a
circuit-switched distributed system managed by an Avaya PBX which connects to more than
16,000 users (Folger 2008). David Wood, ITS administrator, stated that the voice network
connects to the Qwest Boulder Main CO via a broadband Integrated Services Digital Network
(BISDN) connection (see Figure 1). The ITS and the Engineering building use synchronized
ATM switches to provide redundancy for the campus voice processing. The redundant network
connects to fifteen remote locations on and off campus (Williams Village, East campus,
Humanities, etc.) using an ATM backbone deployed over fiber links (Wood-2 2008). From these
remote modules, lines are connected to individual building telecommunication closets and then
distributed to each phone jack in the building.
Figure 1 - Current CU Voice Network Architecture
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Wood specified that the University uses six hundred closet switches to provide end user
connectivity to one or more of ten access routers, which have redundant connections to the core
routers (see Figure 2). The core routers connect to two distribution switches (DSW) at the ITS
Community Center and Telecom building. Various high bandwidth carriers (Qwest, Verizon, and
AT&T) connect CU to the public Internet through the DSWs. (Wood-2 2008). The diagram
below is the current CU data network.
Figure 2 - Current CU Data Network Architecture
Analysis Concerns for VoIP
Before adopting VoIP, there are many security, QoS, power, and 911 issues to consider,
which circuit-switched networks are not affected by. Solutions exist to make a VoIP
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implementation match the standards of the circuit-switched technology, but they come with great
commitments in time, cost and expertise. This analysis will first comprise of problems with
VoIP, followed by a section on the CU end user, and then conclude with how this research can
be applied to other universities.
Quality of Service
VoIP’s advanced features and lower costs have attracted many large organizations, but
the technology falls short of the impeccable reputation of circuit-switched networks in terms of
quality and reliability. In fact, the number one VoIP concern from the survey (49% of
respondents) was voice quality. Latency, jitter, and packet loss in a VoIP implementation can
adversely impact voice clarity, making it difficult to match the quality of circuit-switched
networks. The delay of circuit-switched networks lies within the range 150 ms, which the human
ear is unable to detect (Chong and Matthews 2004). However, the delay using VoIP can be up to
400 ms, which is unacceptable for a voice conversation (Chong and Matthews). Another major
drawback is VoIP’s dependency on bandwidth because a broadband connection may be down,
poor, or shared for other data communication needs. The QoS challenge for VoIP is to achieve
acceptable voice quality while transmitting voice packets over a limited and shared bandwidth
(DMR Communications n.d.).
According to Hedge and Naraghi-Pour (2001), there are a few solutions that ITS should
design into a VoIP network to ensure an acceptable QoS. On the smallest scale, QoS can be
enforced by configuring the router to a specified set of network policies to ensure voice traffic is
prioritized over other data traffic. Traffic prioritization can be obtained by configuring Multi-
Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) on the existing routers. The resource reservation protocol
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(RSVP) ensures that a VoIP call has the necessary bandwidth between the two users before the
start of a conversation.
Most of the existing CU campus routers are Cisco models and no additional hardware or
software is needed to implement the required QoS for VoIP. Rather, logically separating voice
and data into different broadcast domains, or virtual local area networks (VLAN), for voice and
data reduces contention for bandwidth, thereby increasing QoS (Wood-1 2008).VLANs help
decrease delay caused when voice packets compete with bursty data traffic for same resources.
Using VLANS will allow ITS a way to monitor and manage the different types of traffic and
even prioritize voice to gain a better QoS. Additionally, a QoS protocol named DiffServ can be
configured on Cisco equipment to prioritize packets in the IP network according to class of
service (voice, data, e-mail, etc.) (Hedge and Naraghi-Pour 2001). The protocols mentioned will
provide the required QoS for voice traffic, however, ITS will need to test the QoS periodically to
assure that users receive acceptable QoS.
Circuit-switched networks, in contrast, have little delay, minimal loss of transmission,
and the ease of implementing QoS is far greater than VoIP (Collins 2003). The University’s
private IP network would require the additional configuration of VLANs, RSVP, MPLS and
DiffServ to favor real-time voice traffic over data traffic in a VoIP environment and match the
QoS of CU’s current voice network.
Security
VoIP traffic is sent over a data network, which means that phone calls are subject to the
same type of attacks as traditional IP traffic. VoIP creates a link between both the data and voice
networks, especially in softphones. Attacks like DoS, misrepresentation, man-in-the-middle
(eavesdropping), and theft of service can wreck havoc on the integrity and reputation of the
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University. While many security vulnerabilities can be solved, voice conversations can become
delayed if more VoIP security and encryption techniques are added, increasing the processing
time (McNelly 2007).
There are in-house solutions to prevent some of these security vulnerabilities, but they
can be cumbersome and expensive. An essential security precaution is to use VLANs to separate
the voice and data traffic so that voice conversations can have specific security policies which
are applicable to real-time traffic. To protect against attacks, Stanton suggests the use of
"[a]ntivirus solutions that protect against malware; appropriately configured firewalls; regular
security patches; and intrusion detection and prevention [to prevent VoIP's weakness from being
exploited]," (Stanton 2006). Cao and Malik suggest using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or
Secure Real Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) to secure a connection between end users, but both
have disadvantages. For example, TLS must be established on a hop by hop basis, requires
upgrades to the network, and must have a reliable transport layer. A disadvantage of SRTP is that
the protocol cannot setup encryption keys on its own (Cao and Malik 2005). Connections must
be encrypted so that data cannot be intercepted by an eavesdropper, but this is complicated
because both clients must agree on an encryption method before a secure communication can
exist (McNelly 2007).
According to McNelly, DoS attacks, the biggest vulnerability in a VoIP system, are when
an external person/device floods servers with bogus traffic to prevent legitimate users from
accessing the service. Since VoIP traffic must normally interact with other traffic on the network,
the voice signals will be delayed and potentially deleted if there is congestion on the network.
Theft of service is one of the most costly vulnerabilities of VoIP. An example of this attack could
software running on the data network, which can access the CU voice network to make toll calls.
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To limit the potential for theft of service, the University must use strict username and password
policies, requiring strong passwords that are changed throughout the year. Further precautions
can also be taken for theft of service to prevent misrepresentation, such as the two factor
authentication, which relies on two methods of authentication. In order to access a soft phone,
two of the following are recommended: something that you know (password), something you
have (USB key), or something that you are (biometrics) (McNelly). Each of these solutions,
however, will have to be installed, configured, maintained, and supported by ITS, increasing the
costs associated with VoIP.
Circuit-switched technology has a high level of security built into the system. If a person
wants to eavesdrop, the eavesdropper needs to gain physical access to CU's transmission
medium. Although protocols exist to increase the security in VoIP networks, vulnerabilities such
as DoS, theft of service, and eavesdropping continue to challenge VoIP. Circuit-switched
networks have a clear advantage over VoIP in terms of security.
Power and Reliability
Power is a very important consideration when implementing a communications system
and people have come to expect service to any traditional landline phone during a power outage.
The survey has shown that 38.3% of our respondents were concerned about the potential loss of
VoIP service during a power outage, making it the second highest VoIP concern. The CU power
infrastructure uses gas turbines to create electricity on campus which have proven to be very
reliable (Mendez Ferreira 2008). The following graph from Victor Mendez Ferreira, a technician
for CU facilities, shows the power availability from 1996 to 2006. The overall average for this
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time frame is 99.22%1. This percentage of reliability for VoIP does not match the level of five
9’s in a circuit-switched network and results in an average of 19 hours of down time per year.
Figure 3 - CU Cogen Powerhouse - Electricity Availability
Power consumption for VoIP is different than traditional phone services. At CU, the
backup power supply for the entire voice network is housed in the telecommunications building
and can provide an 8-hour backup (Folger 2008). With recent developments in technology, the
concept of supplying power from the network core to end devices is being applied to data
networks by providing devices with DC power over the Ethernet connection, called power over
Ethernet (PoE), or IEEE 802.3af. When implementing VoIP, an uninterrupted power supply
(UPS) is important and must power the switch in case of a power outage. If VoIP is implemented
campus wide, then CU will require UPSs in each telecommunications closet in every building.
The cost for a UPS is around $1,000 and with 600 closets on campus, (Wood-2 2008) an
1 In 1997 the heat recovery steam generator was in a forced outage and unavailable for major repairs resulting in the generation to become unstable for a couple of months. By removing 1997 from the average, the availability is then 99.78%.
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additional $600,000 worth of equipment is required to keep the VoIP network close in reliability
to the existing PBX. CU has already invested heavily in backup power to the circuit-switched
network (Folger), giving the PBX the advantage over VoIP in regards to power and reliability.
The current data infrastructure does not offer the same reliability that the traditional
PSTN and CU PBX currently provide. David Wood, CU’s ITS administrator, explained that the
data network was down in 2007 for three hours (99.965% availability), whereas the PBX was
only down for ten minutes (Wood-1 2008). This is a major consideration for CU because
someone on campus may need to use a phone during an emergency. If there is an outage on the
data network, then the VoIP network will also go down unless there is adequate backup to the
equipment. As mentioned above, UPSs will need to match the reliability of current circuit-
switched backup equipment. VoIP technology cannot match or exceed the reliability of the PBX,
but can only come close with great costs. Until the costs are reduced for VoIP to match the
reliability of the PBX, ITS should continue using the current circuit-switched technology without
implementing VoIP.
E-911
The University of Colorado is a community of nearly 36,000 people, including 6,000 on-
campus student residents, so safety and preparation for CU must be a priority (University of
Colorado at Boulder n.d.). There have been concerns with the capability of VoIP to offer prompt
and accurate E-911 services. Portable IP phones and PC softphones add to the convenience of the
user, but in turn increase difficulties in updating and maintaining accurate information in the
device location database (Hochmuth 2007).
Traditional circuit-switched networks rely on static switching and geographic location to
provide E-911 services. On the other hand, VoIP is IP based telephony functioning over a local
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area network and involving dynamic routing, which does not depend on geographic location
(SpectraLink 2003). A wired IP telephone operates over a local area network and does not have a
dedicated physical PBX port and pair of copper wires connecting, which is unlike a circuit-
switched network (SpectraLink). The telephone number and extension of the user do not change
regardless of the location of the user. For instance, although a CU professor travels to Boston for
a conference, the same local extension would be used to reach him in spite of his change in
location. Thus, in times of adds and moves of a user’s VoIP telephone service, CU would require
that the E-911 location database always be updated with current user locations.
Most IP PBX systems today have the capability of updating the local telephone
company’s automatic location identification database the same way as done with traditional
PBXs.
“IP PBX solutions by Avaya, Cisco Systems and others can discover the location of a VoIP device based on the IP subnet, switch location or switch/port location. The assumption is that the network topology is relatively fixed. A [dynamic host configuration protocol] range can be assigned to a specific floor of a building, for instance, and a location is mapped in the IP PBX to VoIP phones in that range. Industry standard protocols, such as the Telecommunications Industry Association extension, Logical Link Discovery Protocol-Media Endpoint Discovery (LLDP-MED), and the IEEE 802.1ab Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery document defines methods for an interconnecting switch to notify the VoIP phone about its location based on the assumption that a particular switch port services a specific location. Cisco's CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) provides similar features as LLDP-MED for Cisco equipment” (Fratto 2006). However, since VoIP is a mobile technology, a fully established E-911 service will
require the development of an efficient and accurate emergency responder system which
automatically updates the location database and 911 authorities with the most current location
information of a user (Harvard University n.d.). Until the VoIP technology can achieve CU’s
requirements for a fast, accurate, and reliable E-911 system, a great amount of risk is involved in
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a VoIP implementation. In a VoIP environment, there is a possibility that the location
information will not be accurate or available to 911 authorities. A single person on campus could
use CU’s emergency services and if authorities cannot promptly respond to the emergency which
results in a tragedy, then CU’s reputation as a safe, public institution of higher learning will be
tarnished.
Proposed VoIP Deployment
If CU were to adopt VoIP technology, the ideal time is when buildings are constructed
from the ground up so that the building can be designed with VoIP in mind, such as extra closet
space, applicable wiring, and an adequate power infrastructure to support VoIP services. This
strategy will reduce the interruption on CU faculty and administration during a future remodel of
a building for a VoIP deployment. Rick Miller from the Department of Education stated that
“one of our business units had the chance to move into a brand new building and consolidate
scattered resources. [The Department of Education] had the opportunity to build their network
infrastructure from scratch without having to replace anything” (Marsan 2003).
In the fall of 2007, demolition of the Sibell Wolle Fine Arts building began to make way
for the new Visual Arts Complex (VAC) directly next to the CU ITS building. The new $63.5
million dollar VAC will cover 170,000 gross square feet, have a permanent art museum, provide
a state of the art building for students and faculty (Besen 2007), and should be considered for a
VoIP deployment. The following is a proposed diagram for a VoIP implementation to the VAC.
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Figure 4 - Proposed VAC VoIP Deployment
From the proposed VoIP implementation diagram above, voice and data will reside on
the same IP network instead of two separate networks today. In a traditional data network, the
computer is plugged into the Ethernet jack, however in a VoIP network, a PC plugs directly into
the VoIP phone. Voice packets are sent through routers to the VoIP Call Manager, where all
supervision and call processing for the VoIP network takes place. A gateway connects to the Call
Manager and performs the signaling conversion between IP and circuit-switched traffic. With an
evolutionary implementation of VoIP, circuit-switched technology will still be in service. While
the circuit-switched technology is still being used, VoIP does not replace equipment, but rather
requires new equipment like the Call Manager and gateways. When the circuit-switched
technology is completely removed, only then will reduction in hardware be achieved.
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Costs
Many companies and universities are migrating to VoIP because of potential cost savings
(see Appendix 1). For example, a cost model from a Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) study
found that VoIP would save the school $500,000 annually over retaining their Centrex, not
including the cost of wiring or configuring the current data network for VoIP (Carnegie Mellon
University 2003). The CMU cost model found that the breakeven point after the proposed three-
year migration to VoIP was projected to be four to six years (Carnegie Mellon University). This
section compares the costs for CU to implement VoIP into a new building with continuing to use
the existing circuit-switched technology.
When voice and data reside on the same physical IP network, the increased bandwidth
efficiency can contribute to cost savings by the elimination of copper wiring needed in CU’s
circuit-switched network. In a total VoIP environment, circuit-switched devices like the PBX and
dial-tone generators can be eliminated. Instead, VoIP would use a significantly less expensive
VoIP call manager, which is essentially a software-based voice processing device. CU would
also make use of the existing Cisco data networking equipment. Another example of potential
cost savings is to offer an online account management systems for users to make telephone
changes and thus require less assistance from ITS. A user account could greatly streamline the
current adds, moves, and changes process for telephone services (Wood-2 2008). VoIP does have
a potential for cost savings by integrating the voice and data platforms.
The following table is an estimated analysis for the initial investment costs of a Cisco
VoIP deployment to the VAC. The pricing used is primarily Cisco equipment because costs for
Avaya were not available for the Capstone research. Cisco and Avaya are leaders in VoIP
technology and for the purposes of this Capstone, the assumption is that each brand is
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comparable in price and quality. One scenario uses 50 low-end Cisco IP phones, the other
scenario has 50 high-end Cisco IP phones, and both have 50 softphones. Note that the equipment
with an asterisk (*) denotes that it is only required to be purchased for the initial VoIP
deployment and not again.
Equipment type Description Quantity Unit Price Total (low-end)
Total (high-end)
IP telephone (low end) Cisco Unified 7906G 50 $180 $9,000 n/a IP telephone (high end) Cisco Unified 7941G-GE 50 $430 n/a $21,500 Softphone CallManager license 50 $20 $1,000 $1,000 *Call Manager software Primary and backup. 2 $18,000 $36,000 $36,000
*IBM server Required for CallManager SW 2 $10,286 $20,572 $20,572
PSTN/VoIP gateway PGW 2200 application 1 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 Sun server Required for GW SW 1 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 *Voice mail Required for VoIP 1 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
UPS Used to power closet switch 3 $1,000 $3,000 $3,000
*Emergency responder Cisco 1 $6,000 $6,000 $6,000 Total $125,572 $138,072
Table 1 - VAC Estimated VoIP Equipment List
As the above data shows, a low-end IP telephone is ten times the cost of a software
license. According to the survey, 54% of faculty and administration felt that replacing their
telephone with a PC softphone would not negatively impact their job functions. This would
result in a relatively lower VoIP deployment cost.
The next table is the estimated cost analysis for if CU were to deploy just circuit-
switched technology to the VAC.
Equipment type Quantity Unit Price Total (low-end) Total (high-end) Digital telephone (low-end) 100 $40 $4,000 n/a Digital telephone (high-end) 100 $150 n/a $15,000 Twisted-pair copper wiring (ft.)2 25,000 $0.203 $5,075 $5,075 Total $9,075 $20,075
Table 2 - VAC Circuit-Switched Equipment List
2 (TESSCO n.d.)
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The cost increase between CU deploying circuit-switched and the initial VoIP deployment is
about $166,500, including costs for the one-time VoIP equipment purchases.
In 2002, CMU migrated 90 phones from their Centrex to a Cisco VoIP platform for the
Computing Services Department. The school’s main focus of study for the VoIP deployment was
on electricity consumption. The school tested the electricity consumption of a Cisco 7960 IP
telephone which averaged 5.5 to 6.5 watts when powered from a wall outlet (Chong and
Matthews 2004). However, when a Cisco Catalyst 3524 switch powered the IP phone with PoE,
then 11.625 watts per IP phone was required (Chong and Matthews).The existing Meridian
digital phones averaged only 1.5 watts, while analog phones receive power directly from the
PBX and need no local power (Chong and Matthews).
The following calculations were used to determine the approximate increase in electricity
consumption costs for a VoIP deployment to the VAC. According to CMU, each Cisco PoE IP
phone requires 0.011625 kW, which multiplied by 8,760 hours in a year equals 101.835 kWh. At
$0.056 per kWh for 50 IP phones, the total annual electricity consumption for IP phones in the
VAC would be $285.14. In comparison, 50 digital Meridian phones would require only $36.80
for annual electricity consumption.
The following table splits the VoIP deployment costs into specific cost categories. The
total of $181,857 is the cost of CU implementing VoIP from the ground up without any prior
VoIP technology in place. The next total for $115,300 is if CU only purchases the equipment
needed to enable the IP functionality of the current Avaya PBX. The last two scenarios compare
implementing VoIP and a circuit-switched network over their respective existing platforms. As
the table shows, the deployment costs for a VoIP network are over twice the cost of a similar
circuit-switched deployment.
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Expense Cost Software $66,000 Hardware $58,572 Licensing $57,000 Electricity $285 Total $181,857 Hybrid PBX functionality $115,300 Existing VoIP infrastructure $19,300 Existing circuit-switched $9,112
Table 3 - Total Costs for VAC VoIP Deployment
The ITS department is not funded by the state of Colorado, but instead charges CU
departments for phone services and usage. In order for ITS to cover the increased deployment
costs related to a VoIP deployment, charges to the departments will have to increase (Folger
2008). Adopting the VoIP technology into a voice network that works very well today will
require a large initial investment, increasing departmental charges.
User Section
This section focuses on the features that are currently available to a CU user through the
current Avaya PBX and what could be offered under a VoIP environment. The possible features
are then compared to the results of the survey from CU users. This section then concludes with a
recommendation to ITS.
Avaya PBX Features
The following section was gathered from the Avaya Call Manager support
documentation. The Avaya PBX circuit-switched capabilities offers operator services, an
enhanced call center feature, and other standard telephony services like call waiting, caller id,
and call forwarding. The Avaya Communication Manager (ACM) only allows for three-party
conferencing unless assisted by an operator. Six-party conferences are possible but only through
the use of a multi-appearance telephone which can bridge calls together. The ACM allows users
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to set up a call-in number where up to six parties can call a specific number to create a
conference.
The current PBX is hybrid because it has both circuit-switched and VoIP functionality.
When configured for IP, users can establish audio and video conferencing. Using a PC
softphone, a CU user could make a call, receive calls, conference, transfer, hold, access a call
history, send instant messages using session internet protocol, and more. Caller ID information
with name and number can be sent from a local exchange carrier and accepted by the IP PBX
and ACM user. This functionality does not exist in today’s environment where ITS has only
enabled the ACM’s circuit-switched capability.
An ACM IP phone can be configured to ring distinctively on certain types of calls, for
example, to distinguish between internal and external callers. Personalized rings can be assigned
to different telephone numbers in a shared office environment as a way to identify which
employee the incoming call is for (Avaya Corporation 2004).
Another tool mentioned earlier that the faculty could use is an online account
management system where the individual could make account changes without calling a
helpdesk or creating trouble tickets for ITS to configure different settings. This would save ITS
money and free the time of ITS personnel.
Survey Features
Based on the Capstone survey results, CU faculty and administration are willing to use
VoIP applications such as multimedia conferencing, web based tools, and enhanced telephone
features (see Capstone survey in Appendix). In all three VoIP technology categories, over 50%
responded likely or very likely to use these enhanced IP features if available (see Figure 8). If the
respondents were to use these enhanced features, then there is potential that they could become
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more efficient, For example, Intel conducted a VoIP pilot program and reported increased
productivity by 2.7 days per user, per year (Sacker, Santaiti and Spence 2006).
Figure 5 - VoIP Feature Demand
When the faculty and administrators were asked about their satisfaction with the current
voice system, 88.18% said that they were neutral to very satisfied. Another relevant finding was
the amount of time the respondents spent talking on a CU phone. Eighty-two percent of
respondents said that they talk on the phone less than one hour per day.
How satisfied are you with CU’s current voice system (telephone, voicemail, fax)?
During a typical business day, how long do you spend talking on CU campus telephones?
Very Satisfied 29 8.79% Less than 1 hour 272 82.42% Satisfied 137 41.52% 1 hour – 2 hours 40 12.12% Neutral 125 37.88% 2 hours – 3 hours 16 4.85% Dissatisfied 32 9.70% 3 hours – 4 hours 0 0.00% Very Dissatisfied 7 2.12% 4+ hours 2 0.61%
Table 4 - User Survey Results
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These two survey responses show that the faculty and administration do not use the phone very
often and when they do, users are generally satisfied with the current system. The Intel efficiency
case would not apply to CU’s situation because of the low amount of telephone usage.
VoIP would be a big investment to replace the current system that works well in order to
add a few more features. If CU faculty and administration are not using the phone system very
often, then a logical solution is to upgrade the current PBX with more features instead of
adopting a new voice platform. The Avaya PBX can be upgraded to provide some of the features
that CU respondents want, such as web-based voice mail and device mobility. The major
complaint from the respondents was dissatisfaction with the current voicemail system, so ITS
could purchase a new voicemail system for $10,000 (Folger 2008). This hybrid voice mail
system will work in a circuit-switched and VoIP environment to perform all of the normal
voicemail functions, along with enhancements such as web-based functionality where voice
messages can be listened to or converted to text and read.
From the low telephone usage and high satisfaction of CU’s current network, there is no
compelling argument to convert the existing and well working circuit-switched equipment to
VoIP if additional features can be added to the PBX.
Other Universities With VoIP Implementation
This Capstone can be applied to other similarly sized universities with an existing circuit-
switched infrastructure. Many universities around the country are faced with the same issues in
deciding to join the current trend and implement VoIP. In some cases, VoIP can offer enhanced
features that can increase productivity and reduce costs. This may not be true in all situations for
universities. Other cost considerations need to be accounted for in order to have the same
reliability and quality of the current circuit-switched technology.
24
Some universities have implemented VoIP successfully. The University of Arkansas at
Pine Bluff implemented softphone VoIP technology to save considerable money on long distance
charges and to replace the obsolete PBX (Villano 2007). Brigham Young University (BYU) was
in the same situation when its circuit-switched PBX became obsolete and its telecommunications
building was planned for demolition. BYU decided to invest money into a campus wide VoIP
system. According to Steve Carlson (2008), BYU’s Information Technology Product Manager,
BYU had problems implementing VoIP with defective hardware. He mentioned that the true cost
savings for BYU would come with the reduction in long distance charges, which they currently
have not changed (Carlson 2008). These two cases are examples of universities with different
situations than CU, where the PBX equipment became obsolete or implemented VoIP for the
sole purpose of reducing long distance costs. The University of Colorado already has an
inexpensive long distance agreement (2 cents a minutes) and is planning to remove phones in the
resident halls on campus because of the minimal use of long distance calls by students (Wood-1
2008). The University of Colorado is not in the same situation as BYU or Arkansas, and lacks
any compelling reason to implement VoIP.
Future Considerations for CU
There is no compelling argument for CU or other similar universities to implement VoIP
today, however there will be an opportune time for each university to adopt VoIP. For example,
the most recent upgrade to CU’s Avaya PBX was paid for with a bond, which ITS expects to
have paid off in June, 2008 (Keyek-Franssen, et al. 2006). Since the bond will be paid for, ITS
can set aside the budgeted money used to pay the bond and invest in CU’s next generation of
voice services. The evolution to VoIP should begin when the maintenance costs for the PBX
eventually exceed the cost of adopting VoIP into CU’s network.
25
Over the next three to five years, CU will increase the potential for more IP telephony
services within the CU campus. Currently, an ongoing project on the CU campus called CU
Rewire has upgraded 80% of the campus with a modern network of CAT5e wiring and 50% of
PoE switches, allowing data speeds of 100 Mbps to every Ethernet jack in CU’s general funded
buildings (University of Colorado n.d.). All switches (VoIP capable) will be upgraded to allow
for more capabilities, greater QoS, and security features (Wood-2 2008). A future VoIP
implementation will require the ITS department to address the VoIP technology concerns
discussed above, research the services supported by different VoIP vendors, and perform a
detailed return on investment analysis.
Conclusion
There are numerous benefits of implementing VoIP within CU’s private network. One
major benefit is that CU faculty and staff will have access to enhanced IP features and a
reduction in costs. The Capstone survey suggests that the majority of CU’s voice network users
want to use applications such as multimedia conferencing, web based tools, and enhanced phone
features.
Though VoIP can offer better features than the current PBX, there are some tradeoffs
because deploying a VoIP network with adequate QoS, security, reliability in power outages, and
E-911 capabilities will not be an easy task. These problems can be addressed for CU’s network
but only at a high cost, required expert networking techniques, and choosing the right VoIP
equipment. Deploying a new VoIP network will be very expensive and the major benefit will be
the addition of new features for the faculty, therefore ITS should add on these enhanced features
to the current circuit-switched PBX.
26
The University’s existing circuit-switched network will eventually need to evolve into a
VoIP environment as the older equipment’s lifespan ends. Maintenance costs will eventually rise
to a point where it is greater than the cost of implementing a new generation of voice network, at
which point it will be an ideal time to transition to VoIP technology.
In the initial stages of the Capstone, our first assumption was the University could save
considerable costs and provide the faculty with enhanced phone features by implementing VoIP
campus wide. Further research proved that this conclusion was premature. When the scope of the
project was scaled down to only a part of the campus certain practical concerns arose. A VoIP
implementation is best applied only to new buildings, however, the Capstone concluded that
even this is not economically justified for CU at this time.
This Capstone concludes that if the VoIP network is designed keeping in mind the
required security, QoS, and power requirements, then ITS can create a scalable voice
communications network over a data network. However, although a VoIP network can be
created from existing technologies, it is not feasible at this time for similar universities to adopt
the VoIP technology. The benefits of a VoIP network are not significant enough to merit the
investment of time, labor, and finances required for such a project at CU. Based on our analysis
of VoIP concerns, deployment costs, current usage of phone services, and user satisfaction, the
Capstone group is convinced that CU must continue using the current circuit-switched
technology.
27
Works Cited
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Besen, Linda. "Goodbye Sibell Wolle, Hello Visual Arts Complex." Inside CU. October 9, 2007. http://www.colorado.edu/insidecu/editions/2007/10-9/story2.html (accessed January 29, 2008).
Cao, Feng, and Saadat Malik. "Security Analysis and Solutions for Deploying IP Telephony in the Critical Infrastructure." IEEE, 2005: 171-180.
Carlson, Steve, interview by Daubendiek. Interview with Brigham Young University, OIT Product Manager (April 15, 2008).
Carnegie Mellon University. "Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Project." CMU Computing Services. June 25, 2003. (accessed February 2, 2008).
Chong, Hui M, and H. S. Matthews. "Comparative Analysis of Traditional Telephone and VoIP Systems." IEEE, 2004: 106-111.
Collins, Daniel. Carrier Grade Voice Over IP, 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003. DMR Communications. "VoIP Phone Systems Potential Drawbacks." DMR Communications.
http://www.dmrcom.net/voip.html?page=voipdrawbacks (accessed March 7, 2008). Folger, Jane, interview by Ethan Chambers, Jamie Daubendiek, Kanu Gupta, Brian McNelly
and Monika Parulekar. Campus PBX Tour (February 21, 2008). Fratto, Mike. "E911 for VoIP ." Networking Computing by TechWeb. October 5, 2006.
http://www.networkcomputing.com/channels/networkinfrastructure/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193005690 (accessed March 23, 2008).
Harvard University. "Harvard University VOIP Service Offering ." University Information Systems. http://www.uis.harvard.edu/emerging_technologies/voiceoverip/servicesdesc.php (accessed March 28, 2008).
Hedge, Manju, and Mort Naraghi-Pour. "Finally, End-to-End Qos. - MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching - Technical." BNET Business Network. October 2001. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0TLC/is_10_35/ai_79251315 (accessed March 23, 2008).
Hochmuth, Phil. "Six Burning VoIP Questions." PC World. October 8, 2007. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/138147-3/six_burning_voip_questions.html (accessed March 15, 2008).
Keyek-Franssen, Deborah, Dennis Maloney, Robert Schnabel, and Marin Stanek. Vice Provost for Academic & Campus Technology. Boulder: University of Colorado, 2006.
Marsan, Carolyn. "Early adopter shares VoIP lessons learned." ARN. January 22, 2003. http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;1407889962;fp;4194304;fpid;1 (accessed November 12, 2007).
McNelly, Brian. VoIP Security Vulerabilities. Boulder, December 6, 2007. Mendez Ferreira, Victor O., interview by Jamie Daubendiek. CU Power Facility Technician
(March 25, 2008). Miller, Rick. "Early Adopter Shares VoIP Lessons Learned." ARN. January 22, 2003.
http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;1407889962;fp;4194304;fpid;1 (accessed November 16, 2007).
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Sacker, Stephen M., Matthew Santaiti, and Catherine Spence. "The Business Case for Enterprise VoIP." Intel Corporation. February 2006. http://intel.com/it/pdf/parsippany-voip.pdf (accessed April 6, 2008).
SpectraLink Corporation. "E-911 Compatibility of SpectraLink Wireless." Spectralink and Polycom. 2003. http://www.spectralink.com/files/literature/E-911.pdf (accessed March 24, 2008).
Stanton, Ray. "Secure VoIP - an achievable goal." Computer Fraud & Security, 2006: 11-14. TESSCO. "Twisted Pair Cables [404-38]." Tessco Home Page.
http://www.tessco.com/products/displayProducts.do?groupId=404&subgroupId=38 (accessed March 23, 2008).
University of Colorado at Boulder. "Just the Facts." University of Colorado. http://www.colorado.edu/news/facts/fastfacts/index.html (accessed Apeil 18, 2008).
University of Colorado. "CU-Boulder Network Rewire." Information Technology Services. www.colorado.edu/its/networking/rewire (accessed February 10, 2008).
Unuth, Nadeem. "VoIP Cons - VoIP Problems and Pitfalls." About.com. http://voip.about.com/od/voipbasics/a/voipproblems.htm (accessed March 10, 2008).
Valdes, Jr., Jose J., interview by Daubendiek. Interview with Colorado State University Associate Director for Telecommunications (March 24, 2008).
Villano, Matt. "Telecommunications -- VoIP is Victory." Campus Telecommunications. May 27, 2007. http://campustechnology.com/articles/40285/ (accessed March 30, 2008).
Wood, David, interview by Jamie Daubendiek, Kanu Gupta and Brian McNelly. First ITS Interview - VoIP (January 25, 2008).
Wood, David, interview by Ethan Chambers, Kanu Gupta and Monika Parulekar. Second CU ITS Interview (March 26, 2008).
29
Appendix
Appendix 1 - VoIP Market Trend
University of Colorado Faculty and Administration Survey
Using CU's online directories, our team identified e-mail addresses to individuals from
various departments. The 20-question survey was web-based and distributed to 1,142 CU
faculty, administration and staff. The survey had 340 people respond, or 20.9%(29.8%?) of the
total sample size. To increase our population further, an advertisement was placed in a CU
faculty-wide e-mail bulletin, which added an additional 101 responses.
30
Current Telecommunications Usage and Needs of CU Faculty and Administration
1. Are you a
Student Employee
Administrator
IT professional
Professor
Other faculty member
Response Percent
16.3%
22.2%
3.3%
32.8%
25.4%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
55
75
11
111
86
338
0
2. What department do you work for?
Administration
Architecture and Planning, College of
Arts and Sciences, College of
Business, Leeds School of
Education, School of
Engineering and Applied Science,
Collage of
Journalism and Mass Communication, School of
Law, School of
Music, College of
Housing
Other (please specify)
Response Percent
4.0%
Response Count
13
0.3% 1
28.5%
6.2%
6.5%
92 20 21
27.2% 88
0.3% 1
7.1%
5.6%
0.9%
13.3%
answered question
23
18
3
43 323
Page 1
31
skipped question 15
3. How satisfied are you with CU's current telecommunications system (telephone, voicemail, fax)?
1 Very Satisfied
2 Satisfied
3 Neutral
4 Dissatisfied
5 Very Dissatisfied
Response Percent
9.1%
41.5%
37.6%
9.7%
2.1%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
30
137
124
32
7
330
8
4. During a typical business day, how long do you spend talking on CU campus telephones?
Less than 1 hour
1 hour - 2 hours
2 hours - 3 hours
3 hours - 4 hours
4+ hours
Response Percent
82.5%
11.8%
4.8%
0.3%
0.6%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
273
39
16
1
2
331
7
Page 2
32
5. What percentage of your business telephone calls are within the CU campus extensions?
None
1-24%
25-50%
51-75%
Greater than 75%
Response Percent
7.0%
33.0%
26.1%
21.2%
12.7%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
23
109
86
70
42
330
8
6. What percentage of your business telephone calls are within the local area codes (303 and 720)?
None
1-24%
25-50%
51-75%
Greater than 75%
Response Percent
4.3%
31.9%
23.7%
15.5%
24.6%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
14
105
78
51
81
329
9
Page 3
33
7. What percentage of your business telephone calls are outside the local area codes? This is where you may need to enter a long distance code.
None
1-24%
25-50%
51-75%
Greater than 75%
Response Percent
7.9%
53.2%
20.8%
12.7%
5.4%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
26
176
69
42
18
331
7
8. Have you ever used Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for telephone communication? Examples include Vonage IP telephone or VoIP applications such as Skype and Gtalk.
Yes
No
Don't know
Response Percent
45.5%
52.1%
2.4%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
151
173
8
332
6
9. What type of VoIP technology did you use?
IP phone (Example: Vonage)
Softphone (Example: Skype, Gtalk)
Both
Response Percent
17.8%
69.2%
13.0%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
26
101
19
146
192
Page 4
34
10. Rate your experience with using VoIP on a scale of 1-5? (1 = very satisfied, 5 = very dissatisfied)
1 Very satisfied
2 Satisfied
3 Neutral
4 Dissatisfied
5 Very dissatisfied
Response Percent
18.8%
49.0%
18.1%
12.8%
1.3%
Additional comments (1000 character max)
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
28
73
27
19
2
48
149
189
11. How likely are you to use multimedia conferencing, such as video or whiteboard conferencing, if it was available at CU? (1 = very likely, 5 = very unlikely)
1 Very likely
2 Likely
3 Neutral
4 Unlikely
5 Very unlikely
Response Percent
19.6%
33.1%
20.2%
14.1%
12.9%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
64
108
66
46
42
326
12
Page 5
35
12. How likely are you to use web based tools such as downloadable ringtones, web/email access to voice mail, or online account management, if they were available at CU? (1 = very likely, 5 = very unlikely)
1 Very likely
2 Likely
3 Neutral
4 Unlikely
5 Very unlikely
Response Percent
18.1%
37.4%
18.7%
16.6%
9.2%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
59
122
61
54
30
326
12
13. How likely are you to use enhanced phone features such as address book, caller ID w/ name, call history, or multiple numbers for one device, if they were offered for use at CU? (1 = very likely, 5 = very unlikely)
1 Very likely
2 Likely
3 Neutral
4 Unlikely
5 Very unlikely
Response Percent
30.1%
34.7%
16.6%
12.0%
6.7%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
98
113
54
39
22
326
12
Page 6
36
14. If the following telephone features were available to use at CU, how likely would you use them?
Very likely Likely Neutral Somewhat
unlikely Very
unlikely Rating
Average Response
Count
Incoming/outgoing fax from PC 38.8% (124)
30.6% (98)
13.4% (43)
10.3% (33) 6.9% (22) 2.16 320
Ability to use your telephone number on any computer or telephone within
the campus network.
Calling a single telephone number to ring multiple devices until the user
is found
22.8% (74)
32.4% (105)
26.9% (87)
10.2% (33) 7.7% (25) 2.48 324
12.3% (40)
25.6% (83)
30.9% (100)
17.9% (58) 13.3%
(43) 2.94 324
Please list additional features not mentioned above that you would like in CU's next generation telecommunications system
answered question
skipped question
48
326
12
15. Would you be willing to attend a training session (e.g. 1 hour) to learn how to use some of the advanced phone features listed above?
Yes
No
Response Percent
66.8%
33.2%
If no, why?
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
217
108
100
325
13
Page 7
37
16. If VoIP is implemented, would you be concerned that any of the following might negatively impact your communication experience? Check all that apply.
Response Percent
Response Count
Ability to locate caller using 911 service
Loss of service during power
outages
Complex feature setup
Complex features
Voice quality
Security vulnerabilities over IP networks
Availability of telephone service
None
Other (please specify)
20.6% 66
38.3% 123
33.0% 26.8% 48.9%
106
86 157
28.3% 91
30.8%
17.1%
5.9%
answered question
skipped question
99
55
19 321
17
17. Are you willing to use a software-based telephone with a headset connected to your computer in place of your traditional telephone.
1 Yes 2 No
3 Neutral
Response Percent
54.6%
19.9%
25.5%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
178
65
83
326
12
Page 8
38
18. Do you own a cell phone ?
Yes
No
Response Percent
90.2%
9.8%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
294
32
326
12
19. What cell phone provider do you use?
Verizon
Sprint/Nextel
AT&T
T-Mobile
Cricket
Virgin Mobile
Other (please specify)
Response Percent
37.8%
11.6%
23.1%
19.7%
0.3%
0.7%
6.8%
answered question
skipped question
Response Count
111
34
68
58
1
2
20
294
44
20. Based on signal quality/strength and dropped calls, can you place calls from your cellular phone in your office?
Response Percent
All the time
Sometimes
Never
73.1%
23.8%
3.1% answered question
skipped question
Response Count
215
70
9
294
44
Page 9