[Asterisk-Users] Re: Organization wide

[Kris Boutilier]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jason Kawakami [mailto:jkkawakami at optellabs.com]
> Sent: September 10, 2004 5:13 PM
> To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
> Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Re: Organization wide
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> > After our department went to using *, I've had several inquiries about
> > doing VoIP for my entire organization (Small county). We have ~10
> > locations with various links in between (Mostly p2p T1s, some Frame
> > (1.544mbps commit), some ISDN, some VPN over 768kbit internet) Right now
> > we're using several NEC Electra Elite systems, and 2 Nortel Meridian
> > systems. In one of the main locations we have 29 POTS lines going into
> > the NEC system. At another location we have a single PRI, and at a lot
> > of the other locations we have just analog phones. Cisco has approached
> > us about using all Cisco equipment, but their idea is going to be
> > costly. Is it wise to use Asterisk on something this big? I am not a
> > PBX/Voice guy, I just do IP up here right now. Any tips, pointers,
> > design guides, or advice to give?
> 
> as with any wholescale deployment there is going to be a cost 
> and risks associated with doing this. you will be required to scrap all of
the
> handsets you currently have in place and put some kind of ip 
> telephone on  everyone's desk.  
{clip}

I would (politely) suggest simply ditching your existing hardware is not
necessarily needed. 

VoIP is many things, but principally a transport. Ask yourself why you're
considering it company wide:

 - Do you want to consolidate data and voice transport infrastructure? Would
reduce captial costs...
 - Do you want to consolidate your dialplan across the sites? Would simplify
use, add to customer service...
 - Do you want to have most inbound calls routed through a single location?
Would facilitate IVR/Autoattendant deployment...

With the Electras you are running somewhere between 8 to 120 stations. The
Meridians? A few hundred station capable hardware. Look at your calling
patterns - as a local Gov't your users are probably on the phone with each
other, particularly within each site, as much or more so then they are with
the outside world:

 - What would local users get out of your capital investment in a VoIP
transport instead of existing regular two-wire digital sets for an existing
facility?

We've taken the alternative approach and deployed Asterisk as a compliment
to, not a wholesale replacement for, Norstar MICS hardware. * handles
intersite trunking, IVR, AA and Voicemail. The Norstars drive the stations
and provide paging, background music at your desk, speed dialing and such.
We have two sites, 96 stations up at the moment and should be bringing up a
third MICS by the end of the month. Obviously there are issues that still
have to be worked out with both the users and Asterisk itself but we now
have phone infrastructure that is an analog of the features of regular
computer infrastructure:

 - Want a new site, perhaps other one burned down? Got boxes on the shelf
ready to go - either MICS digital or pure VoIP.
 - Need to move to a different site for a week? here, take your extension
number with you. 
 - Moving a business process to a different location permanently? Don't
worry about your long standing PSTN numbers changing...
 - Got multiple service providers and want automatic least-cost provider
selection? Give us the patterns and we'll on the feature.

In addition you now have a core to your systems that can be expanded any way
you can dream up:

 - Got radio/phone patches that you want to integrate? Plug it in.
 - Want to add voicemail based ticket submission to your job ticketing
system? Plug it in.
 - Want to add festival-based spoken system status reporting for users?
Write an AGI interface.
 - Want one single call parking facility across the entire company? Add it
to the dialplan.

So, in a nutshell: Go into VoIP for the transport improvements/cost
reductions and Asterisk to gain specific process improvements. Do not just
go into 'VoIP' as a label (CallManager, Norstar BCM etc.) - you will pay to
reimplement a fair portion of the wheel if you're not starting from scratch.
Make contact with to your distant end users and try to interpret and meet
their facilities requests, you'll get much more bang for your buck.

Kris Boutilier
Information Systems Coordinator
Sunshine Coast Regional District