CLAC Conference 2006Hamilton College

June 15, 2006

A Change of Voice:Considerations in Implementing IP Telephony

at Swarthmore

Presented by:Mark Dumic

Associate Director Networking & TelecommunicationsSwarthmore College

Swarthmore College Suburban Philadelphia Highly selective liberal arts college 1,450 FT undergraduate students 600 Faculty-Staff Students from 50 states and 46

countries

About the Project End of Life of Intecom E Infrastructure issues

Pure fiber distribution between buildings – no monolithic copper plant

Copper in buildings varied between Cat 3, Cat 5 and Cat 6E (by building)

High awareness of lack of disaster recovery with current system

Previous Student Telephone Environment

Digital phone per student, separate DID and VM accounts

Eliminated LD after Spring 2004 No student technology fee or monthly

phone fee College philosophy toward students 90%+ cell phone penetration Declining use of VM by students

College Decision Process PBX Committee Members:

Director of Information Technology Services Assoc Dir Networking, Systems & Telecom VP Finance Controller Dean of Students Director of Housing Provost Facilities Technology Coordinator

College Decision Process (cont.) Student venues and what we heard

Don’t want to give out cell phone numbers 10-15% of students don’t want or can’t afford cell

phones International students Cell phone reception problems DON’T TAKE OUR WIRED PHONE AWAY No clear consensus about student services or

technology throughout process Cost a concern (for College and students)

Get Help! Retained Compass Consulting

International, Inc. (now Acentech, Inc.) Assist with defining & investigating

options for students Evaluate issues associated with

technology options (IP telephony) RFP and Implementation

Evaluation of Student Technology Options Digital phones in rooms Analog phones in rooms IP PBX – hard or soft IP phones in rooms Outsourced PBX for residence halls Traditional Centrex IP Centrex College-issued cellular phones Student-selected cellular phones Commercial VoIP (e.g. Vonage or Skype) Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWiFi)

Design Goals PBX Technology: IP, TDM, hybrid

Analog, digital, IP, softphones... No killer app

Decided to not specify PBX technology in RPF - possible cost savings in TDM or hybrid?

Design Goals (cont.) Preserve future flexibility

Choice of options for maintenance, parts, augmented staffing

Financially stable company with strong US market presence

More control over upgrades Minimize vendor lock-in Maximize useful life Adapt to future applications & standards (SIP)

Design Goals (cont.) Maintenance Considerations

Lots of demands on small staff - continue outsourced support

Telco Agency - no finger-pointing Swarthmore is “high touch”:

• High vendor contact & communication• Like close working partnerships• “Big fish in a small pond”• Plan tailored to take advantage of what we do best • Flexibility to have vendor do what we can’t do well

These considerations favored local support rather than National support model

Design Goals (cont.) Separate Voice and Data Networks (Initial Scenario)

Wanted telecom vendor to have complete responsibility beyond MACs

Small internal staff needed for other areas Staff had little VoIP expertise But envisioned combining networks later Recently purchased switches not powered (not much incremental cost to keep separate)

RFP Process Design

Didn’t dictate IP or hybrid Did decide on analog student lines Cisco network for future integration Required 3 student scenarios Explored boosting of cell phone coverage

Pre-screen RFP Bid process

RFP Process: Responses Responses Evaluation & results

Proposal review Financial analysis Finalist meetings

RFP Process: Selection Selected Cisco Call Manager from TransNet

Corporation in Somerville, NJ Decision based on the capabilities of and

chemistry with the reseller Comfort level with converged network 24x7 monitoring & problem resolution for data network for

cost of just PBX maintenance Enhanced reliability & technical depth for network Significant Higher Education experience Ability & willingness to dovetail support with current staff,

telco management

RFP Process: Selection (cont.) Major Benefits of Cisco, too

Long term presence in US telecom market Familiar technology to Swarthmore Excellent competitive market for maintenance,

components, staffing, 3rd party apps Good disaster recovery architecture The most future-proof system proposed Best E-911 and malicious call trace capabilities

New System Details Decided on a converged network Totally redundant 6513 cores 3750s in-line power in buildings with links

to each core Redundant Call Managers & Unity (VM)

servers 1,100 IP phones (faculty/staff) 300 analog phones (public, FAX, etc.) 1,300 analog lines (one per student)

Cisco 7941g Phone

Student Reaction “I think this is the best of possible outcomes. I’m

glad that this system was within our budget and I think the administration has dealt with this in a responsible manner.”

Student Council Co-President

“I think this is basically a pretty sweet deal” Associate Dean of Student Life

Blended Support Model Initial Assumption was separate vertical

networks for voice & data Enhanced support at minimal cost by utilizing

horizontal support split Monitoring of entire network Quick access to large staff of network engineers for

problem resolution College “boots on the ground” for closet issues Self-spare 3750’s & VG224 saved $$

Flexible Service Agreement (FSA) New territory Needed outside expertise/support Maximize in-house capabilities Didn’t want to pay money for unused

hours Took time & effort to craft the

agreement

FSA Structure Monitoring

annual flat fee 24x7

Remote VPN and phone support pool of hours expire annually

On-site pre-paid account different rates for different times/service levels/expertise roll-over to subsequent years

Convergence Saving at a Small Institution Compelling Cost Reductions led

to successive network integration completely separate voice network combine core and switch stacks but keep

separate voice & data jacks Also use single jack for phone & computer

(reduce switches required)

Convergence Cost Reductions

0102030405060708090

100

% Cost Reduction

SeparateNetwork

ConvergedCore +

Switches

SharedJack

Network CostTotal Cost

Significant Findings (cont.) Network architecture varies

Routed segments or flat L2 Redundancy: core, servers, links Firewalls

Vendor support for Cat 3 varies Not many support Cat 3 (even just for phone) If testing or certification is required, when is this

done?

Significant Findings (cont.) Support & maintenance models varies

All local, all remote w/ dispatch, or a blend Backup, virus protection, security, DHCP, DNS, DC

Telco problem management is possible Staff effort

Expect MAC calls at help desk about the same Big Bonus: 24 x 7 network monitoring & problem resolution

no additional cost Ready access to additional technical depth

Significant Findings (cont.) TDM vs. IP Telephony Replacement Cycle

Install, Train, Proj Mgmt

Licenses

Software

Phones

Server Hardware

Network Hardware

Cables, racks, UPS 7.94%One-time

17.58%One-time

10.21%No limit

2.28%No limit

17.75%8 - 12

8.11%3 - 5

36.13%4 – 7

% of TotalLifetimeComponent

Significant Findings (cont.) Uplift for student phones

Varied widely from College base (chart) Per room & per student also varied widely

(chart) Added 14% to project cost 6% for VM, 8% for analog phone lines Almost no increment to maintenance

since opted to self-maintain gateways

Uplift for Analog Student Lines

0102030405060708090

A B C D E F G

Vendor

% In

c fr

om B

ase

Per StudentPer Room

Lessons Learned Don’t assume students no longer care about wired

phones and that costs are prohibitive. Real cost savings in convergence even for the smaller

institution Bidders have significantly different approaches to

architecture, security, redundancy, Cat3 cabling, and analog costs.

VARs with strong telephony and network expertise are more common – there can be flexibility in crafting support agreements.

Contact Information

Mark J. DumicAssociate Director Networking and

TelecommunicationsSwarthmore College(610) 328–8511dumic@swarthmore.edu