Ministry of Fisheries

VoIP Implementation

John HansonPresented to Govis 2005

Introduction

• Why do this presentation

• What is VoIP

• Business Drivers

• MFish Process and Learnings

• The 10 Major Gotchas

• The Outcome

VoIP

• What is VoIP

• Better utilization of existing WAN

• More functionally rich

• VoIP is still leading edge

• Will be standard when Telcos get their act together

MFish Profile

• MFish has approx 450 staff and contactors• 20 Offices with 7 offices < 4 staff• Increasing use of multi office teams • Old telephone architecture

– Some obsolete– No standardisation of PABXs– Mixture of PABX and Centrex technologies– High percentage of cellphones

• No prior VoIP skills • Plenty of Heart

Business Drivers

• Support MFish Strategies and Values

• Reduction of Risk

• Cost Reduction

• Improvement in Stakeholder Relationships

• Flexibility – Deployment of new Offices

• Common Infrastructure

• Future Growth and Functionality

MFish Procurement Process

• Preliminary Investigation

• Cost / Benefit

• RFI / RFP

• Proof of Concept

• Contracts and Sign-offs

• Implementation

Preliminary Investigation

• Undertake internal investigation

• Select independent Telecommunications consultants

• Review recommendations

• Develop vision and future benefits

• Submit case for action

Cost / Benefit

• Big dollars, risk and committment• The value case must be clearly stated • Identify all benefits not just direct tangible costs• Intangibles are significant• PABX contract temination cost• Ensure on-going running costs agreed • Include additional funding for additional vendor

support

RFI / RFP

• The need for an RFI• Use your independent consultants• Large RFP document to 3-4 vendors• Specify numbers by office and let the vendor provide

the solution• Be open about evaluation criteria• Talk to Telco early• There are likely Conflicts of Interest• Look for NZ components or software• Evaluate Project Managers

Proof of Concept

The “Lifesaver”

The right POC

Infrastruture

Relationships

Skills Transfer

Proof of Concept

A POC done well will significantly reduce risk, implementation time and effort.

Contracts and Sign-offs

• The Contracts - Necessary

- Win Win• Purchase and Maintenance Contracts• Multi party issues – Strong vendor with history• Relationship Management• Sign-off of Deliverables• Don’t sign-off until complete

Implementation

• Advanced planning and communication• Extension dialling plan• Implement strong Change Control• Implement key telephone infrastructure and stablize• Implement large central and smaller remote site and

bed in all functionality• Individual phones take significant time• Implement simultaneous offices• Deploy training methods

Future Enhancements

• Fine tune the Voice and Data networks• Use Active Directory as single source• Cellular gateways• Interfacing the radio network• Recording conversations• Web conferencing• Fax to the desktop• Look for collaboration opportunities

The 10 Major Gotchas

• You have a new No 1 application• Internal Network will be significantly more

complex• It will affect your data network and new services

will be required from the Telco• Some existing infrastructure will need to be

replaced or modified• Solution may comprise a number of different

vendors

The 10 Major Gotchas (cont)

• Culture shift (and opportunities) to support centralised answerpoint

• Movement of process from Admin to IT - MACs• Generally little or no ability to use phones after a

power failure or WAN failure• Implementation is fraught with personality,

professional jealousy and relationship management issues

• Steady stream of new functionality expected and changing requirements

The Outcome

Minor Negatives

• Implementation costs were marginally greater• Outstanding technical and operator issues• Additional technical support requiredMajor Positives

• A quality voice implementation• Benefits are being realised • Key infrastructure supporting strategic initiatives

New Phones

• Standardise on 1 model

• Easy to use• Highlight cost

issues

Desktop Environment

Reporting Tools - Costs

Reporting Tools – Cost by Type

Reporting Tools - Technical

Intranet Phone List

Questions?