The purpose of this questionnaire is to help you collect the information that you need about a customer’s existing telecom network infrastructure to provide that customer with Cisco IP telephony (IPT) solution. To obtain the answers to this questionnaire, you can either take this questionnaire and meet with the customer or e-mail the questionnaire to the customer and have them complete it. Customers usually provide some part of the information requested in this questionnaire in their Request for Proposal (RFP).
The following is an outline of the sections in the Telecom Infrastructure Analysis Questionnaire:
PBX Infrastructure
Analog Device Information (Fax/Modem)
Trunk Sizing
Telephony Numbering Plan
Voice-Mail Infrastructure
Telephony Features and Applications
Applications Security
Operations and Maintenance
—Network Management System
—Remote Network Monitoring/Management
—Maintenance and Support Contract
Some sections might not be applicable to your customer’s telecom network needs. In that case, continue to the next section.
A plethora of hardware (PBXs, key systems, processor modules, line modules), software, and signaling protocols (Primary Rate Interface [PRI], Q.SIG, and channel-associated signaling [CAS]) exist to facilitate call control. For interaction or replacement of these systems with IP telephony systems to take place, you must start preparation and planning early in the deployment cycle. This section takes you through the first step of surveying the components that exist to facilitate this initial planning and helps you to determine an overall level of effort or risk given the impending deployment of IP telephony. Use the questions provided in Table C-1to gather information on existing PBX deployments at your customer network.
Table C-1. Details of the PBX in the Existing Network
No. | Question | Answer | |
|---|---|---|---|
Basic PBX Information | |||
1 | What are the site details and location of the PBX? | Location Name: Site Address: City/State/ZIP: PBX Room No.: Floor: | |
2 | Who is the PBX contact representative at this site? | Name: Phone: E-Mail: | |
3 | Is this PBX leased or owned? If it is leased, what is the lease expiration date? | □ Leased □ Owned Lease Expiration Date: | |
4 | If the vendor maintains the PBX, what is the vendor contact information? | Name: Phone: Alternate Phone: E-Mail: Pager: | |
5 | Who are the vendors and their corresponding models of the PBX at this site? | Location : Vendor: Model: SW Release: Signaling Protocol: Location: Vendor: Model: SW Release: Signaling Protocol: | |
6 | Are you planning to replace this PBX or integrate it with the IPT system? | □ Replace □ Integrate | |
7 | If you are replacing the PBX, do you want to do a flash-cut migration to the new IPT system or a phased migration? | □ Flash-Cut Migration □ Phased Migration | |
8 | If you plan to do a phased migration, what are your plans? | ||
9 | What link types provide network-side (trunk) access to the PSTN? | □ Digital □ Analog | |
10 | What is the existing PRI/T1/E1 trunk capacity, and how many trunks are in use? | Capacity: Trunks Used: | |
11 | What is the existing analog trunk capacity and how many trunks are in use? | Capacity: Trunks Used: | |
12 | What is the existing recEive and transMit (E&M) trunk capacity, and how many trunks are in use? | Capacity: Trunks Used: | |
13 | What are the signaling protocols that connect to the PSTN? If analog is used, is it Foreign Exchange Office (FXO), Foreign Exchange Station (FXS), E&M, or Direct Inward Dial (DID)? | □ PRI □ E1R2 □ BRI □ Analog □ SS7 | |
Voice Circuit Characteristics | |||
14 | What is the name of the service provider, and what is the circuit ID? | Service Provider: Circuit ID: | |
15 | What are the framing type, encoding type, and D-channel locations? | Framing | □ ESF □ SF □ G.704 |
Line Code | □ B8ZS □ AMI □ CRC-4 □ HDB3 | ||
D-Channel Location | □ Ch24 □ Ch1 | ||
16 | What is the central office switch type? | □ DMS 100 □ DMS 250 □ DMS 500 □ 5ESS □ NI2 □ Other | |
17 | What is the trunk’s hunt sequence? | □ Top Down □ Bottom Up □ Least Idle | |
18 | How many digits are out-pulsed? | Digits: | |
PBX Interconnection Between Sites | |||
19 | Is this PBX interconnected to other PBXs at other sites? | □ Yes □ No | |
20 | What link type interconnects the PBXs? | □ Q.SIG BC □ Q.SIG NA □ Q.SIG GF □ Other | |
21 | Are any special or proprietary PBX features enabled on these links? If yes, describe them in the “Notes/Comments” section. | □ Yes □ No | |
PBX Integration—Hardware Specifications | |||
22 | Are there available ports on the PBX for connecting to Cisco voice gateways? | □ Yes □ No | |
23 | What signaling type is available on the ports to communicate with Cisco voice gateways? | □ PRI □ E1 □ BRI □ FXO □ E&M | |
PBX High Availability and Traffic Statistics | |||
24 | Is redundancy deployed where possible in the PBXs? | □ Yes □ No | |
25 | What are the busy hour and busy hour traffic at this location? | Busy Hour: No. of Calls: | |
26 | What percentage of total calls are the fax calls? | ||
PBX Support for Emergency Call Routing and Advanced Features | |||
27 | (Specific to U.S. and Canada) Do all the PSTN trunks support 911 emergency call routing and send the caller information to the public safety answering point (PSAP)? | □ Yes □ No | |
28 | Does your existing PBX system support E911 functionality? If yes, explain in the “Notes/Comments” section how this functionality is provided in the PBX. | □ Yes □ No | |
29 | (Specific to U.S. and Canada) Does your state or province regulation require you to comply with E911 regulations? | □ Yes □ No | |
30 | Are advanced carrier services, such as AT&T’s Software Defined Network (SDN), in use? | □ Yes □ No | |
31 | What is the range of extensions that is currently configured on this PBX? | Use the “Notes/Comments” section to provide the list of configured extensions. | |
32 | What are the DID number ranges assigned to this site, and over which trunk interface are these DIDs delivered? | DID delivered via: | □ PRI E1/T1 □ Analog □ E&M |
You have to collect the information given in Table C-1 for each site. You will use the information that you collect through this table during the design and implementation of the IPT project. During the design and implementation phase, configuration changes are required on the PBX systems to migrate the users to the IPT system. The PBX representatives are the personnel who have authority to make these configuration changes on the PBX. Provide details such as how and when you will move users and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) trunks from the legacy PBX to the new IPT system.
The information that you collect in Table C-2 provides the location of fax/modem devices, the number of fax/modem lines, and other information that is related to fax and modems.
Table C-2. Analog Device Information
Site Name | Fax/Modem | Building Number/Location | Number of Fax/Modem Lines | Is This a Device Off of PBX/PSTN? | Are These Modem Pool Members? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The information that you collect in Table C-2 is useful to plan for the number of analog ports required in the IPT deployment.
The information that you collect in Table C-3 sizes the trunks required from each site and designs the call admission control (CAC) for voice calls.
The information that you collect in Table C-3 is helpful in sizing the PSTN trunks.
The dial plan or telephony numbering plan describes how voice calls are routed within the network and explains the site numbering plan and site-to-site dialing instructions. To replace or integrate the legacy PBX systems with the IP telephony systems, you should ask the customer the questions listed in Table C-4 to get an understanding of the current dial plan. If the requirement is to use toll bypass or Tail-End Hop-Off (TEHO) to save the communication costs, you need to obtain the local area calling information for each site. This helps in designing the call routing in the IPT system.
Table C-4. Telephony Network Design and Dial Plan
No. | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
1 | Does documentation exist to describe the overall dial plan? If yes, provide it by using Tables C-5 and C-6. | □ Yes □ No |
2 | Does documentation exist to describe the overall PBX-to-PBX and PBX-to-PSTN connectivity? If yes, provide the information in the “Notes/Comments” section. | □ Yes □ No |
3 | Has the organization developed a new dial plan for the IPT deployment? | □ Yes □ No |
4 | Has the organization determined gateway-specific requirements, including protocol-supported and supplementary services (such as call hold, park, and conferencing)? | □ Yes □ No |
5 | Has the organization determined gateway site-specific requirements such as encoding, calling line ID (CLID), DID support, analog or digital support, and fax relay? | □ Yes □ No |
6 | Has the organization decided to implement TEHO? If yes, obtain the toll-bypass information in Table C-7. | □ Yes □ No |
Table C-5. Existing Numbering Plan
Site Name | On-Net Site Access Code | No. of Digits in Station Numbering Plan | DID Ranges | Station DN Numbering Ranges | Station Intercom Numbering Range | Voice-Mail Numbering Range | Current Number of Users | Expected Growth of Users in Next 3 Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Table C-6. Class of Restrictions Groups
COR Group | Phone Types | Type of Access Granted |
|---|---|---|
COR 1 | Assigned to lobby phones | Local calls, emergency calls, toll-free calls, service calls such as directory assistance, and calls to other sites |
COR 2 | Employee phones | All access given to lobby phones plus long-distance calling |
COR 3 | Executive phones | All access given to lobby and employee phones plus international dialing |
Table C-7. Local Calling Area List for Implementing Toll Bypass
Site Name, PSTN Access Code | DID Extension Range | Local Calling | In-State Toll Calling | In-State Toll Calling | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Area Codes/Exchange | Number of Digits Dialing | Area Codes/Exchange | Number of Digits Dialing | ||
Use Table C-5 to document the current numbering plan in the organization, the current number of users, and the estimated growth in the number of users at each site. You need to use the estimated growth in the number of users when sizing the call-processing servers and voice gateways to accommodate the future growth.
Use Table C-6 to describe currently implemented Class of Restrictions (COR) groups in the PBX. Table C-6 shows some sample information that helps you to understand the type of information that you need to collect. Use the information collected in Table C-6 to define the calling search space and partitions in the CallManager.
If toll-bypass or TEHO implementation is required, you need to obtain the information listed in Table C-7 on a per-site basis.
In this section, you can use the questions listed in Table C-8 to collect information regarding the existing voice-mail infrastructure from your customer.
Table C-8. Voice-Mail Infrastructure
No. | Question | Answer | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | What hardware/software platform provides voice-mail functions for the organization? | Vendor: Model: SW Revision: | |
2 | How is the voice-mail system integrated with the existing PBX systems? Give information about trunk types, signaling, and how the MWI is lighted. | □ SMDI □ Proprietary | |
3 | If you have multiple voice-mail platforms, are they interconnected? What protocols are used? | □ Yes □ No | □ AMIS □ VPIM □ Other |
4 | Are slots available on your existing voice-mail platforms for voice and signaling? | □ Yes □ No | |
5 | Do you want to integrate the voice-mail system with the new IPT system? | □ Yes □ No | |
What types of IP integration methods are available on the voice-mail system? (Refer to the “Notes/Comments” section for the full names of the acronyms.) | □ TSP □ TAPI □ SCCP □ JTAPI Other: | ||
7 | What is the pilot number that accesses the voice-mail system from internal extensions? | Voice-Mail Pilot No. | |
8 | What number do employees use to access the voice-mail system from the PSTN? | Voice-Mail Access No. | |
9 | What is your current messaging environment? | □ Exchange 5.5 □ Exchange 2000 □ Exchange 2003 □ Lotus Domino □ Domino Version | |
10 | Do all users in the organization use the existing message store? | □ Yes □ No | |
The following methods are available to integrate the voice-mail systems with the IPT system. You need to know which type of IP integration the voice-mail system supports so that you can design the CallManager system to work properly with the voice-mail system.
TSP—. Telephony Service Provider
TAPI—. Telephone Application Programming Interface
SCCP—. Skinny Client Control Protocol
JTAPI—. Java Telephony Application Programming Interface
The information that you collect in Table C-8 is useful during the design and implementation of the IPT system to integrate it with the existing voice-mail system.
Telephony applications provide extended capabilities such as voice mail and Automatic Attendant. Specialized applications such as loud ringing and overhead paging also exist in many environments. In addition, you can find applications such as Predictive Dialing, Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), and Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) to support small subsets of an organization in scaled-down implementations. Use the questions listed in Table C-9 to collect the information on currently deployed telephony features and applications.
Table C-9. Telephony Features and Applications
No | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
1 | What hardware and software platform provide AA functionality? | Vendor: Model: SW Revision: |
2 | What is the integration method of AA with PBX? | □ Analog □ Digital E/PRI □ Other: |
3 | Does the AA system support customizing the opening greetings based on the time of day and holiday schedules? | □ Yes □ No |
4 | What hardware and software platform provide overhead paging functionality? | Vendor: Model: SW Revision: |
5 | What is the integration method of the overhead paging system with PBX? | □ Analog □ Digital E/PRI □ Other: |
6 | What hardware and software platform provide ACD functionality? | Vendor: Model: SW Revision: |
7 | What is the integration method of the ACD system with PBX? | □ Analog □ Digital E/PRI □ Other: |
8 | Do you have multiple ACD systems? If yes, explain how these systems are interconnected. | □ Yes □ No |
9 | How many agents and supervisors are configured per ACD? | Agents: Supervisors: |
10 | What hardware and software platforms provide CTI functions for the organization? | Vendor: Model: SW Revision: |
11 | What is the integration method of CTI applications with PBX? | □ Analog □ Digital E/PRI □ Other: |
12 | Are any other telephony applications currently in use or being considered for future deployment? If so, describe them. | □ Yes □ No |
13 | Does documentation exist to describe how the organization uses these telephony applications? If yes, please provide the information along with information on call flow. | □ Yes □ No |
14 | What is the envisioned interaction between these applications and the IPT system in the near term? | Provide your answer in the “Notes/Comments” section. |
15 | What is the envisioned interaction between these applications and the IPT system in the long term? | Provide your answer in the “Notes/Comments” section. |
16 | What is the main number that customers call to reach your organization, and how is the call routed? | Provide the call-flow diagrams in the “Notes/Comments” section. |
17 | When callers reach the company general number or the call center group, do they hear music or announcements while they are waiting in the queue (Music on Hold [MoH] feature)? | □ Yes □ No |
18 | What hardware and software platform provide MoH functionality? | Vendor: Model: SW Revision: Interface to PBX: |
19 | What do callers hear when they call during out-of-office hours or during holiday periods? | Provide details in the “Notes/Comments” section. |
20 | What other PBX features are implemented in the network? Use the “Notes/Comments” section to describe how each feature works in the current system. | □ MWI for voice mail □ Call pick-up □ Call park □ System speed dials □ Account codes □ User hunt groups □ Advanced call forwarding □ Feature access codes[1] |
21 | How do administrative assistants cover calls for managers? | |
22 | What headsets do phone users use? You need this information to check the compatibility of the currently used headsets with IP phones. | Vendor: Model: SW Revision: |
Does the PBX system support conferencing? | □ Yes □ No | |
24 | What is the maximum number of participants in a single conference call and the maximum number of participants supported on the system? | Maximum per Call: Total No.: |
[1] Feature access codes (FACs) are typically two- or three-digit codes that activate or cancel certain features such as call park and call pick-up from the phones. | ||
The information that you collected using the Table C-9 is useful in identifying the type of features that need to be enabled on the new IPT system and whether additional applications are required. Include how the manager’s lines appear on the assistant’s phone, what buttons are used, and what the call flow is.
Use the questions listed in Table C-10 to evaluate the current security policies and practices that are implemented in the network.
Table C-10. Applications Security
No. | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
1 | Does the organization want the IPT application servers to be part of the corporate directory domain? | □ Yes □ No |
2 | Do you have a global security policy for adding new servers to your network? Provide the details in the “Notes/Comments” section. | □ Yes □ No |
3 | Do you require encrypted communication between the Cisco IP Phones? | □ Yes □ No |
4 | Do you want Cisco IP Phones and other devices to authenticate to the call-processing servers before registration? | □ Yes □ No |
5 | Do all the applications have antivirus software installed? | □ Yes □ No |
By using the information collected in Table C-10, you should be able to design an IPT system that meets the organization’s security requirements.
A stated plan for ongoing operations of an IPT network ensures maximum availability and quick problem resolution. This section is a preliminary check and covers the presence and foundation that built (or will build) the operations plan.
This section reviews the existing network management systems (NMSs) and procedures used to manage the current network in the customer organization by asking the questions listed in Table C-11. This information will be useful when proposing the NMS to manage the IPT system.
Table C-11. Network Management System
No. | Question | Answer | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Does the organization use a network management product(s) to monitor the existing PBX, voice-mail systems, routers, and switches? If so, specify the product name and version number of each. | □ Yes □ No Product: Version: Used For: | |
2 | Which hardware and software platforms do the network management products use? | Hardware | □ Dell □ HP/Compaq □ Sun □ Other |
Software | □ Windows 2000 □ Solaris □ Linux □ Other | ||
3 | What is the envisioned interaction between these NMS products and the IPT system in the near term? | Use the “Notes/Comments” section to specify whether you would like to use the same NMS products to manage the IPT network or have some other requirement. | |
4 | If you have multiple NMS products, do they integrate with any other system or product to provide a single view of the complete network? | □ Yes □ No Product: Version: | |
5 | What kind of reports would you like the IPT system to generate? | Use the “Notes/Comments” section to provide details of the reports, sample formats, and how often the reports are to be generated. | |
6 | Do you want the IPT system to generate billing records? | □ Yes □ No | |
7 | Do you currently use billing software to generate the billing records? If yes, give the details about this product in the “Notes/Comments” section. | □ Yes □ No | |
8 | Do you have an external partner who provides the billing reports? | □ Yes □ No | |
9 | If the answer to question 8 is yes, how does this process work? | Use the “Notes/Comments” section to provide details such as how you provide your current Call Detail Records (CDRs) to the external billing vendors and attach the sample billing report format. | |
10 | What is the organization’s process for submitting and approving change management requests? | ||
11 | What is the average turn-around time for submitted change management requests to be approved or denied? | ||
The following are examples of some management and operational reports:
Device utilization
Trunk utilization
System availability reports
—Call-processing server availability
—Voice-mail system availability
—Application server availability
—IP phone availability
—Branch availability
Summary of critical outages
Summary of critical events generated
Summary of problems reported and resolution times
Many customers are opting for Remote Network Monitoring/Management (RNM) service, which is provided by third-party vendors to remotely monitor various network devices 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. RNM service generates alerts to customer personnel when critical events occur and instructs them in which proactive corrective measures to take. RNM service allows customers to offload their internal staff from monitoring the network status, thus saving money. Use the questions listed in Table C-12 to understand your customer’s current network management provider and plans with the deployment of IPT.
Table C-12. Remote Network Monitoring/Management
No. | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
1 | Does the organization have a monitoring system in place? | □ Yes □ No |
2 | Does the organization use an external vendor to provide remote network monitoring? | □ Yes □ No |
3 | If the answer to question 2 is yes, how is the vendor provided access to your network? | □ Dial-up □ Leased □ VPN □ Other: |
4 | Do you want to outsource the network management of the IPT system to an external vendor? | □ Yes □ No |
5 | What are the requirements and standards for a third party to be an RNM provider for your network? | Use the “Notes/Comments” section to provide the requirements and standards that vendors must meet to be your RNM provider. |
6 | Where do you want the network operations center (NOC) to be located—your premises or the vendor’s premises? | □ Own □ Vendor |
7 | Is the fault management system capable of notifying operations personnel if soft failures occur? | □ Yes □ No |
The information that you collect in this section helps you understand whether the customer already uses an RNM service provider to monitor the existing network. Also, if the customer’s requirement is to outsource the monitoring of the IPT network to the RNM service provider, you need to understand how the current RNM service provider accesses the network, polls the device status information, etc. You also need to engage the RNM service provider from the beginning of the IPT project, so that it can plan for the monitoring equipment and staff to manage the new IPT network. Some of the tasks that an RNM vendor can provide to a customer are as follows:
Manage IPT call-processing servers and other application servers.
Provide proactive and reactive support of QoS on the IPT network (LAN and WAN).
Perform logical (soft) moves, adds, and configuration changes.
Provide a single point of contact in response to trouble calls and tickets.
Generate web-based reports and ticket notification.
Remotely perform software upgrades and patches.
Follow up with product vendors for replacement of defective hardware components.
Perform routine backup operations.
Ticket, track, and escalate carrier outages to the service provider.
Coordinate with telephone service providers.
This section analyzes the current maintenance and support model in the organization. Use the questions listed in Table C-13 to gather this information for your customer.
Table C-13. Maintenance/Support Contract
No. | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
1 | Does the organization have a support contract with an external vendor to provide day 2 support for the existing data and voice network, or is it self managed? | □ Vendor □ Self Vendor Details: |
2 | Does the organization have plans to outsource the day 2 support of the IPT network to external vendors? | □ Yes □ No |
3 | What is the trouble ticket management system in use? | |
4 | Does the organization have a documented escalation procedure that begins at a certain time in the life of a trouble ticket? | □ Yes □ No |
5 | Does the organization have a process in place to manage changes to the network? | □ Yes □ No |
6 | What are your expectations regarding the following change management requests? | Phone/User Moves, Adds and Changes (MAC): New Branch Provisioning: Installing New Trunks: Voice-Mail Change: Other: |
7 | What are the organization’s plans for training the administrators who support the proposed IPT network? | |
8 | What are the organization’s expectations in providing training to end users? |
Use the information obtained through Table C-13 to clearly understand the customer organization’s current support strategy and propose the support requirements for the new IPT solution.