VOIP Tech Blog

An assumption in this blog  is that if your company has a  ”network administrator”  on staff, you have a network that is large enough to require constant  ”care and feeding”.    As such dumping a bunch of VoIP phones onto your network without VLAN’s  would never happen.  After all,  the fist job of a network administrator is to make the network broadcast space smaller and smaller.  That is why we subnet!   Take a typical Class C network with 100 network devices on it and dump another 100 VoIP phones in that subnet and you are asking for trouble if you don’t VLAN.   To suggest you don’t need a VLAN or at the very least,  a  separate subnet is just plain silly.

Did you ever hear the expression ’fences make good neighbors”?     Well the same concept applies to networks and VLANs make network applications like voice and data, excellent neighbors!   Lets assume those 100 desktop computers are in the 192.168.1.0 /24 subnet and you created a new 192.168.2.0 /24 network for your VoIP phones.   In a ShoreTel deployment, you will have personal call managers installed on the computers in one network that need to get to the ShoreTel server and switches  in the other network.   How are you planning to do this?    Use the old “router on a stick” solution (send all my LAN traffic up one switch port to a router and back down again)?   Let me help you here, no!   You are going to set up VLANs  and do inter-VLAN routing at backplane hardware speeds  on that new POE Ethernet switch you purchased to support your VoIP deployment.

Data networks have become “mission critical” for even the smallest of companies today.   Just unplug someone’s Internet connection and you will quickly find out just how important the “network”  has become!    Start bogging down the network with Voice, Video and Streaming audio and you will quickly learn the value of VLANs.   We invest billions of IT dollars on firewalls, spam ware and website filtering software so why would anyone suggest that a VLAN is just to complex to bother with?   By the same (excuse the pun) token, why would someone suggest buying a new POE Ethernet switch that was not VLAN capable?

Data networks need to be described within the context of the protocols and business applications that are running on them.   Big or small, we continually find that VLANs are an essential component in the maintenance of proper network hygiene.    Imagine even a small VoIP deployment in a company enraged in video animation and you can quickly realize that it is not only how many devices I have on the network, but how my network is being used that will determine the qualify of voice in this deployment.    We need to make sure that streaming video over even our LAN, does not negatively impact our VoIP deployment.   To do this, we need prioritize voice over data and that means we have to establish QOS.   To enable LAN based QOS you have to VLAN, because the class of service markings live in the VLAN tag!

Put your VoIP deployment in a multi-site environment with WAN links and the VLAN discussion now moves into the realm of “must have”.     Routers use the TOS byte in the IP header to provide enable QOS.   As an aside,  ShoreTel had the advantage of enabling Transport layer QOS  as the VoIP media stream as always on port 5004.  With the move to SIP, this advantage has been minimized as the media stream now moves unpredictably over some 16K ports. We can pass QOS information to our WAN links through a variety of strategies, but VLAN’s are an essential element of that strategy.

At the end of the day, unless you have a network that is so small you are running Vonage as your VoIP solution, you need to VLAN! Make sure that your VoIP deployment includes an assessment of your network and that you graphically understand how the network is utilized before you deploy voice. As your internetwork becomes more essential to your network, VLANs will surface into high relief on your radar screen. Consider that your shiny new ShoreTel now provides for Internet messaging and desktop Video as part of its advanced feature set, the idea of deploying a solution without a VLAN is just plain silly.

DrVoIP Business Voip, VoIP Tech Tip vlan benefits, vlan routing

As you can tell from our video library and blogs, we are very excited supporters of the ShoreTel Contact Center!  You can not find a more feature rich or cost effective  solution to call routing, email routing  and web collaboration!    To be fair, however,  ShoreTel has always been ahead of the curve with “call center” like  functionality.    Out of the box, the ShoreTel IPBX has an amazing set of features that can fit just perfectly in the small “call center” model.   It may be easy to define the difference between a “call center” (i.e. phone calls only) and a “contact center” (i.e. voice, email and chat); but it is much harder to differentiate a “workgroup” from a true “call center.     ShoreTel clearly believes there is a definable difference and for that reason has always had an impressive call routing option humbly named the “Workgroup”.    Not the “call center” but the “Workgroup”!   Going way beyond simple  ”station hunting”, the ShoreTel “Workgroup” enable scall queuing,  Agent  ”log in” / “log out” ,  ”wrap codes” and provides a rich set of easy to generate performance reports.

ShoreTel has  recently introduced the “ShoreWare Workgroup Monitor”.   This amazing  software package provides real-time, color-coded, graphical views of the the Workgroup and is an optional feature to the already powerful ShoreTel Workgroup feature set.   Compatible with Version 7.5 and up, this software enhancement enables call center management to both optimize and monitor call center performance.

There are three software components:  an application that is loaded into the Shoreware Director or any of the distributed voice servers;  a client application that is loaded on the Supervisors desktop and any version of the ShoreTel Call Manager.    Key  features of this optional software package enable a Workgroup Supervisor to create a standard workspace display or “canvas”.    This “canvas” could be displayed at the desktop or on a “wall board” and provides many of the real time characteristics of a full blown Call Center solution.   With this software you now have the ability to set color coded threshold displays and audible alerts.    We are particularly excited about the ability not only to see abandonded calls, but to click-to-callback!  (Now admit it! How kool is that)?

Supervisors can drill down on the Workgroup of interest, with an easy <> window arrangement.   You can set the threshold alerts for the selected Workgroup to enable Yellow or Red alerts for Calls in Queue, Maximum Wait time and Average Wait time.   The “at a glance”  window gives you a snap shoot of each Workgroup,  indicating the number of calls with longest and average call holding times.   How about a “trend” analysis?  Yup, we got that!   For those spacial database managers with holistic mind sets, you can replace the rows of linear figures with a color pie chart to see Agent status!

The ShoreTel Workgroup feature set,  built on the f the standard out of the box  ShoreTel IPBX,  when combined with the ShoreTel Workgroup Monitor software option is a powerful call center strategy.    It truly rivals any solution in the market at any price point.     (Full Disclosure: ShoreTel does not pay me a dime to write this blog and ShoreTel does not support this site in any way.    I really do believe this stuff).   Keep in mind, we are talking about a single server solution,  not multiple application servers and five acts of  vaudeville to get this call center functionality.  Just  ShoreTel.  Just simple.

Send me a note  (DrVoIP@DrVoIP.com)  and we will get you set up with a free 30 day trail of the Shoreware  Workgroup Monitor!

DrVoIP Business Voip, Contact Center, ShoreTel Configuration, Shoretel Support and Service shoreware

Generally, we do not fill out  forms given to us by Carriers.   Most Carrier forms use nomenclature that is “Marketing Speak” and not technically driven.   It seems we have 100 different ways to refer to a TDM with PRI signalling and only one of them means anything to an engineer.   There are a variety of new delivery methods being offered to clients for PRI service and it is important to understand exactly what type of circuit you are actually being given.    A PRI may in fact be a SIP trunk from a Softswitch, through a CISCO IAD with a TDM interface for your SGT1.   Not necessarily a bad thing (though you should expect problems with Fax service) but it is a hybrid cicruit and not a traditional TDM T1 to a circuit switched central office.   We are always eager to assist the client by speaking with the carrier and having a dialog as to the exact nature of the circuit, but we steer clear of filling out the forms they expect their new customers to complete!

Recently, while planning the implementation of a ShoreTel IPBX with 230 SIP trunks, I  had the experience of pulling together answers to L3 request for configuration data.  With the help of  Rod Davis, Juan Rubio and Steve Weinstock we were able to respond.   To my suprise, this time there was not a single marketing expression in the document!   The questions were specifically engineering oriented and designed to understand the capabilities of the IPBX that the SIP trunk service was being ordered to support.    I though it would be interesting to share that infomation with our readers.  The IPBX is the ShoreTel and the assumption made in these answers is that the ShoreTel is being front ended by an Ingate Siparator.   Here are the SIP configuration questions and answers:

DrVoIP Business Voip, ShoreTel Configuration, Shoretel Support and Service

So you can’t get any help from the IT department getting a private printer connected to your office PC.  So what do you do?  You run down to your local favorite “we sell cheap computer stuff” store and buy a “hub” or “usb multiplier” or something that looks like a small “Ethernet Switch”.  You take it back to the office, and having send the quick start guide, you unplug your computer from the wall jack, plug it into your shiny new thing and run a cable from it to the wall jack.  Then you plug in your new printer!  Maybe you go really geek and add in your own scanner and wireless access port!

Enter VoIP phone deployment.  Anyone that has done a VoIP deployment knows or has learned the hard way, that “hubs” will kill a VoIP phone deployment!   Multiple devices in a hub will immediately change your ethernet port to half-duplex.   If you put the VoIP phone behind the hub, you are either using a local power brick or you will not have access to the POE on the home ethernet switch.   Running around a 400 desktop installation trying to reconfigure the wiring so that the wall jack feeds the phone and the hub goes into the bottom of the phone is one option. That is always a time sink and usually outside the statement of work (SOW) of any knowledgeable systems integrator.

Hubs need to go the way of “buggy wips”.   They mark a network as unmanageable and general indicate that there is no professional network administration being conducted at that location!   Personally, hubs should have the same warning label the government wants you to put on cigarette packages!   Hubs and toy switches may be ok for you home network, but in this day and age they have no place in an enterprise deployment and when it comes to VoIP deployments, they just don’t make sense and they don’t work!

DrVoIP Business Voip, ShoreTel Configuration

A VoIP deployment is an act of intimacy.  One of the great challenges for the deployment team is defining the demarcation point between the phone system, the network and the various applications that integrate withe the phone system.   Clearly, the foundation of a successful deployment is a strong network foundation.   The ability of the network to provide the necessary DHCP services including NTS, IP and vendor specific options are area’s that need to be clearly defined.   Who is providing these services?  The existing data network, or the new voice network?  Is the the in place data network infrastructure capable of supporting the addition of low latency, zero packet loss, not jitter voice and video?   Can the in place access level switches support true 802.1Q Vlan functionality?  How will routing between the voice network and the data network be provided and who will be responsible for configuring these services?

The VoIP network invariably needs to interface with other applications.  Minimally, the VoIP solution will interact with both the Active Directory system and the contact management system (Outlook, Notes etc.).   Who is responsible for this configuration and problem resolution?  The VoIP solution vendor or the the client?   When the Call Managers fail to work properly because of an undisclosed Proxy Server that was not disclosed in the statement of work (SOW), is that time and effort that the VoIP vendor should eat, or is this an area the client should be responsible for?

Any professional that has worked with commuter network technology for any period of time understands that the complexity of integration issues makes these divisions of responsibility very difficult to enforce without jeopardizing an ongoing relationship.  The client wants everything to work better than it worked before the vendor got enveloped.  The vendor wants to provide a key area of expertise without taking ownership for all that came before.

Unfortunately, a VoIP deployment is as intimate as a marriage.  You get more than a spouse, you get the entire family.   I often have clients ask me to provide references for my past work.  Clearly, I come up with a list or excellent references.  What I am always waiting for is a client who is smart enough to ask for a list of “disasters”.   You would think that clients would want to know how a vendor performed when Murphy ran amuck!   When everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong!  That is the client list you want to review.

A VoIP deployment is a marriage between a vision and reality, it is a leap of faith.   The Vendor and the Client need to look past the initial courting and dating, and look down.  We all start out young and good looking.  It is how we deal with the process of design, implementation, operating and the ongoing optimization of both the deployment and the relationship that really determines the ultimate success of a VoIP solution.

DrVoIP Business Voip

ShoreTel will often have a controlled release of software.   For example, Version 9.0 might be shipping to new clients but will not be availalbe to existing installations until it is declared GA.    Existing clients with a compelling need, could always obtain the upgrade, but it would be subjected to the terms of a controlled release.  Over the years I have observed that an 8.0 release, for example, never goes GA, but becomes 8.1 when it does.   With the release of Version 9,  ShoreTel has now formalized this “enhanced delivery” process.

Starting with ShoreTel 9 add-on feature sets will be made available as “dot” releases in the form of 9.1, 9.2 etc.  The impact of this new development process is taht features delivered in a “dot” release will not be included in the first major release of the next version.    So if you are on 9.1 you will not be able to upgrade to a controlled release (CR) of 10.0 butt will have to wait until 10.0 goes GA with a 10.1 release.

So we witness a fomalization of a process that has really be in use for quite some time!   It is a process, however, that has built in software assurance as the primary goal.   If you have an interest in the latest feature set, send me an email and we will update you!

DrVoIP Business Voip, ShoreTel Configuration, Shoretel Support and Service

Microsoft Office Communications is a powerful collaboration tool. The MOCS provides web conferencing, IM, audio conferencing, desktop sharing and also provided SIP. For purposes of this brief discussion, we will stay focused on the Internet Messaging component of MOCS. With the Release of ShoreTel 8+, the Professional Call Manager provides both desktop to desktop video conferencing and Internet Messaging. The Internet Messaging component makes use of a Microsoft OCS server and the ShoreTel solution integrates the solution as an application server defined within the ShorewareDirector portal.

Internet Messaging, or IM as it is popularly referred to, seems to fall into two corporate philosophy camps: companies who absolutely abhorrer its use; and companies who find it to be an essential business tool. Those companies who do not allow IM of any kind typically have very tightly controlled employee desktops, enable website filtering and block IM ports for Yahoo, AOL, Google and others. Sometimes the excuse is HIPA/Sarbanes Oxley compliance or a general concern that employees might communicate private company information out this internet portal. Companies that find IM to be essential can be broken down into two additional categories: those that allow IM clients on an ad hoc basis and those who want total control of the IM client.

Microsoft OCS provides a solution for that last group of customers; those that need IM but want to control and monitor its utilization. MOCS enables you to “record” all IM conversations to an achieve server to meet those HIPA and Sarbanes Oxley compliance requirements and to assure the content of IM does not violate Corporate use policy. MOCS also enables you to set up “federations” so that inside IM participants across the Company can communicate with Yahoo, AOL or Other corporate MOCS users outside the domain. All in all, MOCS is the great unsung hero of the Microsoft Servers!

The integration of ShoreTel Professional Call Manager and the MOCS is not that complex, but falls under that summary statement “well know, to those who know it well”. Microsoft clearly has a VOIP strategy in which the MOCS plays a key role. Working with a ShoreTel IPBX and a Professional call manager, it becomes a viable solution for adding IM to and existing ShoreTel installation. The video is just a quick overview of how you actually deploy the integration.

DrVoIP Business Voip, ShoreTel Configuration, Shoretel Support and Service microsoft ocs, microsoft ocs sip