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	<title>VOIP Tech Blog &#187; Shoretel Support and Service</title>
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	<description>DrVoIP Tech Blog</description>
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		<title>Install your ShoreTel Call Manager on your Apple iPad</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/install-your-shoretel-call-manager-on-your-apple-ipad/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/install-your-shoretel-call-manager-on-your-apple-ipad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 May 2010 19:40:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Contact Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel Support and Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Call Manager on iPad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Call Manager on Apple Ipad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Ipad]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=614</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On more than one occasion I have actually had to telnet into a clients router or switch using nothing more than a mobile phone!  Now, that is either an example of superior customer service or an indication of creeping insanity.   When you have to, you have to!   Sometime ago I moved to an Iphone and that actually makes RDP, VNC  or Telnet actually usable on a mobile phone in a pinch. To say I think the Ipad is [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/install-your-shoretel-call-manager-on-your-apple-ipad/">Install your ShoreTel Call Manager on your Apple iPad</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On more than one occasion I have actually had to telnet into a clients router or switch using nothing more than a mobile phone!  Now, that is either an example of superior customer service or an indication of creeping insanity.   When you have to, you have to!   Sometime ago I moved to an Iphone and that actually makes RDP, VNC  or Telnet actually usable on a mobile phone in a pinch.</p>
<p>To say I think the Ipad is a game changer is an understatement.  If you analyze your computing habits you will find that you have two basic modalities: work and play.  At work, you are bent over and leaning in to your computer using a keyboard.  At play, if you could, you would be sitting in your favorite armchair surfing the web, watching yourtube and reading electronic books while updating your Facebook status.   This last mode, does not really require a lot of keyboard.  In fact the user interface that makes the Ipad so exciting is beginning to make you want to touch your Windows screen before you reach for you mouse.</p>
<p>It is the 21st Century and we are still keyboarding and mousing around?   The Ipad is redefining how the man machine interface will work.  Human gestures are much more effective than highlighting, dragging and dropping.  Ever consider how people use a phone?   They really want to poke buttons and lift handsets.  Mousing around is OK and many of us gravitate to all the features available to us when we integrate our phone system to our desktop computer.  The issue is, that word &#8220;desktop&#8221;.   The level of mobility that exists in business today, especially among knowledge workers and dispersed work groups is phenomenal!  Thus a growing dependency on Mobile devices.</p>
<p>Enter the Ipad. I admit it, I am a fanatical fan of the Apple family of computing devices, but I love this Ipad!  I finally took delivery on my Ipad 3G and am trying to figure out what I can and can not do with it.   I am able to do PowerPoint presentations on my Ipad using the Keynote App.   I am telling you, if you have to do a one on one presentation and you do it on an Ipad, you are going to get the order!</p>
<p>I found a great application named iTapRDP which I had on my iphone and it is now available on my Ipad.  This is a full blown RDP client that takes advantage of the &#8220;big screen&#8221; and additional real estate of the Ipad.   Now if i have to log into someones ShoreTel on the fly, I can do it with only the pain of a 3G connection, but with a full screen.    The next step was to just RDP into my own desktop and make use of my own ShoreTel Call Manager!  Now  using the &#8220;external assignment&#8221; feature, I have full ShoreTell Call Manager control from wherever I am, using my Ipad through and RDP session.</p>
<p>Come on, it is impressive to say the least!   No application required other than iTapRDP and I was running both ShoreTel 10.1 and an the Integrated ShoreTel Call Manager with ECC Version 6!    Sorry for the really bad video, but I am VoIP engineer not Oliver Stone (if anyone has a good Ipad Screen capture app, let me know)!</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/install-your-shoretel-call-manager-on-your-apple-ipad/">Install your ShoreTel Call Manager on your Apple iPad</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ShoreTel Phone Security and the Terminated Employee ( a lesson in User Groups)</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-phone-security-and-the-terminated-employee-a-lesson-in-user-groups/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-phone-security-and-the-terminated-employee-a-lesson-in-user-groups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:59:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel Support and Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Phone Security]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=608</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently a client discoverd that at terminated employee, gone for almost a month, was still answering his office extension from his cell phone!  We have so many technology options for mobility today that the HR deparment most be going nuts trying to keep the &#8220;exit interview&#8221; check list up to date!   Without commenting on the HR ramifications, IT system administrators have long had to contend with terminated employees and how to handle remote access, email and the other regular [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-phone-security-and-the-terminated-employee-a-lesson-in-user-groups/">ShoreTel Phone Security and the Terminated Employee ( a lesson in User Groups)</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;">Recently a client discoverd that at terminated employee, gone for almost a month, was still answering his office extension from his cell phone!  We have so many technology options for mobility today that the HR deparment most be going nuts trying to keep the &#8220;exit interview&#8221; check list up to date!   Without commenting on the HR ramifications, IT system administrators have long had to contend with terminated employees and how to handle remote access, email and the other regular components of an advanced Information Technology.  With the advent of VoIP, most IT organizations have now had to add the telephone system to the growing list of security access concerens.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;">This blog and video clip was created to knock off a couple of concepts simultaneously.   First, adminstrators want to know how to configure permissions for different user types.   Clearly the folks who work in the call center are supervised by managers that require a set of features that might enable monitoring, barge in and call recording.  The Kitchen and Lobby phone do not need voice mail boxes and should only be enabled for extension to extension calling and 911 service.  Do we need to set up Account Codes for International dialing?   Who must enter an Accout code to make a phone call and who has Supreme being features?  The list goes on.    Do you allow your Users to reassign there extensions to external numbers, like the home office or cell phone?   If that employee leaves the company, do you have a plan in place as to how to manage that employees incoming phone calls?  This is where the concept of a ShoreTel Use Group can be exploited to rapidly nail down departing employees call flow.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;">The concept of a &#8220;containeer&#8221; as a mechnism for treating a class of users has been utilized as a programming convention since the first bit stream.   Microsoft System administrators will be immediatley comfortable with the concept, as will any IT professional who has system administration responsibility.   The concept is simple: rather than create a each individual and then list out their permissions, previldeges and class of service; lets &#8220;contain&#8221; them in a &#8220;group&#8221; and apply the permissions against the group.   This makes it easy to administer large populations of users who may share similar system facilities.  In ShoreTel, the concept of class of service, is defined and applied to a container named &#8220;User Group&#8221;.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;">Out of the box, ShoreTel has a predefined family of User Groups arbitraily but apptly named Exeucitve, Manager, Staff and so on.  Each user group contains a set of permissions defined as a Class of Service.  These services include permissions regarding the telephony features available to this user, the users dialing restrictions and also define key attributes about the users Voice Mail box.   In ShoreTel, certain features like &#8220;call forwarding&#8221; and &#8220;find me/follow me&#8221; require the user to have a Voice Mailbox, so understanding how these permissions are configured is essential to the creation of a secruity policy for your phone system.  If you allow the use of &#8220;find me follow me&#8221; or the ShoreTel &#8220;Personal Operator&#8221; funtion you might want to limit the range that those calling permission might include.  (If you want to talk to Mom in Italy, call my extension after hours and press zero when you here my greeting&#8221; is one of my personal favorites).</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;">The video clip walks you through the process of creating a new User Group aptly named &#8220;Terminated Employee&#8221;.  This User Group then encompasses a body of restrictions that can be applied to a User, in this case a departing employee, with just a couple of key strokes.   The goal here is to nail down the employees call flow while you are working out the details of transitioning the employees work flow.    Clearly, you can just delete the user and be done with it, but normally business is not that simple.  Employees are part of Work Groups or  Hunt Groups that define a work flow and sometimes it takes a transition plan to get the details worked out.  In the mean time, we need to secure the phone!</div>
<p>Recently a client discovered that at terminated employee, gone for almost a month, was still answering his office extension from his cell phone!  We have so many technology options for mobility today that the HR department most be going nuts trying to keep the &#8220;exit interview&#8221; check list up to date!   Without commenting on the HR ramifications, IT system administrators have long had to contend with terminated employees and how to handle remote access, email and the other regular components of an advanced Information Technology.  With the advent of VoIP, most IT organizations have now had to add the telephone system to the growing list of security access concerns.</p>
<p>This blog and video clip was created to knock off a couple of concepts simultaneously.   First, administrator want to know how to configure permissions for different user types.   Clearly the folks who work in the call center are supervised by managers that require a set of features that might enable monitoring, barge in and call recording.  The Kitchen and Lobby phone do not need voice mail boxes and should only be enabled for extension to extension calling and 911 service.  Do we need to set up Account Codes for International dialing?   Who must enter an Account code to make a phone call and who has Supreme being features?  The list goes on.    Do you allow your Users to reassign there extensions to external numbers, like the home office or cell phone?   If that employee leaves the company, do you have a plan in place as to how to manage that employees incoming phone calls?  This is where the concept of a ShoreTel Use Group can be exploited to rapidly nail down departing employees call flow.</p>
<p>The concept of a &#8220;container&#8221; as a mechanism for treating a class of users has been utilized as a programming convention since the first bit stream.   Microsoft System administrators will be immediately comfortable with the concept, as will any IT professional who has system administration responsibility.   The concept is simple: rather than create a each individual and then list out their permissions, privileges and class of service; lets &#8220;contain&#8221; them in a &#8220;group&#8221; and apply the permissions against the group.   This makes it easy to administer large populations of users who may share similar system facilities.  In ShoreTel, the concept of class of service, is defined and applied to a container named &#8220;User Group&#8221;.</p>
<p>Out of the box, ShoreTel has a predefined family of User Groups arbitrarily but apply named Executive, Manager, Staff and so on.  Each user group contains a set of permissions defined as a Class of Service.  These services include permissions regarding the telephony features available to this user, the users dialing restrictions and also define key attributes about the users Voice Mail box.   In ShoreTel, certain features like &#8220;call forwarding&#8221; and &#8220;find me/follow me&#8221; require the user to have a Voice Mailbox, so understanding how these permissions are configured is essential to the creation of a security policy for your phone system.  If you allow the use of &#8220;find me follow me&#8221; or the ShoreTel &#8220;Personal Operator&#8221; function you might want to limit the range that those calling permission might include.  (If you want to talk to Mom in Italy, call my extension after hours and press zero when you here my greeting&#8221; is one of my personal favorites).</p>
<p>The video clip walks you through the process of creating a new User Group aptly named &#8220;Terminated Employee&#8221;.  This User Group then encompasses a body of restrictions that can be applied to a User, in this case a departing employee, with just a couple of key strokes.   The goal here is to nail down the employees call flow while you are working out the details of transitioning the employees work flow.    Clearly, you can just delete the user and be done with it, but normally business is not that simple.  Employees are part of Work Groups or  Hunt Groups that define a work flow and sometimes it takes a transition plan to get the details worked out.  In the mean time, we need to secure the phone!</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C3BLC-dSTgE" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C3BLC-dSTgE"></embed></object></p>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-phone-security-and-the-terminated-employee-a-lesson-in-user-groups/">ShoreTel Phone Security and the Terminated Employee ( a lesson in User Groups)</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>QOS for ShoreTel VoIP Deployments!</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/qos-for-shoretel-voip-deployments/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/qos-for-shoretel-voip-deployments/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:14:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VoIP Tech Tip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[QOS for ShoreTel VoIP Deployments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel QOS strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=606</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Setting up QOS on your routers to support ShoreTel VoIP across a WAN connection requires that you employ some creativity in your configuration.   Think of Class Marking as a way of “coloring” packets so that the routers no how to treat the packets when there is any kind of congestion.   We want voice packets to have a priority over data packets, so we color them and tell the carrier or WAN router which color is voice.   Generally, QOS strategies employ [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/qos-for-shoretel-voip-deployments/">QOS for ShoreTel VoIP Deployments!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Setting up QOS on your routers to support ShoreTel VoIP across a WAN connection requires that you employ some creativity in your configuration.   Think of Class Marking as a way of “coloring” packets so that the routers no how to treat the packets when there is any kind of congestion.   We want voice packets to have a priority over data packets, so we color them and tell the carrier or WAN router which color is voice.   Generally, QOS strategies employ the use of Differential Service Control Points or DSCP values.</p>
<p>These values are established by convention and can be generally summarize as IP Precedence Level 5 (101xx000 = DSCP bits) or DSCP Values of 160-184 to representing  “Express Forwarding” with a decimal value of 41.   The TOS byte in the IP header allocates the high order 6 bits to the DSCP value,  making Express Forwarding or EF equal to decimal 41 or 10111000 binary. Most carriers will comply with this class marking and will put IP packets marked with this value in the Low Latency or “go fast”  queue.  (See note below).</p>
<p>In the ShoreWare Director Portal you will find a link under Call Control to “options”.  On this page, you will find a box for DiffServ/ToS Byte (0-255).  This is where you will set your DSCP value, generally 184.   This will mark all voice packets originating from ShoreTel Voice Switches and IP phones.   A QOS configuration generally consists of three elements;  The Class Map, the Policy Map and the Service Map.  The Class Map tells us what it is we are looking for.   The Policy Map tells us what do when we find what we are looking for and the Service Map applies this information to the proper interface, generally the WAN side of your router.</p>
<p>Here is an example of a simple QOS configuration:</p>
<p>class-map match-any VoIP<br />
match ip dscp ef</p>
<p>policy-map QoS<br />
class VoIP<br />
set ip dscp ef<br />
priority percent 50</p>
<p>Basically, we are telling the router to look for incoming IP packets that have a DSCP value equal to Express Forwarding.   When we see these values we are going to know they are VoIP packets  and move them to our LLC where we have reserved 50% of the available bandwidth for use by the voice application.   It is important to note that queues in routers only take effect when we have contention for bandwidth.  The QOS statements help the router make decisions as to what queue gets serviced first.   Understand that, should queues fill up, the router will start “tail drop” and throw out packets no matter what the class mark!   This is a key issue, as the queue is for outbound processing.  What happens if some idiot is down loading Avatar from NetFlixs?  The incoming data flow could drown out any attempt to service outbound queue handling.</p>
<p>Lets look at modifiying our ShoreTel QOS strategy to provide for some additional configuration options.  One option is to set up an Access-List to capture information that might not be generated by a ShoreTel switch or IP phone.  ShoreTel uses a specific set of TCP/DUP ports that we can easily identify.  You also know the IP address of your ShoreTel server.  Why not set up an access list to look for traffic originating from the ShoreTel server or traffic originating or terminating on specific ports?  Here is an example, created by Brain Krail,  of a configuration that establishes the access list and also sets up several classes of service for voice, mission critical data and best efforts data:</p>
<p>access-list 197 remark &#8220;All SHoreTel&#8221;<br />
access-list 197 permit ip any any dscp ef<br />
access-list 197 permit udp any any eq 2427<br />
access-list 197 permit udp any any eq 2727<br />
access-list 197 permit udp any any eq 5004<br />
access-list 197 permit udp any any range 5440 5446<br />
access-list 197 permit udp any any eq 5060<br />
access-list 197 permit tcp any any eq 5060<br />
access-list 197 permit udp any any eq 111<br />
!<br />
access-list 198 remark Mission Critical<br />
access-list 198 permit tcp any any eq ftp<br />
access-list 198 permit tcp any any eq telnet<br />
access-list 198 permit tcp any any eq smtp<br />
access-list 198 permit tcp any any eq 3389<br />
access-list 198 permit udp any any eq 3389<br />
!<br />
access-list 198 remark VPN Traffic<br />
access-list 198 permit esp any any</p>
<p>class-map match-any VoIP<br />
match access-group 197<br />
match ip dscp ef</p>
<p>class-map match-any mission<br />
match access-group 198<br />
!<br />
policy-map QoS<br />
class VoIP<br />
set ip dscp ef<br />
priority percent 50</p>
<p>class mission<br />
set ip dscp af41<br />
bandwidth percent 30</p>
<p>class class-default<br />
set ip dscp default<br />
fair-queue<br />
random-detect</p>
<p>int ser 0/1/0<br />
max-reserved-bandwidth 100<br />
service-policy output QoS<br />
!<br />
In this configuration we use our Class Map to look for packets that match our Access-List.  Clearly, we are scanning for matches and based on the match, we classify the traffic as voice or mission critical.  The Policy map then assigns the proper value or class marking based on the Class Map matches.   The Service-Policy at the end applies the Policy to the Serial Interface on this router, most likely going off to the Carrier.  Your previously co-ordinate  agreement with the carrier will result in them treating the packets as marketed an handling them accordingly.  We find that QOS configurations that use Access-Lists to further search out traffic and host IP addresses that generate voice media streams, do a much better job than those that rely solely on the DSCP mark setup in the ShoreTel Director.</p>
<p>Now about that ugly issue of the user downloading NetFlix! How do we tell the carrier not to exceed a certain about of traffic inbound to our router?  The following configuration is an example of “Policing” an inbound interface to throw away any traffic that exceeds the CIR rate we set up.   This configuration increases the likely hood that QOS will be effective outbond, by making sure the inbound bandwidth is not over subscribed by a user downloading over your voice traffic!</p>
<p>access-list 199 permit ip any any dscp default</p>
<p>class-map match-all test<br />
match access-group 199</p>
<p>policy-map testPolice<br />
class test<br />
set ip dscp default<br />
police cir 1000000<br />
conform-action transmit<br />
exceed-action drop</p>
<p>QOS is an essential part of any VoIP deployment.   ShoreTel Deployments  can benefit measurably by getting creative with your Configurations and thinking outside the simplicity of DSCP!    NOTE – you need to dig deep on circuits provided by carriers that are peering with another carrier to deliver a complete circuit solution.   We have experienced situations in which the carrier taking the order adhered to our QOS markings and acted according to plan.  However, when that carrier hands the packet off to another carrier for final delivery, you need to make sure that they are in fact, honoring the same QOS markings.    In one situation, though our carrier was handling DSCP as agreed, the carrier that they handed off the packet to for final delivery, did not use DSCP on the MPLS circuit in question.  Some carriers, by inter-carrier agreement, use the Experimental Bits to deal with QOS.  Be Careful as the techs you are working with may not even know this, swearing all the time that QOS is setup per DSCP value!</p>
<p>Give us a call if you want assistance on QOS setup for Voice and Video!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/qos-for-shoretel-voip-deployments/">QOS for ShoreTel VoIP Deployments!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ShoreTel Database Replication and Manipulation of MAXDBQUERIES!</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-database-replication-and-manipulation-of-maxdbqueries/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-database-replication-and-manipulation-of-maxdbqueries/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:09:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VoIP Tech Tip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voip Service & Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DVM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MAXDBQUERIES Shoretel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel DVM]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=604</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It really doesn’t matter what VoIP system you installed they all generally have one architectural characteristic in common; the configuration database.  Depending on the system, you might find a database engine that ranges in complexity from an Access Database to a full blown SQL database.  The database will store configuration information, status information and often, call detail records that document phone system activities.   The characteristic of the database that is consistent across all architectures is the fact that there can [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-database-replication-and-manipulation-of-maxdbqueries/">ShoreTel Database Replication and Manipulation of MAXDBQUERIES!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It really doesn’t matter what VoIP system you installed they all generally have one architectural characteristic in common; the configuration database.  Depending on the system, you might find a database engine that ranges in complexity from an Access Database to a full blown SQL database.  The database will store configuration information, status information and often, call detail records that document phone system activities.   The characteristic of the database that is consistent across all architectures is the fact that there can only be one “read/write” copy of that database!</p>
<p>Some phone systems distribute the database across multiple servers.  ShoreTel, for example, distributes components of the database to application servers and distributed voice mail servers that characterize the single image architecture in a multi-site environment.   We need to better how a change to the database effects the operation of the system, the bandwidth of the WAN links and the demand on the database engine.  First, what constitutes a change to the database?   Well clearly any configuration change that is made to the system.  For example, adding or deleting a User are clearly going to cause a database update!  Lets take a more subtle example, however. Lets consider what happens to a Agent in a Workgroup, located at a remote site, behind a distributed voice mail server.  Each change that Agent makes on their Call Manager represents a database change.   Logging into the system, and Logging out of the system are database changes.  How about, accepting a call being offered to the Agent by a Workgroup?</p>
<p>Each of these Changes is communicated to the database.  The change is first made on the “read/write” database and then replicated to the remote database copy.   ShoreTel system processes use MS Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) objects to share information from the configuration database among themselves and to write configuration  information to the database.  User configuration options are written to the database from Personal Call Manager, and the telephone interface.  Each ShoreTel service on a distributed server caches it own copy of the configuration database.  When a distributed server loses connection to the HQ server (read “read/write” database) any changes made are no longer received by the distributed server.   If a DVM restarts without a connection the HQ database, services are started but are not functional.  When the network connection is restored, the configuration is retrieved and again cached by each service as the services become functional.</p>
<p>If there is a flap in the WAN we note that the DVM will in fact reload a copy of the database.  This movement of the database between the HQ server and the DVM servers clearly uses bandwidth and also makes additional demands on the database engine.   In ShoreTel the database engine, is now MySQL.   The question becomes how many simultaneous database access (read, modify, write) transactions can the MySQL server handle at one time?  What happens if the transaction can not be completed?  Does it queue and retry?   In a large system of say 700 workgroup agents at a site, is it possible to overload the MySQL database with state change requests?   If you dig down through the Server registry you will find the MAXDBQUERIES is set by default to 100.  It has been our experience that, defending on the size of the system, it is sometimes necessary to dial this number back to eliminate overloading the database.   This adjustment should be made only on the DVM’s in the configuration and not on the HQ server.   You will need to reboot your DVM servers after making this change.  You should also note the difference between HEX and Decimal!</p>
<p>The following SILENT file clip demonstrates how to make this adjustment.</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ke6OVgTOEEA" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ke6OVgTOEEA"></embed></object></p>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-database-replication-and-manipulation-of-maxdbqueries/">ShoreTel Database Replication and Manipulation of MAXDBQUERIES!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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		<title>ShoreTel Enhanced Workgroup Services!</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enhanced-workgroup-services/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enhanced-workgroup-services/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:03:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel Support and Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voip Service & Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel administration portal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Enhanced Workgroup Services]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=597</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Historically, there were three services in the ShoreTel architecture that were no distributed to other servers.   To over simplify, this meant that if the HQ server (read primary server) was unavailable, the services that were not distributed would not function.  The three services were Route Points, Account Codes and Workgroups.   For example, if a user group was set to “forced” account code verification and the server was unavailable, that service would fail and the effected user would not be able [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enhanced-workgroup-services/">ShoreTel Enhanced Workgroup Services!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Historically, there were three services in the ShoreTel architecture that were no distributed to other servers.   To over simplify, this meant that if the HQ server (read primary server) was unavailable, the services that were not distributed would not function.  The three services were Route Points, Account Codes and Workgroups.   For example, if a user group was set to “forced” account code verification and the server was unavailable, that service would fail and the effected user would not be able to place a call.   Like wise, if the HQ server were unavailable, Workgroup services would fail.  ( The “best practice’ deployment strategy was to backup a Workgroup with a “hunt group” given that the HG ran on a switch and not a server, it would continue to function in this scenario.  Calls targeting agents in a Workgroup would fail over to a hunt group that would target the same list of agents).</p>
<p>ShoreTel has steadily progressed the distribution of these services out from the HQ server to either SG switches or  Distributed servers.  With the latest release of ShoreTel,  they  have migrated critical services to include Workgroup services.   This is a major enhancement and any organization that makes use of the Workgroup functionality, especially in a multi-site environment,  will realize a  benefit by these enhancements.</p>
<p>Through the ShoreTel administration portal, we now find a drop down window that enables us to select which server should be utilized to run the Workgroup we are defining.   For example, in a multi-site environment, I might want to have the Workgroups organized by Site and run the workgroup service on the DVM at that site.   This would keep the Workgroup local and a failure of the HQ sever would not dramatically effect the workgroup at the remote site.   We note that, in the absence of the HQ server, we are still unable to make database changes.  For example, Logging In/Out of a Workgroup would not be possible, but the remote Workgroup would still function.</p>
<p>Additionally, we note that you can continue to name a Hunt Group as a backup extension.   The key difference here is that the Hunt Group can contain extensions that are Workgroups on other servers!   This offers  a degree of flexibility not previously available and is a viable alternative to a straight Hunt Group solution.   A failure of the HQ server will only effect the Workgroups that are on that server and distributed Workgroups on other servers will continue to run.  A failure of a DVM with an operating Workgroup  can fail to a Hunt Group that can be used to route calls to other Workgroups.</p>
<p>The vocabulary might be a bit confusing, but the strategy represents a significant step forward in assuring the operation of a distributed call processing application as powerful as ShoreTel Workgroups!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/WorkgroupScreen.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-598" title="WorkgroupScreen" src="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/WorkgroupScreen-300x264.png" alt="WorkgroupScreen" width="300" height="264" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enhanced-workgroup-services/">ShoreTel Enhanced Workgroup Services!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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		<title>Mobile Call Manager for the iPhone?</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/mobile-call-manager-for-the-iphone/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/mobile-call-manager-for-the-iphone/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:56:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel Support and Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[call manager iPhone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile Call Manager for the Iphone]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drvoip.com/?p=564</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the benefits of a successful blog, is the talented people you meet and the ideas that you exchange with other industry professionals. Through an earlier blog on the subject of connecting an Apple Iphone to a ShoreTel System as a SiP extension, I met such a creative talent: Matt Vlasach of Pacificswell! Matt was both an excited ShoreTel user and a Iphone aficionado. Thought Matt was happy to play with SIP his real interest was in creating a [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/mobile-call-manager-for-the-iphone/">Mobile Call Manager for the iPhone?</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the benefits of a successful blog, is the talented people you meet and the ideas that you exchange with other industry professionals.   Through an earlier blog on the subject of connecting an Apple Iphone to a ShoreTel System as a SiP extension, I met such a creative talent: Matt Vlasach of Pacificswell!   Matt was both an excited ShoreTel user and a Iphone aficionado.   Thought Matt was happy to play with SIP his real interest was in creating a ShoreTel App for the Iphone!</p>
<p>As a result of Matts talented development team at Pacificswell, I have had the pleasure of playing with a beta version of StreamLine, a mobile call manager for the Iphone!  If you have always wished that ShoreTel could work on your Iphone, your wish has been granted!  Pacificswell&#8217;s  first release of the App is a useful, easy to master, technically brilliant mobile call manager!  Using Streamline you can remotely connect to your ShoreTel server and setup your call handling modes and activate your Office Anywhere feature.  The App is intuitive and graphically obvious!</p>
<p>Even using the Apple developers platform to obtain the beta version ( an Apple strategy for enabling developers to offer the App before it appears in the App store), the download and install was remarkably simple.  It downloads and installs using the already familiar App Store process!  Configuration was a breeze and I had the App up and running in under five minutes.</p>
<p>Clearly there are some server side issues that need to be addressed and license compliance issues for the ShoreTel Mobile Call Manager, but technically, the App is brillant.   More importantly it just works!   I was able to select either my Office desk phone or my Iphone as the primary answer point.  Each of the Call Handling modes can be accessed in a visual graphic that is experentially compatible with the ShoreTel user interface for setting up Call Handling Options.</p>
<p>Product Development is a process, not an event!  Matt assures me that he will continue the development and enhancement of this App adding more features in future releases.   The product can be explored in detail on his site at <a href="http://www.pacificswell.com/go/streamline">Pacificswell</a> and I have included some screen shots below!</p>
<p>Keep the cards and letter coming! The App will be available at the Apple App Store on January 4th!</p>
<table border="0" width="400">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p><div id="attachment_567" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 147px"><a href="http://www.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Iphone3.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-567" title="Find Me Locations" src="http://www.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Iphone3-217x300.jpg" alt="Find Me Locations" width="137" height="191" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Find Me Locations</p></div></td>
<td valign="top">
<p><div id="attachment_566" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 147px"><a href="http://www.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Iphone2.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-566" title="Call Handling Modes" src="http://www.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Iphone2-217x300.jpg" alt="Call Handling Modes" width="137" height="190" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Call Handling Modes</p></div></td>
<td valign="top">
<p><div id="attachment_565" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 146px"><a href="http://www.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Iphone1.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-565" title="StreamLine Home Screen" src="http://www.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Iphone1-179x300.jpg" alt="Select your Desktop or Iphone as prmary answering point!" width="136" height="228" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Select your Desktop or Iphone as prmary answering point!</p></div></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/mobile-call-manager-for-the-iphone/">Mobile Call Manager for the iPhone?</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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		<title>ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center Call Routing based on Schedules!</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-call-routing-based-on-schedules/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-call-routing-based-on-schedules/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:16:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Contact Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VoIP Tech Tip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Contact Center]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=500</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you have been following our tech tips, you know that route points in the ShoreTel IPBX have a matching IRN in the Contact Center. If you want to route a call to a different destination based on the date and time that a call hits the Contact Center, how and where would you apply the schedule? Technicians familiar with the ease of creating schedules in the ShoreTel IPBX, might immediately apply a schedule to a route point. After all, [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-call-routing-based-on-schedules/">ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center Call Routing based on Schedules!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you have been following our tech tips, you know that route points in the ShoreTel IPBX have a matching IRN in the Contact Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to route a call to a different destination based on the date and time that a call hits the Contact Center,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how and where would you apply the schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technicians familiar with the ease of creating schedules in the ShoreTel IPBX, might immediately apply a schedule to a route point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, each call to the Contact Center hits a route point first, why not apply the OnHours/OffHours call handling directly to the route point?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the end of the day,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contact Centers are designed to provide management, detailed information to facilitate staffing, allocate resources, decrease call holding time and increase customer satisfaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Candidly, it is all about REPORTS!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My personal prejudice is that contact centers should be designed by starting with Reports!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is it that Management wants to see?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we want to know how many callers are hitting the Contact Center during Off-Hours, for example, we can not apply the schedules to the Route Points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Schedule applied to the Route Point deflects the caller to a Voice Mail box, that call will not appear in the total Calls presented to the Contact Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you want the call to be counted, it must actually enter the Contact Center!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this reason, most Contact Center deployments are deployed with the Automated Attendant functionality being defined within the Contact Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way we can accumulate accounting information on all calls that hit the Contact Center, regardless of how they are ultimately routed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center has a very powerful configuration capability as it relates to defining Schedules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Schedules are defined as “types of days” and “shifts”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first this concept is a bit difficult to digest, but once you play with it you will realize just how powerful and impact this configuration strategy can have on your overall Contact Center call flow.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Working Times facility enables you to define a type of day and then associate shifts to that day type.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The normal ShoreTel Schedule works on a binary On-Hours Off-Hours call handling model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What happens if you want to build a call flow that needs to have calls routed differently between specific hours of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, between 12AM and 8PM, we want incoming calls to be routed to the Guard Station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between 8AM and 12 Noon we want a live answer point at the Reception Desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between Noon and 1PM calls need to be routed to an outside answering service; and between 1PM and 5 PM they need to be routed back to the Reception desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now any technician that has been working with the ShoreTel IPBX <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for any period of time has developed several strategies for handling this often required call flow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The strategy usually involves cascading Hunt Groups in combination with Workgroups to achieved the desired result.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Working Times facility within the Contact Center would handle this complexity with ease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You would define a Day Type (i.e. WeekDay) and the define the various Shifts that comprise that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the example above, the ticking of the clock would transition through the various “shifts” resulting in a different destination based on the time of day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is advantageous in a call center environment and significantly less demanding to administer than the cascading Hunt group strategy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contact Center call flow is often managed on a time of day, day of week and holiday basis at a level of sophistication that goes way beyond the On-Hours Off-Hours approach to call handling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center Working Times facility is a power strategy for achieving maximum call routing control.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ylHL_aT3kvk" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ylHL_aT3kvk"></embed></object></span></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-call-routing-based-on-schedules/">ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center Call Routing based on Schedules!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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		<title>VoIP QOS Network Monitoring and Pathview Cloud!</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/voip-qos-network-monitoring-and-pathview-cloud/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/voip-qos-network-monitoring-and-pathview-cloud/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:41:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cisco Voip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel Support and Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VoIP Tech Tip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voip Deployment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voip Network Monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[voip qos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=489</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Trouble Shooting VoIP issues in a multi-site deployment is a challenge to even the most talented network engineer. It is often difficult to determine what is a voice equipment issue and what is an issue aggravated by a network conditions. As network engineer trouble shooting an issue, having access to network monitoring tools is essential. Sometimes we have to use the basic ICMP tool sets and ping our way through a trace route, but network connectivity is only one element [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/voip-qos-network-monitoring-and-pathview-cloud/">VoIP QOS Network Monitoring and Pathview Cloud!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal">Trouble Shooting VoIP issues in a multi-site deployment is a challenge to even the most talented network engineer.<span> </span>It is often difficult to determine what is a voice equipment <span> </span>issue and what is an issue aggravated by a network conditions.<span> </span>As network engineer <span> </span>trouble shooting an issue, having access to network monitoring tools is essential. <span> </span>Sometimes we have to use the basic ICMP tool sets and ping our way through a trace route, but network connectivity is only one element <span> </span>of QOS related areas in a VoIP deployment.<span> </span>(Actually, it would be great if clients invested in putting network monitoring tools in place, but they only seem to appreciate their networks when something goes wrong)!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What is that we need to monitor anyway?<span> </span>We split the monitoring world into two basic camps:<span> </span>Flow based accounting and Health checking software.<span> </span><span> </span>Flow based monitoring enables us to check the source/destination IP address; source/destination port; IP protocol; TOS and Ingress interface.<span> </span>This is helpful when you are trying to figure out what applications are running on your network and who is streaming real time media.<span> </span>Clearly important stuff, but at the end of the day, when it comes to logging into someone’s network remotely and trying to figure out why some remote user has garbled phone calls, there is nothing like an in place Health check!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">When we talk about the “health” of the network we are interested in knowing about Bandwidth capacity, Loss, Jitter, Mean Opinion Score (MOS), latency and tagging.<span> </span>These are the words that make a VoIP engineer smile!<span> </span>Would it not be wonderful to log into your clients network and have this kind of history available between key end points of a multi-site deployment?<span> </span>Rarely, do I ever publically endorse a product but the folks Apparent Networks have gone out of their way to make their product available, useable and free!<span> </span>You need to stop what you are doing and download Path View Cloud, a host based network monitoring solution from Apparent Networks.<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">Not only is this software as useful as a button hole, but you can <a href="http://www.apparenttools.com/DOWNLOADS/Free-Tool.aspx">download</a> a fully <span> </span>functional 5 node solution for absolutely no money! In previous posts I have discussed the fact that, despite best practice, clients continue to attempt VoIP phone deployment over DSL through VPN tunnels!<span> </span>Path View Cloud enables you to collect real time network health information about key end points in your network.<span> </span>Typically, it is the remote user or the WAN points that you are going to want to study.<span> </span>Path View Cloud enables you to create monitoring solutions that regularly report on health checks and trigger alerts when “violations” have been detected.<span> </span>Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and you can see packets!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/pathviewstatus.png"><img src="http://www.drvoip.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/pathviewstatus2.png" alt="Path Preview status" width="850" height="285" /><br />
</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">Clearly Apparent Networks believes that offering 5 free nodes will get you to order more!<span> </span>The offer is, however, compelling and I can tell all  you cheap, penny pinching, tight wads that will not invest in network monitoring software, that you will sleep better at night with this Path View Cloud solution in place.<span> </span>Network and VoIP engineers and technicians, you need this arrow in your quiver to make trouble shooting more visual!<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XnXRpD3DyiQ" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XnXRpD3DyiQ"></embed></object></span></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/voip-qos-network-monitoring-and-pathview-cloud/">VoIP QOS Network Monitoring and Pathview Cloud!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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		<title>ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center &#8220;Change Call Profile&#8221; icon</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-change-call-profile-icon/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-change-call-profile-icon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:49:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Contact Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VoIP Tech Tip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel ECC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel Enterprise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel IPBX]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How many people hit the Auto Attendant and then dialed one for Sales? One of the most requested reports from ShoreTel clients is the analysis of Automated Attendant key strokes. With in the ShoreTel iPBX there are probably several ways to implement this, but we prefer the use of “route points” (see past blog). “ Thank you for calling our company during our normal business hours. For Sales Press 1, for Service Press 2 or stay on the line and [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-change-call-profile-icon/">ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center &#8220;Change Call Profile&#8221; icon</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal">How many people hit the Auto Attendant and then dialed one for Sales?<span> </span>One of the most requested reports from ShoreTel clients is the analysis of Automated Attendant key strokes.<span> </span>With in the ShoreTel iPBX there are probably several ways to implement this, but we prefer the use of “route points”<span> </span>(see past blog).<span> </span>“ Thank you for calling our company during our normal business hours.<span> </span>For Sales Press 1, for Service Press 2 or stay on the line and the next available member of our staff will be right with you”.<span> </span>Typical Automated Attendant?<span> </span>We set the time out value to go to a “hunt group” and each of the menu items to a route point.<span> </span>You can actually run a User Detail report against a route point, as long as that route point terminates on a Shoretel end point other than a TAPI end point.<span> </span>For this reason, you can then run the report and find out exactly how many callers dialed one for sales!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Recently, we had to create an Automated Attendant on an Enterprise Contact Center.<span> </span>At first this seemed almost boring, but then we ran into an issue.<span> </span>You can use the MENU icon to create your Automated Attendant script, with a TRANFER icon to each destination selected by the caller.<span> </span>You can use the SCRIP icon to send the caller on to a script to collect information like the callers account number for a SQL database look up; but how do you send a caller to <span> </span>“service”?<span> </span>Now that was a more interesting challenge and I have to thank Chad Burnett for pointing out the use of what has become my favorite new ShoreTel ECC scripting icon: “the Change Profile” action.<span> </span>This icon is a powerful call profile manipulator and enables the Enterprise Contact Center configuration to explode with call processing options.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Using the Change Call Profile icon you can select various Call Profiles for manipulation.<span> </span>Each system contains a number of mandatory<span> </span>system level call profiles like ANI and Caller ID.<span> </span>You as a system designer can also create Call Profiles to meet the needs of your exacting design requirements.<span> </span>For example, you might add the Call Profile “Account Code”<span> </span>that you might use in a script that prompts the caller to enter digits that you will use to look up a record in a SQL database.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Change Call Profile icon also allows you to select a previously defined SERVICE.<span> </span>The following video clip reviews how the iPBX and the ShoreTel ECC interconnect.<span> </span>It demonstrates the use of the Change Call Profile icon, by demonstrating the creation of a simple automated attendant!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pad7b5Qkrqo" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pad7b5Qkrqo"></embed></object></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/shoretel-enterprise-contact-center-change-call-profile-icon/">ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center &#8220;Change Call Profile&#8221; icon</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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		<title>SIP firmware for ShoreTel handsets?</title>
		<link>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/sip-firmware-for-shoretel-handsets/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blog.drvoip.com/sip-firmware-for-shoretel-handsets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:15:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>DrVoIP</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ShoreTel Configuration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shoretel Support and Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sip Phone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trixbox Asterisk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VoIP Tech Tip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mgcp protocol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sip firmware]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blog.drvoip.com/?p=484</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To the sales team, I sound like a broken record as I repeated the engineering driven mantra: “A VoIP solution is only as good as the network it is build on”.     No matter how many times we tell clients that you can not obtain reliable, predictable toll quality voice communications over the public Internet, they insist on having us implement it.   The old marketing adage “you do not give customers what they need, you give them what they want” clearly [...]<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/sip-firmware-for-shoretel-handsets/">SIP firmware for ShoreTel handsets?</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><span>To the sales team, I sound like a broken record as I repeated the engineering driven mantra: “A VoIP solution is only as good as the network it is build on”.     No matter how many times we tell clients that you can not obtain reliable, predictable toll quality voice communications over the public Internet, they insist on having us implement it.   The old marketing adage “you do not give customers what they need, you give them what they want” clearly applies and despite our best arguments to do otherwise; we find ourselves implementing VoIP solutions using VPN over DSL or Cable.   The good news is that when it works,  it is  often useable for inter-office communications.   When it does not work, it sounds like the worst cell phone  call and would not be something that you would use to support business communications with a client.</span></span></p>
<p>In the VoIP world in general and the ShoreTel world in particular, there is a measurable performance difference between an MPLS deployment and a VPN tunnel through the public internet.    An appropriately designed MPLS circuit with carrier Service Level Agreements in place will out perform the best VPN tunnel through the public internet.   Yet clients continue to believe they can put a VoIP handset  at the bosses house and run it over a DSL based VPN back to the “puzzle palace” and that it will  perform as well as the phone on his office desk.   The reality of the deployment is that this implementation seldom meets customer expectations.</p>
<p>A ShoreTel deployment of a remote handset for a home based work force can be accomplished under two basic models.   In the more desirable, albeit more costly model,  we create a “site” which involves the placement of a ShoreTel media gateway (read SG switch) at the remote location.  VoIP handsets interact with the SG media gateway or call manager at the remote location for all call setup, addressing, signaling and control.    In the ShoreTel world the call setup between a VoIP handset and an SG media gateway will use the MGCP protocol.   This protocol is a client/server or master/slave model and when compared with other protocols can generally be summarized as complex and “chatty”.   ShoreTel implements SIP for SG-SG communication, but uses MGCP for SG witch to handset call control.  Once a phone call is setup up, only the RTP media stream needs to traverse the VPN tunnel, however.</p>
<p>The other less expensive model s the placement of a remote VoIP handset only.   In this model, the handset is part of the “headquarters” site.  Unfortunately this is the deployment model we see the most when clients attempt to interconnect a single home worker with the corporate network with out the benefit of a carrier SLA.     A DSL, hopefully with a static IP address, and a device that can support a “point-to-point” VPN tunnel are the “minimum daily adult” requirement for VoIP connectivity.   In this model, the VoIP handset is communicating MGCP over the VPN tunnel with a call manager at the headquarters location.  Every handset action, from off-hook to digit key depress, is communicated over the VPN tunnel back to a media gateway at the home office.  Very “chatty”.</p>
<p>As engineers we can talk ourselves into a coma when discussing QOS options, DSCP markings, router queuing strategies and bandwidth reservation parameters.   At the end of the day, however, the only QOS “opinion” that really matters is what the users thinks!   Mean Opinion Score or MOS is the measure of what users rate the quality of a phone call.   Here is what we have learned after supporting hundreds of remote users on none SLA based circuits, typically VPN over DSL and Cable.   Rule one:  use only symetrical circuits (same up and down load speeds).  Rule two: Hard phones beat soft phones; and Rule three:  SIP phones beat MGCP phones.  It is that simple.   If we put a SIP based phone at a remote location, they will out perform an MGCP based handsets on the same circuit as measured by user MOS!  The SIP phone will perform with a higher level of reliability, be more resilient to latency and jitter, and will experience significantly less call disconnects than an MGCP based VoIP handset.</p>
<p>If you study the hosted VoIP service provider market, you will find that the predominant VoIP handset deployment strategy is SIP based.   Why is that?  We could go completely geek on you and  illustrate the complexity of call setup comparing MGCP with SIP setup messages, but why bother.  MOS rocks.  In this environment SIP deployments will yield higher customer satisfaction scores than MGCP deployments.   We are sincerely hoping and praying that ShoreTel has a “SIP firmware load” on the product road map to support their family of outstanding desktop handsets as they do not have a SIP handset solution.    Currently, when we have to support remote workers who insist on running VPN tunnels over DSL and Cable, we deploy Polycom and Aastra handsets to achieve maximum customer satisfaction in the wild west of internet telephony and home based workers! <!--EndFragment--></p>
<p><a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com/sip-firmware-for-shoretel-handsets/">SIP firmware for ShoreTel handsets?</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.blog.drvoip.com">VOIP Tech Blog</a></p>
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