VoiceCon’s Annual IP Telephony System RFP Workshop: Part 1VoiceCon’s Annual IP Telephony System RFP Workshop: Part 1

System architecture overview

Common equipment and peripheral interfaces

Generic software features covering station, attendant, and system operations

Telephones (desktop instruments, desktop soft clients, mobile clients)

Integrated messaging

ACD-based contact center

Unified Communications

Systems administration, monitoring and maintenance operations.

There were also several sections of the RFP that were specific to requirements for E911, security, and mobile communications.

The following were the general RFP feature, function, and application requirements:

Single system image for generic software feature operation; dialing; applications; management & administration

Converged or client/server design based on centralized or fully distributed call control

Emphasis on redundant/resilient design elements

Full featured, local survivability at remote locations in case of call control access or WAN issues

Five desktop telephone instrument models (Economy; Administrative; Professional; Executive; ACD) and a soft attendant console

Cellular extensions with advanced GUI client

Several peripheral applications: integrated messaging; UC clients; call/contact center

For those not familiar with the terminology, a converged IP telephony system design is based on a call telephony server supporting traditional circuit switched port carriers that can be distributed across a customer LAN/WAN. A client/server design, also known as a softswitch design, consists of a call telephony server and distributed media gateways for non-IP system endpoints.

This year’s system configuration was based on multiple premises communications requirements across a headquarters facility (1,200 stations), regional office (200 stations), and satellite office (50 stations), as seen in Figure 1. All facilities would be supported by common control centrally housed at the headquarters facility.

For purposes of resiliency, the headquarters facility was required to support two geographically distributed equipment rooms, each housing common control servers. In case of WAN connectivity problems to the two remote facilities, local survivable processing options were required at the regional and satellite facilities. Seamless switchover to the local processor was required without service interruption or loss of any system features and functions. As in years past, some system vendors were unable to meet the very specific RFP requirements pertaining to distribution of common control servers and/or local survivability specifications.

Voice terminal requirements are a very important part of the RFP, because they provide station users with an interface to the system features/functions and are typically the most variable system cost element due to the wide range of models and options. Based on specific customer requirements, voice terminals can be 20%-50% of the bottom line system price. The RFP’s general voice terminal requirements were as follows:

90/10 mix of IP telephones and analog stations (phones, modems, fax terminals)

IP telephone requirements include several advanced design attributes (varies by model): wideband codec; Web services; call history log; Gigabit Ethernet connectivity; pixel-based color display; Bluetooth/USB interface

Soft clients for attendant console operations and mobile teleworkers requirements

Teleworker terminals: VPN desktop & PC client

Specific requirements by model can be found in the RFP.

A few vendors were not able to satisfy one or more basic IP telephone requirements such as a color display screen or an integrated Bluetooth interface. Although embedded Web services has been generally available on IP telephones for about five years, one vendor failed to support this requirement on their proposed Professional model. Full satisfaction of cellular extension requirements also proved a stumbling block for a few vendors, proving that important differences between competitive system solutions do exist.

This year’s major new addition to the RFP was Unified Communications. The requirements for Unified Communications were of a general nature, owing to the overall complexity of the RFP as well as presentation time constraints. The Unified Communications RFP requirements covered the following:

Presence management & IM

Call control routing

Voice (speech) portal and text-to-speech

Web clients

Multimedia conferencing and collaboration

Microsoft support and interoperability : Outlook, Office and Active Directory

IBM support and interoperability : Lotus Sametime, Lotus Quickr, and Lotus Web conferencing

Responses from the system vendors varied greatly for the UC section; some vendors were obviously stronger than others in this area.

Vendor Responses

RFP submissions were received from the following vendors: Cisco Systems, Avaya, Nortel, Mitel Networks, Siemens Communications, NEC Unified, ShoreTel, 3Com, Aastra Intecom and Ericsson. Each of these vendors participated in the panel at VoiceCon, except for the latter two owing to time constraints.

Each of the submissions was professionally prepared and generally followed the proposal guidelines in the RFP. An annually reccurring problem, however, is that a few vendors sometimes disregard the RFP’s entreaty for responses to be brief and concise. Although the TEQConsult Group RFP was designed to solicit individual responses on a very specific requirement, many responses addressed non-germane issues or answered questions not asked. This detracted from the professionalism of the document. Too much information is sometimes bad information, because it makes assessing the response more difficult. Should you as a customer prepare and distribute an RFP, expect to receive submissions that sometimes look like they were cut and pasted from a product description guide, unless you clearly establish response guidelines and word count limits.

CISCO SYSTEMS

Cisco proposed a distributed single-cluster Unified Communications Manager solution to satisfy the basic IP telephony system requirements. At headquarters facilities, Cisco proposed redundant subscriber call servers in each of the equipment rooms and its Unified Survivable Site Remote Telephony (SRST) options at the regional and satellite offices for local survivability.

Unified Communications Manager can currently support up to four distributed subscriber call servers (supporting up to 7,500 IP stations per server); individual IP station instruments can be programmed to link to three servers for call processing support. Cisco proposed a variety of other servers to satisfy specific feature or application requirements, including E911 (Cisco Emergency Responder or CER), messaging (Unity), unified communications (Presence, Meeting Place), and ACD (IP Contact Center, IP IVR). Cisco proposed redundant CER, Presence, and IP Contact Center/IVR servers in the two headquarters equipment rooms. Proposed media gateways for non-IP endpoints included the Cisco VG 248 -48 and the Cisco 2821 ISR.

The SRST software option runs on a local Cisco IOS router, eliminating the requirement for dedicated servers, and supports a seamless switchover process, but does not support full feature capabilities in survivable mode. Some features are limited, such as conferencing, and many are not available. It should be noted, however, that Cisco continues to increase SRST feature support with each software release.

Cisco has a strong portfolio of IP telephone instruments, but did not satisfy all of the RFP requirements. Cisco proposed its 7906G for Economy model requirements. The recently introduced 7962G was proposed for the Administrative model, but lacks an integrated Bluetooth interface. The 7962G also requires an optional 7914 expansion module to satisfy 16-programmable line/feature requirements. For the Professional model Cisco proposed the 7965G model equipped with a color display screen, although the attribute was not required; the 7975G was proposed for the Executive model. None of the Cisco models have hard fixed keys, such as a Hold button, nor integrated Bluetooth or USB interfaces as required. The 7975G technically did not satisfy the RFP requirement for 10-programmable line/feature keys (it has eight keys, only). Also, the 7965G proposed as an ACD instrument lacks work code and supervisor alert keys, and does not have an integrated recorder interface. A teleworker instrument with integrated VPN is not currently available, although peripheral Cisco equipment can be used to satisfy secure communications requirements.

Cisco’s proposed solution strongly satisfied RFP security and system management requirements. Additionally, an area Cisco has been traditionally weaker than the established vendors is generic software features, but it has improved its offering over the years. The current proposal supported most of the Station features except for Discrete Call Observing, Group Listening, Ringer Cut-off, Secondary Extension Feature Activation, and Whisper Page. Attendant features, usually the weakest Cisco area, were generally satisfied except for Busy Verification of Trunks/Terminals, Control of Trunk Group Access, Delay Announcement, Intercept Treatment, and Trunk Group Busy/Warning Indicator System.

Several System features were not supported, including Automatic Camp-on, Automatic Circuit Assurance, Delayed Ringing, Direct Inward System Access, Facility Test Calls, Password Aging, Timed Reminder.

For cellular extension requirements, Cisco Unified Mobility is now natively available with Cisco Unified Communications Manager, eliminating the requirement for a dedicated server. Cisco proposed mobile soft clients for all system subscribers as part of its pricing solution. The package supports single business number reach and a single voice mail box; access to key call control features of Cisco Unified Communications Manager; and access to personal call lists. Unified Mobility currently runs on a variety of Blackberry and Nokia handsets.

Cisco strongly satisfied the RFP’s unified communications requirements, including in its proposal: Cisco Unified Personal Communicator; Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator; Cisco Unified Mobility Advantage; Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express; Cisco Unity and Unity Connection; Cisco WebEx; and Cisco Unified Presence. Full Microsoft and IBM integration was supported. The only weakness was limited voice portal (speech) capabilities.

AVAYA

Avaya’s system proposal had some rather unexpected aspects. One would have assumed that the RFP port capacity and geographic redundancy requirements dictated that Avaya would propose a single system S8730 Server solution; instead they proposed multiple S8500 Servers. A S8500 Server with a S8500 Local Survivable Processor (LSP) as a backup server was proposed for one of the headquarters facility equipment rooms, with another S8500 LSP proposed for the second equipment room.

It should also be noted that S8500 Server port capacity (2,400 stations) met the system growth requirements with little room to spare. The much larger-capacity S8730 Server is equipped standard with active and standby call servers, and each can be geographically distributed via LAN or fiber connections. So why propose the S8500 solution? One advantage is that the S8500 supports direct Ethernet call signaling to IP endpoints; the S8730 supports call signaling connections deploying Internet Protocol Signaling Interface (IPSI) and Control LAN (CLAN) circuit boards housed in a G650 circuit switched-based port carrier. Also, the S8500 could use the recently introduced G450 MGs for non-IP peripheral interface support instead of the more costly G650 solution. The latter media gateway cabinet requires dedicated IPSI, CLAN, and media gateway boards for functions that are embedded in the G450.

While technically the S8500 Server is not redundant, the proposed S8500 LSPs offered a satisfactory level of resiliency in case of processor failure. For the remote locations, Avaya proposed its S8300 LSP solution (G450 MG at regional office, G350 MG at satellite office). The LSP option supports seamless switchover and full feature capabilities in survivable model, fully satisfying the RFP requirements.

In addition to the call processing servers, Avaya’s configuration also included additional servers for SIP Enablement Services (SES), Modular Messaging, One-X Speech, and Meeting Exchange. It should be noted Avaya remains the only vendor to require a peripheral server to support some SIP service capabilities, including desktop instruments. Avaya proposed its integrated E911 solution to satisfy RFP requirements, although the more advanced RedSky solution is available as an option.

Avaya has a very strong IP telephone portfolio, and appeared to generally satisfy the RFP. Avaya proposed its cost-efficient 1603 to fully satisfy Economy requirements. The Avaya 9650 was proposed for Administrative model requirements; the Avaya 9630 for Professional model requirements; and the Avaya 9640 for Executive model requirements. Although Avaya’s 9600 models have a very limited number of fixed feature keys (as required by the RFP), they generally satisfied all RFP requirements. It must be noted, however, that the pricing proposal did not include the Bluetooth interface option nor the Gigabit Ethernet option (or integrated Gigabit model) as required to satisfy the RFP requirements. Also, a 4600-based teleworker instrument with integrated VPN capabilities is available; however, the newer generation 9600 does not currently support this requirement.

Avaya’s solution strongly satisfied RFP security and system management requirements, and fully satisfied all listed generic software features (the only vendor to do so). Avaya has been a pacesetter in cellular extension support, and its current software-based offering supports one-number access by enabling calls bound for an employee’s business number to ring simultaneously on both their office phone and up to four mobile (or wireline) phones. Users can access a variety of advanced features such as transfer and conference. Avaya’s one-X Mobile software client transforms a user's mobile phone into a full-featured extension of their office desk phone supporting one-number service, single voice mail box, dial through the PBX, and advanced feature access via an integrated GUI on the mobile device. The Mobile option works across a wide range of smart phone models and operating systems. Last year Avaya was the first to announce planned support of the Apple iPhone.

Avaya strongly satisfied the RFP’s unified communications requirements. Included among the proposed elements were: one-X Desktop (SIP Softphone); IP Softphone; one-X Portal; one-X Mobile; and one-X Speech (voice portal). Conferencing & collaboration solutions included Meeting Exchange, Avaya Web Conferencing; and Avaya Video Telephony. An Application Enablement Services (AES) server may also be required to fully satisfy customer-specific requirements. Microsoft and IBM integration was fully supported by the proposal.

NORTEL

Nortel proposed the CS 1000E High Availability system with redundant call and signaling servers, media gateways, and PRI Media Gateways providing campus redundancy. Additional servers housed at the headquarters facility support messaging, contact center, and unified communications requirements. E911 services support is fully embedded into the generic software design.

Media Gateway (MG) 1000E with integrated call and signaling servers were proposed for each equipment room at the headquarters facilities. At both the regional and satellite facilities Nortel proposed MG 1000E Survivable with integrated Call Server and Signaling Server. Any of the distributed MG 1000Es with integrated call/signaling servers is capable of supporting the entire network if necessary at maximum port capacity. The remote MG 1000Es support full feature capabilities in survivable mode, and all active calls are preserved during a switchover, but implementation of new calls is delayed for a short period until the local server is fully active.

Nortel’s proposed IP telephones were a mix of design types. The Nortel 1210 fully satisfied all Economy model requirements. The Nortel 1120E with an Expansion Module satisfied Administrative model requirements except for wideband codec capabilities. Also, a standard USB interface port is available that can be substituted for a Bluetooth interface. The Nortel 1140E was proposed for the Professional model and fully satisfied all requirements except for a wideband codec; both Gigabit and Bluetooth interfaces are standard with the instrument. The Nortel 2007 was proposed for the Executive model requiring a color display screen, but did not satisfy wideband, Gigabit, or Bluetooth/USB requirements. A VPN-based teleworker instrument is not available.

Nortel has always had a very strong generic software feature set. The proposed solution only lacked the Whisper Page feature. Two other features, Meet-me Conferencing and Multi-Party Assisted Conference w/Selective Call Drop, require an ICB card. All required Attendant and System features were supported. Systems management support was also strong, but security requirements demanded optional hardware--Nortel’s Secure Multimedia Controller (SMC) 2450--to provide a “Secure Multimedia Zone” to support encrypted call signaling to and from Nortel IP Phones.

Beginning with CS 1000 Release 5.5, Nortel’s Mobile Extension became a native feature. Mobile Extension supports single number reach and a single voice mail box while extending basic system features to the mobile device such as direct extension dial and conferencing services. Other basic features such as transfer, hold and forward are supported. The feature can also be used to support Microsoft’s Office Communicator Client desktop option. The Nortel Mobile Communication 3100 advanced GUI client works with Windows Mobile dual-mode (Wi-Fi/Cellular) devices and selected single-mode BlackBerry and Nokia devices. Only single devices are currently supported by the 3100 option.

Although Nortel has its own enhanced unified communications solution, MCS 5100, the vendor proposed Converged Office with Microsoft OCS. It is an integrated portfolio of telephony, conferencing, messaging and satellite solution that includes a single soft client, Microsoft Office Communicator Client, as a single client for presence, IM, voice/telephony, conferencing and contact center. Office Communicator Mobile was proposed for mobile users. The proposed Nortel Call Pilot UM partially addressed RFP Voice Portal requirements. Obviously, the proposed Converged Office solution does not support IBM integration capabilities. The alternative Nortel MCS 5100 solution supports both Microsoft and IBM integration if required.

MITEL NETWORKS

Mitel proposed a fully distributed network design consisting of redundant media gateway servers at each facility. A Mitel 3300 MXe Server Survivable User Gateway, three Mitel 3300 MXe (Redundant) Survivable Media Gateways, Mitel 3300 AX and Mitel Analog Service Unit (ASU) II media gateways were proposed for each headquarters facility equipment room. The regional office included a Mitel 3300 MXe (Redundant) Survivable Media Gateway and Mitel ASU II; the satellite office included a Mitel 3300 CX Survivable Media Gateway and Mitel ASU II. Any of the Mitel 3300 MXe Servers across the network is capable of supporting all station users if a primary server fails.

The headquarters facility also housed servers for messaging, conferencing, unified communications, contact center, and teleworker/mobile requirements. Resiliency and survivability at the remote facilities is seamless and full featured, fully satisfying RFP requirements. No server is required for E911 support, as the function is embedded into the Mitel software generic.

Mitel has a strong IP telephone portfolio, but lacked one important instrument attribute as required by the RFP:

The Mitel 5302 SIP telephone instrument was proposed and satisfied Economy model requirements. The Mitel 5340 was proposed for both Administrative and Executive model requirements, but a very important Executive model requirement--a color display screen--was not satisfied by the 5340; Mitel does not currently have a desktop instrument with a color display in its portfolio. The Mitel 5330 was proposed for the Professional model and satisfied most requirements. Neither the 5330 nor 5340 support Bluetooth, but a DECT option is available for headset support, though it was not included in the price proposal. Also missing from the price proposal was the Mitel Gigabit Ethernet option as required by the RFP.

An advantage of the high end Mitel 5330/5340 instruments is the relatively large number of available programmable line/feature keys, in addition to several fixed feature keys, for station users who prefer the look and feel of traditional PBX telephone instruments. Mitel also offers several secure teleworker instruments (5224, 5330, or 5340 models) for remote user requirements.

Mitel proposed one of the strongest generic software feature sets, as only a handful of required features were not available. Virtually all listed Station features were available, except for Callback Last Internal Caller and Whisper Page. The only missing Attendant feature was Auto Start/Don’t Split System. All required System features were satisfied by the proposal. System management and security requirements were also strongly satisfied.

Mitel’s Mobile Extension is a software solution that lets users twin their primary system directory number with an internal or external PSTN-connected phone (e.g., a cell phone). It is not proprietary to a specific cellular carrier operator service or cell phone type, is compatible with any standard GSM/CDMA mobile and does not require the use of a Smart Client. For more advanced operations, the Mitel Mobility for Microsoft Windows Mobile software client option is available for system feature and function access and implementation.

Mitel’s unified communications solution was based on Your Assistant, a unified communications dashboard that integrates presence and availability, secure instant messaging (IM), audio conferencing, and video and data collaboration with the call control capabilities of the Mitel 3300 IP Communications Platform (ICP). The Mitel unified communications proposal complied with most all of RFP requirements, except for a Web-based client and IBM integration.

SIEMENS COMMUNICATIONS

Siemens proposed its HiPath 8000 in response to the RFP requirements. The HiPath 8000 is a SIP-based softswitch communications solution based on network carrier design standards. Due to the commercial availability requirements of the RFP, Siemens was unable to propose its recently announced OpenScape Unified Communications Server, a product that seamlessly converges the capabilities of the HiPath 8000 with the Siemens OpenScape unified communications solution onto a single server.

Siemens proposed a redundant HiPath 8000 service node (with integrated Media Server and Administration capabilities) for each of the headquarters facility equipment rooms. Each equipment room configuration also included RG8700 media gateways for digital trunk interfaces and several Mediatrix media gateways for analog station and trunk requirements. Redundant Xpressions messaging servers and ProCenter contact center servers were also proposed for each equipment room. As befits a carrier-based system, full E911 services are embedded in the software generic of the HiPath 8000.

The carrier-based HiPath 8000 design highly satisfies local redundancy requirements at headquarters, but remote survivability is an issue. Proposed equipment at the regional office includes a survivable RG8700 Media Gateway and several Mediatrix media gateways. The RG8700 assumes local processing control in case of connectivity issues to the headquarters facility, but feature/function support is limited in survivable mode.

For the satellite office, Siemens proposed a Comdasys 2600 with Mediatrix media gateways. The Comdasys assumes local processing control in survivable mode and supports a limited number of features/functions. The HiPath 8000 Edge solution supports full feature/function capabilities in survivable mode, but is designed for larger line size facilities and does not currently support a seamless switchover, i.e. active media gateway calls are dropped.

Siemens proposed its latest generation of IP telephone instruments to satisfy the RFP’s voice terminal requirements. The OpenStage 20 more than satisfied the requirements for the Economy model. The OpenStage 60 was proposed for the Administrative, Professional, and ACD models, and satisfied virtually all of the major requirements, with the bonus of a color display screen. The only limitations of the OpenStage 60 are a limited number of fixed feature keys and programmable line/feature keys. The Administrative model required 16 programmable line/features, but the OpenStage 60 is limited to 14. The OpenStage 80 was proposed for the Executive model and satisfied virtually all requirements, excluding feature fixed keys. The OpenStage 60 and 80 models both have integrated Gigabit and Bluetooth interfaces, and an ergonomic Touch Guide to interface with the color display screen. Siemens does not offer a VPN-based desktop instrument for teleworker applications.

One of the weaker sections of the Siemens RFP response was its generic software feature set. Most listed Station features were supported except for the following: Call Park; Traditional Intercom Groups (Dial, Manual, Automatic); Discrete Call Observing; Text Messages; Timed Queue and Whisper Page. Several RFP-specified Station features require peripheral hardware/software including User Controlled Meet-Me Conferencing (6 party or more), Multi-Party Assisted Conference w/Selective Call Drop Message Waiting Activation, and Paging/Code Calling.

Most listed Attendant features were supported except for the following: Override of Diversion Features and Serial Call; Control of Trunk Group Access; Direct Trunk Group Selection and Trunk Group Busy/Warning Indicator. Missing System features include Timed Reminder and Trunk Callback Queuing. Automated Attendant, ACD, Code Calling and Direct Inward System Access each require peripheral hardware/software.

On a brighter note, the HiPath 8000 offers a strong systems management package and fully embedded security capabilities.

Siemens needs its OpenScape unified communications offer in order to fulfill the RFP requirement for cellular extension capabilities OpenScape Enterprise V3.0 supports advanced mobile client capabilities on a variety of handsets including several Blackberry and Nokia models. The alternative HiPath MobileConnect option supports dual mode devices with dynamic seamless handoff, single number access using the business phone number, and it extends existing HiPath 8000 features to dual-mode (cellular and WLAN) handsets.

One of the strongest sections of the Siemens proposal was its response for unified communications. The OpenScape Enterprise offer fully integrates telephones, voice mail, email, text-messaging, calendaring, instant messaging, collaboration and conferencing services, including full integration with Microsoft and IBM solutions. The latest version of the OpenScape user client has been “cleaned up” to more easily facilitate feature access and implementation compared to early versions. All RFP features and functions for unified communications were satisfied by the Siemens solution.

[Editor's note: The remaining vendors, and Allan Sulkin's concluding comments, are in Part 2 of this article, available here.]

The VoiceCon RFP template is available for download here.

Allan Sulkin is president of TEQConsult.