A guide to successful deployment of the Cisco IP Telephony solution
* Real-world case studies from the Cisco design consulting engineers who developed the PDIOO process provide practical advice on all stages of successful IPT deployment
* Concise understanding of the PDIOO phases enables architects and engineers to successfully deploy the Cisco IPT solution
* Division of the process into PDIOO phases provides a logical and defined guide for network engineers and architects as they proceed through each of the phases in deploying the Cisco IPT solution
* Includes detailed questionnaires for each phase of deployment in the PDIOO cycle—a great aid in understanding customer networks and requirements
* Network infrastructure design, call processing infrastructure design and applications, and voice-mail system design are covered in depth
Cisco® IP Telephony (IPT) solutions are being deployed at an accelerated rate, and network architects and engineers need to understand the various phases involved in successful deployment: planning, design, implementation, operation, and optimization (PDIOO). On the road to that understanding, those involved need to collect information for each phase of deployment, and then follow through with the best architecture, deployment model, and implementation based on the data collected.
Cisco IP Telephony: Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization is a guide for network architects and engineers as they deploy the Cisco IPT solution. With this book, you will master the PDIOO phases of the IPT solution, beginning with the requirements necessary for effective planning of a large-scale IPT network. From there, you’ll follow a step-by-step approach to choose the right architecture and deployment model. Real-world examples and explanations with technical details, design tips, network illustrations, and sample configurations illustrate each step in the process of planning, designing, implementing, operating, and optimizing a chosen architecture based on information you have collected.
In-depth instruction on each PDIOO phase provides specific details about the tasks involved and best practices for successful implementation of the IPT solution. This book also contains predesigned questionnaires and PDIOO assistance tools that help you determine the requirements of each phase of the PDIOO cycle.
Authors Ramesh Kaza and Salman Asadullah have been involved with Cisco IPT solutions from the beginning and have planned, designed, and implemented major IPT networks using the guidelines found here. Cisco IP Telephony: Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization provides the step-by-step explanations, details, and best practices acquired by the authors while working with the top Cisco IPT customers.
This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press®, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.
Chapter 3, “Large-Scale Enterprise Requirements for IP Telephony,” presented the XYZ, Inc. current network scenario and its high-level requirements for its future IPT network. Typically, customers provide these requirements in the Request for Proposal (RFP); otherwise, you can gather the requirements by meeting the voice architecture group in the customer organization. Understanding these requirements is critical to planning and designing a scalable and optimized IPT network.
Before you begin studying the planning phase, you need to understand the approach that we have taken to analyze the network infrastructure of XYZ in the planning phase.
The network infrastructure topologies of XYZ that were presented in Figures 3-2 and 3-3 show that the network is designed with full redundancy, that all network elements are Cisco switches and routers, that all devices understand QoS, etc. This topology is 100 percent ready to deploy IP Telephony (IPT). You will not find a network like this in the real world; instead, you will see networks that pose many challenges. Some of the common challenges are the following:
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Networks that are deployed with non-Cisco switches—you are required to provide a solution to deploy Cisco IPT products
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Switches that do not understand Layer 3 QoS
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Switches that cannot provide inline power to Cisco IP phones
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Networks that are deployed without following the recommended designs/best practices
To provide you with answers to some of the preceding challenges, we could have introduced some of these problems into the XYZ network. However, doing so would have made it harder to keep up with the chapter flow. Hence, the approach taken is as follows:
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Describe the best practices in making the network infrastructure ready to support IPT
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Provide alternate solutions and suggestions for commonly faced problems and challenges, such as those described in the preceding list, at appropriate places in the chapter
This chapter guides you through various tasks involved in the planning phase and discusses the best practices and the steps you need to follow at every layer of the network to make the network infrastructure ready to run the Cisco IPT solution.
To complete the planning phase for XYZ, this chapter uses the information presented in Chapter 3 along with the input provided by the customer to the following two questionnaires:
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Network Infrastructure Analysis Questionnaire found in Appendix B, “IPT Planning Phase: Network Infrastructure Analysis Questionnaire”.
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Telecom Infrastructure Analysis Questionnaire found in Appendix C, “IPT Planning Phase: Telecom Infrastructure Analysis Questionnaire”.
Getting Started
The first step in the planning phase is to understand the high-level business and technical expectations and requirements for the future IPT network, which include the following:
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Company vision, goals, and forecasted growth
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The plan for voice and data networks over the next 3 to 5 years
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Solution expectations
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Deployment and timing
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Financial expectations
To simplify the discussion for this case study, assume that XYZ expects its workforce to grow 5 to 10 percent every year. XYZ requires that the new IPT system must emulate the functionality of the current PBX, voice-mail, and application systems, be scalable, and provide additional services and features that improve employee productivity. The new technology update project at XYZ received approval from the company’s financial board to support the funding for the IPT project, and there are no major budget constraints.
NOTE
When you are working with a customer, you might have to study some of these requirements carefully. For example, a customer might have limited funding available for the IPT project, in which case you might have to adjust the hardware needed in the infrastructure and size the other expensive equipment so that the total cost of the project falls within the approved budget. In some cases, you might also have to choose a phased migration to IPT to minimize the costs.
After you understand the high-level business and technical expectations of the customer, the next step is to conduct meetings with the engineers and architects in the LAN, WAN, IT, legacy PBX, legacy voice-mail, and applications network groups. During these meetings with the various groups, you should make sure that the high-level requirements that you received from the customer in the RFP are accurate. Most importantly, make sure that you understand how the customer’s existing network infrastructure is built so that you can identify the gaps in the infra-structure that need to be filled to support the converged traffic.
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