IP TelephonyExecutive Guide 2007

The latest best practices

to design, implement

and deploy a successful

IP phone system.

Welcome to the IP Telephony Executive Guide

IP is the standard for data communications worldwide, and now many organizations usetheir IP infrastructure for voice communication as well.

As voice becomes more and more critical to the way people do business, IP telephonyis a viable alternative for organizations that want a solution that will improveproductivity, lower management and administrative costs, and reduce overallcomplexity.

But the transition from traditional PBXs to IP PBXs doesn’t just happen overnight.Enterprises need to plan for IP telephony and have a firm grasp of the technologiesand standards behind it. They need solid technology solutions in place that will givethem the best of the traditional voice world, coupled with the improved security,manageability and flexibility that IP telephony brings to the table.

To lead you on your way to migrating IP telephony, turn to the ShoreTel IP TelephonyExecutive Guide 2007. You’ll find the latest tips including answers on everything fromhow to prepare your enterprise for an IP telephony rollout and optimize your networkfor voice to making sure your IP telephony network can handle E911 and support thelatest security standards.

As these articles appeared in our recent 2006 newsletters, be sure to pay attention tosome of our readers’ favorites. “E-911 Systems Enable Communications Safeguards forVoIP” shows you how to provide your employees with a vital communications link in theevent of an emergency. In “Disaster Recovery: Planning for the Unthinkable” you willlearn how to craft a disaster recovery plan for your IP telephony systems. And “MakeYour Converged Network a Power Play,” discusses in detail the different architecturalpossibilities for your IP telephony infrastructure.

A smooth migration from legacy voice to IP telephony is the key to success. Learneverything you need to get started at the IP Telephony Executive Guide 2007. And ifyou would like to receive ShoreTel’s monthly newsletter with best practices forplanning, deploying and managing IP telephony, please sign up at www.shoretel.comor e-mail info@shoretel.com.

Thank you,The ShoreTel Team

IP Telephony Executive Guide: Best Practices for 2007

Table of Contents

Get Ready for IP Telephony

• Is Your Network Ready for Prime Time? ............4

• Preparing for Your IP Telephony Rollout ............6

• Make Your Converged Network Architecture

a Power Play ..........................................................8

• High-Performance Network Delivers

Rock-Solid VoIP ..................................................10

• When Best Effort Isn’t Good Enough:

Creating a Comprehensive Support ................12

• VoIP Disaster Recovery Strategies: Planning for

the Unthinkable ..................................................14

Build the Network Infrastructure

• Prioritizing Voice Quality ....................................16

• Optimizing VoIP Over Your WAN......................18

• MPLS: Convergence’s Class Act ........................20

• IP Telephony Security: Mitigating Risk..............22

• An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a

Pound of Cure: The Case for Ongoing

Network Assessments ........................................24

Deploy VoIP Applications

• E911 Systems Enable Communication

Safeguards for VoIP ............................................26

• Free to Move with Wireless Voice ....................28

• On the Record with Call Recording ................31

Explore ShoreTel Solutions

• ShoreTel’s Customer Satisfaction Manifesto ....33

• ShoreTel’s New IP Phones Offer Desirable

Features, Best-in-Class Communications ........35

• ShoreTel 6.1 Adds Key System, SIP,

International Benefits..........................................37

• ShoreTel Enhances Collaboration with

Converged Conferencing ..................................39

• Collaboration Pays..............................................41

• ShoreTel Contact Center 4.6 Makes

the Right Call for IP Call Centers ......................43

• Support Services Foster Success ......................45

Is Your Network Ready for Prime Time?4

IP telephony promises businesses a compellingcombination of features, efficiency, manageabilityand cost savings. Not surprisingly, IP PBX sales aresoaring. However, too often companies make theleap to convergence without being absolutelycertain that their network infrastructures are readyto handle the special requirements of voice. Theless-than-prepared find unpleasant surpriseswaiting for them after deployment, ranging frompoor voice quality to overall network instability.

That said, there are enough success stories to fuelthe rising demand for IP PBX solutions. So what isthe secret to success? In a nutshell: networkpreparedness. The best IP telephony networkimplementations start with a complete networkreadiness assessment and continue with ongoingnetwork assessments.

A Required AssessmentTony van Kessel, Regional Manager with ViolaNetworks, a network testing and diagnosticsvendor, says that ShoreTel is a leader in theadvancement of IP telephony readiness. ShoreTelrequires all of its customers to perform acomplete pre-deployment network, which usesthe Viola Networks NetAlly assessment tools. Thenetwork assessment can be performed by areseller or by ShoreTel Professional Services.

To accomplish this test assessment, agents aredeployed at critical points on the customernetwork. The assessment is typically conductedover five business days. When the assessment iscomplete, the reseller or ShoreTel ProfessionalServices prepares a report identifying what, ifanything, must be done to make the infrastructureVoIP-ready.

The network assessment determines if:

• The necessary network protocols and standardsare supported

• The infrastructure is architecturally compatiblewith VoIP traffic

• Installed WAN technologies are compatible withVoIP

• The network has the capacity to support theplanned VoIP installation

• Delay, loss and jitter are below the acceptablethresholds for toll-quality voice

The reason for the requirement is simple—mostnetworks haven’t carried time-sensitive voicetraffic and aren’t designed to handle the uniquedemands that voice places on the infrastructure.Unlike data, voice is not tolerant of delays and thelatency that’s inherent on a wide-area network.

“VoIP is a real-time application,” says van Kessel.“150 milliseconds of delay is noticeable asdegraded voice quality. You don’t have the luxuryof letting packets zing all over the Internet atwhatever path is the best one at the moment andthen arrive at the far end in their own time andget reassembled. Voice has to move in real time.”

Tuned for PerformanceIn practical terms, companies must ensure thattheir switches and routers prioritize voice trafficover less delay-sensitive data traffic. “You want togive higher priority to voice packets than email,”van Kessel says.

The assessment process starts with collectinginventory information and other configurationinformation, including connections betweenoffices. This information can be assembled froma questionnaire, a detailed network diagram, aswell as automated discovery.

In addition to technical information, the surveytakes in business-oriented information, such ascall volume information between branch offices. “You need to understand what is important to

Is Your Network Ready for Prime Time?Most networks need some fine-tuning before they are prepared to handle IP telephony. Take some simple steps to test your network’s readiness for voice before deployment,and you can ensure exceptional voice quality and a successful deployment.

keeping your business runningsmoothly,” van Kessel says. For instance, if it is crucial thatheadquarters talk to all of itsbranch offices simultaneously,a company needs to verifythat its network can deliveracceptable voice quality forthe appropriate number ofconcurrent calls.

The expected call volumeindicates the traffic volumes thenetwork will need to handle tomeet business requirements.van Kessel says this historicalinformation often comes fromthe call records database,which provides details on howoften branches talk to eachother, to headquarters and to customers andpartners. Using this data, the test is set up tosimulate the call volume and measure voicequality. From there, you can determine theneeded network capacity or diagnose problems,thus ensuring a successful IP telephonydeployment.

All of this testing can be performed remotely.“Our system steps through an increasing numberof concurrent calls,” van Kessel says. “Thisprocess can be done without any real-timeinteraction with people at the company.”

A Process, Not a ProjectBecause networks are dynamic, van Kesselemphasizes the importance of reassessing thenetwork to get in front of problems that couldstop voice traffic in its tracks.

The two most common problems are related toswitches—duplex mismatches and speed settingdifferences. van Kessel cites these problems as aprime example of why businesses need tocontinually evaluate their networks.

Ideally, when network devices are connected,whether it’s switch to switch or switch to router,they must have the same settings and speeds to

communicate. In a duplexmismatch, the settings aren’tin synch. One device may be set to operate in full duplexand another may be set to runin half duplex. Similarly, in aspeed setting difference, a10Mbit/s Ethernet switch that’splugged into a router or anotherEthernet switch capable oftransmitting traffic at 100 Mbit/s,the two will communicate, butat the lower speed.

These problems can crop upover time. If one LAN switch ispowered down, it probably won’t auto-negotiate the correctsettings with its neighbor whenit comes back up. Anything that

causes a LAN switch to go down–whether it ismaintenance, a thunderstorm or fluctuations inthe AC power—can result in a mismatch when theswitch recovers, notes van Kessel.

For this reason, companies should periodicallyreassess their network’s ability to carry voice toavoid the kind of performance degradation thatcan level the network.

“The pre-assessment is great,” van Kessel says.“You do your diligence, you design a network, youtest it fully, everybody tips the champagne, andyou walk out of there. And the next day there is athunderstorm. Your network is totally buttoneddown only when you continuously assess it.”

Select a vendor that not only does athorough pre-assessment but also offerspost implementation options like system healthchecks and network monitoring services.

ResourcesLearn more about ShoreTel ImplementationServices.

Learn more about ShoreTel System Monitor.

Is Your Network Ready for Prime Time?5

The best IP

telephony network

implementations start

with a complete

network readiness

assessment and

continue with

ongoing network

assessments.

Preparing for Your IP Telephony Rollout66

You’ve heard about the benefits of IP telephony.You’ve done your research and secured funding.As you plan your organization’s cutover to IPtelephony, keep in mind that not only are youpulling out your old PBX boxes, but you must takea proactive stance to ensure your networkinfrastructure is ready to handle the load you’ll beputting on it.

Know Your EnvironmentFirst, note that an IP telephony solution issomewhat less forgiving than a traditional PBX-based phone system. In a PBX environment, eventaking into consideration small problems withcables and hubs or the use of lower-gradeequipment, “things will generally work finewithout an IP system in place,” says MichaelLandry, Manager of Professional Services atShoreTel. However, “you will find that anynetworking issues that exist at the LAN or WANlevels will be exposed very quickly when you putan IP phone system in place.” Discovering theseproblems following the deployment of your IPtelephony solution, Landry warns, is about theworst possible time you can uncover them.

To that end, he advocates designating an ITstaffer to go through the network well before anyIP telephony equipment is installed, inspectingthe organization’s cable plant and Ethernetswitches in order to identify problem areas. It’salso well worth considering the purchase of Layer3 switches to not only bump up the quality of your

LAN infrastructure but enable administrators tosegment voice and data traffic for improvedperformance and security.

Perform a Network AssessmentAnother good pre-implementation move:Do a network assessment. The network assess-ment can be performed by a reseller or byShoreTel Professional Services. To accomplish thisassessment, agents are deployed at critical pointson the customer network to simulate transferringfrom agent to agent. The agents report back tothe server, which will compile the results overseveral days to paint a picture of the overallnetwork performance, smoking out weak spots orunusual traffic patterns. “You might find that on aTuesday at 5 p.m. there is a spike in activity, andthe performance takes a dive,” Landry notes.

To understand the reasons for this detective work, consider the following scenario. “If it takesyou 20 seconds to receive an email, and not10 seconds, you don’t really care or even knowthat it happened,” he says. “But if you get asignificant amount of delay on a phone call, thedelay will definitely impact your voice qualitytremendously.” Identifying pain points ahead ofyour deployment can help you iron them out priorto the rollout of an IP telephony solution. ShoreTelworks with more than 300 partners who conductthese pre-deployment network assessments aswell as implement IP telephony gear.

Preparing for Your IP Telephony RolloutAssessing your network environment, training your users and administrative staff andcounting up your cost savings are all critical steps for organizations to take as theyprepare to deploy an IP PBX.

Following the deployment,“if things have gone right,users won’t really see anydifference” in the way thephones look and work.However, organizations thatchoose to deploy ShoreTelPersonal Call Manager will haveaccess to a new batch of value-added features, such as on-the-fly conferencing; the FindMefeature, which lets callerssearch for users at multiplenumbers; and integration withMicrosoft Outlook.

Calculate Your Cost SavingsOn the back end, some ofthe expense of maintaining aphone system may decrease,Landry notes. If the IP phonesare being rolled out acrossmultiple locations, the company will likely get theadvantage of being able to consolidate trunksinto a common branch.

More meaningful cost savings may accrue in termsof reduced administration costs, though. “Youdon’t have the headache of managing multiplesystems, or for hiring multiple administrators whoare responsible for the individual branches,” hesays. “One or two people can manage the entiresystem from a common point.”

Cross-Train Your IT and Telephony StaffIn terms of day-to-day management, IT andtelephony staff members need to undergo a shiftin the way that they think about the parts of the

telephone and computers forwhich they are responsible; inthe IP telephony world, bothgroups of staffers bring value tothe table.

“You’ve got two camps: the ITguys that have already dealt withthe networking side of theenvironment and now have tolearn about telephony, and thetelephony guy who now has tolearn and understand the dataside of things and how it impactstheir voice system,” Landry says.The second group tends to be“good at configuring thosefeatures end users will use,though they may not have astrong background in data-switching.”

Landry recommends that training for all takes aholistic view by including information about what’sinvolved in making IP phones work within thelarger context of an organization’scommunications network.

“The whole idea is that you are replacing a phonesystem and making it seamless to the end user,but reaping the benefits and the performancegains on the back end,” he concludes.

Preparing for Your IP Telephony Rollout7

Do a network

assessment before

you deploy your IP

PBX. With the right

tools, you can

simulate the process

of voice calls to

ensure the best

quality experience

when you go live.

Make Your Converged Network Architecture a Power Play8

Choice can be a wonderful thing, but too manyoptions add a layer of complexity to even themost straightforward projects. When businessesmigrate to IP telephony, they need to considerdifferent architectural approaches to building aconverged network than they did when voice anddata ran on separate infrastructures. There aresome clear differences in converged networkarchitectures and at least one choice that helpsmake network planning easier and the outcomemore successful.

Three Architectural OptionsBusinesses can take three general approaches tobuilding a converged network, each with varyinglevels of actual convergence, according to PeterNewton, director of business products fornetworking vendor NETGEAR.

Newton describes the most conservativeapproach as the “not-so-converged network.” Inthis design, the only convergence of voice anddata traffic is at the network core. Voice and datatraffic run on separate network equipment andcabling. However, companies incur costs fromadditional switches and cabling that isunnecessary if they use a more advanced design.

A more converged architecture is to use VirtualLANs (VLANs). With VLANs, the network isconfigured through software so that the samenetwork hardware can logically have two separatenetworks, one for voice and one for data. Thevoice and data traffic are separated in differentVLANs, so the time-sensitive voice traffic is notimpacted by large file transfers and other datatraffic. In this manner, similar types of devices,such as IP phones, can be in physically differentplaces, but still part of the same logical network.

In the most converged architectural option, trafficis handled by using priority tags within thepackets themselves. The switch uses tags todetermine the order of precedence to keep voiceand data traffic flowing. Newton recommends thatmost businesses using VLANs should deploy aconverged network, because it allows forsegregation of the traffic to ensure priority isgiven to voice and other applications that requireit. In a fully converged architecture, there’s a riskthat the applications that need priority may not begiven it due to congestion of various types ofhigh-priority traffic, which could lead to poorvoice quality and other performance issues.

“If you use a VLAN-supported model, you won’toverbuild your network and don’t pay twice to getthe functionality,” Newton says. “VLANs work verywell by segmenting the traffic within the switch,and keeping the voice and data traffic separate.”

For example, a company can use a 24-portswitch with two uplinks so that one uplink isdedicated to voice traffic and the other handlesdata. Thus, there is no contention on the links tothe backbone. Then the company can use half ofthe ports for phones and the other half for PCs.The phone ports on the VLAN associated with thevoice uplink and the computer ports can beassociated with the voice uplink.

“By doing that, you only buy one switch, butyou have the benefits of two switches,” Newtonsays. “And your voice traffic doesn’t get boggeddown behind a file transfer or some otherbursty application.”

Make Your Converged Network Architecturea Power PlayBusinesses have several architectural options for building an IP telephony network.Here are key choices to consider when supporting converged communications.

Consider Business ContinuityA critical element in ensuringa reliable IP telephonyinfrastructure is the ability toguarantee the continuity ofdata and voice applications inthe event of a system-widefailure or other event. At themost fundamental level,Newton points out this meansmaking sure IP phones,computers and other networkdevices have a reliable powersource if an electrical outage ordisruption occurs. Given theincreasing demand placed onthe United States’ electricalgrid and the dependence of IPphones on electricity, companiesneed to be especially mindful of powerconsiderations.

Using Power over Ethernet (PoE), which usesstandard twisted-pair cable to convey electricityto IP phones, wireless access points and otherdevices, is ideal. PoE isn’t a new idea. Utilitieshave been putting power and voice over the samelines for decades, but until recently it wasn’twidely used for data networks. PoE technology ishighly reliable and an ideal way for businesses tosave on their communications infrastructures bytransmitting power and data over the same wire.

“When deploying VoIP, werecommend Power over Ethernetswitches, because it allows IPphones to be powered reliably if local power is lost,” Newtonsays. By using centrally locateduninterruptible power supplies(UPS) to provide backup powerto PoE switches, companiescan make sure their operations,including voice communications,remain available in the event ofan outage.

Solutions From NETGEARNETGEAR makes a range ofPoE switches that fit the bill. The company offers switcheswith four to 48 ports that are

suitable for enterprises, branch offices and smallbusinesses. The NETGEAR ProSafe PoE switchessupport multiple VLANs so businesses can takeadvantage of that architectural approach.NETGEAR also promises redundancy withQuality of Service (QoS).

Power over Ethernet also helps businessessimplify IP phone handset installations becausephones can be connected to the power sourceand the data link using one cable. The ShoreTelIP phones plug into the NETGEAR PoE switchwhile computers are connected to an Ethernetport on the phone.

Make Your Converged Network Architecture a Power Play9

Business can take

three approaches to

building a converged

network, each with

varying levels of

actual convergence.

High-Performance Network Delivers Rock-Solid VoIP10

To deliver the call quality you promised users andthe reliable voice service you presented to yourexecutive management, you must have a reliable,highly available VoIP network. The underlyingnetwork foundation will make—or break—yourVoIP deployment. A solid network infrastructureensures that your VoIP solution can meet thebusiness needs of tomorrow.

Foundry Networks, a ShoreTel partner, designsand manufactures high-performance enterprisenetworking solutions that help enterprises deliverreliable, secure and high bandwidth IP serviceswith assured performance levels. Well known asan innovator of industry-leading technology,Foundry has led large and small VoIP deploy-ments within multiple customer environments.This experience gives the Foundry team a uniqueinsight into the key factors that ensure that a VoIProllout delivers on its promises.

Gary Hemminger, director of product marketing atFoundry, describes a reliable VoIP network as onethat consistently delivers high-quality calls that areequal to—or better than—traditional time divisionmultiplexing (TDM)- based systems. To deploy aVoIP network that performs at this level,Hemminger recommends that your networkinginfrastructure include these key components: • integrated quality of service (QoS) for superior

voice calls • integrated power management to support

IP phones and ensure network uptime• redundant system architecture for consistent

network availability• embedded security to protect the network • easy migration path to wireless mobility

Before deploying a VoIP network, Hemmingeradvises that you interview more than onenetworking manufacturer and test the routersand switches to ensure that the devices deliverthe reliability at your desired cost. Anotherconsideration is open standards. “Proprietarysystems cost much more in the medium to longterm,” says Hemminger.

Network Convergence with Foundry and ShoreTel High-performance products, open-standard support, ease of management andquality customer service are characteristics thatboth Foundry and ShoreTel share. Hemmingerattributes a portion of the partners’ success to thesolutions’ ease of use.

“Other products are difficult to set up andmanage. Foundry switches and the ShoreTelplatform can be set up and running in no time,”he explains. “They are high-quality productsthat have a nice form factor and the flexibilityto support traditional and IP phones at areasonable cost.”

Customers are already leveraging the capabilitiesof this powerful duo. McKenzie Sports Equipment,Mortgage Information Systems of Cleveland andRHI are experiencing the benefits of ShoreTel'sinnovation-leading IP-PBX and Foundry's award-winning FastIron switches.

At Mortgage Information Services (MIS), thecompany added Foundry FastIron switches tosupport the increasing need for power overEthernet (PoE). MIS has been making latency-freecalls over the ShoreTel IP telephony solution

High-Performance Network Delivers Rock-Solid VoIPQuality voice calls depend on a reliable network foundation. ShoreTel partner FoundryNetworks explains the architecture, components and must-have features that willdeliver the call quality your users expect. As a bonus, Foundry offers VoIP marketpredictions and a sneak peek at upcoming feature enhancements to its switch family.

successfully for the past fouryears. As the company replacedits analog phones with morefeature-rich IP phones, it neededa network that delivered PoEto keep the IP phones inworking order.

McKenzie Sports migratedits voice and network infra-structure to ShoreTel andFoundry simultaneously (See the customer case study “VoIPHits the Bull’s Eye for SportingGoods Supplier’s Call Center.”The rapidly expanding businesschose Foundry and ShoreTelbecause both solutions arescalable and have open-standardsupport. As McKenzie Sports added officelocations and phones, Foundry and ShoreTelcould accommodate the company’s future growth.

VoIP Market ProjectionsFoundry envisions an extremely positive future forVoIP. Hemminger forecasts that VoIP will be a keynetworking infrastructure investment by 2008 asmore enterprises retire their PBXs for IP andhybrid PBXs. “By 2008, VoIP will be mainstream.VoIP will be a dominant enterprise application,and every company will be making calls over IP or planning to deploy VoIP,” he says.

The customers’ decision tomigrate to VoIP will not be basedon cost, he adds, but companieswill shift to VoIP because of theapplications that they gain. “Theability to integrate the computerand phone so that while you areworking in a document you caneasily call or email a personusing your computer is verycompelling,” he says.

As Foundry looks to a futurewhere VoIP reigns, thenetworking manufacturer intendsto add feature enhancementsthat will add security, ease ofmanagement and reliability inthe VoIP infrastructure.

New features on the drawing board includesupport for link layer discovery protocol (LLDP)and security features to prevent malicious VoIPattacks. Using LLDP, the Foundry devices will beable to automatically find phones connected tothe network. The new security features willprevent hackers from hijacking VoIP calls andother network threats.

These types of technical innovations willfurther gird the network infrastructure, ensuringthat the network delivers VoIP calls consistentlyand reliably.

High-Performance Network Delivers Rock-Solid VoIP11

A reliable VoIP

network consistently

delivers high-quality

calls that are equal

to—or better than—

traditional TDM-

based systems.

Comprehensive Support Strategy12

The most common cause of problems on an IPtelephony network is change. Whether companiesare a sprawling multi-site enterprise or a smallfirm, most organizations regularly add users,applications and even locations. Any time anorganization adds or changes the networkconfiguration, there can be a domino effect thatdisrupts data and voice services. And whencompanies have an urgent problem with their IPphone system, they often discover belatedly thatthey don’t have an adequate IP telephony supportstrategy in place to assure business continuity.

A comprehensive support strategy for IPtelephony has four crucial elements, accordingto Barbara Bjornstad, senior manager of installedbase marketing for ShoreTel. These elementsinclude: effective administrator and end usertraining, high quality telephone technical support,a way to repair failed hardware expeditiously anda mechanism for software upgrades.

Too often, a comprehensive support strategy isan after-thought. Creating the right IP telephonysupport strategy for your business requires thatIT administrators ask themselves key questionsbefore they deploy the IP phone system. Forinstance, how will I get my system administratorsand users trained? Who will have the technicalexpertise to answer an IT administrator’squestion? How will the company make thetransition from one software version to anotheras transparently as possible?

Make sure your IP telephony provider offers a fullcomplement of training for both administratorsand end users. The IP telephony provider shouldprovide a mixture of live and self-paced training inboth face-to-face and web venues.

Considering how your organization will isolateproblems with the IP telephony network is criticalbefore you plug in a single new phone. The IPphone system will generally come with a basicwarranty, which protects your business fromequipment defects. However, that warranty aloneis not sufficient for organizations that consider thephone as a lifeline for business communications.

If there is a hardware defect, most warrantiesrequire the IT administrator pack up the failedequipment, ship it to the manufacturer and waitwhile the vendor repairs it on a best-effort basis.The process could take weeks. But mostorganizations simply can’t tolerate days of outageon their phone system. Many companies stockspares of critical equipment, but having a supportservices agreement with the vendor assures you ofa speedy response.

Having an extended services contract is also vitalto minimizing business-crippling downtime.“Having a service contract with your IP telephonymakes you a top priority,” Bjornstad says. “Thevendor commits to you in terms of service-levelagreements as compared to best-efforts responseprovided for non-contract requests. The resourcesare already in place when a problem occurs, whichspeeds problem resolution.”

When Best Effort Isn’t Good Enough: Creating a Comprehensive Support Strategyfor Your IP Phone SystemCompanies often discover the hard way that having an equipment warranty isn’tenough to ensure maximum availability of their new IP PBX phone systems. So whatare the essential components of an effective VoIP support strategy?

Having a support services contract with your IPphone vendor can also give you telephone accessto experienced systems engineers who can helpyour IT team identify the source of a problem soit can be resolved quickly, with minimal pain tothe organization. These same experts can beinvaluable when you make changes or upgradesto your IP telephony network.

Also consider how the IP telephony vendorwill provide software upgrades so that yourorganization can take advantage of capabilitiessuch as web conferencing and integration withyour critical business applications.

Before selecting an extended service contract,Bjornstad advises organizations to do theirhomework, including asking the IP phone systemmanufacturer about key statistics like time-to-close ratios and customer satisfactions rankings.Looking for independent research on customer

satisfaction from firms like Nemertes Researchwill also help organizations gauge how wellan IP telephony vendor performs againstits competitors.

“Every customer should talk with their resellerabout support, because their reseller can offerthem a number of options for structuring aservices contract,” Bjornstad says. It is alsoimportant to choose an IP telephony vendorthat offers a full portfolio of assessment,implementation and optimization services. These proactive services give customers an extralevel of control by addressing issues before theyimpact the system and ensuring that customersget the maximum benefit from all includedproduct features.

Comprehensive Support Strategy13

Your IP telephony provider should offer afull complement of live and self-paced training

in face-to-face and web venues.

Considering VoIP? Don’t Forget To Plan for the Unthinkable 14

Before you plug in your new IP phone system, youshould establish a plan to restore voice and datacommunications in the event of a widespreadpower outage, natural disaster or terrorist attack.Being prepared for a disaster is more than justgood business planning. Some outages are minor,but more severe outages can put your companyout of business. And if you are a public companyor are in a heavily regulated industry, businesscontinuity may be required by law.

What’s Your Recovery Strategy?Begin your disaster recovery strategy with athorough assessment of your business risks,including an analysis of the most likely riskscenarios. As part of your disaster recovery plan,you must consider how your business will servecustomers, how you will restore computer andphone service, and even who should come towork and who should stay home.

You need to establish a backup strategy for yourdata and voice systems, as well as a documentedplan that details the steps to restoring service,and when to escalate at critical decision points.Knowing what hardware and software you need torestore voice and data communications—andhaving it at a backup site in advance—is criticalfor a speedy recovery.

Organizations with multiple locations shouldconsider where they will locate their backup IPtelephony systems, according to Keith Ennenga,technical marketing engineer at ShoreTel. “Ideally,the backup location has dedicated networkinginfrastructure that connects back to the primaryVoIP site,” he says. The secondary location mightbe in another town, state or country, dependingon your organization’s size, clients and businesscoverage area.

If you have the occasion to need the backup site,you can be assured that key capabilities of theShoreTel IP phone system remain intact during theswitch from the primary server to the backupserver, Ennenga notes. The ShoreTel system is afully distributed IP phone system with no singlepoint of failure. Call control is distributed tointelligent gateways—called voice switches—andvoice applications, including voicemail andautomated attendant, run on standard serverhardware from anywhere on your IP network. Theresult is a single-image system across allgeographies, with complete feature transparency.

The switchover takes seconds or minutesdepending on the network configuration andwhere the primary and secondary ShoreTel sitesare geographically located. “If you run the primaryserver in San Francisco and the secondary serveris located in a nearby branch office like San Jose,and you have a dedicated network pipe betweenthem, the cutover could happen in seconds,”Ennenga says. “If your secondary server were inNew York, though, it might take a few minutesbecause of the physical distance and the type ofnetwork in place.”

If a disaster or outage prevents workers fromgoing into the office where their usual ShoreTelphones are located, ShoreTel’s Office Anywherefeature simplifies the process of workingremotely—however long it lasts. With OfficeAnywhere, “Users can use any other telephoneon or off the network, including a cell phone,”Ennenga says. “Users simply log into theirvoicemail and assign their internal ShoreTelextension to an external phone number. It’sthat easy.”

Not only can workers use all the ShoreTel featuresthey rely on, but they can also launch Personal

Considering VoIP? Don’t Forget To Planfor the Unthinkable Anxiety-inducing though it may be to contemplate, organizations migratingto VoIP must build a plan to restore voice and data communications after awidespread disaster.

Call Manager and access theirunified messaging features,phone numbers and performcall-control functions like transferand conference. In such ascenario, the PSTN handles thevoice calls, but the network stillsends status information to theShoreTel phone system.

After the HurricaneAt least one ShoreTel customerhad an all-too-painful reminderof why a disaster recoverystrategy is so crucial. Balch &Bingham LLP, a law firm withmultiple offices—including onein Gulfport, Miss.—implementeda ShoreTel IP phone system inearly 2005. Following 2004’sHurricane Ivan, when at least oneof the firm’s offices closed due toflooding and its old phone system had to bemoved to another floor, the company deviseda disaster-recovery plan that included a moveto VoIP.

Perhaps the ultimate test of that strategy camein August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina wreakedits deadly havoc on the Gulf Coast. Balch &Bingham’s Gulfport office sustained major stormdamage, and worse, about 20 employees’ homeswere destroyed.

In terms of restoring business connectivity, thefirm fared better. The ShoreWare database androuting information were loaded into a new server,and within a day voice and data communicationswere back online.

“Events like Katrina tend to makepeople think more about disasterrecovery,” Ennenga says.“Companies considering a voiceor data network overhaul notonly begin to ask toughquestions such as, ‘How muchwould it cost us if this locationwent down?’ but they also beginto think of disaster recovery asan insurance plan.”

Get Help from Global SupportShoreTel’s Global SupportServices team works hard tounderstand a customer’sbusiness model as it plots out adisaster-recovery strategy,Ennenga says. “Global SupportServices approaches it from aproductivity standpoint,” he says.“They try to understand the

customer environment and business requirements.”By analyzing a customer’s existing network, fromthe current number of calls to future bandwidthrequirements, ShoreTel’s aim is to create anetwork with more resiliency and availability, thebetter to withstand manmade or natural disastersof any kind.

For more information on ShoreTel’s approach todesigning VoIP networks that can recover quicklyfrom minor outages and major events, see“Building Reliable IP Telephony Systems,“ awhitepaper by Ed Basart, ShoreTel’s CTO. Basartlays out some of the best practices inherent indesigning a VoIP system that can deliver superioruptime, use network redundancy in the mosteffective manner, and hold applications to thesame standards as network hardware.

Considering VoIP? Don’t Forget To Plan for the Unthinkable 15

Establish a backup

strategy for your

data and voice

systems that includes

a documented

plan that details the

steps to restoring

service and when to

escalate at critical

decision points.

Prioritizing Voice Quality16

IP telephony’s appeal is undeniable. Convergenceoffers a compelling list of benefits to businessesrunning the gamut from cost savings to portability.The result is an explosion in the number of IPtelephony implementations. Yet as promising asthe technology is, running voice over the same IPnetwork designed to carry bursty data trafficposes distinct performance challenges.

Simply put, unlike the circuit-switched networksthat traditionally carried voice, IP networks don’tinherently give voice the priority it needs. IPnetworks operate in an almost round-robin style,transferring data at whatever speed is necessary.Each user gets the bandwidth they need totransmit, though not necessarily immediatelywhen they request it.

Voice not only requires sizable bandwidth, butalso the traffic needs to be moved in real time.A robust IP telephony deployment requires theability to prioritize voice traffic—or else yourorganization runs the risk of distorted voicequality or prematurely dropped calls.

“With data, it doesn’t matter if a packet comesthrough now, a half second from now or twoseconds from now,” says Greg Iverson, executivevice president of business development forKentrox. “Data is not real-time traffic.”

Quality of service (QoS) can be added to the IPnetwork to provide the prioritization that voicerequires. QoS is a proven solution, and largeorganizations have used it for years. However, withthe advent of QoS solutions that are easier to use,QoS is within the reach of the small- and medium-sized business.

The Bandwidth MythSo why not simply throw more bandwidth at theproblem? Iverson says that it is a myth thatbulking up bandwidth delivers voice quality. Whena user visits a graphic-intensive Web site ordownloads a large email, all of the available

bandwidth is consumed, says Iverson. The neteffect on the voice traffic during these data-intensive periods is that the voice call is distortedor dropped. QoS also helps businesses minimizebandwidth costs by better allocating thebandwidth they already have.

“The right answer is to deliver comfortablelistening quality,” Iverson says. “The way to dothat is to put quality of service in the network.QoS helps the IP network behave more like atraditional telephony network.”

QoS performs something of a balancing act. Itminimizes delay, manages the disparities in delay,and manages packet loss for high-priority traffic,like voice, without jeopardizing the performanceof lower priority applications. So an administratorcan determine, for instance, that voice gets toppriority and always has access to a certain amountof bandwidth, while lower priority traffic, like emailand Internet traffic, use the rest of the bandwidthas it is available.

With its Q-series appliances, ShoreTel partnerKentrox offers a snap-in QoS solution. TheKentrox appliances sit at either end of the WAN link, prioritizing voice traffic delivery andproviding traffic management information. Iversonsays an administrator can configure the devices inliterally minutes.

Prioritizing Voice QualityQuality of service is essential for a high performing converged network. With today’seasy-to-manage solutions, businesses of all sizes can keep voice and data trafficrunning smoothly over their IP networks.

Figure 1: Lack of QoS support results inunacceptable VoIP performance.

Using IP DiffServ or administrator-specifiedpolicies, the Q-Series router classifies trafficbefore putting it into the appropriately prioritizedqueue, so that it can be transmitted. The Q-Seriesshapes traffic to a specified bandwidth so you canallocate how much bandwidth each type ofapplication uses.

The Kentrox appliances are easy to manage, evenfor those IT administrators with little voiceexperience. “We built all of the graphics and all ofthe utilities for managing QoS right into theproduct,” Iverson says. For those administratorswho do want to manage QoS from a separatemanagement console, the Kentrox appliances areSNMP-manageable.

Kentrox’s Q-Series solutions provide graphicalreports that help administrators chart perform-ance over time and troubleshoot problems quicklyand accurately. Iverson says that if, for example,there is a performance glitch in the middle of thenight, the administrator can look at traffic activityearlier in the day to see if something in thenetwork is not tuned properly or if some otheraberration occurred.

Plan for Success Companies should plan their QoS strategiesbefore they cut over to convergence. Too oftenbusinesses have severe voice quality issues beforethey recognize the need for QoS or delay theVoIP deployment because they think QoS will betoo complex.

Kentrox defies the perception that QoS is toocomplex to setup and manage. “Our productsare all plug and play. Once you connect them, you can see an instantaneous change in thequality of the network,” Iverson says.

Prioritizing Voice Quality17

A robust IP telephony deployment requires the ability toprioritize voice traffic—or else your organization runs the risk

of distorted voice quality or prematurely dropped calls.

Figure 2: Prioritization ensures high-quality VoIPperformance.

Optimizing VoIP Over the WAN18

Convergence projects are fast-tracking beyondthe pilot stage in many businesses, with VoIPinstallations leading the charge. Two-thirds ofsurveyed enterprises have moved past limited IPtelephony deployments, according to NemertesResearch. There’s good reason why. By providingnew opportunities for companies to better servecustomers, partners and suppliers, convergingvoice and data onto a single network offers acompetitive advantage.

Multi-channel customer management andadvanced data analytics in the call center, forexample, enable companies to serveconstituencies as they prefer to be served, and topersonalize the experience while increasing cross-selling opportunities. Corporate leaders clearlysee the value in using convergence as a businessinitiative, according to a speech given by EricShepcaro, vice president of business andconsumer strategy and development for AT&T, atITExpo West in October. A survey conducted byAT&T reveals that 89 percent of CEOs and CIOsbelieve that network convergence is critical toachieving organizational, strategic IT and businessgoals, Shepcaro said, which is up from 45 percentin 2005.

But as businesses expand VoIP deploymentsbeyond the campus to remote call centers andbranch offices, they’re bumping up againstlimited-capacity WAN links. Latency, jitter andpacket loss, which are tolerable in dataapplications running over the WAN, are killers forreal-time voice applications. Simply upgradingnetwork bandwidth is not the solution, costsaside: You simply can’t change the laws of physicsthat result in latency on the WAN. Without theability to prioritize voice traffic over less time-sensitive data traffic, businesses risk sacrificing thequality of voice service — as well as theirrelationships with customers and partners.

Meeting Expectations“Voice is one of the most strategic applications,”says David Colodny, director of businessdevelopment at Juniper Networks. “People havecertain expectations about voice.” Juniper is aShoreTel solution partner. Latency that haltsconversation between a customer and servicerepresentative or packet losses that break upconversations create frustration for the client—possibly right at the point where they may beinfluenced to make a purchasing decision or are inimmediate need of help.

Delivering a high-quality VoIP service across WANlinks actually is reliant upon optimizing all theother kinds of traffic competing for the samebandwidth, reducing latency, increasing WANthroughput and opening up more bandwidth forvoice services. (Voice traffic itself is already pre-compressed, though it is possible to compressheaders on that traffic—which can be significantas a percentage of total packet size—to furtherreduce total VoIP traffic.) Despite best efforts,congestion can still occur on the WAN link. That’swhen quality of service (QoS) rules come into playto ensure smooth end-to-end voice transmissions.

“You want to create as many unimpededbandwidth channels for voice traffic as you can,and then prioritize that traffic over other flows sothat it gets guaranteed bandwidth,” says Colodny.

Many organizations are turning to WANoptimization solutions to ensure that voice callsdon’t suffer from the latency inherent in the WAN link, by VoIP protocols themselves, or byjitter and packet loss, organizations should putin place a comprehensive WAN optimizationsolution. WAN optimization solutions typicallyinclude compression and caching for moreeffective use of available capacity, applicationcontrol for quality of service, and visibility forreal-time management.

WAN OptimizationAs businesses expand VoIP deployments beyond the enterprise campus to remote callcenters and branch offices, they’re bumping up against limited-capacity WAN links.They’re discovering that WAN acceleration solutions can open up a lot more capacityfor voice traffic.

To deliver toll-quality VoIP, acertain amount of bandwidthmust be allocated per officespecifically for VoIP – otherwisethe callers will hear degradedvoice quality or worse,experience a dropped call. VoIP requires about 15Kbps ofdedicated bandwidth per user.By deploying compressionsolutions, organizations canreduce the bandwidthconsumed by other enterprisetraffic, which can make roomfor VoIP.

Quality of service isn’t thezero-sum game it once was,in which one application wasprioritized over another. Moresophisticated solutions allowIT organizations to define QoSpolicies based on whichapplications are most critical atwhich locations. The JuniperNetworks WX and WXC application accelerationplatforms, for example, offer multiple prioritylevels for classifying application traffic such asvoice. QoS tools enable highly compressibleapplications to exceed throughput parameters,provided they do not impede on otherapplications’ guaranteed bandwidth.

The results of such compression and prioritizationcapabilities can be dramatic in terms of increasingexisting WAN capacity, achieving toll-qualityvoice, and multiplying VoIP call volume over theexisting WAN—not to mention the cost savingsachieved by avoiding a WAN upgrade.

Management’s a MainstayBut equally critical to successfully delivering VoIPservices across WANs is a robust and centralizedmanagement platform that provides real-timevisibility into traffic parameters, includingapplication-level views of WAN traffic and

utilization, compressionperformance, and the impactof QoS parameters. By under-standing how WAN links areused, businesses can anticipateproblems and head them offbefore they impact performance.

Indeed, in a recent NemertesResearch report, respondentswere asked to rank the featuresthey most wanted to see in aVoIP management tool. Highon the list were bandwidthutilization stats and QoS data(both real-time and historical),prompting Nemertes tocomment that the growingcomplexity of convergedinfrastructures is driving a needfor data not just about howapplications are consumingbandwidth, but how people areconsuming it as well.

The partnership of Juniper Networks and ShoreTelbrings together two leading performers well-equipped to deliver to enterprises an IP telephonysolution that will keep voice quality high, regard-less of network congestion. Given the critical roleconverged networks are playing, enterprises can’tafford not to have a sound platform.

After all, says Colodny, the future will bring newchallenges: “Even if you are doing all the correctthings around WAN optimization, you still need toconsider whether you’ll max out anytime soon asyou start to add more users and more VoIPchannels on the voice network.”

ResourcesDownload the VoIP solutions brief from JuniperNetworks and ShoreTel.

Optimizing VoIP Over the WAN19

Latency, jitter and

packet loss are

killers for real-time

voice applications.

Simply upgrading

network bandwidth

is not the solution.

You simply can’t

change the laws of

physics that result

in latency on

the WAN.

MPLS: Convergence’s Class Act20

Believe the hype: MPLS has finally arrived.Seventeen percent of enterprises finished anMPLS implementation in 2005, and another17 percent will wrap one up by the end of 2006,according to Forrester Research. What is drivingthis action after so many years of talk iswidespread carrier MPLS adoption. Serviceproviders like AT&T are building their managedservice portfolios around the promise ofmultiservice networks delivered via MPLS.

As carriers adopt MPLS in their core networks,enterprise businesses are getting access to thequality of service, scalability and the tightprotection that multi-protocol label switching(MPLS) has long promised. For businessesdeploying multi-site IP telephony networks, MPLSis the WAN technology of choice for cost-effectiveand secure integrated voice and data service.

Businesses can use MPLS to prioritize their WANtraffic end-to-end to ensure they get the level ofperformance demanded by time-sensitive voiceand other business-critical applications. MPLS hasa particular appeal for companies that are movingto convergence but want to keep expenses downwhile ensuring the best network performancepossible. Not only does an MPLS-based WANpromise the kinds of quality of service capabilitiesthat voice applications require to avoid lostpackets, distortion and dropped calls, but MPLSalso scales easily to support growing businesses.

Traditional private line and frame relay WANs use a hub-and-spoke architecture. Butbecause MPLS uses a peer-to-peer networkingarchitecture, each location can communicate to allother branch offices through just one connectionto the WAN cloud. That keeps capital equipmentcosts to a minimum. MPLS also delivers a highlevel of security to protect both voice anddata applications.

Priority OrderPart of the beauty of MPLS is that it removesmuch of the complexity that is associated withtraditional telecom network services. Now, insteadof needing a private line or frame relay networkto handle mission-critical applications like supplychain management or customer resourcemanagement (CRM) and a separate network forvoice, businesses can use a common managedcarrier service using the same network to transmitall their traffic across the WAN, says Rick Stein,Executive Director of Business Voice over IPProduct Management for AT&T.

Stein says the customer can use one commonnetwork and just assign different classes ofservices to different applications based on priority.For example, voice applications would beassigned Class of Service 1 for real-time delivery.Video, enterprise resource planning (ERP) or other mission-critical applications that requirenear real-time could be assigned to Class ofService 2. And email and Internet traffic would beassigned a lower priority.

To signify to WAN devices what class of service aparticular application should receive on the WAN,Label Edge Routers (LERs) issue an identifier thatincludes information from the routing table entry,such as destination address, bandwidth, andsource address. The identifiers—or labels—areinstrumental in maintaining security by hiding theactual IP addresses and other information aboutthe packet stream. While this makes securitycomparable to the protection provided by framerelay or ATM, MPLS doesn’t guard the packetcontents within the packets.

Many Happy ReturnsSo how can an effectively managed MPLS-basedVoIP service benefit a business’ bottom line andhelp improve corporate-wide productivity? At themost basic level, consolidating applications onto a

MPLS: Convergence’s Class ActThe right managed MPLS service gives businesses the quality, scalability and securityneeded to support exceptional IP telephony network performance. But buyers beware:All services are not created equal.

single network saves companiesthe cost of capital equipment,management expenses, andbandwidth. But that isn’t theonly cost benefit that comes asa byproduct of consolidatingtraffic that otherwise might haveto run across multiple networksonto a single infrastructure.

In managed VoIP services suchas AT&T’s, edge devices rely oncompression technology thatfits more high priority voicepackets onto the network thana frame relay or private linenetwork, thus saving bandwidthwithout sacrificing quality. MPLSalso helps companies tap all thecutting-edge IP telephonyfeatures that have such a broadappeal to businesses that arelooking to convergence to improve theircorporate productivity.

The benefits of MPLS are many. Stein points out that AT&T’s VoIP service supports things likenumber portability and “find me, follow me.” Thishelps one employee locate another fast and withminimal hassle.

“With new technologies coming, employees have the ability to go into a phone directory andsee not only the names and numbers in thatdirectory,” says Stein, “They can also see wherethat person is and to which device he or she iscurrently connected. They can click on that personor number in the directory and be connected.”

At Your ServiceMPLS promises a host of benefits to companiesmaking the move to VoIP, but businesses shouldproceed with caution when it comes to selecting acarrier. So what should a business look for in anMPLS-based managed service to support its moveto convergence—and what should it avoid?

Reputation and expertisecertainly count, but when itcomes to choosing an MPLS-based managed WAN,businesses should focus onthe carrier’s network itself. Doesthe network have sufficientbandwidth to support itscustomers’ capacity require-ments? Is the network limitedin its geographic reach or is itflexible enough to cover acompany’s local, national andglobal communications needs?And has the carrier cut anycorners when it comes to theway their network is architected?

AT&T’s Stein points out thatnot every carrier employs MPLS throughout the coreof the network, and many

implement MPLS at the endpoints only. The resultis less than stellar performance that doesn’t liveup to MPLS’ promise.

“Unless the carrier uses MPLS throughout thenetwork, there is a risk of bottlenecks and otherissues that could derail network services andimpede operations—or worse,” says Stein.

Companies need to be aware of how the managedservice provider handles voice engineering andtraffic shaping. Does the carrier oversubscribe itsnetwork and hope for the best? Of course thisapproach won’t cut it when it comes to keepingvoice traffic flowing, because a delay can diminishvoice quality or even worse.

Thus it is critical that companies select anMPLS-based managed service that provides thekind of guaranteed quality of service throughoutthe network they need to maintain exceptionalvoice and data performance. Luckily, companieshave more options to choose from than everbefore to help them become more efficient andproductive businesses.

MPLS: Convergence’s Class Act21

Seventeen percent

of enterprises

finished an MPLS

implementation in

2005, and another

17 percent will

wrap one up by the

end of 2006,

according to

Forrester Research.

IP Telephony Security: Mitigating Risk22

IP telephony usually makes headlines for itsexplosive growth, but the recent arrest of a Miamiman for allegedly defrauding VoIP providers of $1 million by infiltrating their networks to sellminutes on their dime put a spotlight of adifferent kind on convergence. Though this was abreach of service provider networks, the incidentstill serves as a reminder to the enterprise that itsIP telephony network is not immune from anattack. The upshot for any organization runningvoice traffic over its IP infrastructure is that itneeds to have a vigilant defense.

This defense starts with knowing the risks toIP telephony networks and establishing a strategyto prevent criminals from surreptitiously gainingaccess to the corporate network. So what are thebiggest threats to an IP telephony network? And what should a company do to mitigate these risks?

Lisa Lorenzin, a Juniper Networks consultingengineer focused on security, says businessesshould be aware of two general categories ofthreats against IP telephony environments. Thefirst category includes VoIP communication-specific threats that breach the network throughvulnerability on an IP PBX or softswitch. VoIP-specific threats typically involve the hijacking ofthe PBX or softswitch to make unauthorized calls.Hackers also may eavesdrop on calls or launch adenial-of-service attack derailing all traffic,including delay-sensitive voice calls.

The second and more prevalent typeencompasses generic network threats that usevulnerability in a traditional network device as agateway to enter the network. Lorenzin cautionsthat just because an attack passes through adevice on the underlying network instead of anIP PBX doesn’t make it any less of a threat toVoIP communications.

“Even if the general network itself is attacked,VoIP traffic might be interfered with as collateraldamage,” Lorenzin says.

Start at the BeginningTo prevent this kind of an attack, businesses needto make security an ongoing process instead of aone-off project. Like all of the most effectivetechnology initiatives, security should be anintegral part of the IP telephony implementationfrom the start.

“Too many people are attracted to VoIP because they see they can save money by running VoIP and security is just an afterthought,”Lorenzin says.

IP telephony networks aren’t static, so the securityprotecting them shouldn’t be either. Lorenzinadvises companies to continually assess theirnetworks, looking to repair vulnerabilities.

“The systems should be reviewed every sixmonths to a year. As the technology evolves and the demands on the network evolve, thesecurity implementation also needs to evolve,”Lorenzin says.

For businesses that know their security is lacking,Lorenzin suggests starting with a best-practicesdocument that specifies the course of action theIT organization should take to protect its IPtelephony network. She says the company shouldwalk through each component on the network tomake sure security is sufficient.

Layered ProtectionSome basic best practices can serve as aguideline for good IP telephony security. Layeredsecurity is essential, providing a multi-faceteddefense against a diverse group of threats.Layered security is made up of a number ofelements, starting with the most fundamental –making sure all network security patches are up todate and having good anti-virus software in placethat scrubs out malicious code.

An IP PBX running on Windows can be a risk untoitself. As a contrast, ShoreTel call control runs onWind River VxWorks operating system, which isthe leading embedded operating system.

IP Telephony Security: Mitigating RiskThe best defense for a converged network begins with a set of best security practices.

“But if you are running an IP PBX on a Windowsoperating system and there is a vulnerability onthe underlying system that can be exploited, thatexploit is going to cause you as much trouble as ifsomeone attacked the VoIP software directly,”Lorenzin says.

Layered security should also include otherelements such as firewalls and intrusionprevention systems (IPS) to sniff out malicioustraffic that otherwise might slip onto the network.Lorenzin says companies need firewalls that cando application-layer interrogation of traffic,dynamically opening ports to permit calls onto thenetwork as needed. She adds businesses need anIPS to identify and block attacks against the H.323or SIP protocols used to transmit voice. An IPSmakes sure the traffic is clean before letting itpass onto the network.

In TuneLorenzin observes that IP telephony security is abalancing act. Most vulnerabilities are related toVoIP control traffic, which puts the emphasis onprotecting the control traffic from exploitationwhile keeping jitter from affecting the network.

However, companies tend to look at IP telephonysecurity as one dimensional—keepingunauthorized users off the network. Instead,Lorenzin says businesses need to see it in a morebalanced way with two aspects – securing trafficand assuring traffic moves through the network ata good pace.

QoS is one way for businesses to prioritize voicetraffic so that even the most congested linedelivers the best possible service. Implementing

Virtual LAN (VLANs) is another option. VLANsisolate voice traffic from data traffic. Using VLANscan lessen the impact of a denial-of-service attack,because the voice traffic is isolated.

And In ControlOne issue associated with layered security ismanaging all the disparate security solutions.Lorenzin says companies need a strongcentralized management platform from which allthe components can be correlated and managed.

Having a centralized system to view securityinformation makes it easier to configure, upgradeand view system logs. Blending all of theseelements under one management umbrella helps businesses better maintain their equipment.This manageability is a key element of IPtelephony security for the simple reason that itconsolidates a number of different tasks andensures all the security components perform theirtasks adequately.

Juniper and ShoreTel offer a joint solution thatcombines ShoreTel’s IP phone system with JuniperNetworks’ security solutions. Juniper’scontributions include its NetScreen firewall/IPSecVPN and J- or M- series QoS routers, all of whichcan be centrally managed from a single console.The result is an effective IP telephony solution,which takes the perspective that security is afundamental part of the network.

“Companies need to design security into thesolution from the beginning rather than designingan infrastructure for voice and trying to retrofitsecurity into it,” Lorenzin says, adding that onlythen can the IP telephony network be truly secure.

IP Telephony Security: Mitigating Risk23

Figure 1: We asked ShoreTelNews readers whatmeasures they taketo protect their IPtelephony network.Here's what they said.

Ongoing Network Assessments24

Just as an annual checkup of your physical healthby a medical doctor is a good idea, a yearlyoverview of your IP telephony network is a smartmove. Your network environment is constantlychanging:

• Users are added• Locations are added or changed• Applications are added or changed• Service providers change• User traffic is constantly changing• Users may use unauthorized applications

Regular assessments of your VoIP system and theunderlying network infrastructure can help youoptimize server configurations, correctly segmentvoice and data traffic, and smoke out any weakpoints where throughput could use a boost. Overtime, these regular inspections will help you painta broad picture of your network’s optimalperformance and understand the factors thatinhibit or enhance it.

Just as your M.D. takes your resting pulse or testsyour body’s reflexes, you need to gather somebasic facts about your network before you canattempt to conduct a yearly checkup. Especiallywhen your IP PBX is new and you’re attempting toassess its impact on data traffic—or vice versa—you must examine the flow of different types ofdata around the network to develop a solidunderstanding of what’s “normal” networkbehavior—and what’s not.

According to Michael Landry, ImplementationServices Manager at ShoreTel, the addition of twokey elements to your IP telephony network—people and applications—may alter its capacity tomanage throughput effectively. “Having sufficientcapacity to support the applications you must runis the number-one concern,” he says.

While thorough, once-a-year network checks are arequirement; they are no substitute for morefrequent assessments. “Ideally, companies shouldmonitor their networks on a daily basis to observetrends in bandwidth utilization and other networkevents,” Landry says.

The Impact of More People The number of users added to the networkthrough routine hiring, acquisitions made by yourcompany or other means will affect your VoIPsystem, Landry notes.

Additional users create an additional load overtime. Their presence on the network translates tomore network devices, from printers to PDAs. Asusers are added, pay attention to any changes inoverall traffic flow. “You might see that during aparticular time of the week, usage ramps way up,”Landry says. Maybe a videoconferencingapplication is used simultaneously by dozens ofpeople on Thursday mornings, or a spike in Webaudio streaming routinely takes place aroundlunchtime. Noting these trends can help you planwhere and how to place hardware and software tomake the best use of network resources.

Regular close examination of network traffic isalso a good way to pinpoint unauthorized traffic,such as video or music downloads that mayviolate corporate policy or compromise networkperformance. “You can trace from where thedownloads originate” and notify the user and/orother appropriate individuals that thedownloading is not authorized, says Landry.Regular network assessments can also turn upunnoticed changes in device configurations.“You may find that a mismatch between yournetworking gear and other devices that causespoor performance,” Landry says. “Poor networkperformance can indicate that a switch was notconfigured properly.”

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth aPound of Cure: The Case for OngoingNetwork AssessmentsA regular network checkup can help you optimize your network infrastructure for thebest voice and data performance and address the factors that inhibit performance.

Software ConfigurationNot only the ways in whichapplications are configured butalso the kinds of applications inuse can hamper your IPtelephony network’s optimalperformance. What’s key, Landrysays, is ensuring that thesoftware does not impact thereal-time exchange ofinformation that makes an IPtelephony call work: even asmall amount of latency canresult in a dropped call or apoor connection that doesn’t letcallers communicate easily.

Videoconferencing is anincreasingly popular real-timeapplication that will suffer if the network is notoptimized and adjusted over time. Streamingvideo is less susceptible to real-time traffic issuesbecause it’s generally one-way communication.But because audio streaming is more widely used,IT staff should watch this application duringnetwork checks to ensure it’s not compromisingthe quality of voice or data traffic.

“A few short years ago, people weren’t routinelystreaming audio from the Internet to theircomputers,” Landry says. Yet these days, that sortof usage—both authorized and unauthorized—isprevalent among users, possibly affecting your IPtelephony call quality.

Month over MonthTraffic patterns you observe in January may differsignificantly from those you see in December;tweaking hardware configurations may addressissues that arise.

If over time you observe the same regular andspecific end points on either side of a heavilyused application, “you may be able to isolatethem to a common Ethernet switch so the traffic isnot moving across the network backbone. You canput two servers on a common blade or switch sothat they are really just talking to each other, eventhough they have network access,” Landry says.“Look at your whole network deployment strategyand consider what’s really communicatingbetween key applications.”

Watch out, Landry says, forbandwidth-intensive dataapplications. “Maybe you’ve gota bandwidth hog, like FTP,which sends large amounts ofinformation between clientPCs,” he says. In networksserving companies in themedical, engineering or designfields, an application thatcaptures a lot of precise detail—such as software for storing MRIscans or generating CADdrawings—may need to besegmented on a virtual LAN.“That way, you’re isolating thatdata traffic from voice,” Landrysays.

Of course, not all applications will need adjust-ment to run optimally in a VoIP environment.Email, for one, is fairly immune to blips in networkperformance; if an email message takes fourseconds or 11 seconds to arrive at its destination,chances are neither sender nor recipient will bethe wiser.

Even as daily scans of the network may revealvaluable details about your VoIP system, theinformation you gather will help you as you takethe long view in annual network health scans.

“Over time, because your network is changing,”Landry says, “you are going to want to reset yourexpectations and re-evaluate its supportcapabilities.”

Need Help?ShoreTel Implementation Services offers a SystemReview and Health Check service to proactivelyidentify potential problems and hot spots in theShoreTel system—before they can do any realdamage. Health Checks also offer a detailedreport diagnosing the situation, enabling ShoreTelcustomers to take the necessary corrective action.For an even more proactive approach ShoreTeloffers the ShoreWare System Monitor ensures ahigh level of voice quality through continuousmonitoring of your network and follows up withautomated alerts of potential issues. Eliminatingpotential problems before they can become real ones boosts overall system performance,enhances availability and increases your returnon investment.

Ongoing Network Assessments25

Just as an annual

checkup of your

physical health by a

medical doctor is a

good idea, a yearly

overview of your

IP telephony network

is a smart move.

E911 Systems Enable Communication Safeguards for VoIP26

In a natural or manmade disaster, minutes—sometimes seconds—can mean the differencebetween an incident and a catastrophe. Youremployees may be the first responders if aperilous event takes place in your offices, and theShoreTel E911 Notification Application providesthem with an internal vital communications link.

Preparing for E911Before your organization migrates to VoIP, youshould understand the specific E911 requirementsfor your state and locality. You should also beaware of which 911 services are available fromyour carriers, including the roles andresponsibilities each participant has in a 911 call.Companies reusing analog phone lines, forexample, can request the necessary 911information from carriers and duplicate it for theShoreTel IP phone system. However, multi-sitelocations present different challenges. Companiesbeginning a VoIP rollout at multiple sites areadvised to consult with their reseller or ShoreTelprofessional services.

Integrated E911 NotificationIn addition to the native E911 support built intothe ShoreTel system, organizations have theoption to add an E911 Notification Applicationthat boosts E911’s basic capabilities by providingthree additional services:

• Notifies users running the associatedShoreTel 911 client application

• Calls each party in a configured list ofinternal and external numbers

• Logs the 911 call and all notifications andacknowledgments

The E911 Notification Application softwareenhances the native support for E911 in theShoreTel phone system by helping organizationsensure a coordinated response to emergency

situations. For example, when someone uses aphone in the ShoreTel system to place a 911 call,the phone system provides the appropriate callerID information to a local Public Safety AnsweringPoint (PSAP) to ensure that emergency personnelare dispatched to the correct location. However,since on-site personnel may be able to assist in anemergency situation more rapidly than first-responders from outside your organization,ShoreTel’s E911 Notification Application takes thiscritical communication one step further.

In response to a 911 call, the application notifiesany connected clients. Client users are presentedwith a pop-up window and optional audiomessage or tone. They must click the Window'sOK button to acknowledge the 911 event. Boththe fact of the notification and theacknowledgment are logged by the application.The client also provides a simple integratedinstant messaging feature that can be used byclient users so personnel can track emergencyresponse actions, assign personnel to appropriatetasks, and otherwise stay in close contact.

The application also calls the parties in aconfigured list of contacts. Each party whoanswers receives a notification message alertingthem to the 911 call, the extension of the partywho placed the call and a request to acknowledgethe call via a digit press on their phone. Bydefault, the message is repeated three times oruntil acknowledged. The results of the callsincluding any acknowledgements are logged bythe application. Internal parties will see “***911CALL***” on the display of their ShoreTel phoneas well as the extension that placed theemergency call. For external parties where thetrunk passes outbound caller ID, that informationwill be as specified in the route point’sconfiguration.

E911 Systems Enable CommunicationSafeguards for VoIPWith E911 capabilities, your IP phone system can pinpoint the extension and name of a 911 caller to onsite first-responders during an emergency.

The ShoreTel Notification Applicationautomatically logs all 911 call activity, including any client and contact acknowledgments,providing a complete record of how youremployees used the software to respond to theincident. Such information is useful to developinternal crisis-response policies and for safetytraining as well as to manage public relations ifthe event garners outside attention.

The new product consists of three MicrosoftWindows applications: the E911 Server, whichcontinuously monitors all trunks in the system for 911 events; the E911ServerConfig, aconfiguration client that guides IT personnel indeploying the Server; and the E911 Client, whichruns on client PCs.

ShoreTel’s E911 Notification Application providescrucial communications and safety benefits insettings ranging from businesses to universities tonursing homes to military bases. By addinganother layer of protection, E911 can help containa crisis, minimize property damage and save lives.

Optimized for use with ShoreTel’s high-availabilityIP phone system, the E911 NotificationApplication complements ShoreTel’s robust andeasy-to-use VoIP technology. If you’re consideringa VoIP deployment, see a ShoreTel representativeto learn more about how the E911 featuresalready built into ShoreTel VoIP can help protectyour organization—and its people—in the eventof an emergency. You may also contact ShoreTel'sprofessional services at 800-425-9385, ext 3331 orsend email to professionalservices@shoretel.com.

E911 Systems Enable Communication Safeguards for VoIP27

Before your organization migrates to VoIP, you should understand the specific E911 requirements

for your state and locality.

Free to Move with Wireless Voice28

Voice is the killer application for wireless LANs.That revelation is no surprise to those of usaddicted to our wireless PDAs and mobilephones. The ability to stay connected andproductive will now be extended to our phonesinside our building walls thanks to voice overwireless IP (VoWIP).

Wireless voice is at the crossroads of two fast-growing markets. The enterprise telephonymarket is undergoing a swift transition from circuitswitching to packet switching, as organizationsuse their data networks for telephony. At the sametime, enterprises are rapidly adopting wirelessLANs for the productivity and mobility they afford.

The VoWIP market is expected to grow steadilyover the next several years. Sales of WiFi phoneunits grew 112 percent between 2004 and 2005and are projected to grow 158 percent in 2006,according to Infonetics Research. WiFi phonerevenue will hit almost $1.9 million by 2009.Two-thirds of WiFi phone revenue came fromsingle-mode WiFi VoIP handsets in 2005, althoughsales of dual-mode handsets is expected to grow,and dual-mode handsets will make up three-quarters of total revenue by 2009, says the marketresearch firm.

Clear Business BenefitsHospitals, retailers and educational institutionsare rapidly adopting VoWIP because theirworkers are mobile and don’t sit behind desks.Increasingly, companies that occupy “traditional”office spaces are also rapidly adopting wirelessvoice because information workers rarely sit attheir desks anymore.

VoWIP brings many benefits to an organization,including:

• Improved employee productivity. VoWIPgives workers more flexibility. Workers don’tmiss calls when they are not at their desksbecause their phones are always with them.

• Improved customer satisfaction.Customers get answers faster whenemployees have VoWIP. Callers don’t haveto wonder whether to dial a cell phone,home office or office number; they just dial,and the phone call follows the mobileworker.

• Cost savings. VoWIP eliminates or reducesthe need to wire buildings, which can be asignificant cost savings in new deployments.It also can reduce operational costsassociated with cell phones and privateradio walkie-talkie systems in the enterprise.Being able to reach the intended party nomatter where they are means additional costsavings, because your company isn’t footingthe bill of returning missed calls.

Are You Future-Proofed for Wireless Voice? Wireless voice may appear on your strategicplanning horizon sooner than you think. If you plan for the intersection of VoIP and wireless today, your infrastructure can gracefullyadapt tomorrow.

“No organization should build its wireless networkwithout considering the implications of emergingapplications on that infrastructure,” says SarahKim, Manager of Channel and Partner Marketingat Meru Networks, a ShoreTel partner thatprovides wireless VoIP infrastructure. “It’sespecially critical to future-proof your networkfor real-time applications such as telephony.”

Here are some specific issues to consider:

Support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). YourIP PBX should support SIP if you want to be ableto choose broadly from wireless devices. SIP is thecommon language for establishing, modifying andterminating voice calls and other multimediasessions on IP networks.

Free to Move with Wireless VoiceVoice over wireless frees you from your desk, so you don’t miss important calls. Are youready for the coming wave of wireless voice?

A PBX with a native SIP interface, like ShoreTel 6,can support a wide variety of SIP-based productsand services, including phones as well asconference room phones, residential accessdevices for teleworking, and domestic andinternational trunking services. SIP trunks connectsystems from switch to switch or from switch towireless access point, and handle the basicrequirements such as on hook, off hook, ringingand busy.

Because SIP is an emerging standard, ShoreTel works closely with partners to ensurethat your choice of SIP handset will work reliablyand smoothly.

High capacity and density. Voice demandsubiquitous wireless coverage, so workers onVoIP handsets don’t lose calls in the stairwellsor as they walk around corners. Start with athorough understanding of the number ofsimultaneous users and the bandwidthrequirements of their applications.

Increasing the WLAN capacity—essentiallydeploying more APs and switches—is a commonapproach to delivering the necessary capacity.However, increasing the number of APs in a givenzone also increases interference from differentradios on the same frequency band. This canresult in poor performance for both data andvoice applications. Designing the WLAN tominimize this co-channel interference whilemaximizing capacity is generally a complexprocess, requiring costly site surveys and on-going configurations.

Meru’s patented Air Traffic Control technologyeliminates this challenge by managing signalcontention with sophisticated time-based trafficcontrols. The technology delivers predictablebandwidth, free of latency and jitter problems,to increase user density and applicationperformance. Unlike other WLAN systems inwhich access points work independently andmust be laboriously configured to deliveradjacent, non-overlapping coverage, the MeruWLAN System utilizes system-wide coordinationto manage channel contention within andacross cells.

Voice quality and system reliability. Users are lessforgiving of poor voice quality and dropped callsthan they are of intermittent data connections.Excellent quality and reliability are essential.

The distributed intelligence of ShoreTel’sarchitecture delivers excellent availability.Administrators can rest easy knowing thatShoreTel ShoreGear voice switches deliver 99.999 percent reliability and use an embedded,real-time operating system. And you can beassured of outstanding sound. The ShorePhone IP 560, IP 530 and IP 210 feature a widebandaudio codec delivering seven octaves of rangeinstead of the three octaves associated withtraditional phone systems.

“Understanding how to deliver end-to-end qualityof service for voice is critical,” notes Kim.Guaranteeing voice quality dynamically over otherapplications minimizes the packet loss, delay andjitter that cause poor voice quality, clicks andsilent periods.

802.11e, the IEEE standard for wireless QoS, is thefirst step for meeting enterprise requirements forvoice, but it does not provides QoS per packetflow. Instead, if a mobile handheld user is runninga soft phone and checking email, the devicereceives the high priority assigned to it, not thevoice application. A high quality voice call is notguaranteed with 802.11e.

To solve this problem, Meru supports fine-grainedQoS per application, user, and flow, bothupstream and downstream between the client andthe access points. This enables the same wirelessLAN to be used for both data and voice whileensuring optimum performance for every client.

Seamless roaming. In the enterprise, AP densitiesare high, which means that roaming can occurevery few seconds at normal walking speeds. Asusers roam from AP to AP and across subnets, theunderlying WLAN infrastructure must “hand off”these users quickly enough that their voiceconnections don’t drop. The re-association andre-authentication to the APs, plus wirelessencryption, contribute to the delay.

Free to Move with Wireless Voice29

Associating and de-associating with an AP maytake from 150 milliseconds (ms) to 500 ms. VoIPperforms optimally with a delay of less than 50 ms,otherwise callers will hear noise and degradedvoice quality. VoIP calls drop when delaysapproach 150 ms.

Meru delivers zero-loss handoff between APs.With Meru’s Virtual Cell feature, multiple MeruAPs act as one powerful, wide-ranging AP,providing “invisible” links across physical APs, asusers roam in and out of the range of variousphysical access points.

Are You Ready?Wireless voice technology is rapidly evolving, andyou may find that the biggest challenges you faceare political rather than technical.

“The conflicting approaches towards networkingamong voice and data experts within anorganization are not insignificant,” says Kim.“Now you have telephony over a wireless datanetwork, so who makes the decisions regardingthe “right way” to deliver voice?”

Free to Move with Wireless Voice30

A flexible choice for mobile workers, ShoreTel SoftPhone extends the capabilities of yourdesktop extension to your computer - even over wireless networks. Mobile workers canenjoy transparent access to enterprise telephony features while on the road.

On the Record31

IP telephony delivers tangible benefits thatmake the move to convergence a no-brainerfor businesses. Not only does VoIP promisecompanies significant cost savings and improvedmanageability, but it also delivers features andfunctionality that help organizations increasetheir productivity. Convergence makes certainapplications that were out of reach in traditionalvoice networks not only possible, but practical.

Companies can now count IP call monitoringand recording among these applications. Callcenter-type computer telephony integrations arenow practical for small and medium businessesthat make the move to convergence. As a result,businesses that did without a call recordingsolution in their circuit-switched voice network arediscovering first-hand that deploying an IPtelephony network with a call recording solutioncan deliver a host of advantages to help theircompanies comply with regulations, improvecustomer service and meet corporate objectives.

The desire of executives and IT managers toachieve quality assurance and make sure their callcenter agents interact effectively with internal andexternal clients is a big driver of call recordingsolutions. By listening to the recorded call after ittakes place, call center managers can better trainagents to respond to customers’ needs and inturn meet their corporate performance goals,according to Louis Person, president of IPtelephony solution provider and ShoreTel partnerTraxi Technologies, which offers managed servicesin the New York metropolitan area. A new IPtelephony implementation creates an idealopportunity for businesses to add call monitoringto their call center operation.

The need for call recordings to provide proof oftransactions for regulatory compliance, such asbrokerage orders, is clear. However, any businesswith a call center will gain perspective whenusing IP telephony software with a call recordingsolution, says Person. For example, managerscan play back call recordings to staffers as a veryeffective way to offer constructive suggestionsto help them improve their interactions withcustomers. “You are going to get a fast return onyour investment from playing back those calls,”Person says.

Call Recording SolutionsTraxi Technologies offers the Web-based Volcrumcall recording solution, which tightly integrateswith ShoreTel’s IP telephony solution socompanies can capture, store and replay any call.Administrators can filter and record calls usingalmost any criteria in the ShoreTel call detailrecords. For instance, they can record calls byuser, time of day, area code or number.

“Volcrum ties directly with the ShoreTel system sowe get all the logging information, all the Shoretelerror codes,” Person says. “We fully leverage theShoreTel architecture.”

Person acknowledges that security concernshave made some companies wary of usingcall recording software. But Person says callrecording is very secure, noting that Volcrum canencrypt call recordings for additional security.Volcrum also efficiently compresses and archivescall recordings.

On the RecordIntegrating call monitoring and recording into your new IP telephony network helpsyour call center improve service and increase business productivity.

Though companies in the financial services andother heavily regulated industries are leading thecall monitoring and recording charge, businessesin other sectors are eagerly integrating thetechnology into their new IP phone systems,according to Person. He notes strong interestfrom industries like trucking and distribution thatare centralizing their operations.

Call recording gives businesses accurate insightinto their call center operations, offering the kindof concrete information they need to speed their

responsiveness and better meet their customerneeds. Only when that happens can a businessguarantee its success. Person says all companiescan benefit from this technology, even those whothink they are performing well.

“If businesses think their customer service isadequate, that might be a false impression,”Person says, “But if they listen to the calls, theymight think differently. Even highly tunedbusinesses have room for improvement.”

On the Record32

The best IP telephony network implementations start with a complete

network readiness assessment and continue with ongoing network assessments.

The Customer Satisfaction Manifesto33

Most companies pay lip service to customersatisfaction, noting it in their annual report andthe CEO’s speeches, but few companies put inplace the business processes and metrics that are necessary to deliver on their words. ShoreTel isan exception.

‘World-class customer satisfaction is ShoreTel’scommitment to our partners and customers,’ saysJohn Combs, ShoreTel’s president and CEO. ‘Wemeasure and invest in customer satisfaction asintensely as we do revenue and profitability.’

ShoreTel consistently achieves greater than 90percent customer satisfaction – a ranking that’sworld-class by any measure. ShoreTel launchedits customer satisfaction program in 2004, using amethodology similar to the American ConsumerSatisfaction Index (ACSI). The ACSI is aneconomic indicator that tracks the quality ofproducts and services from the customer’sperspective. Top ranked companies in the ACSI study include Toyota (87), Pepsico (86) andApple (83).

How Does ShoreTel Do It?ShoreTel does it the old fashioned way: they earnit. ShoreTel’s customer satisfaction program isbased on an extensive survey process and metrics,which are translated into action by ShoreTelemployees and reseller partners alike.

‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure,’ saysCombs. An independent research firm surveysevery ShoreTel customer 90 to 120 days after thephone system is installed, either by telephone orvia a Web-based survey.

The interview consists of more than 40 questionsthat cover areas such as:

• Overall satisfaction with the ShoreTeltelephone system

• Willingness to recommend the ShoreTelsystem to a friend

• Customer intent to re-purchase ShoreTel

• Satisfaction with the distribution partner

• Satisfaction with the partner’s sales forceoverall

• Training satisfaction

• Resolution of technical issues

• Timeliness of resolution of technical issues

• Partner’s technical ability

• Overall satisfaction with ShoreTel

At ShoreTel, an obsession with customersatisfaction may start in the executive suite, but it permeates product development, channelprograms and customer service. ShoreTelemployees are measured by the customersatisfaction results, so they are incented forcontinuous improvement in the scores.

The customer satisfaction program creates adirect channel of communication to ShoreTel’sproduct management team, which they can usefor new product enhancements. ‘We view thecustomer satisfaction program as a great wayfor us to communicate directly with end-usercustomers,’ says Regina Moore, senior directorof systems product management at ShoreTel.

ShoreTel also uses the customer satisfactionresults to develop better training for end users,administrators and channel partners. ShoreTel iswell known for its exceptional ease of use, andto complement that usability, the company hasdeveloped a broad range of training programs.‘In addition to high quality courses, our customerswant a variety of training venues to choose from,’says Barbara Bjornstad, senior manager ofinstalled base marketing for ShoreTel.‘Consequently, ShoreTel training is availablein classroom, on-site, web-based and self-paced formats.’

The Customer Satisfaction ManifestoShoreTel’s passionate pursuit of customer satisfaction touches every aspect of thecompany’s operations. With a foundation of product excellence and outstandingservices, ShoreTel customers and partners are consistently delighted.

ShoreTel also strongly supports the channel, sochannel partners can provide outstanding serviceto their customers. As part of the satisfactionprogram, customers provide feedback on theirreseller partners, which ShoreTel uses to ensurethat its channel partners deliver the highestquality services. Channel partners that receive thehighest rankings get incentives from ShoreTel,while the lowest-ranked partners receive specialassistance from ShoreTel to improve their services.

The channel partners themselves are surveyedthroughout the year to get their feedback onShoreTel’s channel programs, which includeextensive training programs, sales and marketingtools, and lead generation efforts. Through thisinitiative, ShoreTel is able to continually offer andrefine programs that help channel partnersdirectly with their business needs and objectives.

Keys to Customer SatisfactionThe ability to deliver world-class customersatisfaction starts with product excellence.ShoreTel’s phone system is built with world-classcapabilities and availability, delivering the 99.999percent reliability that the industry expects.ShoreTel is consistently rated as the easiest IPtelephony solution to implement, manage anduse, has the best support and customer service,and has the lowest startup costs, according to theindependent firm Nemertes Research. ‘ITexecutives say ShoreTel's products are easy toimplement and use, and as a result, theiroverhead costs are low and the value is high,’ says Robin Gareiss, Nemertes executive vicepresident. ‘Additionally, ShoreTel's customerservice, both from the company itself and itsVARs, is solid. If there is a problem, ShoreTelhelps the VARs resolve it. And ShoreTel followsup with all customers regularly to make sure theyare satisfied.’

ShoreTel sees four proven steps to customersatisfaction, including:

• Network assessment:A comprehensive network assessment isperformed prior to installation to verify thatthe network is ready to support an IP phonesystem. A network assessment prior to

deployment can ward off many potentialreliability and voice quality issues.

• Project management and system design:Rigorous attention to best practices ensuresthat the ShoreTel IP phone system isinstalled right the first time. ShoreTel’sControlPoint tool provides customers a clearroadmap for the actions they take betweenpurchasing the ShoreTel system and when itis installed.

• Training: Training everyone—from thepeople who will use the phones every dayto the administrators who manage thesystem—is vital to overall satisfaction.

• Support services: ShoreTel providesa broad range of services duringimplementation services and post-saleto support customers. With ShoreTel’simplementation services, experiencedengineers manage the implementationprocess to ensure a smooth and risk-freetransition. Post-sales support services helpcustomers with technical questions, advancehardware replacement and the latestsoftware revisions through annual servicecontracts. ShoreTel’s professional services canhelp organizations develop custom softwareand integrate voice communications intocore business processes.

‘Customer satisfaction really amounts to a sign ofgood management,’ says Ben Marbury, an expertin customer satisfaction programs and presidentof TD Marketing. ‘Strong customer satisfactiondemonstrates that the company’s managementhas the controls and measurements in place tokeep customers satisfied. And if a company hasgood management and satisfied customers, it willbe profitable and successful.’ That’s ShoreTel.

The Customer Satisfaction Manifesto34

ShoreTel’s New IP Phones Offer Desirable Features, Best-in-Class Communications35

ShoreTel has expanded its line of unique,ergonomic IP telephones, which are now availablein six different versions to meet the needs of abroad range of users. ShoreTel’s brand-newphones—the IP 230, IP 212k and IP 560g—are thenext steps in the company’s commitment tophones with rich functionality, superior soundquality and scalability for organizations with 10 to10,000 users.

“We have a phone to meet the needs of allbusinesses at the appropriate price points,” saysRich Winslow, senior director of productmanagement at ShoreTel. The new ShoreTelphones are designed with both ergonomic andaesthetic principles in mind, Winslow says.“Everything we do around our phones is done tomake them visually appealing, nice feeling andgreat sounding.”

Sleek, Elegant DesignShoreTel retained the services of a designcompany to consult on the new phones’ sleekconcave profile. What’s more, ShoreTel phonefeatures are designed with an eye toward theuser’s comfort and convenience. For example:

• The message light on the phones is visiblefrom 360 degrees

• The keypad is positioned horizontally tomake dialing smoother

• The LCD display is positioned vertically tomake it easier for the user to view it

• Soft labels and colored buttons eliminatethe need for paper labels many workershave used historically to note each line’sfunction, which results in easier installationand labels that are always correct

• The phones are available in silver or black,and the IP 560 and IP 560g are even madewith an aluminum top cover

ShoreTel also pays close attention to how phonesfeel in users’ hands. The handset of the newmodels is weight balanced. The handset is not tooheavy, since that would lead to fatigue, and nottoo light, since that would feel “cheap.” “Thehandset feels like a fancy kitchen utensil,”Winslow says. The handset is contoured andcushioned, with a rubber over-molding and thecapacity to adapt to four different hand positions.

What’s more, the sound quality in ShoreTel’s newand existing phones is second to none, Winslowsays. The new phones have a wideband audiocodec, with seven octaves of range versus thethree octaves that most phones have. “It’s crystal-clear sound,” he adds. The new models alsofeature high-gain microphones and hi-fi, high-output speakerphones.

ShoreTel’s New IP Phones Offer DesirableFeatures, Best-in-Class CommunicationsGet rich functionality and superior sound quality in a well-designed IP phone that your employees will love.

Let’s look at each new IP phone in detail:

• IP 230. ShoreTel’s brand-new IP 230 phonehas a similar price point to the company’s IP210 model. But Winslow notes, “The 230packs a more powerful punch, because ithas three lines, not one, as well as a largeLCD versus a two-line LCD.” In addition, the230 includes a headset jack and eightfunction keys to the 210’s four, as well asfour softkeys; the 210 had none.

“The IP 230 is the phone for the generaluser and the office worker,” Winslow says.

• IP 212k. The IP 212k is aimed at customersreliant on key systems—telephone keys thatquickly link callers to different employees ordepartments within a smaller organization,such as a retail location or branch office with20 to 50 employees.

“Smaller organizations and branch officesneed phones that behave differently thanthose in a headquarters building with 500people,” Winslow says. For one thing,customers in small firms or branch officesdesire plenty of programmable lines, and, inresponse to customer demand, the 212kphone supports 12 programmable lines.

The IP 212k features transfer, conference,intercom, redial, voice mail, hold, optionsand directory keys as well as two soft keys. A new feature, bridge call appearance,

enables faster call handling mimicking lineappearances on a key system. And a newCentrex flash feature on the system allowsyou to flash an analog loop start trunk totransfer external calls to external numbersand make more efficient use of trunks.

• IP 560g. The 560g is a specialized phoneoptimized for use in organizations that havegigabit networking to the desktop.Architectural firms, media companies, orgraphic design firms often have gigabitconnections to their desktops, because theiremployees work with large files andcollaborative design applications.

The IP 560g is expected to ship this summer; the IP 230 and IP 212k are available now. Contactyour ShoreTel reseller for pricing information andother details.

One at a Time or All at Once New customers may choose to tackle an IPtelephony rollout gradually, starting with theheadquarters office and then adding branchoffices one by one. Or, they may work with aShoreTel channel partner to install IP phonescompany-wide all at once, Winslow says. Thechoice is the customer’s and is based on the typeof business, number of employees and locations.

While current ShoreTel customers upgrade to the6.1 version of the phones’ software, companies justmoving to VoIP are well positioned to begin theirShoreTel implementation with 6.1, Winslow says.

ShoreTel’s New IP Phones Offer Desirable Features, Best-in-Class Communications36

ShoreTel 6.1 Adds Key System, SIP, International Benefits37

ShoreTel 6.1 includes improved key-systemfunctionality to rapidly connect callers withdifferent employees or departments, enhancedscalability for large IP telephony deployments,and other enhancements.

The rich key-system functionality is perfect forsmall branch offices and small businesses. Withthis capability, the ShoreTel phone systembehaves as key systems do rather than like a PBX.That can result in reduced training times, as userscan quickly get accustomed to their new IPphones, as well as increased end-user satisfaction.

Smaller offices will also benefit from key-systemfeatures supported prior to ShoreTel 6.1, such asintercom, transfer, conference and redial.Overhead paging lets users make announcementsthrough their phones’ speakers. Group paginglets users communicate with a selected group ofusers also through their phones’ speakers. Thesystem also supports whisper paging, or letting asecond call through while someone is on thephone. The park/unpark capability lets users“park” callers in a space where someone else canretrieve the call. This permits multiple calls onhold at the same time.

ShoreTel’s 212k IP phone includes ShoreTel 6.1’snew bridged-call appearance feature, whichemulates classic line appearances in key systemsand works with both digital and analog trunks.

Bridged-call appearances are useful office-widefor shared call answering environments typical ofsmaller offices. For example, blinking green lightson multiple phones signal that a call is incoming.When someone answers, the light turns to solidgreen on his or her phone and to solid red on all

other phones. If the employee places the caller onhold, the light associated with the call blinksgreen until the call is picked up again.

In terms of outbound calls, someone can press abridged-call appearance, enter a trunk accesscode, and then place a call. The caller ID for thebridged call appearance is delivered, and thecorrect button on the phone will light up as solidgreen while the same button on other phones willbe solid red. The multiple appearance buttonsallow multiple inbound and outbound calls to beshared among users.

ShoreTel 6.1 also supports a Centrex flash featurethat allows you to flash an analog loop start trunkto transfer external calls to external numbers andmake more efficient use of trunks, which isespecially important for smaller offices withlimited trunks.

In addition, ShoreTel 6.1 includes ShoreTel’sBranch Office Solution, a package of survivablevoice mail and unified messaging servicesoptimized for locations with 100 or fewer users.

Enhanced Support for SIPShoreTel 6.1 includes new features that takeadvantage of SIP, or Session Initiation Protocol.SIP initiates, modifies and terminates interactivecommunications sessions—from voice to video tochat to interactive games—among users, andworks in tandem with other technologies, such asVoIP and XML.

ShoreTel 6.1 supports additional SIP trunk featuresincluding Dual-Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF),support for the Backup Automated Attendant sothat when a caller connects he or she is given the

ShoreTel 6.1 Adds Key System, SIP,International BenefitsShoreTel 6.1 offers unsurpassed scalability to meet the needs of small tolarge businesses.

option to dial individual extensions. ShoreTel 6.1includes support for ring-back tones when acalling party gets transferred into a hunt group orwork group as well as support for music on holdand fax improvement across SIP trunks.

Expanding to Europe Made Easier Bolstering ShoreTel’s rapid expansion into Europe,ShoreTel 6.1 adds support for the dialing plan inIreland, as well Belgium. This allows dialing fromboth ShoreTel Call Manager and ShoreTel IPphones, as well as proper dial plan signaling to acentral office in Ireland and Belgium. Customerswith offices in Europe as well as Australia and NewZealand should definitely consider delivering thecost savings and productivity benefits of ShoreTelmulti-nationally.

In addition, ShoreTel has exposed QSIG inShoreWave Director to make it easier to configurePRI tie lies to third-party devices, including legacyPBX systems. This capability is important inEurope, where QSIG is the de facto standard,rather than Euro-ISDN for PBX-to-PBX networking.

More Phone OptionsShoreTel’s IP phones have a unique focus onergonomic design. The phones are designed tolook beautiful, feel great and deliver superiorsound quality. ShoreTel expanded its line of IPtelephones to include the 212k key system phone,the 230 staff phone and the 560g executivephone, giving customers more options.

The phones include features such as a messagewaiting light that’s visible from 360-degrees and ahighly visible LCD display. The phones have anarray of soft labels and colored buttons that userscan customize with their most frequently dialednumbers. The wideband audio codec providesseven octaves of range that translates to crystal-clear sound. And the ergonomic design meansthe handset feels good whether held in the handor tucked in the crook of the neck.

Getting Started with ShoreTelUltimately, ShoreTel 6.1 is the only IP phone onthe market that can scale from a small business of10 employees to a large corporation of 10,000users with one hardware and software platform.ShoreTel 6.1’s capabilities match and exceedthose of much more complex and costly IPtelephony solutions.New customers may choose to tackle an IPtelephony rollout gradually, starting with theheadquarters office and then adding branchoffices one by one. Or, they may work with aShoreTel channel partner to install IP phonescompany-wide all at once. The choice is thecustomer's and is based on the type of business,number of employees and locations.

ResourcesLearn more about ShoreTel 6.1.

ShoreTel 6.1 Adds Key System, SIP, International Benefits38

ShoreTel’s rich key-system functionality is perfectfor small branch offices and small businesses.

ShoreTel Enhances Collaboration with Converged Conferencing39

ShoreTel has been making its mark as the fastest-growing IP PBX company in the U.S. and as theleader in customer satisfaction, but now thecompany has taken its reputation even furtherwith a new conferencing solution that’s designedto enhance collaboration and productivity acrossthe enterprise.

Converged Conferencing 5.6 is an integratedconferencing and collaboration platform thatworks seamlessly with the ShoreTel 6 IP telephonysystem to provide integrated audio and webconferencing, enterprise instant messaging (IM)and document sharing.

Built on a secure, reliable Linux-based appliance,the flexible conferencing system allows users toschedule one-time, recurring or reservation-lessconferences, while providing the flexibility tosmoothly blend audio, text messaging documentsharing and web collaboration during the call.And, with integrated recording capabilities, userscan also record both audio and presentationsfrom a conference for archives or for sharing withmore people at a later time. The system is alsointegrated with Microsoft® Outlook®.

All of these features are tightly integrated into asingle platform that is hosted locally in the phonesystem. By combining so many integral functionsinto one system, ShoreTel brings companies anumber of advantages, including enhanced real-time collaboration for faster business results. Plus,companies can save money by bringingconferencing services in-house and reducing theneed for travel. They’ll experience improvedsecurity by keeping instant messages andcollaboration exchanges secure within thecorporate walls. And customers will be happierbecause of the immediate gratification of IM. And with ShoreTel Converged Conferencing’shighly intuitive interface, IT doesn’t have to worry about a flood of calls to the help-desklooking for assistance with an overly complexcollaboration system.

The new version of Converged Conferencingfeatures several enhancements, including:

• An improved user interface that integratesaudio controls, document sharing and chatwindows to simplify the conferencingexperience.

ShoreTel Enhances Collaboration withConverged ConferencingAudio and web conferencing, enterprise instant messaging and document sharingboosts employee productivity while greatly reducing costs.

ShoreTel's Converged Conferencing delivers an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that brings audio conferencing, desktop/applicationsharing, instant messaging, virtual meeting rooms, on-line presentations, and multimedia recording together in one solution.

• Enhanced performance because aparticipant’s window interface is refreshedimmediately when the leader moves to anew slide, resulting in a more real-timeexperience.

• Application and desktop sharing so thatwith the click of a button, a call leader canshare an application window or entiredesktop or give control of their computer toa participant.

• Built-in enterprise-wide instant messagingso users can see who is available andexchange text messages without relying onan external IM system.

Improve Productivity, Reduce CostCompanies can reap significant savings withConverged Conferencing, either by bringingconferencing in-house rather than using anexpensive outside service, or by upgrading anaging conference bridge. Companies cananticipate recouping the costs of a 12-portConverged Conferencing system in only sevenmonths and a 24-port system in a mere ninemonths. Over a three year period, that 12-portsystem can save your company more than$37,000, and a 24-port system can save you morethan $48,000.

ShoreTel Converged Conferencing comes inseveral configurations. The base option supportsup to 48 ports, and an extended option supportsup to 96 ports. The product is available as anaudio-only system that supports audioconferencing and audio recording, as well asenterprise instant messaging. Audio and webconferencing systems support all the audiofeatures and the sharing of individual applicationsand the entire Microsoft Windows desktop.

In addition to offering a strong, cost-effectivealternative to in-house conferencing systems and

the integration of audio conferencing, webcollaboration, instant messaging and multimediarecording, Converged Conferencing features web-based management and reporting. It includesa flexible prompt system so administrators canquickly customize the user’s experience to meettheir needs. An automated notification systemlets administrators know about key eventsand updates.

The system is also very easy to manage, startingwith an auto-discovery feature that seeks out acompany’s ShoreTel phone system, onceconnected to the network, and adds portsautomatically. An administrator simply needs toassign extensions to the ports, import the users,and the conference bridge is ready to go.

Besides saving money over per-minute, third-partyconferencing systems, an advantage of bringingcollaboration capabilities in-house is the inherentsecurity of the system. With ConvergedConferencing, corporate documents are storedwithin the enterprise rather than with an externalprovider. Additional security measures supportedby ShoreTel’s system include individual userauthentication, multiple level authentication, one-time use conference access codes, password-protected documents, LDAP and local databaseauthentication, and individual user privileges.

Effective enterprise communication is critical todoing business in today’s world. ShoreTel hastaken the lead by giving companies a way to allowemployees to conference and collaborate witheach other and with remote sites on a moment’snotice to enhance the flow of information withinan organization.

ResourcesLearn more about ShoreTel ConvergedConferencing.

ShoreTel Enhances Collaboration with Converged Conferencing40

Collaboration Pays 41

Companies look for any opportunity to cutcosts and boost productivity. The two goals mayseem at odds, but with the right tool they canboth be accomplished.

ShoreTel has made it much easier to eliminateexpenses and improve productivity withConverged Conferencing 5.6, an integratedconferencing and collaboration platform thatworks seamlessly with the ShoreTel 6 IP telephonysystem to provide integrated audio and webconferencing, enterprise instant messaging anddocument sharing.

With Converged Conferencing, your company willbe able to increase employee productivity byquickly establishing collaboration sessions withinthe enterprise or with external parties. Security isimproved because an in-house solution eliminatesthe need for an external service for sendingsensitive information. You will be able to reducecosts with the enterprise instant messaging andmultimedia recording features, which combinetwo traditionally disparate tools into one solution.And you’ll improve customer satisfaction through

the ability to deliver fast responses to customerswith instantaneous communication.

ShoreTel Converged Conferencing is easy to use.Employees will spend less time and effort to setup and manage collaborative sessions and moretime getting meaningful results for their business.The system’s intuitive interface makes it easy toschedule a call, invite participants or addparticipants without waiting around. The ability toset up conferences from inside a user’s MicrosoftOutlook calendar also helps improve employeeproductivity, as does the ability to quickly createan ad-hoc meeting without having to set upmultiple collaboration services.

Replace Your Conference Bridge This integrated system can help improve ROI inseveral different ways. In the first case, companiesthat switch from an in-house conferencing systemto ShoreTel Converged Conferencing can reapsignificant savings. Businesses can save up to$1,658 per month on a 12-port conference bridgeand up to $2,250 per month for a 24-port system.

Collaboration Pays Boost employee productivity with ShoreTel Converged Conferencing, and reap therewards of your investment in a matter of months.

Going beyond one-timeacquisition costs and taking acloser look at long-term ROIyields even more significantsavings when choosingShoreTel’s ConvergedConferencing over an in-housesystem. By the third year ofsystem ownership, enterprisescan save more than $38,000 withthe 12-port system, with thetotal payback coming in sevenmonths. And for a 24-portsystem, companies earn backtheir investment in just ninemonths and save more than$48,000 over three years.

Retire Your Service ProviderChoosing ShoreTel’s ConvergedConferencing can also slash costs for companiesthat currently use outsourced collaborationservices, which incur high per-user costs. Withconferencing services, companies often turn tomultiple providers to deliver a completeconferencing solution, which multiplies theexpense. With ShoreTel’s ConvergedConferencing, your company can host its ownscheduled audio conferences as well as webcollaboration and data sharing with a system thatresides locally in your phone system. Thisarrangement ends your company’s dependencyon expensive hosted services.

New to Conferencing?Enterprises that are new to theworld of conferencing andcollaboration will also win withthe ShoreTel ConvergedConferencing system. Ratherthan sending employees in thefield to collaborate on a project,you can reduce your travelexpenses with a collaborationsolution. Employees can sharedocuments and presentationsand work interactively on thesame desktop application withanyone, anywhere, right fromtheir own desk. Employees canalso quickly and cost-effectivelycommunicate with largenumbers of coworkers byrecording and distributing

messages to groups within an organization. Thismakes it easy for people who have missed ameeting to stay in the loop, thereby enhancingthe return on time invested.

In many different settings and scenarios,ShoreTel’s Converged Conferencing has shown over and over its ability to improve ROI and reduce expenses with an all-in-onecollaboration system.

Collaboration Pays 42

Using Converged

Conferencing can

slash costs for

companies that use

outsourced

collaboration

services, which incur

high per-user costs.

ShoreTel Contact Center 4.6 43

As customers become comfortable with doingbusiness via email and online chat, companiesneed to be prepared to incorporate thesecommunication methods into their daily customerinteractions. ShoreTel has incorporated email andonline chat into ShoreTel Enterprise ContactCenter, which leverages the company’sdistributed, real-time IP communications platformto deliver reduced costs, enhanced customerservice, and a more intelligent enterprise. Bybringing together voice and data into a single,unified platform, ShoreTel has taken anevolutionary leap in customer service whilelowering the costs of starting up and maintainingan IP-based call center.

Improving upon IP Contact CentersShoreTel Contact Center 4.6 takes the benefitsof an IP contact center, such as robust datareporting, scalability and virtualization, and addsnumerous significant features that make ContactCenter truly indispensable for enterprises. Thenew release delivers a universal queue forenterprise resource matching, a high availabilitysolution in the event of server failure, severalenterprise-level agent productivity improvementfeatures and beefed-up managementfunctionality.

ShoreTel Contact Center leverages the distributednature of the ShoreTel IP PBX. Agents can belocated anywhere, and administrators can easilymanage the contact center from a single interface.The product’s universal queue feature selects theright agent for each individual call by comparingcustomer and agent profiles and then directing thecall to the best agent anywhere on the network.

Voice, chat and email contacts are routed via thestandard mechanisms and routing rules, and

contacts are routed to agents based on system-wide business rules configured by the contactcenter administrator. This virtual contact centerfeature allows companies to bring widelydispersed agents into a single, seamlessorganization where calls can be routed based onparameters such as longest wait, priority, servicelevel, queue conditions or customer identity orintent. Each customer has a unique caller profile,so enterprises can treat each customer uniquely,which improves loyalty, revenue and profitability.

Another key feature of version 4.6 is highavailability in the event of server failure. ContactCenter takes advantage of the inherent reliabilityof the ShoreTel distributed IP architecture, so thatcalls can be answered in the event of systemfailures. Contact Center 4.6 adds an automaticprotection mechanism, where a backup serverassumes the network identity of the primaryserver, so that the contact center can resumenormal operations without any manualintervention. Even if a failure should occur on theagent PC side, agents can remain logged into thesystem and continue to take calls as usual.

Also on the agent side, several enhancementshave been added to boost productivity. Theyinclude giving agents the ability to simultaneouslyhandle one email and one voice contact as well asauto-answer to immediately connect inboundvoice contacts to agents to save time and reduceunnecessary repetitive activities. Also new is theability to release calls with reason codes so agentscan account for their time and make the most oftheir schedule. Contact Center also includes real-time agent group reports that support simple,two-click agent state changes for improvedmanagement of service levels.

ShoreTel Contact Center 4.6 Makes theRight Call for IP Call CentersLearn how to bring email and online chat together onto a single, unified platform.

Wrapped around this wealth of new functionalityare robust reporting capabilities that provideenhanced analysis of historical reports. Multi-entity reports cover agents and groups thattraditionally had to be run individually. Also new isthe ability to synchronize scheduled reports withtheir source.

On the management front, the new version boastssimplified IVR port configuration, dial lists foroutbound campaigns, overdue callback timeout,the ability to filter abandoned callbacks, and aforced time release enhancement.

And if your organization is already a ShoreTel IP phone system customer, it’s easier than everto smoothly integrate the Contact Center intoyour enterprise without complex CTI platforms.Workgroup routing services run on yourShoreWare server, while Contact Center and

Enterprise Contact Center reside on a dedicatedserver. Supervisors and agents are connected tothe server via intuitive user interfaces that providethe tools and information your workforce needs todeliver top quality customer service.

Most businesses consider their call centers asmission critical. Failure is not an option, so thehigh availability and other features in ContactCenter 4.6 will help you improve your operationswhile watching your costs go down. IP telephonyis the future of enterprise communications, andwho better than ShoreTel, the fastest growing IPPBX company in the world, to bring you thesimplicity, reliability and productivity of IP in afeature-rich call center solution.

ResourcesLearn more about ShoreTel Contact Center.

ShoreTel Contact Center 4.6 44

Take an evolutionary leap in customer servicewhile lowering the costs of starting up and

maintaining an IP-based call center.

Support Services Foster Success 45

The ShoreTel system is built from the ground upto be the easiest to use, easiest to manage, full-featured IP PBX system on the market today.Ensuring sufficient support services and trainingand using all of the resources available will helpcompanies get the maximum benefit from theirShoreTel rollout.

A cornerstone for a successful IP PBX rollout is forthe company and its support services provider tohave a common understanding of what theprovider will deliver, and when. This includesdefining the severity of a range of potentialincidents and issues, and agreeing on exactly howthe solution provider is going to handle them.

“As long as the solutions partner communicatesexpectations with regard to service delivery andcan meet those expectations, then everybody canbe happy,” says Ron Slater, Technical ServicesManager for ShoreTel.

To get the most from an IP PBX phone system, acompany needs to take advantage of theappropriate support services. Deciding the rightlevel of support is essential, and the preparationshould start during the sales process, not duringimplementation, advises Christine Graham,Installed Base Business Manager for ShoreTel.

Graham, who is in contact with customers shortlyafter they choose ShoreTel, councils that to ensurethe greatest success for the IP PBX rollout,companies should understand the supportservices available to them, including training, andhow to contact a support resource if they requireassistance. It’s critical to know whom to contact ifa problem occurs. Get the essential information,including service hours and phone numbers, fromyour solution provider.

Maximum Benefit Through Training Communication between a support provider andthe customer is as important as communicatingthe phone system’s features and benefits to users,notes Slater. It’s critical to train users so they canuse the practical features of the phone system.Knowing how to use the IP PBX’s features enablesthem to perform their jobs better and moreefficiently. With the right training, employees willbe more satisfied with the phone system, and thecompany will realize a faster ROI.

One easy way to do this is to tap into the wealthof support services and training available.ShoreTel also provides a broad range of supportservices, including a technical assistance center,software updates and remote support as well asprofessional services.

“When something is new, you see the glitter, thesparkle, and the bling,” Graham says, adding thatsome tech-savvy companies are so enamored ofIP phones’ sexier features that they forget that theaverage employee needs to have the basics incheck first. Teach the fundamentals–functions likecall pickup, transfer and hold, and get userscomfortable with those functions before addingmore sophisticated ones.

To help companies that have contracted withShoreTel for support services get the mostpractical use from their IP phone system, Grahamoutlines where they can get the information andtraining they need to maximize all of ShoreTel’scapabilities. ShoreTel’s website has a rich set ofresources, including computer-based training(CBT) and extensive documentation. Customerscan also get involved in ShoreTel’s Power Usergroup to learn about product capabilities in apractical way.

Support Services Foster Success Businesses need adequate support and training resources to ensure exceptional voicequality. Here is some expert advice on how to help users make the successful transitionto convergence.

“The Power User group andtraining truly enlightenscustomers,” Graham says.

Ongoing training is animportant element in ensuringthe success of an IP telephonyimplementation. With theavailability of a broad range ofCBTs on the ShoreTel website,businesses have powerful toolsto help their employees advancetheir system knowledge andincrease their confidence inusing the phone system.Graham suggests hosting lunch-and-learn sessions to encouragegreater attendance andenthusiasm from users fortraining sessions.

Train Your Opinion Leaders Let the good news spread among your opinionleaders, and let them foster user acceptance.Training all users is important, but certainindividuals should receive special attention.These users act as champions of the new phonesystem and provide an important bridge betweenthe IT staff and the business workers.

The receptionist or operator is the single mostimportant person who should receive highly

focused and extensive training.Not only does he or she handleall the incoming calls, but thereceptionist is the “face” ofthe phone system to bothemployees and customers.

“All your employees will sayhello to the receptionist whenthey walk through the door,”Graham says, “So if thereceptionist is positive aboutthe phone system, thatexcitement will spreadthroughout the organization.”

Make sure executive manage-ment is also trained on thephone system, as executivebuy-in is make-or-break.

Graham observes that system administrators areoften leery of requiring executives to be trainedon the phone system.

“If executives are proficient with the phonesystem, that proficiency is going to ripplethroughout your organization,” Graham says.

ResourcesLearn more about ShoreTel’s support services.

Learn more about ShoreTel’s training resources.

Support Services Foster Success 46

As you plan your

move to an IP PBX,

you should decide

the right level of

support services your

organization needs.

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