This is the final version (probably) of a post I put up a week ago. The last post was in response to Educause CIO forum post and although it was not quite done I am glad I posted. Great feedback and the presentation I will give today will be much better. Thanks to all who provided comments

1. Are Open Source Phone Systems Possible?
Kent Brooks, IT DirectorDon Lewis, Computer Systems
Technician
#edu14
@educause
Phone System Presentation
February 17, 2016
1:30 PM – 8:30 PM
LCCC Campus – CCI 121

2. Why I am here today ….

3. Final Tally:
● 670ish
Landlines
● 152 (20ish
use licenses)
● Analog
● Fax
● Elevator
● HVAC
● Security

4. So what did our path to this look like…

5. 2011: Out with Old……...…In with the New
The only sure thing was time had come to scrap
our analog Avaya phone System and that we
should move toward a Unified Communications
platform.
The existing infrastructure:
• Avaya system with 700 phones +
• 92 phone Cisco via Call Manager Express
• The systems did not play well together or allow
full utilization of functionality for either system.

6. In 2011 = 2 Phone Systems = A problem

7. Our Temporary Path = 3 Phone Systems

8. Our Goal = A single phone system

9. ● Converge three (3)
phone systems to one (1)
● Standardize campus
handsets
● Drive recurring Hardware
Costs down
Objectives:
● Upgrade & add
Unified
communication
capabilities
● Obtain greatest
value for initial
investment

10. The Problem...the Cost
1) Ask for more money
to accelerate the
change
2) Phase the costs in
over a 3-4 year period
3) Look at other
alternatives

11. To Cisco or Not to Cisco… That was the question
• It was really hard not going with
Cisco.
• We were mostly a Cisco Shop with
small Cisco VOIP presence on
campus,
• Cisco CME solution would not
scale & would need to be discarded
to handle our entire campus.
VS.

12. To Cisco or Not to Cisco… That was the question
Moving to a Cisco solution would
have required 3 tiers of licensing for
1) Phones
2) Voicemail boxes
3) Messaging Services including
Jabber & Voice to email
VS.

13. To Cisco or Not to Cisco… That was the question
Cisco extra cost items we wanted:
● Attendant Console/ Switchboard
● Voice Recording
● Agent / Call Center CCX
● Hardware Cisco’s UCS Chassis thus the
requirement for additional hardware.
VS.

14. The Alternative
● Utilize existing hardware
● Converge three (3) phone systems to one (1)
● Standardize handsets across campus
● Upgrade and improve our voice/unified
communication capabilities
● Obtain the greatest value for our initial
investment
● Significantly reduce our recurring costs

17. Digium Full Features
= one price:
• Interactive Voice Response
• Call Queues - Help Desk, Business Office, Enrollment
Services
• Voicemail - Over the phone, email, web and App
• Reporting - Per Line and System wide
• Web Interface - User Level and Administrative
• Android and iOS App - Directory, Voicemail, Calling
• Programmable features - Greetings, Ring Options, call
pickups

18. Standard Desktop Phone Digium D70
100 number
speed dial
Three way
Conference
calling
Voice mail
integration
Searchable
contact list
Configurable
from the phone
or the Web

19. Hardware(Sever, License, Phones):
● The VoIP software itself runs in a VMware
virtual environment on existing HP c7000 blade
hardware consisting of g8 bl460c blades and
virtual connect switches.
● 2 CPUs/dual core, 300GB storage 8 GB RAM
very little overhead
● The storage for this environment is the
Lefthand p4000 series SAN.

20. Benefits (Part 1):
• Unified Communications features: voice mail to email
• Fast Forward and Rewind Voice Mail (end users love this)
• Status Buttons allow you to quickly see if someone is on
the phone
• User Level Web Switchboard Interface eaccessible to all
users
• Automated Accounting: No account codes, access or trunk
number to get to the outside.
• Users can now redial long distance calls

21. Benefits (Part 2):
• IVR’s are a standard
• Intercom System for library was a cheap add
vs. purchasing a separate new system
• Emergency Notification System supplement
• Self Service Conference Bridge all at CC = 100
simultaneous user
• Smartphone App

22. Problems (Part 1):
• We are maxing out system capacity with 700ish
Digium phones
• About 10% of phones time out & must be reset
(reset button or unplug and re-plug)
• Digium Phones have a scaling problem past
400ish phones

23. Problems (Part 2):
• There is a smartphone app:
– iPhone Version is Junk
– No updates until V.6 (was suppose to be Nov/ Dec
2015)
• Arbitrary Limits
– 150 concurrent calls
– 30 concurrent calls in a queue
– A problem with Emergency Notification via phone

24. What’s New in the 6.1 release (Part 1):
• Smart phone app doubles as a soft
phone (Right now the Bria Softphone @
$8 each)
• Switchvox in a virtual environment is
now officially supported by Digium

25. What’s New in the 6.1 release (Part 2):
• Call Queues (Examples: answering
out of sequence & leaving a voicemail w/ call
back
• Contacts Import from Outlook &
setting a phonebook to push to your users
• Virtualization will eliminate most arbitrary
limits

26. If our user culture was
different we could
have used softphones
for all the 700ish
phones and our cost
have been priced at
about $50,000 total.

27. Things to Remember
Commercial Support is Important
Sam Houston State University 6000 VoIP
phone roll out of Asterisk turned into a failed
deployment in 2009. After deployment they
were forced to move back to a proprietary
Cisco solution when they lost key staff with
Asterisk specific knowledge.

28. Things to Remember
● A POE network environment is a must
● Solid server hardware is a must install the
virtualized environment

29. Things to Remember
● I wanted to try a virtualized environment based on
my experience deploying a 250 phone system at a
previous institution. In my opinion the Digium
appliance hardware is a little underpowered. In
the previous case, for example, we immediately
had to upgrade memory. I guess the lesson is if
you are using appliance, take the recommended
specification & bump that specification.

30. Would I do anything differently….Maybe
Polycom phones for deployment > 400
Digium phones update every time a change
is made to the contact information. This
causes issues when all the phones try
updating at the same time. The Polycom
phones only update when the phone
reboots.

31. So is it Possible….
● Yes…
○ If you're broke you can still upgrade your phones
○ It’s a feature rich system even if you're not broke
○ Your organizational culture must be right for
softphones
○ Commercial support can ensure long term
success

32. Are there other alternatives to explore….
● Yes…
○ Yate: http://yate.null.ro
○ CallWeaver: http://www.callweaver.org
○ FreeSwitch: http://www.freeswitch.org
○ SipXecs: http://www.freeswitch.org
○ Starfish PBX: http://www.starfish-pbx.org/
○ OpenVBX: http://www.openvbx.org/

33. Additional Resources:
Casper College VoIP
Phone Learning Center Web Site:
http://goo.gl/fYScEK
Blog Posts Related to this project :
http://goo.gl/hNqTh3
NOTE: The 2nd blog post explains
how Digium Licensing Works.

34. For More Info:
Kent Brooks
@kentbrooks
kbrooks@caspercollege.edu
Don Lewis
dlewis@caspercollege.edu