Avaya Project Plan with ease

The 5 stages of a successful cut

By the end of this post ‘Avaya Project Plan with ease’ you will be able to design a perfect project plan that fits your specific project, I have included the 5 stages to help you create the ideal template for your next project.

As a project manager, I was always challenged with timelines, deliverables, and many other aspects of any implementation; I realized that I needed to standardized the process somehow. As the time went-by, implementing systems I started writing down the procedures, and failures. A few months later I had created a work flow of which I’m sharing here with you.

By following these stages you will be able to design your own template to help you deploy any type of solution no matter the size or equipment.

The 5 stages of the perfect implementation

• 1.- Discovery
• 2.- Assessment
• 3.- Pre-installation
• 4.- Implementation
• 5.- Post-installation analysis

Before starting the discovery stage, you have to organize your contacts into an email group-list, as well as creating a folder with the project name. Try to keep consistency when naming, filing and creating the project(s).

1.- The discovery stage

This is one of the most important stages, and it is where your project takes its infancy. Here you get to nature the upcoming project by introducing yourself and becoming part of the daily customer’s operation. You also get to understand the key points why this customer is looking into upgrade or deploy the new solution.

The discovery stage consists of these elements=

Site survey – I suggest that you gather the template given to you and customize it based on this new customer, adding fields to the form if needed. Check reference for more.

Identify and document – Here you have to analyze the customer’s system configuration, verifying the call routing, voicemail call handling, ringing options, etc.

Record restrictions – Document which items might need to get approval. Some of restrictions  can be related to workplace accessibility, some businesses might need a background-check in order to access their IT-Rooms, pictures might not be allowed, drawings might need to be approved, etc.

Review needs assessment – Gather the three elements mentioned above and review them with your team-leader or any other teammates involve in your project.

2.- Assessment

Now that you have the raw data from this new customer is time for you to mold it and customize it to the point that it makes sense. You do this by employing the following=

Review traffic load – Take the trunk analysis from the discovery stage and see what will take to accommodate the same amount of calls and maybe leave room for growth. By the way if you can record trunk-traffic reports you can always ask for a phone-bills that states the call volume. Stations ports will also be consider here, you have to understand where those calls will arrive when necessary.

Evaluate hardware interaction – Each phone call has to have a channel to traverse through, then another channel to allow the caller to answer the incoming call. You have to consider which trunk and station types (SIP, H.323, DIG, or ANA), and the amount of resources and licenses needed to make it possible.

Identify risks – After the evaluation you should now know if there will be any risk involved in deploying the proposed solution. You have to document these and bring them to the table for discussion.

Analyze risks – Some of these risks can be related to the network topology, cabling, speed, etc.

Document risks – Detail each risk found in a document, if possible draw a map showing the layout, data throughput, technology used, etc.

Review configuration – When reviewing all of the steps included in this stage you have to get the customer, and any other personnel involved to allow for any input, and nay vital changes needed to the configuration

Define Scope – You are officially ready to start defining how your statement of work will look like, incorporate the data gathered into your boilerplate form given by your team leader. Specify key points and bring up any concerns.

3.- Pre-installation

Develop a Scope Of Work – Some customers might need their legal team to review the SOW, for this particular reason you want to have different versions of the SOW (see the reference below). When reviewing the statement of work you must have the customer on a conference call reading the document with you. By reading the document I find that it makes it easier to understand for all parties involve to understand each aspect of the document.

Collect feedback and compile results – After the conference call it is time to updated any changes needed to the statement of work. Before incorporating any changes you have to engage your managers to get approval. You have to understand what are the benefits and drawbacks of any changes made.

Amend the SOW – It is time to submit the document. I suggest that you convert the document an Adobe PDF format to avoid any alterations to the document. When sending the email make sure to get a notification that they have received it. You can have your email client notify you, or just call the customer to confirm.

Customer sign off – Some companies might require the SOW to be signed before ordering any equipment, if that is the case, you have to let your customer contact know how important it is for them to expedite the document.

Order the equipment – Once you have received the statement of work, go ahead and place the order. If you are not responsible of ordering skip this step. Request an equipment list form showing each item.

Obtained resources – Have the warehouse manager compare the equipment inventory list with your order list.

Data center environment requirements – You must follow the installation guidelines based on Avaya recommendations, these are some items that I listed to help you succeed=

Station cable certification – Collect the tests report showing each cable results.

The following characteristics will be shown in regular test=

Wire Map= this test check each of the eight conductors, and verifies the connections are made correctly from patch panels to jacks.

Length= This test will check length of the cable as well as how far will electrical signal will travel.

Insertion loss= Also known as attenuation, it measures the signal traversing through the eight strands of cable, and it is the result of signal absorption by the insulation.

Near End Crosstalk or NEXT= It is produced when the signal is leaked from one conductor to another.

Crosstalk is one of the major symptoms of test failures, besides NEXT, there are many other tests characteristics, to learn more about them refer to the references below.

Grounding – A ground bus bar is needed to protect the equipment form electric charges. see the reference for details.

LAN ready – Consult with the IT Engineer and confirm that the network is VoIP ready. Request for network maps, ip address schemes, and other documents.

Trunks Ready – Engage with the service provider or ITSP to confirm that all circuits has been installed and tested.

Electric Power outlets – As part of the site survey, you must ask for a rack layout or IT Room Scheme, some of the item listed in the drawings are the electric outlets. When staging the system have the electrician present if possible.

Floor-plan ready – Request a office drawings sketching out the office and cubicles with names, extension IDs, jack numbers, and location information.

Cut-sheet ready – In order to have a successful implementation you have submit an installation form that includes names, last names, extension numbers, and any other end-user information needed. Voicemail automated attendants, hunt-groups, intercom groups, pickup groups, are some of the other items listed in this form.

Station review – Schedule time with the site contact to review the stations.

IP Address review – As part of the cut-sheet IP Address should also review with the customer. Include DHCP options, VLAN information, and other factors.

Freeze date – This is one of the most important items in this section. The customer has to understand that no changes will be made after this given date.

Lab preparation

This is a subdivision of the pre-installation stage.

Equipment received – Check with the warehouse manager to confirm the equipment is all there.

Equipment inventoried – If possible inventory the equipment with the warehouse personnel.

Pre-registration – Once the equipment has been received and inventoried have it pre-registered with Avaya, this will help you troubleshoot any issues prior to ship the servers out to site.

Lab setup – Schedule time to stage the main components in the lab.

Stage servers – label each sever

Program servers – Load any images such as ISOs, OS, service packs, and patches.

Firmware update – Refer to the latest Matrix to see if any of the MMs, Modules, or circuit packs need firmware updates.

Licensing – Install the system license, create your accounts then install the pwd file.

Translations – Transfer the translations to the new servers. Use Provision if available.

System Burn-in – It is important to test the equipment before deploying it.

Ship equipment – Gather ship tracking information and update the list of people responsible.

Equipment received – Have the equipment stored in a secured room

4.- Implementation

Inventory with customer – Go through the system inventory and verify all parts are counted for.

System installation – Here you will cover the rack and stack, MDF and IDF room preparation, man power allocation, etc.

Cut-to-service – Start the implementation

Training – End-user training as well system administration training. Have the customer provide a list of personnel with sessions. Keep the sessions to a 15 people maximum, and allow for a 15 discussion after the training.

First Day of business – Be onsite onetime to make sure the receptionist and everyone else is doing well. Setup a help-desk phone and allow people to leave messages with questions and concerns.

5.- Post-installation analysis

 Once the deployment is completed, I suggest that you wait a week letting the customer get used to the new system. Have them record issues into a single spreadsheet, this will help you track each incident. About a week later meet with your team, and customer to discuss lessons-learned, and to finalized the project.

 Reference

Download the simple project-plan form – Free

Purchase the implementation forms package.

I have included 10 implementation forms including the complex project-plan for the cost of $2.97 in the link below. I personally created most of these forms to help you succeed throughout the implementation of numerous projects.

Get the project forms here

These are free extra resources=

Site Survey – Installation guidelines

Cabling Certification document by Art Kozel, and Ruben Armas

Merger – Structured cable certification tests.

Data Center Design – Grounding section

Avaya Mentor – Translation management with Avaya Pro-vision

 

Question – When developing a project, which steps do you take?, are there any steps left behind?