IPO Server Edition – Installation Best Practices

The four elements for a successful cut

When you finish reading this blog post, “IPO Server Edition – Installation Best Practices,” you will be able to prepare yourself to better serve your customer and avoid common mistakes along the way. You get to see how licensing, VCM resources, and resiliency play a big part when installing a multi-site IP Office.

A few weeks ago, I got a chance to assist installing a series of remote locations, all connected to a Primary Server Edition. And in the case of failure, there was a redundant Server located in the same geographical area. We encountered big hurdles along the way, from IP Routing issues to VLAN misconfiguration.

Here, I provide you with the four elements or stages to help you optimize and successfully deploy an IPO Server Edition Solution and avoid the same mistakes we made.

• 1.- See the big picture
• 2.- Pre-installation considerations
• 3.- Documents and Procedures
• 4.- Judgement day

1.- See the big picture

We as technicians and system engineers, by the time we get involved in the project, it’s a bit too late in the game to start reconfiguring the VoIP solution; therefore, we need to analyze the existing design and try to adjust to what the customer has in place, what’s given to us, and make it all work.

These are some of the prerequisites that you should be aware while installing the system:

IP Office Components – Knowing which components were sold to the customer is crucial. Not understanding parts of the solution sold might get us into trouble. Especially, if you don’t know how to install some of the components. For instance, if the customer is implementing an Application Server or running OneX and Voicemail Pro as part of the Server Edition solution, you, as the lead technician, have to understand how these elements are installed and configured.

IP Office Licensing – Every node (Remote IP500V2) has to have a Server Edition license installed, in order to be able to use the resources located at the core or Primary system. Things like IP-Endpoint licenses, Power User and Office-worker licenses, etc.

VCM and Other resources – For redundancy purposes, you might want to have IP-Endpoint licenses residing in the local node in case of any outages . For SIP Endpoints, you may want to keep those in the local system or node for better performance and failover options.

As we were about to transfer to the new IP Office system, we encountered issues with VLAN routing between sites, where the SIP endpoint were not able to register to the Primary Gatekeeper, instead they were getting registration from the local node and there was not enough licensing available to service all the ip-endpoints.

VCM – These resources should stay at the local system where the IP Phone or SIP endpoint resides to avoid transcoding across the WAN.

2.- Pre-installation considerations

There are some things that you should take care of before going live with the new system.

Failover Testing Procedures – Here, you are to check with the Software Specialist or Software Engineer to see how he/she configured the failover options. These are some consideration that you should be aware of=

IP Phone Failover – The IP Phones can be configured to failover from the Primary system (HQ) to its local node, or Secondary Server. Before you configure the steps, you should also understand how the WAN infrastructure has been setup. Not knowing this portion of the topology is pointless to setup failover over the WAN, especially if the WAN-Routers are not configured to follow the same logic path.

Trunk Failover (SIP/IP) – The IPO Server Edition Solution 9.0 and later has a feature called “Active Call Preservation” that allows the IP Phone to stay connected to the IP Trunk even when its primary gatekeeper fails. The IP Office Server Edition will re-register the IP Phone to a failover Gatekeeper following the resiliency rules configured by you, and preserving the caller and callee connected throughout the switching process.

It is important to note that the “Active Call Preservation” rule does not apply to PRI or Analog trunks.

T1-PRI or E1 Failover – The Service Provider can configure failover from one T1 Circuit to another. If you have multiple T1-PRIs or E1s throughout your VoIP topology (locations), calls can be diverted from one site to another automatically. This is done outside the Avaya IPO Server Edition.

DHCP and File Server – Try to keep these services resident to the each site or node. Having a centralized DHCP Server may cause issues when first deploying all the sites at the same time. You can then move these servers from their respective locations to the Core site once you have all the components in place.

Voice and Data – For those sharing one wall jack, it is recommended to separate the LAN with VLANs for voice and data. Depending on the type of switches in place, you might need to route these VLANs through a local Router or turn on routing on your L3 Switch, allowing communication between networks.

3.- Documents and Procedures

These are the most used documents that you might need while deploying the new VoIP solution

Floor Plans – If you don’t have floor plans available, I suggest that you draw a map yourself documenting cubicles, floors, department, building numbers, and of course jack numbers.

Test Plan – Have a piece of paper that details which tests you will be doing with the customer.

Network Maps – These can be provided to you from the IT Department. They should include each IDF, switch location, Network ID, Router, VLAN, etc.

I put together a quick checklist for you, if interested in downloading it, head over here

4.- Judgement day

Arrive 4 hours before the cutover if possible and do the following=

Let the customer know that you need access to every single room in the building. For those people with offices, they need to leave them open or have someone there to help you access it.

Start placing phones. Make sure to label the extension number at each phone with a sticky note and leave the cable ready to be connected later.

For those open areas, and available cubicles, you can connect them first.

Connect any other adjuncts, such as paging, music on hold, fax machines, headsets etc.

Cut to service – Now that you are ready to replace the system, the first thing you should do is connect the reception phone then connect the IP Office Trunks. Run all the tests necessary following the test procedure form already created by you.

Placing the phones – Start installing the phones from the most to least important. Following the floor plan and label each location as you go, keeping track of your progress.

For those installing IP Phones, I suggest that you connect all of them first then come back to log them in. They will need up to 12 minutes to upgrade.

To speed up the upgrade process of the IP-Phones, remove all of the unnecessary languages off the File Server.

Resources

PCN – Audible Clicking – IP500V2 PCS 18 through 21

Critical Patch for ACCS – Resolves IP500V2 Reboots.

Project Forms – These forms will help you along the way to gather the necessary data prior to installing a new system.

Question

When installing a new Node or remote IP Office, do you configure the SCN VoIP line as IP-Socket?