VOIP Operations Plan

This document outlines the steps the organization will take in setting up our Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) architecture. Upgrading to VOIP marks our next step into modernizing our IT and communications infrastructure. The VOIP upgrade will start on Month Day, Year and will be finished by Month Day, Year. Information about which departments will be affected by the architectural work will be disseminated by the mid level managers.

VOIP migration will be broken down into four phases. Phase I entails external operations. The organization will partner with a VOIP service provider as well as improve our outside Internet connection in order to maintain a consistent Quality of Service (QoS) for our VOIP calls. Phase II is to modify and improve the existing architecture of the building to accommodate the VOIP infrastructure. This will entail installation of new wiring as well as upgrading of the existing IT wiring throughout the building. Phase III would be the actual installation of the VOIP hardware such as switches, phones and software. Phase IV would be the employee training and Phase V would be integration testing.

Phase I has already begun. The management has already located a possible VOIP provider for the organization that will give us the best package including cost, service and features. Said VOIP provider will also overlook the deployment of the next three phases. The organization has also requested for a better Internet connection from our Internet Service Provider (ISP). We expect that the organization’s connection will be upgraded from its current DSL connection to the faster T1 line in one week’s time. After the T1 has been installed, the employees may experience faster Internet connections to their respective workstations.

Phase II will begin as soon as the T1 line has been put in place. The T1 line installation will be our timeline’s week zero. The VOIP provider or its associated contractor will come in to our building and install new wiring for the VOIP service. This is because our VOIP service will require ethernet wiring to the phones. The rewiring will therefore replace our existing telephone cabling with ethernet cabling. The contractor will also create the cabinets, racks and other fixtures needed for the installation of the VOIP hardware. As this will be a major infrastructural operation, this will be done in stages with wiring being done on a department by department basis. A majority of the infrastructure work will also be done at night to lessen the impact to our uptime. The department heads will coordinate with their respective people if they will have to stay at home on specific days when the infrastructure work is done on their department. We expect phase two to last two weeks from week one to week two.

Phase III will last the entire of week three. The provider will come in to install the new VOIP hardware such as the actual phones, modems, conferencing equipment and software. This will also be the time that we pull out the old hardware that the VOIP hardware will replace.

Phase IV is concurrent with phases two and three. Phase IV will be done during weeks two and three. Like Phase III, Phase IV will be handled by the VOIP service provider. During weeks two and three, employee training will be performed. This will entail training the employees not only how to use the new VOIP system but also how to utilize and maximize the new features that VOIP brings to our organization. The department heads will be the one responsible for disseminating the training schedules for their departments.

Phase V – system integration and testing will be performed on weeks three to four as the hardware is installed. The VOIP provider is in charge of this operation. This phase will ensure that the architecture is performing as specified and that the VOIP system achieves a reliable QoS. This will also be the time for the provider to troubleshoot and respond to employee feedbacks to the deployed system.

Bibliography

Kelly, T.V. (2005). VOIP for Dummies. Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley.