VoIP II: Deployment and Best Practices in the Enterprise

Who Should Attend

Telecom managers, voice administrators, Internet administrators, investment bankers, intranet managers & administrators, network designers, carrier, ISP and vendor personnel.

What You Will Learn

• Become aware of the best practices for successful VoIP/IPT deployment.
• Examine the requirements for a converged voice and data network.
• Understand how the TCP/IP protocols, routers and MPLS operate in a converged environment.
• Plan the procurement of an IP Telephony solution.
• Learn how to evaluate the range of IP PBX products.
• Compare IP PBX and IP phone products, services, and recent developments from companies such as Cisco, Nortel, 3Com, Avaya, Siemens and ShoreTel.
• Determine how to reorganize for a converged IT staff and the new job descriptions.
• Assess the LAN and closet requirements for VoIP.
• Learn how to manage WAN bandwidth, performance and MPLS services.
• Understand how to measure voice quality.
• Evaluate IP-PBX and IP phone security and the new threats behind the firewall.
• Examine real troubleshooting performance issues.
• Analyze the failures and problems that will arise in an IP Telephony operation.

Course Details

I. VoIP/IPT Refresher

• A. Defining VoIP and IPT
• B. VoIP transmission
• C. The IP PBX
• D. IP Phones and softphones
• E. Signaling standards (H.323, SIP, MGCP)
• F. Voice compression standards (G.7XX series)

II. TCP/IP Networks and Protocols

• A. Internet protocols (IP/ICMP)
• B. Transport protocols (TCP/UDP)
• C. Application support (FTP, SMTP, Telnet, HTTP)
• D. Application Program Interfaces (TAPI, TSAPI, CSTA)
• E. Network management (SNMP, RMON, MIB)

III. VoIP Through Routers and MPLS

• A. Functions and operation
• B. Protocol support (RIP, OSPF, EIGRP)
• C. Performance issues
• D. MPLS technology
• E. MPLS service and QoS

IV. Signaling Protocols

• A. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
• B. Session Description Protocol (SDP)
• C. H.323
• D. MGCP
• E. MEGACO/H.248

V. Planning for the Procurement

• A. When and how much VoIP/IPT
• B. What are the benefits?
• C. IT staff and use impact
• D. Emerging applications
• E. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• F. Unified Communications (UC)
• G. Changes in the MDF and IDF
• H. Phasing in VoIP/IPT products
• I. Calculating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
• J. Predicting the Return On Investment (ROI)

VI. How to Evaluate VoIP/IPT Products

• A. Hardware issues
• B. Software considerations
• C. Standard vs. proprietary designs
• D. Legacy integration
• E. VoIP network management
• F. Product acceptance testing
• G. RFP Development

VII. The VoIP/IPT Products

• A. The State of the Market
• B. Vendor architectures
• C. Legacy vendor IP PBX designs
• D. Data vendor IP PBX designs
• E. IP phones and softphones
• F. Product comparisons for 2006
• G. Independent product evaluations

VIII. Software Management: Patching and Version Control

• Legacy TDM vs. IP software
• Releases and Version
• Patching management
• Tools for patching
• The software TCO

IX. The VoIP/IPT Organization

• A. IT organizations
• B. Convergence issues
• C. Staff skills and certification
• D. Expanded IT responsibilities
• E. New job descriptions
• F. Organizational best practices

X. Preparing the LAN and Closets

• A. LAN site survey
• B. Closet design
• C. LAN switch upgrades for QoS and security
• D. Cabling changes
• E. Power over Ethernet (PoE), 802.3 af/at
• F. Power and air conditioning requirements
• G. Implementation best practices

XI. WAN Assessment

• A. What to measure
• B. Data network traffic
• C. Capacity and bandwidth availability
• D. Network assessment tools
• E. Vendor assessment services
• F. Design best practices

XII. Managing Bandwidth, MPLS and Performance

• A. Predicting bandwidth consumption
• Call Admission Control (CAC)
• MPLS bandwidth prediction
• MPLS limitations
• Improving performance (delay, jitter, packet loss)
• QoS techniques (DiffServ, MPLS. RSVP…)
• Network management system changes
• Performance best practices

XIII. Security: In Front and Behind the Firewall

• A. Security considerations
• B. VoIP as an application
• C. Internal Network Vulnerabilities
• D. Securing the Phone
• E. Securing the Call Server
• F. Where are the Firewalls?
• G. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE)
• H. Website resources
• I.  Security best practices

XIV. Voice and Call Quality

• A. How voice quality is influenced by IP network operation
• B. Voice quality challenges
• C. Voice conversation quality (MOS)
• D. Network impairments
• E. IETF standards
• F. ITU standards

XV. Troubleshooting Performance Problems  

• A. Measuring Data Network Performance
• B. RTCP and RTCP XR Standards
• C. E-Model Standard
• D. Performing a Network Assessment
• E. Tools for Assessing Network Performance
• F. Performance management tools
• G. Best Practices

XVI. Fault Management and Troubleshooting

• A. Data Network Problems
• B. DHCP, DNS and NAT Problems
• C. Firewall and Security/Attack Issues
• D. Call Servers and Signaling
• E. Gateways (voice and signaling)
• F. IP Phones (voice and signaling)
• G. Softphones (voice, signaling and applications)
• H. Software and Configurations
• I. Problem Scenarios and solutions
• J. Tools for Troubleshooting
• K. Best Practice

Your Instructor: Gary Audin, Delphi, Inc.