The AVAYA IP Office phone system has an available feature described and marketed as “Twinning”.  Twinning is an AVAYA software license installed on the AVAYA IP Office that allows for the simultaneous ringing of your desk phone and your cell phone.  The first possible scenario would be if a call is transferred from the front desk/reception or if the call was routed in from the “auto attendant”.  Either way, normally only your desk phone would begin ringing but with Twinning, now your cell phone rings simultaneously too!  Imagine a fellow coworker dials your 4 digit extension thinking you are at your desk or a client has called your direct dial number (DID).  Your desk phone and cell phone will begin to ring simultaneously in this Twinning scenario too.  The advantage to this solution is that the person calling in only has your DID or office extension number but is able to reach you on your cell phone.  Twinning can be turned on and off by the touch of a button your desk phone.  Mobile sales people, construction project managers, and residential real estate agents are just some of the few folks who have taken advantage of this AVAYA IP Office upgrade.  I almost forgot, if the call isn’t answered by you using either your desk or cell phone, the caller is placed into your desk phone voice mail rather than your cell phone voice mail.  A feature I take advantage of is to have my personal voice mail box at the office send me a text whenever a message is left there showing the caller’s phone number and message notification but that’s news for another blog.

Would it help you in your everyday business activities to have your incoming faxes being delivered directly to your email inbox?  Rather than deal with the staff traffic jam at the fax machine, the lack of timeliness, the ink cartridges/toner,–ITN can attach a Multi-Tech Fax Server to your AVAYA IP Office allowing you to receive only your faxes in your email inbox.  Heavy document users such as mortgage/escrow/title companies have loved this functionality and ITN has other clients who have remote users who obviously don’t have access to the “office fax machine”.  Your AVAYA IP Office phone system will have to have a T-1 with a block of DID numbers but most firms large enough to consider this already have a T-1 and DID’s.

802.11 N and modern security advances from MERU have eliminated the top two reasons for hesitation to migrate to wireless, speed and security.  A third reason can now be considered, especially in the Seattle/Bellevue area where so many are concerned about the environment.  Picture a typical facility with 250 workstations, each with their own phone and computer.  Historically each workstation would be supplied with a voice cable and a data cable totaling 500 Category 5e cables (or 750 in the case of 3 cables per location) running through the ceiling back to the server room.  This cabling represents hundreds of pounds of mined copper, cable sheathing produced from petroleum products, plastic and metal patch panels, and the energy consumed in mining and manufacturing all this equipment.  Every time the company moves to a new space, they have to re-cable the new facility at a significant cost to their budget and environment since they can’t take the cabling with them.  For nearly the same price as a cabling infrastructure, the same staff could be served 802.11 N data speeds and QOS rated voice via MERU wireless without all the copper, steel, petroleum, mining energies, installed each time in the ceiling AND after the initial MERU investment, the company would save significant money on each facility move by relocating their MERU WLAN with the rest of their stuff.  Although AMP NetConnect cabling products satisfy RoHS standards and have one of the only lead free cable plants, there is nothing more environmentally friendly than no cable at all.   Check this out

We’ve already had a chance to chat about how MERU wireless allows you to transition from a cell call to VOIP call on the WLAN using a “Dual Mode” cellular phone.  This technology brings up another future opportunity worth discussing.  Imagine a future where your dual mode cellular phone is your ONLY phone!  No more “desk phone”, no more “checking voicemail at the office”.  Software applications downloaded to your dual mode phone will tie to the AVAYA IP Office allowing your mobile phone to take on much of the same features and functionality that you are used to in a desk phone.  Wouldn’t it be great to have the mobility found of your mobile phone but with the functionality of your desk phone?  Conference calling, call routing, hunt groups, tiered voicemail options, call center integration, etc.. are all things that could be combined with the mobility of your dual mode phone.  The power of your only phone being your mobile phone is possible now using AVAYA IP Office and MERU Wireless Networks.

Sure, some of your cell phones out there have a “data plan” where you have internet access when you need it.  Mobile phone manufacturers have phones on the market today that we described as “dual mode” cell phones.  These Dual Mode phones can automatically connect to your office’s wireless LAN when you walk into the building eliminating the use of your cell phone minutes!  You could be in the middle of a conversation leaving your car and walking into the building when your dual mode phone will automatically switch your call from “cellular” call using a tower connection to a “VOIP call over the WLAN without interruption!  Now this transition from Cellular to WLAN is only possible if your wireless LAN is truly rated for QOS (Quality of Service).  MERU’s Air Traffic Control system and QOS rated WLAN makes this happen.  Imagine 100’s of staff not using minutes but still taking advantage of true mobility!  MERU’s WLAN also clears the way for the elimination of the “desk phone” as your cell phone can become your only phone.      

Novarum (independent research group) reported 3 key differences between MERU’s 802.11N product and that of Cisco and Aruba.  The first significant difference was 40mbps more of throughput over MERU’s competitors.  Performance was usually above 170mbps beating the other guys’ by 40mbps.  The next thing they found was in the category of “Air Time Fairness” where MERU’s solution provided “fair and equitable access” to the 802.11N clients being served by the WLAN.  Airtime fairness is important because it’s how the signal is shared by different clients, both old school (b/g/a) and the new (N), and gives a sense of network stability in the eyes of the client (user).  The final standout in Novarum’s WLAN testing is in the category of “Toll Grade Voice”.  Neither Cisco or Aruba can match MERU’s performance in supporting voice applications at a toll grade voice level.  MERU’s product registers above a MOS score of 4.0 with high density, bi-directional voice and data traffic.  Interface Technologies’ AVAYA VOIP users and dual mode cell phone users require a WLAN system like MERU’s to provide toll quality voice performance. 

What is QOS?  QOS is “Quality of Service” and is a hugely important when considering the move to an all wireless VOIP solution.  Without QOS rated wireless, a company’s voice communications will be unsatisfactory.  In a nutshell, QOS is a function of your wireless LAN’s ability to “prioritize voice” transmissions on the network in order to maintain the appropriate performance levels.  These performance levels can be measured with a “MOS score” to measure “Toll Quality Voice”.  MERU’s Virtual Cell technology and Air Traffic Control show powerful results in independent testing.  In the testing procedures, the evaluation group compared MERU and two other big names in a multiple testing format of combined VOIP and laptop users with the largest single test being a combined 48 data users and 24 simultaneous VOIP users.  In this last scenario testing with 15 APs, MERU and another competitor tied for MOS scores of 4.5 while both maintaining data throughput of over 33 mbps  using 802.11g gear.  When the AP count was reduced from 15 to 10 with the same number of clients trying to connect to the network (48 laptops, 24 VOIP phones), MERU’s throughput stayed above 33mpbs and its MOS score only dropped to 4.0, the bar for “toll quality voice”.  The other guys’ both came in below 5mpbs in throughput and MOS scores of 3 and 1.4, well below the standard for toll quality voice.  This testing showed us that MERU’s WLAN is very scalable, requires less infrastructure to perform at the same or better levels to support voice and data, more easily managed without the need for costly RF planning, and outperforms its’ closest competitors in the market place at nearly every level.

We’ve seen it in the last recession and we’ve seen it in this one—“I’ve leased a new office space and we are moving in a few months, can I re-use the existing cabling that was left behind by the previous tenant?”  Of course the short answer is “sure” however our team always wants to help you evaluate this structured cabling before making that decision on your own.  Unlike many of our competitors, we’ll take a look at it to see if it can be re-used.  Of course we’d like the “new wiring project” normally guaranteed by a tenant moving into a new space and yes, WA State law prohibits the previous tenant from leaving their cabling behind, but we’d be happy to take a look at the pre-existing cabling.  Questions we ask you or ask ourselves are;  What are your needs for performance?  Are you moving into the exact same offices/cubicles or are you changing the floor plan significantly?  How much moving of cables will be necessary and will they reach these new locations?  How old is the cabling infrastructure and will it satisfy your needs?  Is it well labeled?  Will it pass inspection?  If your firm is going to run a Gigabit Ethernet network or VOIP, and the existing cabling is poorly ran Category 5 cable, ITN would likely suggest replacement.  If your firm is tearing down many of the walls and re-designing much of the office space, it is likely that “re-using existing cabling” will begin to cost as much or more than installing a new AMP NetConnect structured cabling system. 

This technology has been around for a few years but only now is the small business starting to take advantage of the benefits.  There are different ways to leverage VOIP in your business;  1) install a single VOIP phone at home on a Comcast connection to allow key employees to “telecommute”,  2)  connect a Seattle office with a Portland office over the internet eliminating interoffice long distance, enabling 4 digit dialing, and sharing resources from one site such as “networked voicemail”,  3) enable a mobile sales person to always be on the move yet outbound calls from a “soft phone” installed on a laptop no matter where the rep is in the world.  ITN is currently working with an ITN AVAYA IP Office phone system client who is expanding into an adjacent building next door.  Rather than trench the parking lot and install a 900’ fiber/copper backbone, ITN can use their robust internet connections at each site, QOS rated firewalls, and two separate AVAYA IP Office systems tied together over VOIP!

You’ve got a lot of options to connect your main building to your expansion building but it depends on a handful of variables.  The short answer is that ITN can help you connect these two buildings using any one of the following technologies;  1) wireless/radio, 2) VPN/internet, or 3) a hard wired aerial or underground connection using copper and fiber optic OSP cabling.  First question, how far apart are these buildings?             500’?     2000’?   15 miles?             The short answer here is that if the buildings are within 1,000’ or so, then wireless or a hard wired copper/fiber solution is certainly feasible.  If the buildings are 15 miles apart, then a connection through the internet is likely the best option for your business, group, or school.  Second question, what kind of traffic will you have and what connection speed is required for your network between buildings?  For the 15 mile example, you’ll have to weigh your budget against your connection needs as these internet solution decisions are often driven by price.  But in the example of “around 500’ of separation”, ITN can propose a couple different options.  A MERU wireless B/G client bridge might do the trick if you had just a few employees in a remote warehouse?  Or a Proxim Gigalink radio bridge with a 1GIG line of sight beam could be the solution where an underground or aerial cable couldn’t be installed but a 1GIG connection was still required?  Or a Laser Optimized Multi-Mode fiber optic cable capable of delivering up to 10GIG speeds at a maximum distance of 984’ could be the solution for the most demanding application within the second building.  An Engenius cordless phone might be the inexpensive fix for a handful of distant telephone users who don’t need a data connection? (a guard shack?)  The MERU Networks bridge, Proxim Gigalink, Engenius Phones, and the AMP Netconnect XG Fiber Optic systems are all just some of the products that ITN can lean on to solve your campus connection requirements.