Power over Ethernet Solutions

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY

Founded in Calgary in 1960, Cohos Evamy is one of the largest Architectural firms in Western Canada.. Many office buildings, as well as hospitals, government buildings, academic campuses, and airports throughout the region, have been touched in some way by the firm. Today, The Cohos Evamy Partners has 270 employees distributed among three offices in Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto, Ontario.

As a fundamental facet of its philosophy, the firm strives to maintain a fully integrated, interdisciplinary practice. The firm staffs a wide range of architects, urban planners, designers, and engineers, as well as specialists in retail, commercial, education, healthcare, and other industries. To sustain its leadership position, Cohos Evamy needs to enable a tightly connected environment, in which specialists across the firm can collaborate on projects originating at any office.

"We strive to achieve a one office-three cities environment, so technology is a crucial enabler," says Joe Lefort, systems administrator for Cohos Evamy. "We operate under very tight deadlines and very heavy workloads. Without data and communications technologies, we would not be able to compete."

However, while Cohos Evamy's modern high-speed data network, companywide applications, and videoconferencing systems supported a single-office mentality, its phone systems lagged far behind. The firm wanted clients to be able to reach any employee, anywhere across the company with a single phone call. But the PBX phone systems in Calgary and Edmonton were far too rigid to integrate, and had reached end of life long ago.

To achieve the firm's goal of a fully connected, highly collaborative organization, Lefort knew that the phone system would need an overhaul. He believed that IP Communications offered the ideal solution, because it would allow voice traffic to be carried over the firm's existing wide-area network (WAN). But he also knew that migrating all offices to IP Communications at once could be complicated and costly, particularly if the system wasn't fully proven within the Cohos Evamy environment. Lefort needed a solution that would allow him to pilot IP Communications on a small scale, but would also support an easy migration to full-scale service if the pilot proved successful.

As Lefort was considering possible IP Communications technologies, Cohos Evamy was preparing to open a new office in Toronto. Lefort realized that the new site offered an ideal, low-risk environment to pilot a new system.

"I had read a lot about IP Communications, and I saw vast potential in the solution," he says. "I had the ear of the partners, and I convinced them that the new office was a perfect opportunity to try the system out and work out any bugs."

In October 2003, Lefort began evaluating the products of several vendors. After reviewing solutions from three major providers, Cohos Evamy chose to deploy CallManager Express from Cisco Systems®, with Cisco Unity™ Express to support the new office and serve as the firm's first step toward a full IP Communications deployment.

Through Cisco® CallManager Express businesses can manage telephony services over the same Cisco Multiservice Access Router that provides data connectivity. Using the voice capabilities embedded in Cisco IOS® Software, Cisco CallManager Express offers local call processing and rich phone features in a single, integrated platform ideal for a small business or branch office. By adding a Cisco Unity Express network module or advanced integration module (AIM) to the Cisco office router, organizations can enable customized auto-attendant and local voice voice-mail service for up to 100 users.

Cohos Evamy had used Cisco routers and switches for years to support its WAN, and Lefort felt that Cisco offered the ideal combination of state-of-the-art technology, excellent support, and rich management features to make the deployment a success.

Lefort outfitted the Toronto office with a Cisco 3725 Multiservice Access Router running Cisco CallManager Express services embedded in Cisco IOS Software and a Cisco Unity Express network module. The Cisco router provides a robust, reliable foundation for providing network service to the entire office, while offering intelligent quality of service (QoS) to support delay-sensitive voice traffic. Cisco Catalyst® 3560 Series switches with Power over Ethernet (PoE) connect all users and deliver high-quality voice services to 24 Cisco 7912 IP phones. The solution also includes a Cisco IP Phone 7960 with Cisco 7914 expansion modules at the receptionist's desk, and 4 Cisco 7940 IP phones with speakerphone capabilities for executives and conference rooms.

The solution's streamlined management features and ease of integration with the organization's WAN enabled Cohos Evamy to move to full implementation in about a month. The deployment itself took just three hours. And, since Lefort chose to roll out the system with just basic phone and voice-mail service, training employees on the new system took only a few minutes.

As both a primary voice system for the Toronto office and a stepping stone toward company-wide IP Communications, the Cisco CallManager Express with Cisco Unity Express solution has been a tremendous success. Employees have been using the system since January 2004, and the quality and reliability of the service has been extraordinary.

By delivering both voice and data services over a single access router, Cohos Evamy was also able to roll out the Toronto office much more quickly, and eliminate the substantial costs of deploying a separate PBX voice system and voice-cabling infrastructure. The firm has also realized substantial savings in maintenance costs over the old systems.

"Our Calgary office uses an outside support firm to handle every phone move, add, or change," says Lefort. "They walk in the door, that's $175. With the Toronto system, if we need to make a change, I just go into the router's command line interface myself, and it's done. That just saved us $175 for one minute's worth of work."

The PoE capabilities of the Cisco Catalyst switches also reduced startup costs at the new site, while enabling a smoother, easier rollout.

"The fact that we didn't need separate power supplies for the phones was a huge advantage," says Lefort. "Each phone is a completely self-standing unit, and everything is much simpler. You plug in the network cable, and you're done."

Lefort has also been pleased with the ease of administrating the new solution. He and his four-person IT team are able to manage all aspects of day-to-day network operations and maintenance remotely, from the firm's Calgary office. The intelligence and uniformity of the Cisco IOS Software at the core of the solution has also made Lefort's job much easier.

"I'm an old-school IT guy, so telephony was totally new to me," he says. "That's why going with Cisco was such a huge advantage. Virtually every device Cisco makes uses the same management interface, so there isn't a whole new set of rules to learn. If I know one device, I can easily transfer my skills to another."

Lefort also enjoyed excellent support throughout the deployment and day-to-day operation of the network. "From my perspective, Cisco offers the best support in the world. You can always call Cisco up and, whatever the case might be, they have an answer."

When Cohos Evamy's multisite IP Communications system is complete, the solution will incorporate several hundred users. At that point, Lefort believes the full-scale Cisco CallManager solution will be a better fit for the firm. However, Lefort believes that CallManager Express would be an ideal solution on its own for many organizations.

"In terms of maintenance, you don't need to be an IT expert to use it because the Web interface is so simple," he says. "If you're a small shop with less than 100 users, it's absolutely the way to go."

For Lefort and Cohos Evamy, the most valuable benefit of the Cisco CallManager Express solution is its built-in roadmap to full-feature, multi-site IP Communications. The firm is now in the process of deploying a Cisco CallManager centralized IP Communications solution with a full-scale Cisco Unity voice mail system.

When the installation is complete, call processing and voice mail for all sites will be handled at Cohos Evamy's office in Calgary. All employees across the company will be able to call any colleague, at any office, by simply dialing a four-digit extension. And all office-to-office calls will be carried over the WAN, eliminating an estimated $2,000 per month in long distance charges. The solution will also open the door to a wide range of IP Phone-based XML applications, such as a companywide directory and intercom system, and other converged voice and data solutions like unified messaging.

"The ability to expand to a full, centralized IP Communications system was a huge factor for us," says Lefort. "We knew in advance that if the implementation in Toronto was successful, we'd be going to a bigger version in the other cities, and we didn't want to have to forklift out equipment that was six months old."

By choosing a Cisco multiservice access router and Cisco CallManager Express to support the Toronto pilot, Cohos Evamy is enjoying complete investment protection. All network hardware, IP Phones, and user interfaces will remain in the new system. The Cisco multiservice router will continue to deliver the same high-performance voice and data services as before, but instead of handling primary call processing, it will provide Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony services to ensure that office phone service continues, even if the WAN connection goes down. The transition will require a simple Cisco IOS Software change.

"I expect the transition to be very smooth," says Lefort. "For the end users in Toronto, the only thing they'll notice is that the directory just got bigger, and they can suddenly see everyone across the company."

Cisco Systems has already helped professional firms worldwide reap the benefits of IP Communications. To find out how Cisco can help your organization, visit these Websites:

Cisco CallManager Express <www.cisco.com/go/ccme>

Cisco Unity Express <www.cisco.com/go/cue>

Cisco Power over Ethernet Solutions <www.cisco.com/go/poe>

This customer story is based on information provided by The Cohos Evamy Partners and describes how that particular organization benefits from the deployment of Cisco products. Many factors may have contributed to the results and benefits described; Cisco does not guarantee comparable results elsewhere.

CISCO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties, therefore this disclaimer may not apply to you.