The Road to IP Telephony: How Cisco Systems Migrated from PBX to IP Telephony [Paperback]

Stephanie Carhee (Author), Cisco Systems (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1587200880 | ISBN-13: 978-1587200885 | Publication Date: July 8, 2004 | Edition: Pap/Pstr

A complete IP Telephony migration planning guide

Includes Steps to Success Poster

• It's everyone's "must have." This is a reference book for the entire project team who works on the deployment of an IP Telephony solution.
• Take advantage of best practices. Includes more than 200 best practices, lessons learned, and tips for getting you through your IP Telephony deployment successfully.
• Minimize risk and learn from the mistakes of others. Read the list of the top 10 things that can go wrong during an IP Telephony deployment.
• Ask the right questions. Get the project team thinking and collaborating together with Stephanie's "Checklist of Questions to Ask the Project Team."
• Use proven planning tools. Work from sample checklists, templates, project plans, and workflow documents to guide your planning process.
• Keep the Steps to Success on the minds of your project team. Use the enclosed poster, which illustrates every major step associated with an IP Telephony deployment.

There is no better path to the successful implementation of a new technology than to follow in the experienced footsteps of an organization that has already been there. The Road to IP Telephony tells you how Cisco Systems successfully moved its own organization to a converged, enterprise-wide network. You will learn the implementation and operational processes, what worked, what didn't work, and how to develop your own successful methodology. After presenting this topic to hundreds of Cisco customers, including Fortune 500 companies, Stephanie Carhee consistently encountered the same question, "If I decide to move to IP Telephony, where do I begin and what can I do to ensure that I do it right the first time?" Although the needs of every enterprise are different, some things are universal; planning, communication, teamwork, and understanding your user's requirements are as important as technical expertise. The Road to IP Telephony shares with you everything you need to know about managing your deployment. It starts with where to begin, including what needs to be addressed before you even begin the planning process, to building your project team. Key best practices are also offered to help you set the project's pace and schedule, get your users on board, identify a migration strategy, develop a services and support strategy, and work toward the final PBX decommission.

"Cisco IT wants to share its implementation experience with Cisco customers and partners to aide in the deployment practices of new Cisco technologies. While conducting our own company-wide cutover, we learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do. This book shares our experiences."
-Brad Boston, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer,
Cisco Systems, Inc.

This volume is in the Network Business Series offered by Cisco Press. Books in this series provide IT executives, decision makers, and networking professionals with pertinent information on today's most important technologies and business strategies.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A complete IP Telephony migration planning guide

Includes Steps to Success Poster

• It's everyone's "must have." This is a reference book for the entire project team who works on the deployment of an IP Telephony solution.
• Take advantage of best practices. Includes more than 200 best practices, lessons learned, and tips for getting you through your IP Telephony deployment successfully.
• Minimize risk and learn from the mistakes of others. Read the list of the top 10 things that can go wrong during an IP Telephony deployment.
• Ask the right questions. Get the project team thinking and collaborating together with Stephanie's "Checklist of Questions to Ask the Project Team."
• Use proven planning tools. Work from sample checklists, templates, project plans, and workflow documents to guide your planning process.
• Keep the Steps to Success on the minds of your project team. Use the enclosed poster, which illustrates every major step associated with an IP Telephony deployment.

There is no better path to the successful implementation of a new technology than to follow in the experienced footsteps of an organization that has already been there. The Road to IP Telephony tells you how Cisco Systems successfully moved its own organization to a converged, enterprise-wide network. You will learn the implementation and operational processes, what worked, what didn't work, and how to develop your own successful methodology. After presenting this topic to hundreds of Cisco customers, including Fortune 500 companies, Stephanie Carhee consistently encountered the same question, "If I decide to move to IP Telephony, where do I begin and what can I do to ensure that I do it right the first time?" Although the needs of every enterprise are different, some things are universal; planning, communication, teamwork, and understanding your user's requirements are as important as technical expertise. The Road to IP Telephony shares with you everything you need to know about managing your deployment. It starts with where to begin, including what needs to be addressed before you even begin the planning process, to building your project team. Key best practices are also offered to help you set the project's pace and schedule, get your users on board, identify a migration strategy, develop a services and support strategy, and work toward the final PBX decommission.

"Cisco IT wants to share its implementation experience with Cisco customers and partners to aide in the deployment practices of new Cisco technologies. While conducting our own company-wide cutover, we learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do. This book shares our experiences."
-Brad Boston, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer,
Cisco Systems, Inc.

This volume is in the Network Business Series offered by Cisco Press. Books in this series provide IT executives, decision makers, and networking professionals with pertinent information on today's most important technologies and business strategies.

About the Author

Stephanie L. Carhee has worked at Cisco Systems for nearly five years. Prior to moving to the IP Communications Enterprise Services Marketing team, Stephanie was an IP Telephony Implementation team lead within the Strategic Program Management Group in Cisco IT Voice Services. Her primary role was to lead the campus-wide migration to the Cisco IP Communications Solution. In May 2001, Stephanie led the conversion of the Cisco campus in San Jose, California, which involved 20,000 users and devices and was the largest deployment of IP Telephony in industry history. She led a cross-functional team that included top project managers, design engineers, support team, CCIEs, technical marketing engineers, systems engineers, and IP Telephony partners during the conversion.

Stephanie is an experienced, dynamic speaker and an acknowledged subject matter expert in the processes and procedures surrounding the deployment of an IP Telephony solution. Stephanie's best practices have been featured in Cisco publications, such as iQ and Packet magazines. She has delivered hundreds of customer briefings around the country, including presentations at Networkers 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Today, Stephanie is leveraging her knowledge within the Cisco Customer Advocacy organization, where she is frequently asked to consult on customer engagements and various presales activities with top Cisco customers to duplicate the success realized by Cisco.

As a senior project manager with more than 10 years of project management experience, Stephanie's experience covers the management, development, and implementation of projects in the IT network engineering area, including operations, system administration, advanced technologies, marketing, and sales. Stephanie holds a bachelor of arts degree in business management and communications. Stephanie can be reached online at [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Cisco Press; Pap/Pstr edition (July 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587200880
• ISBN-13: 978-1587200885
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,875,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must read for anyone migrating from TDM to IPT., October 9, 2004

By 

DClark "Danny M. Clark II" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Road to IP Telephony: How Cisco Systems Migrated from PBX to IP Telephony (Paperback)

The Road to IP Telephony is a project manager's guide for a successful migration from TDM to IP Telephony. It's a must read for anyone involved with or interested in the project side of migrating from a traditional TDM environment to IP Telephony. This book will take you step by step through the project process and, I believe if followed, will ensure a successful implementation and migration to IP Telephony. Even if you are not on the project management side, reading this book will help you see the big picture and understand how the process will affect you. This book does not require an understanding of the technical issues involved, although the book does outline technical issues that need to be addressed during the migration.

One of the big industry buzz word is "Voice over IP". Companies that truly understand the benefits of leveraging their IP infrastructure will make the business decision to migrate from their traditional TDM infrastructure to IP Telephony. The Road to IP Telephony helps you understand the keys to a successful migration from TDM environment to IP Telephony.

I have come away from reading this book with three major keys for a successful migration. Below I have identified those keys:

The first keys to a successful migration are to have executive management fully behind the business decision and lead the company's transition to IP Telephony. This would include appointing a project manager over the migration that is not influenced by individual company departments. Technical departments such as Telecom and Network should provide the technical skills and support for the project but not the direction.

The second key to a successful migration is the successful migration of the Telecom and Network groups. Traditionally the Telecom and Network groups have been managed separately. Each group has its own characteristics that make merging the two groups difficult. The technology and operating process in the telecom environment is very static, while the technology and operating processes in the networking environment are constantly changing. It is crucial for not only management, but also both the telecom and network departments to understand the continued need for the skills that both departments bring to the table.

The third key to a successful migration is communication. It is critical that the company as a whole understands and has expectations set before beginning the transition. Migrating from a TDM environment to IP Telephony is NOT about simply replacing hardware. In order to be successful a paradigm shift will need to take place within the company. IP Telephony will allow your company to leverage its existing IP infrastructure adding features and services that will increase productivity and enhance the way you do business with your customers.

The Road to IP Telephony is a perfect example of how Cisco Systems successfully implemented their own IP Telephony solution into their own working environment. The author Stephanie Carhee, project manager over Cisco Systems migration from TDM to IP Telephony, does a superb job of identifying every aspect required for this project. Today, Cisco Systems does not have a single TDM switch in their enterprise. They rely solely on IP Telephony for all of their Voice needs. I believe Cisco's success was a direct result of the project management process outlined in this book.

In my personal experience, the past two companies that I have worked for made valiant attempts to migrate from TDM to IP Telephony but were unsuccessful. I believe the reason they were unsuccessful was not addressing the above keys to success. Ultimately this cost both companies a significant amount of money and left a very negative impression of IP Telephony. The current company I work for has also begun the paradigm shift towards IP Telephony. After reading this book I have reevaluated our current approach towards IP Telephony and believe we are closer to ensuring a successful migration from TDM to IP Telephony.

Although The Road to IP Telephony was written around a Cisco implementation it can and should be used by anyone wanting to guide their company into a successful migration to IP Telephony. It is a step by step project manager's guide for a successful migration from TDM to IP Telephony. I would highly recommend this book and this author to anyone involved with or considering a migration to IP Telephony.