IP Telephony Migration Questionnaire
Use the questionnaire in your team planning workshop to jump start migration strategy discussions and identify key areas that need to be addressed in your converged network implementation. This abbreviated list is excerpted from the upcoming Cisco Press book, The Road to IP Telephony: How Cisco Systems Migrated from PBX to IP Telephony.
Planning
• How will you determine if your current network is ready for convergence?
• What specific hardware, software, and infrastructure changes are needed?
• What is your company’s security policy? Determine how the new network will adhere to this policy.
• What experience, tools, and methodologies are required to take advantage of converged technologies?
• How will IT staff learn to manage the converged IP network? Who will manage it?
• How will the new technology impact end users?
• Who are the stakeholders company-wide? Which groups absolutely require zero failure rate?
• Have you assembled a “Tiger Team” and outlined their core requirements for the design? Is there a chart of roles and responsibilties?
• Has an IP telephony assessment been conducted?
• Have all leased PBX equipment and lease expirations been identified?
• What are the risk factors? Is there a governance model to address and manage the risk factors?
• What is your content management plan? Are there naming convention standards?
• Are local site managers included in the planning discussions?
• Is there a plan in place to minimize customer impact?
Design
• What core functionality is required by key stakeholders/business units?
• Who are the high-risk users for whom failure is not an option? Have solutions or workarounds been established?
• Have you defined the “must-have” functionality for the network design? Are there any unusual considerations the design should address?
• Are the implementation and support teams part of the design strategy? (They should be.)
• Will the design requirements meet users’ expectations? Has a survey been conducted?
• Did you compare the PBX dump with your new design? Are there gaps?
• Have you identified all the existing applications that will integrate with the new IP telephony solution?
Implementation
• Who is the champion/sponsor of the migration? Are reasons for the conversion clearly articulated?
• Is your company’s culture factored into the migration plan?
• What are the users’ expectations? How will users be trained?
• Have you identified a migration plan for critical phone users?
• Is there a site escalation path if something goes wrong during cutover? Are there backout procedures?
• What is your selection process for the pilot site? Have acceptance criteria been identified?
Operation
• Have you created customer service standards for all deployment members?
• How will you capture lessons learned and ensure that other sites benefit?
• Will you require spares at each site? Is there a resource for allocating phones in a pinch?
• What monitoring and troubleshooting tools will you need to manage the new network?
• Has a PBX decommission plan been identified? Will the port reduction be monitored to ensure lower costs?
• Do you have a policy for managing analog line disconnects?
• Do you have a solid change management process in place?
• Do you have a system for capturing FAQs to be used for the support team?
Take a Page from this Book
The Road to IP Telephony: How Cisco Systems Migrated from PBX to IP Telephony (ISBN: 1-58720-088-0), from Cisco Press, provides a roadmap for your IP telephony migration that includes deployment, installation, management, and troubleshooting guidance from Cisco experts. Written by Stephanie Carhee, the book’s focus is not on technology but on the planning and business processes associated with a large IP telephony implementation. Included are more than 200 best practices and lessons learned from Cisco that every IP implementation team lead should know.