ESS/LSP Problems

[RVelle]

Going to be upgrading a few locations from standalones to a centralized ESS system, with a primary S8720 sitting in our Data Center, and LSPs (S8500's) sitting in at least 4 locations (two of them decent sized call centers), also will be upgrading to CM5.0, or whatever is the latest depending on install date.

I was on the telecom side for quite awhile, now on the business side of the house for the last few years, but had always dealt with standalone PBXs while I was directly apart of the mix, so Im not as comfortable from a knowledge standpoint in regards to ESS/LSPs.

Question is, from the business side, what are you seeing as your pesky problems or gotchas that I really need to be aware of in a centralized enviornment like this, along with any major sticking points from the telecom side that I should know about?

I want to be as informed as possible, so I can get infront of Avaya before/during the install, and get them looking at known problems while I have alot of leverage

Thanks in advance

RVelle

 

[chicagophoneman]

No problems really that I have seen. You cant save changes when in LSP mode. If you have backup circuits so 1 can fail and still keep the WAN up your less likely to dump into LSP. If you have a BP that knows what they are doing then they can set it up right the first time.

 

[RVelle]

Thanks chicagophoneman,

Our bp has done really well by us (knowledge and install wise), so overall I do expect the install to go really well, I guess im mainly concerned about issues the call center could see now that were in an ESS enviornment, different from the traditional standalones.

Ill poke more through here for problems people are seeing, but if anyone has items they have encountered, please dont be shy

Thanks again

RVelle

 

[simreal]

The only problem we encountered were firewall issues.

If you have any firewalls in place oyu'll want to make sure you open the appropriate ports for call control, voip traffice as well as translation backups and firmware transfers.

 

[RVelle]

Simreal,

Thanks for the info about firewalls.

Our network folks will have a fun time making sure QOS and everything else is setup correctly across our network

RVelle

 

[98Converter]

Dialplan is huge... Don't forget about that.

We also had some struggles with LAI and BSR a couple years ago. Not sure if there is a different method now, as I'm out the contact center space...

Technically LSP/ESS architecture is pretty solid, its the applications (CMS,MM,IVR's, etc...) that will get you.

Thanks,
CJH

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. ARISTOTLE 384-322 B.C.

 

[RVelle]

98Converter,

Thanks for bringing that up, we do you BSR (LAI never fit what we needed), and now that we would be centralized BSR is out of the picture, but if we go into a survivable mode.... Hmmm thanks that is one I really need to look over closely (will be using high availablity for the CMSs).

Same with the IVRs, though we plan to have them in each location as they exist today so the LSPs should have no issue connecting as the IVRs would be local.

Dialplan...currently at 5 digit, very little overlap as each site has their own prefix, (Vectors are a diff story, but those can be addressed) though I am hearing we need to move to 10 digit extensions either before or at the upgrade...sigh... that will be huge in an of itself (lots and lots of testing....heh)

Thanks much...

 

[Toni269]

I would suggest a good plan for IGAR as well as thorough testing of it on cutover night to ensure calls can route over the PSTN if the WAN link is down. My DAMN site is so redundant on data connections (3 links to each site all on different paths, line of site laser, point to point fiber, VPN backup!)

It's near impossible to break them all and do any testing. Maybe turn IGAR on for 1 call or something like that to simulate outage or need for overflow... Then watch with list trace feature to ensure it routes over IGAR and dosen't sneak through on some back-alley path on the network!

 

[RVelle]

Toni269

Thanks much for that... I will make sure IGAR is on the list to test (new Acronym for me to boot

Line of sight laser...nice nice....

 

[98Converter]

IGAR is put in place for to protect against bandwidth issues... You would look at DPT for loss of connection.

10 digit dialplan sounds like overkill. What about 7?

One other HUGE thing for a contact center is announcements. Make sure you have them recorded on the G700. Otherwise if the site goes into LSP mode - no announcements.

You should also test your zero outs if that's a need.

I might come up with a few other gotchas as I recall them.

Thanks,
CJH

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. ARISTOTLE 384-322 B.C.

 

[RVelle]

98Converter,

The 10 digit dialplan is overkill (very much agreed), our corporate office is a bank and has tons of branches, other call centers, etc, and want the ability to consolidate PBXs to ESS platforms without adversely affecting dialplans no matter who consolidates with whom.

Announcments - So would we just need redundant VAL boards in the G700s for each location, then it would just be a matter of pushing the recordings out to VALs in both the primary and the LSP locations each time an add/change was made?

Zero outs - Used in lots of Vectors & IVRs, so this will be a gotcha for us to look out for...

Thanks very much again, anything you/anyone can throw my way for stumbling points is GREATLY apprecaited.

RVelle

 

[Toni269]

Put your announcements in Audio Groups and upload the same announcement file at your main site and the remote site VAL boards. This way not only will the announcement play from the most efficient site, but it will work in LSP mode as RVelle stated.

 

[RVelle]

Toni269,

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

RVelle