42460 convergence wp

7/29/2019 42460 Convergence WP

1/8

The power o

converged networksTransorm your business by uniting voice, data and video on a single network

White Paper

Table o Contents

Executive summary 2

The complexity o communication 2

Unied communications and network convergence 2

One network, countless possibilities 3

Cost savings 3

VoIP 3

Scalability 3

Video 3

A convergent world 4

The challenges o converged networks 5

Bandwidth 5

Security 5Availability 5

The CDW approach 6

Glossary 7

Product spotlight 8

CDWcom | 8008004239


2/8

2

Executive summary

More communication tools and technologies are being used every day This has

resulted not only in improved fexibility and productivity, but also in higher costs

because o the complexity o managing these technologies By uniting voice, data and

video on a single network, you can minimize maintenance costs while beneting rom

the power o integrated communications Just be sure to address some key issues

such as capacity, security and reliability beore moving orward with a converged

network Thats where CDW comes in: We can arm you with the inormation you need

to choose the ideal solution

Rising customer expectations, an

increasingly mobile workorce and

growing competition is driving the need

or enterprises to be agile and quick to

respond to the changing market dynamics

Enterprises are beginning to realize the

role o communication in achieving

this agility

Shivanu Shukla, Frost & Sullivan, as quoted

in Enterprises Harness the Power o Unifed

Communications, Business Wire, July 2008

Good communication has always been

essential to an organizations success But

these days, its not as simple as gettingthe team together in a conerence room

Your coworkers may be spread out across

ve dierent oces You may need to

post a video on the intranet and get

eedback rom colleagues around the

world With e-mail, voicemail, video-

conerencing, instant messaging (IM)

and remote access, all o this and more is

now possible We are no longer tethered

to our desks nor restricted by geography

These technologies are powerul tools,

each contributing to the eciency and

productivity o your business But they

can also lead to increased cost and

complexity Just one employee might use

a desktop computer, notebook computer,

cell phone and a wireless handhelddevice each needing to be congured,

managed and secured End users are

orced to learn several dierent interaces

and to work with several dierent inboxes

Most critically, your voice, data and

video services run on separate networks

Each requires a dedicated sta, which

can quickly get bogged down by

hardware and sotware conficts

and an overwhelming demand on theinrastructure You may be spending more

than necessary on stang, maintenance

and repair but still not getting the most

out o your investment

Unifed communications and network convergence

The complexity o communication

As a result o the costs and conficts

involved with multiple networks, unied

communications (UC) solutions arebecoming increasingly popular With

UC, all o your communication tools

are ully integrated: voice, e-mail, IM,

voice over Internet protocol (VoIP),

business applications, audioconerencing,

videoconerencing, web conerencing

and more Your system is streamlined,

and your tools work together seamlessly

By needing ewer people to oversee

the network, youll also experience cost

savings as well as improved eciencyand productivity

The oundation o UC is network

convergence: a single network or voice,

data and video This oers ar greater

fexibility, unctionality and ease o use

than running each stream separately


3/83

Were at a tipping point or video, wher

enterprises are seeing it as a critical new

tool that they can use Part o it is the

network nally being ready to supportthese applications

John Bartlett, NetForecast, as quoted in

Data Networks Wont Cut It or Convergen

Jim Duy, Network World, September 2008

Cost savings

A single network requires ewer resourcesto manage, as well as less time spent

on deployment and conguration Thiscan help ree your IT team rom routine

maintenance tasks and allow them toocus on higher-level projects Youll also

enjoy improved productivity across theworkorce because there will be ewerinboxes to check, easier ways to get

a hold o decision-makers and bettercollaboration with remote employees

VoIP

An increasingly popular way to cut costsis by implementing VoIP VoIP lets you

place and receive calls through yourInternet connection rather than a phone

network yet another advantage onetwork convergence Because you only

pay or the Internet connection, you canavoid long-distance charges and other

costs incurred by traditional systems likea public switched telephone network

(PSTN) or private branch exchange(PBX) VoIP devices are also easier to

set up and manage, with plug-and-play

capabilities that make them extremelyfexible Simply hook up your VoIP phone

to any Ethernet port, and youre ready tomake a call

Scalability

Just as a converged network makes iteasy to add new VoIP phones, it also

simplies almost any kind o networkscaling Adding a new employee no

longer involves creating accounts onmultiple networks or having three

distinct learning curves or the end userPlus, many top vendors are alreadydeveloping products that are optimized

or a single network By rening yourinrastructure today, youll be ready or

the latest technologies o tomorrow

Video

Network convergence can also improve

the integration o video into yourdaily operations Recent advances in

videoconerencing technology havemade it a viable replacement or ace-

to-ace meetings This can signicantlycut down on travel costs as well as your

companys impact on the environmentAnd with a single network, its much

easier to share documents or collaborateon a project through a videoconerence

A converged network oers a wide range o enhancements to your business

enhancements that can not only save you time and money, but also help you getahead o the competition

One netwok, countess possibiities


4/8

4

A convegent wodToday, hal o all enterprises in NorthAmerica and Europe have some type o

unied communication initiative

Top Unifed Communications Predictions or

2008, Forrester Research, February 2008

Once you have voice, data and video on one network, a whole world o possibilities

opens up, revolutionizing how your entire business operates

Youre chatting online with a coworker on the other side of the country. You

need to include a third colleague and show him a ew sketches o the idea youre

working on Transer the IM chat to a three-person videoconerence with the toucho a button no need to set up a bridge in advance or move everyone over to adierent network

You need to update the extensions of all 150 phones in the ofce. You used to

have to do it manually, going rom desk to desk This could take days, with a highchance o making a mistake somewhere along the way Now you can make the

updates rom a centralized location, simultaneously

You have e-mails coming in that need your immediate attention. And a voicemail

rom your boss that needs even more immediate attention Theres even a axwaiting or you And youre in a taxi in London No worries e-mail, voicemailand axes all come in wirelessly to your handheld device, where you can sort

through them at your leisure

You need to get your VPs approval ASAP on a project, and shes nowhere to be

ound There are any number o ways to get in touch with her, but who knowsi shes got her phone turned on or is connected to the Internet? Just re o an

e-mail, and the network will automatically route it to the correct device Youllsave time and stay nimble by getting the decision you need right away


5/8

Bandwidth

Powerul applications, rich media

and ast connections require a robust

inrastructure Many data networks

cant handle real-time applications

such as voice and video Analyze your

existing setup to determine i it has thebandwidth to allow or increased trac

Also, check your existing switches and

routers to ensure that they are up to

the task

Security

On a converged network, denial-o-

service (DoS) attacks can aect phone

and video service in addition to your

servers Plus, UCs dependence on open

standards, which allows or seamless

interoperability among services, can also

leave you vulnerable to hackers These

kinds o situations are avoidable as long

as you plan ahead Implementing the

right combination o saeguards will help

keep your operations secure and your

business up and running

Availability

With everything running on a single

network, reliability is absolutely

essential I something should go wrong

with any component, you risk losing

phone, Internet and video capabilities all

at once When considering a convergednetwork, take into account hardware,

sotware, power supplies, the operating

system anything that could cause

network downtime You can build a

network thats as reliable as the dial

tone on your phone at home, but it takes

intelligent analysis and careul planning

A unied network can transorm how you do business, but there are potential

concerns you should be aware o beore moving orward By making inormeddecisions up ront and working with a trusted partner, you can sidestep these

pitalls and take ull advantage o UC

The challenges o converged networks


6/8

6

The challenges o setting up and managing a converged network are not trivial, but

neither are the benets to your organization In order to take ull advantage o these

benets, you need a partner with the expertise necessary to handle the challenges

o convergence

At CDW, we have developed a simple yet comprehensive approach to converged

network solutions This approach has proven successul or organizations o all types,

and our relationships with top vendors mean you get the perect solution, custom

built or your specic needs

Heres how it works:

1. We assess your current network infrastructure to identify potential concernsor opportunities or improvement

2 We plan an intelligent transition to a converged network, including

recommendations or hardware, communication capabilities, workfow

tools and business applications

3 We implement the solution, helping to speed up deployment time by conguring

your products beore they arrive at your site

4 We provide support ater the deployment to make sure everything works as

planned We also evaluate perormance against key business productivity

benchmarks and oer 24x7 telephone support just in case

Key to our approach is a dedicated account manager who acts as your point o

contact throughout the process You always know who to call, every step o the way

With CDW, you can avoid the pitalls and get down to business Youll enjoy high

availability, premier security and a low total cost o ownership Youll be able to

move aster, work smarter and get a leg up on the competition

The CDW approach


7/8

Denia o sevice (DoS): An attack on

a web server with the intent o makingit unavailable to users This is typicallyaccomplished by overloading the server

with external requests On a convergednetwork, a DoS attack could also take

down voice and video services, which is

why establishing a secure environmentis essential

Intenet potoco (IP): How packetso data are sent across the Internet

Every computer connected to theInternet has a unique IP address,

allowing or proper transmission o thedata (e-mail, websites, les, etc) With

a converged network, IP can also beused or voice communications

Pivate banc excange (PBX):

A private telephone network Otenused by large companies because it is

less expensive than connecting everyphone to an external line

Pubic switced teepone netwok

(PSTN): Standard phone service, carrying

analog voice data through copper wiresNewer telephone networks use digital

technologies such as an integratedservices digital network (ISDN)

Unifed communications (UC):

A communications system comprisinga number o individual tools (e-mail,voicemail, IM, videoconerencing, ax,

etc), integrated into a single platorm

Voice ove Intenet potoco (VoIP):

Hardware and sotware that allows

or voice communication through theInternet Data is sent in packets via IP

rather than through a physical circuitThis can result in cost savings over other

types o phone service because you payonly or your Internet connection and

not or phone charges such as long-distance ees

Gossa Akin to what we saw with adoption o tPC and the explosion o the Internet, w

now seeing this extraordinary adoption

unied communications Four years agoless than 25 percent o all the new lines

shipped were voice over IP In 2008, clo

to 80 percent o new lines are voice over

Lou DAmbrosio, CEO, Avaya, as quoted

in Avayas CEO Looks to Bring Unifed

Communications to the Masses, J. Nicholas

Hoover, Information Week, March 2008


8/8

Poduct spotigt

To fnd out ow CDW can ep ou buid te peect convegence soution,visit us toda at CDW.com/convegednetwoks

The terms and conditions o product sales are limited to those contained on CDWs website at CDW.com; notice o objection to and rejection o any

additional or dierent terms in any other orm delivered by customer is hereby given; CDW , CDWG and The Right Technology. Right Away. are

registered trademarks o CDW Corporation; all other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property o their respective owners

42460

AVAyA G350 MEDIAGATEWAy

Powerul converged networking

solution that packs an IP telephony

gateway, an advanced IP WAN

router, a VPN Gateway and a

high-perormance LAN switch into

a compact (3U) modular chassis

Designed to be a complete voice/data

networking solution

Ideally suited or enterprises with

distributed branch ofce locations

using 8-72 extensions

An advanced TDM/IP architecture

provides seamless connectivity and

communications between a wide

variety o analog, digital, H.323 and

SIP-based telephony devices and

applications

For communications security, the G350

can secure VoIP media streams using

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

CDW 1046370

CDWcom | 8008004239

AVAyA 4610SW IPTElEPhONE

Improved productivity with paperless

labels, call log, speed dial and web

browser eatures

Midsized graphical grayscale display

(168x84 dots)

Integrated switched ports or

connection o PC

12 programmable eature keys

automatically labeled rom the system

(no paper labels needed)

10 fxed eature keys: speaker, mute,

drop, hold, volume up and down,

conerence, transer, redial, headset

DHCP client and statically (manual)

confgurable IP addressing

CDW 568341

AVAyA 9620 IP TElEPhONEWith a combination o audio quality,

an improved user interace with a

context-sensitive display and a stylish,

proessional design, Avaya sets the

new standard or enhanced

productivity and an enhanced

end-user experience

Intuitive user interace

Superior audio quality

New design and display

Modules and adapters

Phone models designed or

user profles

CDW 1010566

AVAyA S8300 SErVErThe Avaya S8300 supports the Linux

operating system and is powered by

Communication Manager. It supports

industry-standard call control, quality

o service, management unctions and

IP, digital and analog endpoints

Maximize communication uptime with

ully survivable gateways

Save time and money by managing all

sites rom a single system interace

Advanced voice applications

Integrated messaging

Integrated system management

CDW 1234566

S8300 Media Server with a G700 Media Gateway

42460 convergence wp

Documents