PBXtech.info - View Single Post - IP-Avaya Vs. Cisco

roar · December 8th, 2005, 09:52 AM

If you already have a Avaya G3 system in place the best route may be to upgrade the equipment. Cisco requires a complete system replacement and in some ways a rethinking of your telephony strategy. Converging voice and data can be a money saver if you plan to revamp the data network anyway and if your current wiring will support IP (Cat 5 or better) but if you are not planning on this you may run into a few gotta's.

The advantage of the Avaya solution is that Avaya is a hybrid system that can support both IP and traditional analog and TDM. Cisco in essence demands that you move fully into the IP world. If you determine that pure IP is the solution then the Cisco solution will probably be very cost competitive and if you pick the right vendor to install it will work well for most solutions. Look at the bigger picture and determine if a pure IP solution is what you need and evaluate the total costs of replacement.

Things to consider;

1. In place wiring plant, is it Cat 5 or better and does it terminate in a patch panel or 110/66 type hardware, (if it terminates in 110 or 66 you may see more expense to convert to a patch panel).

2. Does your IT department have the technical skills to support a converged network. This means they need to have a strong skill set in QoS (this is an issue if you go with Cisco or an Avaya IP solution).

3. Do your IT and Telecom departments work well together, if not you will have issues.

4. Is your current data network good enough to support VoIP, bandwidth and QoS issues need to be considered at the initial planning stages.

5. Do you have a lot of analog or TDM device requirements or older equipment that interfaces with the PBX. Converting these systems from dealing with a traditional PBX to an IP solution must be considered in evaluating total costs.

6. If you have a intense call center application the Avaya solution is more mature and has more bells and whistles but if not the call center solution in Cisco may be more that sufficient.

Either way you go the one big advantage is converting the satellite offices to gateways off the main site. This allows you to manage all the remote sites as if they are one big system. This unifies the management and user experience. If you have good reliable WAN links in place this can be a real benefit. (Make sure you go with a survivable option at the remote sites however, because no matter what your network provider says the links to the remote sites will go down and you need a strong solution in place to make sure these remote sites stay up an running with phone service.)

In an earlier post someone suggest using the IP Office but if you decide to stay with Avaya look at using the Enterprise gateways such as the G350 or G700/S8300. The IP office is not as mature a product as the G3 and has a different software so much of the experience you have in managing the G3 system will not translate well.

December 8th, 2005, 09:52 AM	#4 (permalink)
roar Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 3	Re: IP-Avaya Vs. Cisco If you already have a Avaya G3 system in place the best route may be to upgrade the equipment. Cisco requires a complete system replacement and in some ways a rethinking of your telephony strategy. Converging voice and data can be a money saver if you plan to revamp the data network anyway and if your current wiring will support IP (Cat 5 or better) but if you are not planning on this you may run into a few gotta's. The advantage of the Avaya solution is that Avaya is a hybrid system that can support both IP and traditional analog and TDM. Cisco in essence demands that you move fully into the IP world. If you determine that pure IP is the solution then the Cisco solution will probably be very cost competitive and if you pick the right vendor to install it will work well for most solutions. Look at the bigger picture and determine if a pure IP solution is what you need and evaluate the total costs of replacement. Things to consider; 1. In place wiring plant, is it Cat 5 or better and does it terminate in a patch panel or 110/66 type hardware, (if it terminates in 110 or 66 you may see more expense to convert to a patch panel). 2. Does your IT department have the technical skills to support a converged network. This means they need to have a strong skill set in QoS (this is an issue if you go with Cisco or an Avaya IP solution). 3. Do your IT and Telecom departments work well together, if not you will have issues. 4. Is your current data network good enough to support VoIP, bandwidth and QoS issues need to be considered at the initial planning stages. 5. Do you have a lot of analog or TDM device requirements or older equipment that interfaces with the PBX. Converting these systems from dealing with a traditional PBX to an IP solution must be considered in evaluating total costs. 6. If you have a intense call center application the Avaya solution is more mature and has more bells and whistles but if not the call center solution in Cisco may be more that sufficient. Either way you go the one big advantage is converting the satellite offices to gateways off the main site. This allows you to manage all the remote sites as if they are one big system. This unifies the management and user experience. If you have good reliable WAN links in place this can be a real benefit. (Make sure you go with a survivable option at the remote sites however, because no matter what your network provider says the links to the remote sites will go down and you need a strong solution in place to make sure these remote sites stay up an running with phone service.) In an earlier post someone suggest using the IP Office but if you decide to stay with Avaya look at using the Enterprise gateways such as the G350 or G700/S8300. The IP office is not as mature a product as the G3 and has a different software so much of the experience you have in managing the G3 system will not translate well.