Request for Proposals for District VOIP System

Transcription

1 Request for Proposals for District VOIP System Request for Proposals Issued: Oct. 2, 2017 Deadline for Questions: Oct. 10, :00 a.m. Preproposal Telephone Conference Oct. 11, :30 p.m. Deadline for Proposals: Oct. 20, :00 p.m.

2 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR DISTRICT VOIP SYSTEM I. NOTICE OF RFP Notice is hereby provided that the Twin Rivers Unified School District, located in McClellan, California ( District ) is requesting proposals from qualified Service Providers to provide a VOIP System according to the needs of the District specified herein. It is the desire of the District to select a Service Provider that can meet or exceed the District's minimum requirements at a competitive cost. Respondents must have at least three, and preferably more, years of experience serving CA public school districts of comparable size and structure, and must hold the appropriate licenses, authorizations or certifications, where applicable. The District prefers to contract with one Service Provider to deliver all identified services. Qualified respondents are invited to submit an original plus three (3) copies of their proposals in a sealed envelope no later than 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2017 to the following address: Twin Rivers Unified School District Attn: Debbie Gordon, Manager of Contract & E-Rate Services 3222 Winona Way, Suite 200 North Highlands, CA Please also one pdf version of your proposal to: debbie.gordon@twinriversusd.org. Please do not submit proposals in 3-ring notebooks or binders. II. OVERVIEW OF THE DISTRICT Twin Rivers Unified School District is a K-12 public school district located in northeastern Sacramento County with enrollment of over 27,000 students. In 2008, four area school districts, Grant Joint Union High School District and the Rio Linda, North Sacramento and Del Paso Heights Elementary School Districts, unified to create the Twin Rivers Unified School District. Twin Rivers USD is an Urban district, in an economically diverse region characterized by a mix of residential development and light industry covering 127 square miles. District facilities consist of 52 school sites and 6 non-instructional/administrative facilities. The District is governed by a seven member Board of Trustees and is under the day-to-day leadership of Steven Martinez, Ed.D. who was appointed Superintendent effective July 1, T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 2

3 III. GENERAL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS Twin Rivers Unified School District ( TRUSD or District ) is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors for all equipment, software and services necessary to provide state of the art Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). A consultant s review of the District s current phone system configuration and needs are provided in Appendix 1 hereto, as reference ( Telecommunications Strategic Planning and Budget Report ). The District s detailed list of required features are identified below in Sec. IV - Scope of Services/System Specifications. Proposals which are incomplete, incorrect, submitted on forms other than those provided herein, or submitted by unqualified vendors, shall be considered non-responsive and may be rejected at the District's sole discretion. The formal bidding process is regulated by the California Public Contract Code, to ensure impartial competition and the best use of taxpayer dollars. Under no circumstances will any vendor or potential bidder be given information which could present an unfair advantage. Contact by any participating vendor with any TRUSD Board Member or TRUSD administration during any phase of this process will be grounds for dismissal from the process. Q&A PREPROPOSAL PHONE CONFERENCE. Questions concerning this RFP may be submitted by only, no later than 9:00 a.m. Oct. 10 to debbie.gordon@twinriversusd.org. A preproposal phone conference will be held Oct. 11 at 1:30 p.m. to discuss question received. If you would like to join the conference call, please debbie.gordon@twinriversusd.org by 9:00 a.m. Oct. 10 (the question deadline) to request phone conference call-in instructions. An Addendum with summary Q&A will be posted to the TRUSD Purchasing Dept. page at the following link on or around Oct. 17, 2017: Proposals are due Oct. 20, 2017, at 3:00 p.m. at 3222 Winona Way, Suite 200, North Highlands, CA Respondents must have at least three, and preferably more, years of experience serving CA public school districts of comparable size and structure, and must hold the appropriate licenses, authorizations or certifications, where applicable. The District prefers to contract with one Service Provider to deliver all identified services. T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 3

4 IV. SCOPE OF SERVICES/SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS Response limit: 20 pages this section A. Overview TRUSD is soliciting proposals from qualified Service Providers to implement a new VOIP system which can meet or exceed the specifications, requirements and features identified herein. In addition to the list of features and requirements below, a consultant s review of the District s current phone system configuration and needs are provided in Appendix 1 as reference; and a spreadsheet showing current phone counts is provided in Appendix 2. Your proposal should address all District needs and clearly identify how your solution will meet or exceed them, including complete detailed specifications of all components of the proposed services. Any specifications which cannot be met shall be identified in the proposal with an explanation or an alternative solution described. The proposed VoIP solution should be all-inclusive, and not require the District to incur additional costs to achieve fully operational service, except for monthly service fees and usage costs through the vendor or Local Exchange Carrier (LEC). TRUSD may purchase or lease equipment as is determined to be the most advantageous for The District. The vendor shall provide all design, planning, system architecture, installation, network analysis, training and post installation support for the project. A. Scope of Work and System Specification TRUSD requires the vendor to include all services needed to properly integrate with existing voice network using Extreme Networking switches. DHCP must also be configured to distribute addresses to VoIP phones. Supplied solution will support modular, cost-effective growth in both phones and applications over the next ten years. All costs associated with the vendor's proposal must be included in the proposal submitted. Your proposal should address the following Scope of Work and System/Product Specifications. 1. Implementation Plan The selected vendor is expected to provide a project manager for this installation who will interface with District IT and become the main contact for the duration of the project. The selected vendor will work with district IT staff to provide knowledge transfer of the new VoIP infrastructure and configuration during the implementation. Please include a detailed implementation plan that lists the different phases of the project and their projected timelines covering: T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 4

5 Discovery, delivery, installation, configuration and testing of call management and voic equipment Setup, configuring and testing of dial plans, E911 and electronic attendant structure Handset delivery, configuration, deployment and testing Phone number cutover and testing Removal of existing equipment The vendor shall be on-site a minimum of 1 day after startup (8 hours total) for the purpose of configuring the system to end user needs and troubleshooting. This time shall be for but not be limited to configuring hunt groups, speed dial configuration, console programming, etc. The district will need to retain its existing public phone numbers and DID numbers. 2. Paging Integration Vendor must provide an External Paging/Overhead Paging Interface that allows the system to tie into the District s external paging systems. 3. Solution Requirements Solution must interoperate with existing network infrastructure. Solution must be an on premise solution only (no cloud-based solutions). Preference is to have a VM version of the proposed call management solution. Solution must be manageable from a single management interface ( single pane of glass ). Solution must integrate with the districts existing analog fax machines 4. System Functionality The VOIP system, with additional hardware, shall be capable of connecting to various types of trunk lines, such as those listed here: SIP PRI Direct-outward-Dialing (DOD) One-way and Two-way Trunks The solution shall provide five digit, or less, internal dialing codes. Ability to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network. The system must have the ability to restrict the following features for specific stations and at specific times of day: Restrict stations from Direct Access to Private networks T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 5

6 Restrict stations from Direct-in-Dial Restrict stations from Long distance dialing Restrict stations from International dialing Restrict stations from initiating Dial-up conferencing Restrict stations from audio paging capability Proposal should describe the systems API s or other integration interface. It is desired that system be capable of integration with TRUSD data systems for user provisioning. Support for Network Time Protocol (NTP) or other timekeeping protocol is required. The solution must be able to encrypt phone calls. The solution must support the ability to perform bulk management tasks (i.e. bulk user import). 5. Routing, Failover, and Emergency Backup Options Proposal should include all routing, failover and emergency backup options: Routing flexibility dynamically route a call over various network paths to avoid congestion or network outages at any location. A minimum of 3 POTS lines must be configured at each site for failover. School Phone systems must continue to function in the event of WAN outages. Ability for N+1 redundancy Seamless failover when service is interrupted (i.e. calls don t drop) SRST devices at each location for 8-10 users 6. Desired End User Features Audible dial tone is heard when system user lifts handset receiver or presses button to get a line. Intercom - The system shall be equipped with two-way intercom capability. Call waiting - The system shall be designed to alert a user, currently engaged in a communication, to receive a tone alerting to another incoming call. Only the called party shall hear the tone. If the person goes on-hook the incoming call shall ring through immediately. Conference Bridge capability provide the ability to setup a conference bridge line with a minimum of twenty-five (25) users. Hold allows the user to leave a phone call temporarily without disconnecting the caller. Music on Hold - background music heard when a caller is placed on hold. T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 6

7 Transfer allows the user to move a call from one extension to another. Call forwarding internal allows a user to forward a station to any other station on the network. Call forwarding external allows a call to be forwarded to an external destination such as a cellular phone or home phone. Call transfer external - allows a call to be transferred to an external phone number such as a cellular phone. Speed dial allows a user to press a button pre-programmed with a phone number. Both system wide and personal speed dial numbers must be accommodated. Multiple call appearance allows a user to have the opportunity to take more than a single call at one time. Missed Calls/Answered Calls/Dialed Calls allows the user to see a list of missed calls, a list of call placed and a list of call received. The system should support a list of at least the last five (5) numbers for each category. Inbound caller identification (Caller ID) the name and number of the calling party, whether internal or external, appears in the user s display. Caller ID (DID) - Outbound caller identification provides user DID for selected users. Outbound Caller ID block - selected users may block outbound caller identification on a per station basis. Call accounting - allows the system administrator to track an outbound call placed from any location on the network by the originating extension number, date, time, number dialed, trunk used and duration. Traffic analysis - the system administrator is able to gather traffic information related to both quantity and length of calls, as measured in CCS. The capability should be available for all routes. Softphone support - System user can manage calls via multiple operating systems including ios, Android OS, Chrome OS, mac OS, Linux and Windows. Include costs options to add soft-phones. Support the ability to ring phone extensions on multiple devices simultaneously. Mobility calling using mobile phone and extension dialing. T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 7

8 Location information must be provided (extension, extension name, assigned users, site and room) when any network user dials System must send an alert to designated console(s), (s) and phone(s) when a 911 call is dialed, the alert should include the date, time, extension, station name, and all location info. Vendor must demonstrate automated and manual E911 location data update and validation methods. Phones must be movable from subnet to subnet with no user or admin intervention to connect to call-manager or for E911 to identify location correctly. 8. Centralized Voic Needs The District seeks to select a centralized voic system to support the entire voice network. The voice-processing platform will include voic , multiple auto attendants (up to 500), and audio-to-text functionality. Ability for auto attendant scheduling (i.e. automatically enable holiday auto-attendant) Single digit menu the menu capability provided by the auto-attendant must provide single key access to menu choices. Auto attendant options supports automated attendant options. Auto attendant individual greetings capable of answering individual ports/dids with different greetings. Login - When accessing the voic system from his/her own phone, user should press no more than four keys and a pass-code. Directory a listing of subscriber names and extension numbers. Callers may use this feature to find out the name or extension of subscribers using the touch-tone pad to key in user names and place a call by touching one button. Message creation subscribers can access the system from any touch-tone telephone, record messages and send them to other subscribers on the system. Message waiting indicator provides subscribers with a method of informing them that a new message exists in their voic boxes; this feature must work across the network. When a T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 8

9 voic message is recorded, the message indicator appears on the phone set in less than 30 seconds. Notification - Notification of a new voic message can be sent to an external number (ie. Pager or cell phone). Personal greetings subscribers can instruct the system to greet their callers with a personal message or prerecorded message. Toggle greetings - User has the ability to toggle between a standard greeting and a special greeting. Time dependent (temporary) greetings - User has the ability to record a special greeting for after business hours. External access allows TRUSD staff to access the voic system through a separate DID Customized operator each user s mailbox must be able to select a customized operator or zero 0 destination. Forward message - ability to forward messages, with or without additional comment. Message Management - When listening to messages, user has the ability to rewind, forward, pause, skip, save/archive, and/or delete the message. Operator Transfer - Caller has the ability to reach an operator instead of leaving a voic message. Transfer directly to voic - user has ability to easily transfer a caller (two keys and extension) directly to another user's voic . Temporary Deletion - User can retrieve a deleted message during current session. Unified Messaging - Ability for user to manage voic messages on the computer. Voice and messages displayed in the same application or box. Web-based required. T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 9

10 Attendant and voic call schedules. The ability to send calls from external callers to classroom extensions to voic during business hours and to ring the extensions after business hours. Intercept - This feature shall provide for automatic forwarding to a recording or a designated answering point for calls which: Have been made to a vacant (un-installed) station. Have been made to a down (out of order) station. Have been made to an attempted trunk call in violation of programmed restriction. Ability to integrate with Outlook. Ability to store voic on a separate server (not on the districts server) Voic notification via a link to the message (not a wave file sent to a user s mailbox) 9. Call Center/ACD Feature Solution should include a call center/acd option for our IT Help Desk, with the ability to view queue status and real time stats of agents. The call center/acd should provide group based routing and reporting. Reporting should include: Average call duration Average talk time Average time to abandon Wait time (average and total) Service level attainment Total number of received, answered, and abandoned calls Agent activity and productivity reports Peak time reporting with historical trend analysis Detailed call log showing number called, hold time, who answered and who hung up 10. Handset Feature Needs Desk and Wall mountable An integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet switch with at least one (1) port with VLAN support Display of internal CID name and extension Separate volume control for handset, speaker and ringing features Handsets will be PoE (IEEE 802.3af) ready out of the box Easy single button access to standard features including hold, transfer and conference Support of American Disability Act (ADA) requirements, including amplified handsets, visual notification devices and support of TTY devices for those with a hearing disability Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) support All stations shall be equipped with message indication capability (light and/or LCD) A one-page user guide showing how to use the phone's features. Large Multi-line Console Phone for District Police Services Dispatch T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 10

11 11. Conference Phones Needs Integrated keypad to allow receiving and initiating calls from the phone. 360-degree audio for both microphone and speakers Ability to add external microphones A one-page user guide showing how to use the phone's features. 12. Documentation and Support Vendor will provide: Network and device topology diagrams Documentation of operation, configuration, change, failover, and recovery procedures Plan for on-going support through the manufacturer Lists of important contact names and support phone numbers 13. System Testing A random set of 10 extensions shall be dialed from the district office to each site and from each site to the DO for verification of functionality. Vendor will coordinate and perform 911 testing with the regional call center. A random set of 7 extensions shall be dialed from each district and school site to the 911 call center to verify E911 location data. Testing will include the verification of E911 information sent to the call center. Testing will also demonstrate successful 911 alert notification to designated TRUSD devices and staff. Vendor will test routing, failover and emergency backup operations. Testing will include simulating the various failure possibilities (TRUSD WAN failure, carrier circuit failure, component failure, etc.) and demonstrating successful making and receiving calls, including 911, in those scenarios 14. Training The vendor will provide a comprehensive training plan for all employees. Plan shall include training and documentation necessary to use and manage system, including basic system use, system administration, technical support, etc. Installation, management, and troubleshooting training for five technicians. Vendor shall specify an hourly rate for subsequent additional training. This rate shall be available for a period not to exceed one year from the date of completion 15. Security The system should have security set features built in that allow the administrator to remotely administer security levels of users. It should fully integrate with TRUSD s Active Directory Services and should allow the administrator to control class of service and class of restriction. The winning vendor will also supply ALL system level passwords to TRUSD. T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 11

12 16. Diagnostic Maintenance The proposed solution will include self-diagnostic systems that detect service failures, equipment malfunctions (including phones), and performance problems. System should automate resolutions (self-heal) when possible and notify designated TRUSD staff of alarm condition. In addition, the VoIP equipment will have the capability to allow diagnostic and maintenance testing from a remote location. Costs of the diagnostic features, licensing and any necessary ancillary equipment will be included in the quoted price. Integration with existing TRUSD monitoring, diagnostic and notification solutions will be considered. TRUSD monitoring system is SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor. 17. Maintenance and Warranty Proposals should describe manufacturers and vendors warranties. Please also include on-going cost options for 3 and 5 years of maintenance and licensing. T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 12

13 V. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS Please submit a signed original plus three (3) copies of your response/proposal in a sealed envelope no later than 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2017 to the following address: Twin Rivers Unified School District Attn: Debbie Gordon, Manager of Contract & E-Rate Services 3222 Winona Way, Suite 200 North Highlands, CA Additionally, please one pdf version of your proposal to: debbie.gordon@twinriversusd.org. PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT PROPOSALS IN THREE-RING BINDERS OR NOTEBOOKS. FORMAT, CONTENT AND PAGE LIMITS Submit your proposal on 8.5 x 11 paper, divided into lettered-tabbed sections, as follows: A. COVER LETTER. (1 page) B. SCOPE OF SERVICES/SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS. As stated in Sec. IV above, your proposal should clearly explain how you will respond to the District s needs, and meet or exceed the requirements and specifications listed. (20 pages maximum this section) C. COMPANY INFORMATION. Provide a resume of your company s expertise, knowledge and experience in the industry; explanation of any prior experience with TRUSD; and short bios of your account and technical team (5 pages maximum). Also include copies of any licenses, certifications or authorizations relative to the product or industry. D. REFERENCES. Include the names, telephone numbers and addresses of three to five client references in school districts of comparable size, for whom you have provided similar systems, and date of project installation. (1 2 pages max) E. IMPLEMENTATION/TRAINING/SUPPORT. Please describe how you will provide implementation, training and ongoing support, and hours of availability, both onsite and remote (1 page). F. COST/FEE PROPOSAL. Please provide your cost/fee proposal for design, configuration and implementation of the Districtwide VOIP System, and your fee for a three-year service agreement. G. LEGAL MATTERS/INSURANCE. If your company has been involved in any litigation, compliance or regulatory action within the past three years, please explain this. Please be prepared to provide evidence of minimum liability coverages of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate will be required, should this be requested. T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 13

14 APPENDIX 3 - DISTRICT REQUIRED FORMS (Not included in page counts) Please complete, sign and return one set of the following forms, provided in Appendix 3, with your proposal: Offer to Enter into Contract General Terms and Conditions Qualification Certification NonCollusion Affidavit Proposals will be deemed "Responsive" if they are received by the Oct. 20, 2017, 3:00 p.m. deadline and contain the required information. Proposals which are missing requirements may be deemed nonresponsive, and, if so, will not be evaluated. Proposals received after the submission deadline will be returned to the sender unopened. The contents of all submissions shall become the property of Twin Rivers Unified School District. The District is not required to return any submissions received. The District retains the right to solicit additional information, to request clarification of submissions received, to waive irregularities in the submission of proposals, to enter into one or more contracts pursuant to this RFP, or to reject all proposals. VI. SELECTION CRITERIA, EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS, DEMOS Responsive proposals will be reviewed by a District panel and scored as follows: System Design/Solution (how well the proposed system meets the specifications ) 25 pts. Competitive cost proposal (20 points) Support structure and service agreement (15 points) Previous experience working with the District (10 points) Required amount of training needed by IT staff to install and configure (10 points) References (15 points) Added value/any special benefits to Twin Rivers USD. Selection will be based upon the highest total point score when evaluated by the above criteria. The District reserves the right to solicit additional information from qualified candidates, to add or delete location requirements within the scope of the RFP and to reject all bids. Upon review of proposals, the District may, at its option, select finalists for interviews and product demonstrations. The tentative date for finalist interviews is Oct. 27, Upon evaluation of proposals, Administrations intends to recommend a vendor for contract award at the TRUSD Board of Trustees Meeting on Nov. 14, T W I N R I V E R S U S D R FP FOR V O I P S Y STEM OCT Page 14

15 APPENDIX 1 TWIN RIVERS USD TELECOMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIC PLANNING & BUDGET REPORT

16 TELECOMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIC PLANNING AND BUDGET REPORT Prepared for March 7, 2017 Copyright 2017 Com-Strat, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

17 Table of Contents 1. Introduction and Project Objectives Background Challenges Facing the District Current State Telephony Current State - Local and Wide Area Network Unified Communications Carrier Services Video Enhanced 911 (E911) Call Detail Recording (CDR) Automated Call Distribution (ACD) Dial Plan Automated Attendants Mobility Options Analysis Options and Models Evaluation Methodology TCO Summary Conclusion Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 2

18 1. Introduction and Project Objectives Twin Rivers Unified School District (TRUSD or District) has contracted with Communication Strategies (Com- Strat), an independent technology consulting company, to evaluate TRUSD s telecommunication, unified communication and contact center needs and to provide recommendations for technology that will support the school district s long-term requirements. TRUSD s stated objectives for this report are to provide a review of TRUSD s current telephony, contact center and voic systems, to assist in determining the strategic direction TRUSD might pursue for a system replacement, and to provide budgetary pricing for a modern and supported communications platform. Communication Strategies has prepared this report, in concert with TRUSD s Operations and IT staff, to ensure that all assessments are based on the most current and accurate information. TRUSD is currently operating on an older telephony platform that would require a substantial upgrade to remain on a manufacturer support plan. TRUSD needs to develop a future strategy to address its immediate and long term telecommunications objectives. Advancements in business productivity and business continuity provide TRUSD with an opportunity to investigate multiple solution options before making any further long term commitments. TRUSD engaged Communications Strategies to prepare a Strategic Roadmap Report to outline available options, budgetary costs, risks and opportunities available to TRUSD. The solution options would include: Upgrade/Replace current system with a new premise-based communication platform from the same manufacturer of the system that is currently in place Replace the current system with a new premise-based communication platform from one of the other leading manufacturers that would meet the District s needs Replace current system with a new cloud-based communication platform Expressed goals of TRUSD as part of this project include: Replacing the existing system with a modern telecommunication and contact center platform that is under manufacturers support, Improve collaboration and communications within the district Key considerations for a new telecommunications system at TRUSD include: System that is modern and under manufacturer support Single, easy-to-use, district-wide system administration interface for all locations Automated Attendant for directing callers to extensions within the District Voice mail for the entire District and Integrated Messaging for a subset of users Mobility applications for a subset of users Extend to Cell allows users to easily swap calls between office telephone and cell phone Soft phone options Enhanced Security (E911) capabilities Contact Center for the IT and Transportation departments Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 3

19 2. Background Founded in 2007 the Twin Rivers Unified School District (TRUSD) is the result of a merger of four school districts: The North Sacramento School District, the Del Paso Heights School District, the Rio Linda Union School District, and the Grant Joint Union High School District. Today the District covers over 120 square miles with an ethnically diverse community speaking over 46 languages. The District supports over 2,900 employees and 31,000 students at: 29 Elementary schools 5 Junior high schools 4 Senior high schools 3 Charter schools (operating on 7 sites) 1 Adult Education Program 1 Independent Study high school 2 Continuation high schools 1 Opportunity Program 1 Community Day school 2 Special Education schools 18 Preschool sites 3. Challenges Facing the District The immediate challenge is that the existing telecommunication system has reached the end of life and is approaching obsolescence. It is not providing the latest capabilities that are available on a modern Unified Communications platform such as collaboration, mobility and other technologies. The existing telecommunications infrastructure at TRUSD was installed on 2/1/2008 and last upgraded on 2/1/2013. This release of software that is currently installed at TRUSD became End of Sale on July 26 th, The last date that the manufacturer would release any updates or bug fixes was July 26 th, 2015 and the last day of manufacturer support is July 31 st, At that point the manufacturer considers the product obsolete and all support services for the product are unavailable. The VoIP hardware, gateways and phones at each of the schools, the district office and the other locations has also reached End of Support. The Cisco 2821, 2811, 2851 and 3825 gateways reached the end of manufacturer s support on October 31 st, The VoIP Phones that are currently in place within the District have also reached the end of manufacturer s support with the 7911s on February 28 th, 2017, the 7960s on July 22 nd, 2015 and the 7941s on January 16 th, Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 4

20 Currently several of these phones are failing on a weekly basis and have been replaced with spare phones that were donated to the District. Having these phones fail puts the District at risk during a potential emergency. By continuing to utilize a system that is out of manufactures support exposes the core communication platform of the District to many risks, such as if there is a failure of a component, it would be a best effort situation for the manufacturer to resolve the issue and the Districts system could be down for hours, days or weeks. Not having supported voice communication system could put the lives of the students and faculty at risk. It is recommended that the District either replace or upgrade the current platform by the end of manufacturers support date or shortly thereafter. 4. Current State Telephony Currently TRUSD is using a Cisco Unified Communications Manager version and Cisco Unity Voice Mail version This current system is installed in the District s data center located in the District Office on Dudley Blvd and a disaster recovery set of servers at the back up data center located at the Grand Avenue location. There are currently 2658 phones in use at the District. These include the phones in the District offices, the schools and the other locations within TRUSD. The following is a summary of the telephony hardware currently in place at TRUSD. Student Enrollment Number of phones Administration Locations 394 High Schools Middle Schools Elementary Schools Four Additional Locations 41 Total Number of Phones 2658 Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 5

21 5. Current State - Local and Wide Area Network A majority of the locations are connected via a 10 Gigabit (Gb) private fiber connection with the remaining locations connected by a 1Gb connection. The LAN equipment in use supports Quality of Service (QoS) and Power over Ethernet (PoE). The current LAN hardware is Enterasys at the core of the network, the schools and other locations. The current system is deployed with Voice over IP (VoIP) technology. As a quick explanation of this technology, with VoIP the voice traffic is transported over the same network that carries data traffic, instead of voice being transported over a separate voice network. The voice traffic that is carried on the data network is given a higher priority and is logically separated via technology available on data networks called Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) and/or quality of service (QoS) to prioritize voice over data traffic to maintain voice quality. This technology allows many different systems (phones, data, audio visual, security, etc.) to be converged and share common cabling infrastructure and networking resources. VoIP telephones are equipped with a built-in Ethernet switch designed to extend a LAN connection out to the local desktop PC workstation. The user s desktop computer workstation and telephone can share the same data network port. The existing telephone system supports analog devices such as fax machines, modems and single line phones via devices known as Analog Telephone Adapters (ATA). These devices allow analog or non-ip end points to be connected to an IP-based telephone system. In the District, there are 254 of these devices. The school District also has a Gateway at each school to connect to the Public Address (PA) system at each of the schools and to allow 911 calls to be originated from each school from local lines. Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 6

22 6. Unified Communications A modern telecommunications platform does far more than provide telephone services. It is a unified communications and collaboration platform that allows users to be reached by the device and method of their choosing, providing: Unified Messaging that presents voice mail in a user s box Instant Messaging and Presence for instantaneous out of band communications between staff Web conferencing and screen sharing for scheduled and ad hoc meetings to collaborate Video for 1-to-1 conversations and 1-to-many presentations Mobility options for cell phones and smart phones, including single number reach All options considered in this report provide Unified Messaging for 150 users where voice and are combined into a single mailbox such as Outlook. Most of the options include instant messaging and presence (IM/P) as part of the standard offering. Web conferencing and screen sharing, as well as video, are Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 7

23 options that are often additional cost license uplifts, which were not assessed for this report. Mobility is addressed in Section 11 below. 7. Carrier Services Currently all calls to and from the TRUDS system are made using digital Primary Rate Interface (PRI) trunks at the District office, the Grand Avenue locations and at 13 of the schools. There are currently total of 22 PRIs and 157 analog lines both at the District offices and at the induvial schools. This number exceeds the recommended quantities and the District could save significant money by reducing the numbers of lines. Many organizations like TRUSD have achieved significant savings by converting from the older PRI services to new facilities that use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking. These new facilities can provide enhanced network resiliency and lower calling costs. The industry is moving away from PRI to SIP, which is now a mature technology. Com-Strat suggests that TRUSD assess the SIP option before investing in a new voice platform, since converting later might increase costs and require different hardware. Com-Strat reviewed the current contract that is in place with Consolidated Communications and did some research on the current pricing of migrating to SIP trunks from a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) and determined the following monthly and annual savings: Twin Rivers Trunking Pricing Number of T1s Number of Channels Monthly Recurring Charge Annual Savings Current T1 Environment $9, Proposed SIP Solution 192 $2, Proposed Saving $6, $77, SIP Solution includes 10% regulatory fees. $10, SIP Trunking Cost Analysis $8, $6, $4, $2, $0.00 Current T1 Environment Proposed SIP Solution Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 8

24 8. Video Video options (desktop and conference room) were not addressed in this report as TRUSD is not utilizing these capabilities currently. New systems do have these capabilities available as an option and could be considered at some future point. 9. Enhanced 911 (E911) E911 provides the ability to dial 911 from any station and provide the calling location to the receiving public service answering point (PSAP). Enhanced E911 capability is included in the budgetary costs of all systems, where it is assumed that location information will be provided by using the LAN IP address by appropriate sub netting by location. E911 dial-out capability can be retained in the event of WAN failure by use of local telco lines (e.g. two standard telephone lines) attached to survivable branch appliances at each site. 10. Call Detail Recording (CDR) The School District currently is using a Call Detail Recording system to track calls and look for potential abuses and threatening calls. The budgetary costs later in this report include the update of this current system to continue to be able to track these calls. 11. Automated Call Distribution (ACD) ACD functionality is an additional cost option on all of communication platform options. ACD provides the ability for agents to log in at either a hard or soft phone, to receive calls distributed to them based on their skills, to queue calls and provide queue messages, to provide a view into the number of calls on hold and average holding time, and to have a host of related features and management tools. Further, ACD provides rich reporting options, including individual agent performance and work level. Recording of calls is also an additional cost option. New contact center software, as an option can support more than just voice calls. Today s software will allow and web site chat to be added as communication channels into the contact center. While this capability is available, pricing options for these capabilities have not been included in this report. TRUSD uses the Cisco Call Manager release 8.6 for the contact center that is used by the IT help desk and the Transportation office. In these contact centers, there are 20 contact center agents programmed with a maximum of 10 agents currently logged in and 3 contact center supervisors. This software, like the main system software, has also reached the end of its supported life and will be considered obsolete and no longer be available for manufacturer support after July 17, Dial Plan A dial plan is the programming that allows a private communication platform to know what are internal extensions, how internal stations are called with in a location and how external dialing is accomplished. Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 9

25 The District has a series of Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers from the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) of ( ) and ( ). These numbers allow callers to dial an extension directly and not have to go through a switchboard or through an Auto Attendant (described in the next section). Currently the District utilizes a 5-digit dial plan for internal extension to extension calling. The District s dial plan was set up when the system was originally installed and implemented with two extension numbers per phone. There is one extension number for the phone itself and the other for the user to log their DID number into the phone. This was set up to identify the school and the user in that school by their extension number. This practice and the associated programming has not been maintained and currently the District s dial plan is confusing and should be updated with one extension number for both the user and the phone. This will reduce the complexity of the system and make a simpler user experience without changing any of the published or main numbers. 13. Automated Attendants Automated attendants (auto attendants) allow callers to hear a recorded message when calling a main number. Then callers are presented with a series of options such as: entering a touch tone key for a department or a sub-menu, dialing someone by their name, entering an extension to transfer to that phone or to leave a message in a user s voic box. Auto attendants are typically set up on a schedule that will control what recordings are played during different times of the day and how what options are given to the callers when they call. TRUSD uses auto attendants at the District Office and at each school. There is a main menu for the primary number for the school that then provides options for reaching the office, the attendance line, other options and for callers to dial by name to reach members of staff. These auto attendants have been set up on a schedule so that calls for teachers will go to their mailbox directly during the day when they are in class and after class the calls are transferred to the teacher s phone and if they do not answer the call will be transferred to their voice mail. 14. Mobility Options TRUSD has some employees who use cell phones as part of their job. Other employees use their own cell phones for occasional work calls. Modern VoIP telephone systems provide several options for such mobile employees that TRUSD should consider, some of which are in use today. Simultaneous (or dual) ring extends incoming calls to both the user s desk phone and cell phone at the same time, even though the cell phone continues to have its own separate telephone number. Some systems provide simultaneous ring as part of the base system and others provide that at additional cost. Many systems provide the function of requiring the cell phone user to press a button to accept the call, so that if they don t press the button within a defined time the call then goes to the corporate voice mail rather than Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 10

26 to their cell phone voice mail. The cost for simultaneous ring ranges from $0 to $100 per user license, with a median of about $40. Full mobility clients provide the additional ability to have the nearly-complete functionality of a desktop phone at the smart phone. The calls use the cell phone data path, which completes over Wi-Fi if available and over 3G/4G if not. The advantage is that outgoing calls from the cell phone look like they originate at the PBX, with the user s phone system number. The disadvantage is that the cell phone provider 3G/4G networks do not guarantee quality of service (QoS), so at times and for some locations, the voice quality can be poor. The cost for full mobility client licenses ranges from $50 to $250 each. Several VoIP platform vendors have an optional capability that provides some of the full mobility client functionality, but using the cell phone voice path to avoid problems with data path voice quality. This option allows the cell phone to be controlled by the VoIP system, usually using the soft phone interface (see below) so that calls from the cell phone provide the desk phone DID number to the destination. If available, a budgetary cost for this capability is about $50 to $150 per user. 15. Analysis Options and Models This report considered four basic options: 1. Full Upgrade of the current phone system to latest equivalent technology from Cisco leveraging existing licensing and trade-in allowances of Cisco licenses to the maximum extent possible 2. Replace existing system with a new, modern mid-market or enterprise communications platform 3. Unified Communication solution based on Microsoft Skype for Business 4. Hosted VoIP solution Option 1: Full Upgrade of the current phone system to latest equivalent technology from Cisco This option is based on the upgrade of the current Cisco platform with the latest version of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM), replacing the core software, the contact center software, the gateways and the phones. With this option TRUSD would have the latest version of CUCM, new hardware and software that would be under the manufacturer s support and have access to the latest feature upgrades and new capabilities. Credits are available for the existing licenses and this was taken into consideration. This premise based option is designed for high reliability, with geo-redundant main controllers: one controller at the District Office and the other at the back up site for disaster recovery (DR). Existing primary rate interface (PRI) trunking is retained. With this option, there would also be an option of moving to SIP trunking to replace the existing PRIs as described earlier. This option would protect an investment in licensing and would be under manufacturer support and can be expected to support the needs of the District for a minimum of five years.. Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 11

27 Option 2: Replace the existing telephone system This option would replace all current Cisco products with a new VoIP based telephone system and contact center from a leading enterprise solution vendor. This option provides TRUSD the full range of growth, resiliency, feature, and integration capabilities using leading technology. Communication Strategies received RFI quotes from three leading manufacturers of VoIP telephone equipment. Two vendors representing Enterprise communication platforms, NEC and Mitel and ShoreTel representing a vendor focusing on the mid-market. Option 3: Unified Communication (UC) solution The UC option differs architecturally from the other options by emphasizing the total platform of communications both internal and external and providing a rich set of communication alternatives encompassing instant messaging, presence, voice (internal and external), video (internal and external), web conferencing, and screen sharing to users at desktops and with mobile devices. Communication Strategies has included a Microsoft (MS) Skype for Business (SfB) solution to be evaluated as part of this report. Automated call distribution (ACD), or call center, capability is not sold by Microsoft and would need to be purchased from another manufacturer with a solution certified with SfB. The contact center proposed is from a certified MS partner, Interactive Intelligence (now a Genesys company) and configured for 30 agents. The proposal includes using a physical VoIP phone for all users. The price could be reduced somewhat if users were to use a USB headset for voice communications. Option 4: Hosted VoIP solution This hosted option differs primarily from the on premise (Customer Premise Equipment or CPE) based systems with other options, both for financial reasons and for technical reasons. In either scenario, a VoIPready infrastructure is required and all telephone endpoints (stations) must be purchased or leased. In a hosted environment, all core equipment resides in the provider s data center on either shared or dedicated servers. Additional onsite equipment (media gateways) provided by the vendor or a partner would be needed to support analog stations and trunks. Dial tone and services would be provided over a dedicated WAN connection to the service provider s network. One key distinction between a premise based solution and a hosted solution is that a premise based solution represents a long-term commitment in a platform, while a hosted solution could be purchased as an operating expense on a term of three or five years. Often, any equipment purchased, such as VoIP telephone stations, could be re-used as a part of another hosted solution or a premise based solution. It should be noted that the Hosted Voice over IP (VoIP) solution was removed from the charts after five years due to the continued high costs that made the charts less readable. Additionally, Hosted VoIP provided no significant advantage to TRUSD to compensate for the higher price. Until this year the Schools Twin Rivers Telecommunications Strategic Direction and Budget Page 12