CITY GOVERNMENT SUCCESS STORY
City of Oakland Replaces PBX-Based Telephone System with IP Unified Communications Solution from ShoreTel
CHALLENGE:
• Oakland’soutdatedPBX-basedphonesystemwasfailingandalotofitsnetworkequipmentwasnearingend-of-life.Itwastimetoreplaceboththenetworkandthetelephonesystem.
SOLUTION:
• ShoreTelprovidedtheIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem,includingShoreGearvoiceswitchesandShorePhoneIPtelephones,whilenetworkpartnerEnterasysprovidedthenetworkinfrastructureequipment.
BENEFITS:
• DistributedarchitectureoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemgivestheCityofOaklandasoliddisasterrecoveryplanfornaturaldisasterssuchasearthquakesandmudslides,socallscanstillgetthroughduringsuchanoccurrence.
• TheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemiseasytoscaleandmanage,sotheCityisabletomakeitsownchangesandadditions,ratherthanoutsourcingtheseactivities,savingtheCitytimeandmoney.
• Richfeaturesetenhancesemployeeproductivityandcallresponsiveness.
• ShoreTelandEnterasysworkcloselytogetherandrespondquicklytotheCity’sneedsandrequests.
RatedbyForbesin2002asthe8thbestcityforbusinessinthenation,OaklandisoneofCalifornia’smoststrategiclocationsforcompaniesseekingtomovegoodsandideasquicklyandseamlesslyoverair,water,landorcyberspace.Oaklandhasasolid,diversemixoftraditionalandneweconomycompanies.Thesecompaniesareattractedtoitsexcellentqualityoflife,comparativelylowerbusinesscosts,extensivefiber-opticinfrastructure,world-classseaport,vastinter-modalnetwork,andhighlyskilledlaborpool—whichisrankedthe8thmosteducatedinthenationaccordingtoa2000U.S.census.TheCityemploysmorethan5,000peopleacross114cityfacilities.
Time for an UpgradeIn2003,theCityhadaMeridianPBX-basedphonesystem,withapproximately1,700analogtelephones.Thesystemhadbeeninstalledstartingin1989andwasbecomingoutdated—attimes,thesystemwasundergoingsomesignificantfailures.Atthesametime,muchoftheCabletronandCisconetworkequipmentwasalso
nearingend-of-life.TheCity’stechnologyteam,ledbyChiefTechnologyOfficerRobertGlaze,determineditwastimetoreplacethephonesystemandupgradethenetwork.
TheCityissuedaRequestforInformation(RFI)andreceivedinformationfrommorethan25vendorsforVoiceoverIP(VoIP)solutions.Ateamwasassembledtobegintheevaluation,includingemployeesfromthetelecommunicationsteam,thePCteam,andthenetworkteam.Thatteameventuallynarrowedthechoicedowntothreevendorsthatmettheorganization’stoppriorities,whichincludedfeaturerobustness,customerserviceandsupport,disasterrecoverycapabilitiesandeaseofmaintenance.Costeffectivenesswasalsoafactor,accordingtoGlaze.“Aswithmostcitybudgets,oursgetsstretchedverythin,soourmoneyhadtogoalongwaywiththistelephonesystem.”
ThethreevendorsincludedAlcatel,CiscoandShoreTel®.TheCitythenissueditsRequestforProposal(RFP),atwhichstageeachsolutionwasbroughtinfora
OaklandstartsmigrationtoIPUnifiedCommunicationswithsomeofitscityofficesandplanstobringmoreonlineovertheyears.
ShoreTel and City of Oakland PAGE 2
demonstrationandanactualpilotinstallationwiththeexistingnetwork.TheCityCouncilmemberslookedverycarefullyateachpilottestbecauseVoIPwasverynewtothemandpoorvoicequalitywasaconcern.
Alcateldidnotoperateverywellontheexistingcitysystem.CiscorequestedthattheCityevaluateanexistingsmallsysteminstalledatalocalpoliceprecinct,andShoreTelinstalleda25phonepilotrequestedbytheCity.ShoreTeldidwellinthisinitialpilot;however,sincetheCityCouncilhadneverheardofShoreTel,alargerdemonstrationwith500IPphoneswasrequested.ShoreTelcompliedanddeployedalargerpilotwith500phonesandkeptitrunningfor30daysasrequested.Itransmoothlyandin2004,attheendofthepilottestphase,ShoreTelwaschosenastheCity’sIPUnifiedCommunicationsvendor.
Switching To An IP Unified Communications SystemInMarchof2005,ShoreTelprovidedtheCityofOaklandwith14ofitsShoreGear®T1voiceswitchesand37ofitsShoreGear120voiceswitches,alongwithmorethan1,500ShorePhone™IPtelephones,mostofthemmodel560s.Sincetheinitialdeployment,severalmoreswitcheshavebeeninstalled,andtheCitynowhasapproximately2,000IPtelephonesdeployedineightofthecity’sbuildings.Theeightlocationsincludecityhall,twoadministrativeannexes,themuseum,municipalservicecenter,emergencyoperationscenter,animalshelter,andfamilycriminaljusticecenter.
DuringtheShoreTelimplementationphase,theCitywasalsodeployingitsnewnetworkingequipmentfromEnterasys,aShoreTelpartner.Whilethismadeforabusytime,theentiredeploymentwentverysmoothly.ThefactthatEnterasyswasaShoreTelpartnerwasimportanttotheCitybecauseitwouldminimizeanyissueresolutionhavingtodowitheitherthenetworkorthephonesystem.
Disaster Recovery and ReliabilityAkeyfeatureoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemisitsdistributed
architecturedesign,whichmakesitidealformulti-siteorganizationsthatspanmultiplelocationsandisalsomorereliablethanserver-centricsolutions.ThisappealedtotheCitybecausedisasterrecoveryissuchapriority.Inaddition,ShoreTel’scallcontrolsoftwareisdistributedtoeveryShoreGearvoiceswitch,whicheliminatesanysinglepointoffailure.InthehighlyunlikelyeventaShoreGearvoiceswitchfails,theotherswitchesonthenetworkautomaticallytakeonthecall-processingload.ThiswasespeciallyappealingtotheCitybecauseofitspastdisasters,suchasearthquakesandmudslides.Inthecaseofthesenaturaldisasters,oftenworkershavetoberelocated.WiththedistributednatureoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem,itiseasytoreroutecallsandcontinuebusinessasusual.
“Withourpasthistoryofnaturaldisasters,disasterrecoveryisanimportantfactorinourtechnologysolutions,”saidGlaze.“ThefailoveroftheShoreTelsystemisaperfectfitforusandwillbebeneficialwhetherwehavetorelocateonebuildingtoanothercitybuildingorafewbuildingstotemporarybuildings.Wecankeepourcommunicationssystemupandrunning.”
Tools for ProductivityShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemsareeasytouse,simpletomanage,flexible,andreliable.WiththeShoreTelsysteminplace,allCityemployeesarenowonthesamephoneandvoicemailsystem,using4-digitdialingtoreachco-workersanddialingco-workersbyname.IntegrateddirectlywithMicrosoftOutlook®,theShoreTelsystemprovidesemployeeswithintegratedmessaging,suchasdirectorydialing,contactscreenpop,andcalendarintegration.ShoreWare®PersonalCallManagerenablesemployeestomanagealloftheircommunications—voicemail,e-mail,faxes—centrallyontheirdesktop.WithPersonalCallManager,employeescanquicklybrowsecontactsandmakecallsfromlocaldirectoriesorMicrosoftOutlook.
“TheintegrationoftheShoreTelsystemwithOutlookisgreat,”saidGlaze.“AllofourusersareintegratedwithOutlook—it’satremendousfeatureandeverything
“The integration of the
ShoreTel system with
Outlook is great. Everything
I’ve heard is positive about
it. People just love it.”
Robert Glaze CTO,CityofOakland
ShoreTel and City of Oakland PAGE 3
I’veheardaboutitispositive.It’sthenumberonefeature,allowingemployeestopullupcontactsanddialwithoutknowingthenumber.Peoplejustloveit.”
WithPersonalCallManager,voicemailmessagesarealsostoredintheindustry-standardWAVAudioforWindowsformat,allowinguserstoplaythemonmultimediaPCs,attachthemtoe-mailmessagesandforwardthemtocolleagues,orembedtheminotherdocumentsaswellaskeeppermanentrecordsonfile.TheabilityoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemtotrackphonecallsandexportanddistributevoicemailsasWAVfileshelpscontinuallymonitorandimproveresponsiveness.Inaddition,Cityattorneysappreciatetheabilitytoattachthesevoicemailmessagestofoldersforlaterreference.
Mobileworkersarealsoabletogettheirmessages,bothvoicemailande-mailmessages,ontheirBlackberryhandhelddevicesinthefield.Theyseethattheyhaveamessageandonlythendotheyneedtodialinfortheirmessageorreadtheire-mail.
Finally,ShoreTel’sWorkgroupcapabilityenablestheCityofOaklandtodedicateaspecifictelephonenumbertoaworkgroup(therearecurrentlyworkgroupssetupfordepartmentssuchasIThelpdesk,publicworks,developmentservices,OaklandersAssistanceCenter,etc.).Callstoaspecificworkgroupareroutedtothenextavailableagent.Productivityisenhanced,andcallersgetmoreconsistentandthoroughcare.
SavingsShoreWareDirector,ShoreTel’sbrowser-basedmanagementinterface,allowstheCity’sITstafftogainaccesstothesystemfromanywhereonthenetwork,allowingthemtomanagetheentiresystemfromin-house.ThroughShoreWareDirector,everysiteandfeaturecanbemanaged,includingthevoicemail,automatedattendantanddesktopapplications.Whenanewuserisadded,anadministratorsimplyclicks“addnew”andenterstheuser’sname;this,inturn,automaticallyupdatesthecentralizeddatabaseandvoiceswitches,createsa
newmailbox,andupdatestheautomatedattendantdial-by-nameandnumberfeatureandonlinedirectories—allinamatterofseconds.
TheCityisalsosavingbysimplyusingIPtelephonyoveritsoldanalogsystem.AccordingtoGlaze,“WeleasedtheShoreTelphonesystemandtheEnterasysnetworkequipment,andthemoneywesavebyusinganIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemovertraditionaltelephoneservicesactuallypaysforthemonthlyleaseontheEnterasysandShoreTelequipment.Inotherwords,itcostsusnothingextraandwehaveamuchbetterphonesystemandnetworkinplace.”
TheCityofOaklandhasalsointegrateditsTapitCallAccountingSoftwarefromTrisyswiththeShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem,whichallowstheITdepartmenttochargebacktelephonecostsandbillindividualdepartmentsfortollcharges.TheITdepartmentsimplyrunsamonth-endreportforbillingbydepartmentandaddsinthecostsforcalls.
“TheShoreTelsystemisflexibleenoughtointegratewithourcallaccountingsoftwareandcreateanykindofreportweneedwheneverweneedit,”saidGlaze.“Theintegrationpossibilitiesareinteresting,consideringhowflexibleShoreTelis.”
TheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemisalsoeasilyscalable,whichisimportanttotheCitysinceitplanstobringadditionaldepartmentsandsitesonlineincrementally.“Theothersystemswe’vehadinthepastwerenotscalable,”saidGlaze.“WiththeShoreTelsystem,it’seasywhetheryou’readdingaphoneoranentiresite.WeactuallymovedMayorJerryBrownoutofhisofficeandbackinagain,andalsomovedMayorRonDellums–bothmoveswereeachdonewithinaday.”
ShoreTel Lives Up to Its PromisesThedistributednatureoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemandtheabilitytorelocateemployeesquicklyandeasilyandkeepcommunicationsupiscrucialtotheCity.TheShoreTelsystemhasmetthoseneedsandmanymore.Employeesaremoreproductive,callerresponsivenessisimproved,andsavings
“The ShoreTel system
has improved our
communications and
productivity. We are also
now ready with a disaster
recovery plan in place
because of the distributed
nature of the system, and
ready to scale and add new
sites. ShoreTel has prepared
us for the future.”
Robert Glaze CTO,CityofOakland
WORLD HEADQUARTERS 960 Stewart Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94085 USA. shoretel.com and shoretelsky.com
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About ShoreTel
ShoreTel is a provider of business communication solutions whose brilliantly simple unified communications platforms, applications and mobile UC solutions promise a new rhythm of workforce engagement and collaboration. With costly complexity eliminated by design from its award winning, all-in-one IP phone system, UC and contact center solution, and its industry leading hosted business phone system, workers enjoy a freedom and self-reliance that other providers can’t match. Users have full control to engage and collaborate, no matter the time, place or device, for the lowest cost and demand on IT resources in the industry. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices and partners worldwide. For more information, visit shoretel.com or shoretelsky.com
havebeenandcontinuetoberealized.TheCityofOaklandishappywithitschoiceofShoreTelforitsIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem.GlazealsonotesthatthenetworkpartnershipwithEnterasyshasbeenatremendousbenefitbecausethecompanieshaveworkedverycloselytogetheraspartnerstomeettheCity’sneeds.
“ShoreTelisalwaystherewhenweneedthemandtheproducthasliveduptowhatthecompanypromised,”saidGlaze.“ShoreTelalsoreallylistenstoitscustomersintermsofenhancementsitmakestothesystem.OurusersreallylikethenewShoreTelsystemandit’simprovedourcommunicationsandproductivity.Wearealsonowreadywithadisasterrecoveryplaninplacebecauseofthedistributednatureofthesystem,andreadytoscaleandaddnewsites.ShoreTelhaspreparedusforthefuture.”
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