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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRPS-10-133 - Consolidated Maintenance Facility (CMF) Telephone System Upgrade StrategyREPORT Report To: Councillor B. Vrbanovic, Chair and Members of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee rd Date of Meeting: August 23, 2010 Submitted By: Troy Speck – General Manager of Corporate Services Prepared By: Dan Murray – Manager of Client Services Ward(s) Involved: N/A th Date of Report: August 11, 2010 Report No.: CRPS-10-133 Subject: CMF Telephone System and City of Kitchener Telephone System Upgrade Strategy RECOMMENDATION: That the strategy to replace the City's existing ROLM telephone system with a fully integrated Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system, as outlined in Corporate Services Department report CRPS-10-133, be approved; That staff bring a report back to Council recommending a Vendor of Record to perform all three phases of the transition of the City's telephone system from ROLM to VoIP, being: 1) the Consolidated Maintenance Facility; 2) Remote sites; and 3) City Hall. And that for each of the future transition phases, staff bring back to Council a report outlining details on costs, funding and timelines for implementation, prior to proceeding. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report outlines the proposed telecommunications upgrade strategy and the rationale behind it. The strategy suggests that we install a new state of the art VoIP telephone system in the CMF that will integrate with our current telephone system. This will allow the City to meet the business needs of the CMF and then upgrade the remaining City sites to this new VoIP phone system over a period of time. This strategy has been developed to reduce project risk and to meet CMF project timelines while being financially prudent. BACKGROUND: In 2001, the City of Kitchener embarked on a project to replace its aging ROLM telephone system. The City engaged a telecommunications consultant to assist with the formulation of a Request for Proposal (RFP) targeted on the City’s current requirements. When the successful vendors design was put to the test in a pilot deployment, it was mutually determined by the City ïí ó ï and the vendor that the proposed solution was not going to serve the needs of the City as originally proposed and the project was halted. The City then moved to a contingency plan that allowed the corporation to update its existing telephone PBX with a newer refurbished ROLM system. This system was implemented in December of 2004 and was expected to serve the telecommunications needs for the next 3 to 5 years while the City reassessed how to move forward. In 2008, the responsibility for telecommunications at the City of Kitchener was moved under Client Services in Information Technology. This reorganization was a strategic move to begin the integration of the telecommunication and data networks – the same shifts have been occurring in both the telecommunications and data networking industries. At the time that the directive was given to begin looking at upgrading the City’s existing telecommunications system, there were two major projects underway that would influence the timelines for this initiative – the CMF and the second phase of the Customer Service Strategy. Based on those project timelines as they stood in the summer of 2008, it was decided that there was not enough time to properly plan and acquire a new VoIP telephone system for the planned opening of the CMF in April 2009. The specific requirements of the second phase of the Customer Service Strategy were also undefined. At the time, the recommendation was made to install a third node of the existing ROLM PBX system at the CMF to meet the telecommunication needs. The expectation was that as the specific requirements of the Customer Service Strategy were further defined, the information needed to replace the existing phone system would become available and an RFP process would follow to obtain a new telecommunications system. Since this time, the timelines for occupancy of the CMF have been moved out to March 2011 and phase two of the Customer Service Strategy has not moved forward. As a result, the CMF now represents an exceptional opportunity to make the move to an integrated VoIP telecommunications system. Research has continued on VoIP systems and the available options and benefits to the City. With the accumulated knowledge of integrated VoIP systems, we are in a great position to begin the integration of the City’s telecommunications and data networks with the CMF. While the specific requirements of phase two of the Customer Service Strategy have not yet been defined, we are now confident that the flexibility in the new VoIP phone systems will not hinder any of the potential needs of the future phases of the Customer Service Strategy. Beginning early in 2010, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was drafted based on the City’s overall requirements for a new VoIP telecommunications system. This RFP was developed based on the technical requirements for both the telecommunications and data network and it considers all current and future integration options that will be possible with a VoIP phone system. REPORT: Why Install a VoIP Telephone System? VoIP (Voice over IP) has, for the most part, replaced traditional enterprise PBX telephone systems. The principal difference with VoIP telephone systems is that the telephone traffic travels over the existing IP data network used by the computers rather than having its own dedicated copper wire network that is required with a traditional PBX system. This will allow the City to build and maintain one network for both voice and data and may ultimately reduce our overall telecommunications and networking costs. ïí ó î VoIP phone systems are also very feature rich. In the past, a traditional PBX vendor would typically charge for every feature that was added to the system as it usually required extra hardware and software to activate. With VoIP, since telephone features are typically software driven, the vast majority of the features are typically included with the system at no extra cost. Likewise, VoIP systems are very flexible allowing changes to the system to be easily made without major re-investments in hardware. Adding new facilities and moving phone sets becomes much easier. As VoIP has become more mainstream, the number of available integration options has exploded with systems such as video conferencing, integrated messaging and computer-telephony integration (CTI). City departments are looking for new ways to perform services – a VoIP phone system will position the City to offer new options in areas such as teleworking, disaster recovery planning, Contact Center services and more. Installing a VoIP telephone system will also position the City to take advantage of future competitive VoIP trunking services as they become available. This has the potential to reduce our future monthly telecommunications service provider costs by switching from T1 to SIP trunking. What are the alternatives to VoIP? Status Quo – The existing ROLM system has served the City well and has been a very cost- effective and reliable system. It is however, an aging system and is not well supported by local vendors. We have been lucky to have highly skilled support staff available to us to maintain and troubleshoot issues but it will continue to get harder to find people who are familiar with the system. Replacement parts are currently being provided through refurbished parts suppliers out of the United States. It is expected that the replacement parts market will dwindle as more organizations abandon their ROLM systems. If we do not begin to plan for the replacement of this phone system, we will find it difficult or impossible to support in the future. This alternative is not recommended. Install a Traditional PBX System (vs. a VoIP system) – Very few manufacturers are still making traditional PBX systems as the market for them has all but disappeared. Most traditional PBX installations occurring currently are simply due to an organization’s significant investment in their existing PBX systems. Traditional PBX systems generally carry constrictive licensing models and do not offer the flexibility with add-on modules or third-party products that the newer VoIP systems can. This alternative is not recommended. Contract for Hosted VoIP Services – Hosted VoIP services are a relatively new option. There are now companies that are offering hosted VoIP services for business – some of these companies are located in the Kitchener area. This is a very attractive option being targeted at small and medium sized businesses or companies that have locations spread across the country that are not currently connected by their own data networks. This alternative can effectively farm out the telecommunications maintenance and support and can also significantly reduce long distance costs by leveraging the Internet to make long distance calls. This alternative however, does not take into consideration the existing investments in a company’s data network and negates many of the benefits of converged communications in large enterprise environments such as the City’s. Another significant concern with this alternative is that we would be limited in any future integration with other communications and software systems to products that are supported by the Hosted VoIP provider’s systems. One major benefit that we expect to achieve with a full VoIP system is to be able to integrate it with existing systems such as our email system, Blackberry units and computer systems and applications. Hosted solutions also introduce privacy and security concerns in terms of meeting the ïí ó í requirements of legislation such as the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This alternative is not recommended. CMF Project – Impact on Telecommunications Strategy In late 2008, the original strategy to have staff moved into the CMF for April 2009 was revised. It was decided to take more time to understand the needs of staff and re-work the existing building and site to make it as efficient as possible for all the various City functions that would be working out of that facility. These changes pushed the occupancy date out to March 2011 and included a complete redesign of the interior of the building. With these project changes approved and more time to research the options available, it made sense to aim to install a new VoIP telephone system at the CMF. Rather than install separate data and telephone networks within the CMF facility, a single integrated communications network could be designed and installed reducing initial wiring costs. The CMF telephone system became a sub-project in the overall CMF project. Proposed Telecommunications Strategy The strategy we are proposing is to install a new VoIP telephone system. The initial installation at the CMF will take advantage of a completely new network designed specifically to support VoIP telephony. This network will also include a wireless network (WiFi) and digital signage for communication needs. The new VoIP telephone system will be fully integrated with the City’s current ROLM PBX phone system allowing continued ease of communication across City sites. The final design of the VoIP system will commence once the proposal is awarded to a vendor. This design phase will involve City staff to ensure that the specific business needs of each area are met and to ensure that we achieve overall corporate goals such as the reduction in the number of Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers. As City staff are expected to move into the facility in March 2011, the system needs to be in place prior to their arrival. The system integration resulting from the install at the CMF facility will allow the City to then migrate various sites one by one from the ROLM system to the new integrated communications network. It is our recommendation that we would focus first on migrating remote sites such as Community Centres, Golf Courses and Pools for two main reasons. First, the removal of these sites from the ROLM would reduce the need for the Bell Canada circuits required between City Hall and the remote locations. Secondly, the introduction of the VoIP system in remote locations will provide many telephony features to these staff that they currently do not have access to. Once the remote sites have been completed, the staff at City Hall would be moved from the ROLM PBX to the VoIP system. The ROLM PBX system could then be removed completely. The timelines for the site upgrades after the CMF are still unknown as they would be dependent upon equipment delivery, vendor availability and the comfort level with City IT staff in supporting the new system. It is our expectation that if there are no outstanding issues from the CMF project, that we would move swiftly to start upgrading other sites. We are anticipating it would take approximately two years following the CMF installation to move all sites over to the new phone system. We are also expect that as IT performs a few remote site upgrades with the vendors assistance that City IT staff will become comfortable performing the remainder of the site upgrades. This would reduce the reliance on the chosen vendor thereby reducing overall implementation costs and providing the City more flexibility in the scheduling the upgrades. ïí ó ì Benefits of this Proposed Strategy Leverages the unique opportunity to have a new site (CMF) for the initial installation of VoIP technology Coordinates with the CMF project schedule requirements Drastically lowers risk of project failure by avoiding an “all-at-once” complete phone system swap Allows the organization to move to a full VoIP system over time as the available funds in the Telephone Reserve Fund will allow. Reduces the need for external services from Bell Canada. Allows IT staff to develop a comfort level with the technology by having the vendor guide the initial install and gradually hand over maintenance and new deployments to City staff Procurement Strategy This strategy suggests a Vendor of Record be awarded to the successful vendor for a period of 10 years. This vendor would be responsible for the design, installation, and support of the new system. Having a Vendor of Record for a new telecommunications system provides the following benefits to the City: The City has a single point of contact for resolution of issues, maintenance of the system and any upgrades or expansions required in the future. The City has a long term contract for services and can forecast budget accurately for telecommunications system costs. The City and the vendor will establish service level agreements backed by agreed upon procedures that ensure deliverables are met consistently for the life of the contract. The vendor that designs and installs the system will be the same entity supporting it. This ensures that any issues the City experiences can be resolved expediently by the vendor as they have the design documentation. The City can quickly respond to new telephony needs without lengthy future procurement processes The City can pursue committed pricing for a fixed period of time form the vendor. Next Steps Over the course of 2009, as the CMF plans were being defined, the requirements gathering for a new phone system was also taking place. In early 2010, an RFP was drafted by City staff taking into account all of the requirements of the CMF facility and the overall telecommunication needs of the City. The intent of the RFP document was to define an integrated VoIP telecommunications system that would leverage our existing WREPNET fibre data network, reduce our dependence on third-party carriers and to ensure that we have a solid communications system that can be easily and inexpensively extended as needs change in the future. We have defined a system that will provide consistent telecommunication features to all staff in the organization regardless of the location and that would provide the full set of Contact Centre features so that our future Customer Service Strategy needs can be met. This RFP is very technical in nature and defined the City’s requirements for integration to our existing ROLM phone system and the overall network integration we expect. Once a vendor and platform is chosen, the design and configuration of the system will require the involvement of the end-users to ensure it is configured to meet their specific business needs. The RFP was ïí ó ë thth released to vendors on May 25, 2010 and closed on June 25, 2010. The RFP evaluation and scoring process is currently underway. It is expected that an RFP award will be brought to Council for approval in September. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: CMF Portion of Upgrade Strategy The implementation of a fully integrated VoIP telecommunications and network system at the CMF is expected to cost approximately $900,000 (Subject to RFP vendor selection and contract refinement). These costs include the data networking components that would be required in order to meet the computing needs of the City staff at the CMF regardless of the phone system. As such, portions of the CMF project will be funded out of the Computer Reserve Fund as well. The costs are expected to be allocated between the following reserve fund accounts: Telephone Reserve Fund: $550,000 Computer Reserve Fund: $350,000 The Telephone Reserve Fund has been set up to provide a means for funding the eventual replacement of the City’s telecommunication system. The fund has been growing for several years with the intent of funding a replacement phone system and currently has a balance of $1.68M. Based on the costing we have received to date, we expect that there will be sufficient funds to perform all phases of this telecommunication system upgrade with no new funds needing to be allocated. Future Phases of the Upgrade Strategy The cost to perform the VoIP and network upgrades to the remaining remote sites is estimated to be $400,000. The cost to install VoIP at City Hall is estimated at $800,000. These phases of the upgrades will also be funded out of the Telephone Reserve Fund with portions being funded out of the Computer Reserve Fund for network components where appropriate. COMMUNICATIONS: N/A CONCLUSION: N/A ACKNOWLEDGED BY: T. Speck, General Manager of Corporate Services ïí ó ê