Situation Analysis
Bwired is a leading Melbourne-based company specialising in web design and the deployment and management of smart buildings.
Looking to deploy its first managed VoIP rollout, the company approached Telarus in Aprilto undertake a high level design review of an existing design for a deployment at 757 Bourke Street in Melbourne.
Following the review, Telarus was appointed in July to provide an in-building solution for the site that would deliver high quality, cost-effective voice and data services to the predominantly commercial tenants expected to occupy the building.
The site includes 56 suites with an average of 3 users per suite, and 78 single user offices for a total of around 250 seats.
Challenge
When conducting the review Telarus encountered some fundamental issues with the existing smart building design such as a high number of single points of failure and no plans for redundancy for the Internet access into the building.
The original plan called for all voice services to be delivered via a third party IP Centrex platform, however this raised additional issues. These included: no capability to enable IP QoS, the use of residential style APs where business grade were needed, no support for PoE, and no power protection.
A number of small unmanaged UPSes were to be used for core equipment which further created issues around poor efficiency and fault tolerance, and a lack of visibility through the use of unmanaged UPS equipment.
The site itself also presented a number of challenges including poorly configured cabling, a high degree of metal and reflective materials(wireless issue), and budget constraints reducing the number of Ethernet switches and the ability to deploy a centralised wireless network.
Solution
With an eye to allowing individual suites in the building to have their own phone system, a Mitel 3300 IP phone solution was deployed in-building to provide PABX services to all suites and tenants.
The system allows for seamless IP networking across multiple sites, robust switching,
hot-desking, and support for touch-of-a-button, drag-and-drop video and audio conferencing.
Trunking can also be done via analogue PSTN, PRA/ISDN, and SIP and internal calls can be made from the Mitel handset (IP or analogue) or a SIP compliant device such as a wireless handset.
An MX Expandable Controller to allow for up to 1400 VoIP users, and Mitel 5212 IP phones were also deployed.
With bwired opting to source a primary rate ISDN service from a third party to provide connectivity to the PSTN, Telarus installed an interim PSTN access service with five lines: two for emergency use, and one each for an out-of-band modem, a business centre fax, and a back-up line.
On the data and internet side, fault-tolerant internet access to the site was provided via a primary Ethernet service with a secondary SHDSL service provided for redundancy. Both services will be terminated on a Cisco 1841 supplied and managed by Telarus, with 2 Fast Ethernet ports and an SHDSL WIC.
For the provision of wireless LAN access for the Mitel IP phones, a Wireless LAN capable of operating in ‘client’ or ‘access point’ mode was deployed.
Security for the communications set up was provided by an FortiGate 200A firewall monitored and managed by Telarus.
Benefits
According to bwired Managing Director Sam Saltis, the company was expecting a range of benefits including an expected take-up rate of 80 percent for the new service.
"For the end client it’s a ready communications solution – there’s no wait till they’re up and running. It’s also a feature-rich solution offering all the major benefits of VoIP and we can also offer inter-building benefits such as free calls."
For bwired, Telarus’ technical capabilities, ability to innovate and cost effectiveness were major benefits of the project, Saltis said.
"The average industry ROI for a VoIP deployment is three years but we believe we will get a return within 18 to 24 months," he said.
"Telarus’ ability to respond to a problem is also a strong benefit. As we are the face of the VoIP product we needed to be able to rely on a technical partner behind the scenes who can quickly and effectively resolve any issues that arise."
Through its partnership with Telarus bwired now plans on developing additional sites to bring the benefits of its aggregated communications services to other suburbs, cities and states.