Request for Information: Phone System Replacement

Vermont Electric Cooperative
42 Wescom Rd.
Johnson VT
02/18/2014
Request for Information: Phone System Replacement
1. Introduction
Vermont Electric Coop is seeking information about a voice telephone system to replace the existing
Nortel/Avaya BCM450 and BCM 200. The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit
information that will allow VEC to evaluate the best solution in telephone technology to serve VEC
Members.
By issuing this RFI, VEC expects to decide which telephone architecture will work best to satisfy its needs.
The information obtained through the RFI might be used to generate a follow-up Request for Proposal
(RFP).
Respondents are asked to provide cost estimates where feasible, but are not expected to provide any
formal or binding pricing.
This document is not intended to in any way result in a Contract.
2. Goal of RFI
The goal of this request is to learn what is on the market for a turnkey VoIP/SIP telephone system to
replace our existing PBX.
Proposed architecture shall provide:
Inbound/outbound voice services with capacity at least equal to 3 PRI ISDN lines
Call Center functionality
Connection to existing IVR with a 24 line SIP trunk
SIP/VoIP telephony at each desk
Fail-over of voice traffic to Backup Operation Center
Appendix A of this document describes the existing telephone system at VEC and outlines three
architectures of new telephone system that VEC is currently considering. Responders shall provide a
description of at least one of the considered architectures or describe other architecture with an
explanation why their proposed solution may work better for VEC.
In addition to describing proposed architecture and functionality responders are welcome to add
information about Unified Communication, especially:
Presence Services
Instant Messaging
Unified Messaging
Conferencing and collaboration
Mobility
Business Process Integration
Some VEC employees are using iPhones and iPads. VEC is interested in solutions which allow integration
with iPhones/iPads with the new phone switch.
Vermont Electric Coop
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Request for Information: Phone System Replacement
3. Guidelines on Responding to RFI
3.1. Who may respond to RFI
VEC is expecting responses from companies active in the telecommunication industry who already
provide voice/data services or sell telecommunication equipment in Vermont.
3.2. How to submit responses
Proposal shall include:
A cover letter which summarizes your response and includes areas to which you are responding
and must also indicate if supporting documentation is included in your response.
The response itself, covering any or all of the areas of information requested by this RFI.
RFI documents shall be submitted in electronic form:
By email to [email protected] if the size of all attached documents do not exceed
10MB
On CD/DVD and send to:
Jacek Szamrej
Vermont Electric Coop
42 Wescom Rd
Johnson, VT 05656
Response due: March 14, 2014, 4PM (Eastern Time Zone)
VEC shall not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by any Responders in connection with this RFI or
any response by any Responders to this RFI. No compensation will be paid to providers for responding to
this RFI. The costs and expenses incurred by Responders in the preparation, submission, and presentation
of the response are the sole responsibility of the Responders and shall not be charged to VEC.
This document is a Request for Information only. VEC will not make any award of a Contract, and may not
take any further action on the basis of this Request for Information. Responder’s documents will be
treated only as informational for VEC.
Ownership of all data, materials, and documentation originated and prepared for VEC pursuant to this RFI
shall belong exclusively to VEC.
To the extent that a Response includes confidential information, that information must be clearly
identified in the Response. VEC will keep identified information confidential unless VEC obtains the
Responder’s permission to release such information, for example, as part of an RFP.
Vermont Electric Coop
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Request for Information: Phone System Replacement
Appendix A
Existing architecture
Voice calls
to VEC
Phone
Service
Provider
Automatic
overflow to 3rd
party call
center
Normal flow
3 x PRI
Nortel
BCM450
Redirection to
BOC
On request
Three
districts
Head
office
IVR
24 VoIP trunk
Internal VEC Network
Existing Nortel/Avaya BCM 450 is connected to phone services provider with 3 PRI lines utilizing ISDN
standard. BCM450 is also connected to IVR by using trunk with 24 VoIP/SIP lines. IVR is provided by VEC
software vendor and allows VEC members to report outages, make payments, read account information
as well as making outbound calls for notifying members about scheduled power outages. VEC is planning
to keep this IVR. BCM 450 acts as the primary switch and BCM 200 as a secondary stand-by with limited
capabilities (32 Nortel digital lines) and one PRI ISDN for inbound/outbound communication. In case of
BCM 450 failure, switchover to BCM 200 is manual. New architecture shall eliminate need for BCM 200.
Main features VEC uses on BCM:
55 Nortel digital phones
45 Nortel VoIP phones
12 analog lines for fax machines, modems – these lines need to stay in service after switch
replacement
Vermont Electric Coop
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Request for Information: Phone System Replacement
78 mailboxes for voicemail
Nortel/Avaya Intelligent Contact Center with 50 Agents and 32 Skillsets
Unified Communication (Outlook integration) – 4 licenses
Nortel reporting software for compiling usage, waiting, reports
Incoming and outgoing lines monitor
Software for live information about agents logged in, responding, not available
VEC also uses voice recording system to record 4 analog lines, 4 Nortel digital phones and analog radio
circuit. Recording system can be extended by adding VoIP licenses, or voice recording features can be
included in new PBX functionality, but in this case PBX needs to record analog lines as well.
Architecture proposal shall take into consideration functionality described above as minimum with
information about possible extensions.
Vermont Electric Coop
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Request for Information: Phone System Replacement
Architecture 1 – On Premises
Voice calls
to VEC
Phone
Service
Provider
Automatic
overflow to 3rd
party call
center
Normal flow
3 x PRI
Redirection to
BOC
Primary
PBX
On request
Secondary
PBX
Three
districts
Head
office
IVR
24 VoIP trunk
Internal VEC Network
On Premises architecture is similar to current phone system implementation at VEC. New PBX shall use
VoIP phones and existing Nortel phones (digital and VoIP) can be retired. Sixteen analog ports shall be
provided by new PBX. In addition to Primary PBX, smaller Secondary PBX shall be installed in Backup
Operations Center.
Secondary PBX shall support at minimum:
50 VoIP phones
Inbound/outbound voice traffic with capacity of one PRI line (23 channels)
Vermont Electric Coop
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Request for Information: Phone System Replacement
Architecture 2 – Hosted PBX
Voice calls
to VEC
Phone
Service
Provider
&
Hosted PBX
Automatic
overflow to 3rd
party call
center
Redirection to
BOC
On request
Three
districts
Head
office
IVR
24 VoIP trunk
Internal VEC Network
In a Hosted PBX architecture there is no PBX installed at VEC. Instead, all functionality of the PBX is
hosted at phone system service provider. All phones are directly connected to Hosted PBX. There might
be multiple communication paths from VEC premises to the hosted PBX. IVR needs to be connected over
IP protocol to the hosted PBX. In case of losing connection between VEC facility and Hosted PBX, local IP
phones will not work.
Vermont Electric Coop
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Request for Information: Phone System Replacement
Architecture 3 – Hybrid
Voice calls
to VEC
Phone
Service
Provider
&
Hosted PBX
Primary
connection
Network/phone
appliance
Automatic
overflow to
3rd party call
center
Secondary
connection
Redirection
to BOC
On request
or automatic
Network/phone
appliance
Three
districts
Head
office
IVR
24 VoIP trunk
Internal VEC Network
With Hybrid architecture we envision that some PBX functionality will come from a PBX at the phone
services provider, but basic functionality like making internal calls will be available even if the connection
between VEC and the Hosted PBX is down. This minimum functionality shall be provided by a
Network/phone appliance installed at the head office as well as the Backup Operations Center. All Nortel
phones shall be retired and replaced by new VoIP/SIP phones. In case of problems with the Primary line,
the Secondary line can transfer traffic.
Vermont Electric Coop
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