[cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or new solutions? Simply speaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x

Thu Apr 13 12:19:25 EDT 2006

Agreed on those points. Sticking with 4.1(3) should provide an easier feature upgrade to 5.0. But from what I hear, the 4.2 features will be available in 5.1 and that was slated for release in 2007 or something like that. But you are right....I would use several years as a guide line. 2 to 3 years.

It comes down to:
  a.. feature availability (SIP, etc)
  b.. upgrade issues (current features not supported in future version target)
  c.. bleeding edge factor -or- the "dot oh" syndrome
  d.. support issues (how much experience does the TAC have)
  e.. stability (are there all the patches you want in there)
and I would also add, product availability. It's probably alot easier to get 4.1(3) install media than it would be 4.2 or 5.0.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lelio Fulgenzi, B.A.
Network Analyst (CCS) * University of Guelph * Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1
(519) 824-4120 x56354 (519) 767-1060 FAX (JNHN)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
Sanity First : Number of days with fewer than
50 messages in my inbox at the end of the day:   buffer overrun
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Candace Holman 
  To: cisco-voip at puck.nether.net 
  Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 12:11 PM
  Subject: Re: [cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or new solutions? Simply speaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x

  To some extent I agree with Lelio and Scott, but it may be worth it to 
  you to consider some other points:

      * 4.x will not have SIP lines for several years at best
      * 5.x has the option for SIP and SCCP
      * it could be difficult to upgrade 4.2 -> 5.x because some of the
        user features in 4.2 are not duplicated in 5.x for several years
        at best
      * 5.x is a RH Linux train, 4.2 is windows so your considerations for
        hardware, organizational policies or tech philosophies,
        engineering skillset, etc _may_ be different

  Candace

  > Subject:
  > [cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or new solutions? Simply 
  > speaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x
  > From:
  > Netfortius <netfortius at gmail.com>
  > Date:
  > Thu, 13 Apr 2006 10:33:58 -0500
  >
  > To:
  > cisco-voip at puck.nether.net
  >
  >
  > You may have already gotten used to my last string of questions here, which - 
  > I am not hiding it - are part of my attempt to gain info from the more 
  > experienced people, on this subject, regarding a project I am working on for 
  > deployment of multi-site IPT & VoIP. I have gone into some details, for some 
  > questions I had, but now - reading tons of material every day, I have become 
  > very worried about the full blown solution chosen, vs. what is being promised 
  > just "around the corner". Here is where I would appreciate any comments, of 
  > any nature, thoughts, experience, "what-if" - anything you can share about 
  > this subject:
  >
  > Scenario: multi-site deployment of Cisco CM, with the following objectives in 
  > mind:
  >
  > 1. Replacement of existing old telephony solution, Nortel-based, consisting of 
  > PBX in each location, with Cisco-based IP-based communication systems (and 
  > not only one-to-one replacement of phones, but also steps toward unified 
  > communications)
  >
  > 2. Installation of Cisco solution consisting of:
  > a. CM 4.x (advised by Cisco) at the HQ + Unity integrated with Exchange 2003 
  > and a handful of IP phones (major testers of the technology) and integration 
  > with existing Nortel PBX at the HQ (PHASE 1)
  > b. IP phones in the remote location (complete replacement of everything old, 
  > including PBX) + SRST + standalone (storage-wise) Unity (PHASE 1)
  > c. Unified messaging at the HQ, in the "pilot" group, to the best of the 
  > abilities and availability of products around CM 4.x (e.g. PA, among others, 
  > as an example of what I am getting at) (PHASE 1)
  > d. Experience from c> ==> full implementation of unified messaging at the 
  > first remote ("upgrade" of the standalone Unity into an Exchange-tied one - 
  > is this even possible?!?) (PHASE 2)
  > e. remote site used as template fro all other sites (PHASE 2)
  > f. full upgrade at the HQ (PHASE 2), with the exception of Call Center
  > g. Cisco IPCC replacement of the existing Nortel Call Center, after the 
  > entire VoIP and IPT has proven reliable to sustain a Customer Service (PHASE 
  > 3)
  >
  > 3. The unified communications (including messaging) will eventually adddress 
  > various business needs, primarily focused on mobility and real-time 
  > communications and sharing
  >
  > Having said all of the above, here are the issues I am struggling with:
  >
  > - I have (and nobody in my network geeks group) no real experience with Cisco 
  > VoIP/IPT;
  > - the suggested solution, from Cisco, revolves around a CM 4.2 and, gradually, 
  > as explained above, updates to the point of full unified messaging - still 
  > 4.2-based
  > - I am getting conflicting messages from our Cisco group - they advise us to 
  > do the install with CM 4.2 (which would end up as a cluster of multiple 
  > servers, at the HQ), not CM 5.0, but:
  > - I am reading and reading, and it appears to me that some features associated 
  > with CM 4.2 are dying (e.g. PA), while CM 5.0 seems to open the door for much 
  > more, but not everything backward compatible with 4.x
  > - tons of features are being advertised as related to CM 5.0, only, but are 
  > not ready yet, and are to be released this year (majority in second quarter)
  >
  > Bottom line - I am struggling with one major question (with no easy answer - 
  > thus appreciating any comments this list may have): should I move ahead as 
  > started, with the one site + pilot HQ, on CM 4.2 (PHASE 1), then go over all 
  > phases, then analyze what would need to be upgraded to a 5.0 environment, if 
  > certain additional features would become available and needed, and not 
  > backward compatible
  > OR
  > should I just put a stop to the CM 4.x analysis and planning, and redo 
  > everything (with the delay caused by various products availability) around CM 
  > 5.0?
  >
  > As I said - any $0.02-$64K comments will be really appreciated. I will try to 
  > consolidate this type of info, in something useful, if enough data warrants 
  > it.
  >
  > Thanks,
  > Stefan
  >
  >   

  _______________________________________________
  cisco-voip mailing list
  cisco-voip at puck.nether.net
  https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/cisco-voip
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://puck.nether.net/pipermail/cisco-voip/attachments/20060413/63036cdc/attachment.html 