<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Personally speaking, I'd go with 4.2. 4.x is a more mature
product than 5.0 and I'd never install a "dot oh" of anything. 4.2 has a very
large feature set (more than 5.0) so you have to weigh what you would be losing
if you don't go with 5.0. SIP is a big one for sure. Appliance model is another.
There may be others. The biggest thing you want to look out for when migrating
is not so much new features but existing feature replacement and of course
stability. I think you would get that with 4.2, not sure about 5.0. Look at
upgrading in two years to 5.1 or 5.2 when you're not the guinea
pig.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>Lelio
Fulgenzi, B.A.<BR>Network Analyst (CCS) * University of Guelph * Guelph, Ontario
N1G 2W1<BR>(519) 824-4120 x56354 (519) 767-1060 FAX
(JNHN)<BR>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
<BR>Sanity First : Number of days with fewer than<BR>50 messages in my inbox at
the end of the day: buffer overrun</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=netfortius@gmail.com
href="mailto:netfortius@gmail.com">Netfortius</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=cisco-voip@puck.nether.net
href="mailto:cisco-voip@puck.nether.net">cisco-voip@puck.nether.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, April 13, 2006 11:33
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [cisco-voip] Torn apart by
choices - old or new solutions? Simplyspeaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>You may have already gotten used to my last string of questions
here, which - <BR>I am not hiding it - are part of my attempt to gain info
from the more <BR>experienced people, on this subject, regarding a project I
am working on for <BR>deployment of multi-site IPT & VoIP. I have gone
into some details, for some <BR>questions I had, but now - reading tons of
material every day, I have become <BR>very worried about the full blown
solution chosen, vs. what is being promised <BR>just "around the corner". Here
is where I would appreciate any comments, of <BR>any nature, thoughts,
experience, "what-if" - anything you can share about <BR>this
subject:<BR><BR>Scenario: multi-site deployment of Cisco CM, with the
following objectives in <BR>mind:<BR><BR>1. Replacement of existing old
telephony solution, Nortel-based, consisting of <BR>PBX in each location, with
Cisco-based IP-based communication systems (and <BR>not only one-to-one
replacement of phones, but also steps toward unified
<BR>communications)<BR><BR>2. Installation of Cisco solution consisting
of:<BR>a. CM 4.x (advised by Cisco) at the HQ + Unity integrated with Exchange
2003 <BR>and a handful of IP phones (major testers of the technology) and
integration <BR>with existing Nortel PBX at the HQ (PHASE 1)<BR>b. IP phones
in the remote location (complete replacement of everything old, <BR>including
PBX) + SRST + standalone (storage-wise) Unity (PHASE 1)<BR>c. Unified
messaging at the HQ, in the "pilot" group, to the best of the <BR>abilities
and availability of products around CM 4.x (e.g. PA, among others, <BR>as an
example of what I am getting at) (PHASE 1)<BR>d. Experience from c> ==>
full implementation of unified messaging at the <BR>first remote ("upgrade" of
the standalone Unity into an Exchange-tied one - <BR>is this even possible?!?)
(PHASE 2)<BR>e. remote site used as template fro all other sites (PHASE
2)<BR>f. full upgrade at the HQ (PHASE 2), with the exception of Call
Center<BR>g. Cisco IPCC replacement of the existing Nortel Call Center, after
the <BR>entire VoIP and IPT has proven reliable to sustain a Customer Service
(PHASE <BR>3)<BR><BR>3. The unified communications (including messaging) will
eventually adddress <BR>various business needs, primarily focused on mobility
and real-time <BR>communications and sharing<BR><BR>Having said all of the
above, here are the issues I am struggling with:<BR><BR>- I have (and nobody
in my network geeks group) no real experience with Cisco <BR>VoIP/IPT;<BR>-
the suggested solution, from Cisco, revolves around a CM 4.2 and, gradually,
<BR>as explained above, updates to the point of full unified messaging - still
<BR>4.2-based<BR>- I am getting conflicting messages from our Cisco group -
they advise us to <BR>do the install with CM 4.2 (which would end up as a
cluster of multiple <BR>servers, at the HQ), not CM 5.0, but:<BR>- I am
reading and reading, and it appears to me that some features associated
<BR>with CM 4.2 are dying (e.g. PA), while CM 5.0 seems to open the door for
much <BR>more, but not everything backward compatible with 4.x<BR>- tons of
features are being advertised as related to CM 5.0, only, but are <BR>not
ready yet, and are to be released this year (majority in second
quarter)<BR><BR>Bottom line - I am struggling with one major question (with no
easy answer - <BR>thus appreciating any comments this list may have): should I
move ahead as <BR>started, with the one site + pilot HQ, on CM 4.2 (PHASE 1),
then go over all <BR>phases, then analyze what would need to be upgraded to a
5.0 environment, if <BR>certain additional features would become available and
needed, and not <BR>backward compatible<BR>OR<BR>should I just put a stop to
the CM 4.x analysis and planning, and redo <BR>everything (with the delay
caused by various products availability) around CM <BR>5.0?<BR><BR>As I said -
any $0.02-$64K comments will be really appreciated. I will try to
<BR>consolidate this type of info, in something useful, if enough data
warrants
<BR>it.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Stefan<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>cisco-voip
mailing list<BR><A
href="mailto:cisco-voip@puck.nether.net">cisco-voip@puck.nether.net</A><BR><A
href="https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/cisco-voip">https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/cisco-voip</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>