responses to west chester township voip rfp questions

Questions and Answers to West Chester Township VoIP RFP:
Vercom - please define how you are using the Vercom Systems (i.e. straight
voice, paging, door buzzers, dispatching, etc.)
Vercom- please define what type of handsets you are using with these systems?
What type of dial tone is feeding the Vercoms?
Do all Vercom users have Direct inward dial numbers? Can they be called from
the outside?
Is the PRI only feeding the Avaya PBX?
What are the make and model of your POE Switches?
Can you please provide network diagram of locations, specifically how they are
interconnected
Please provide more detail around the following required features:
Unified Messaging
Unified Communications
SMDR
Prime Line Select
Remote Handsets
Soft Phone features you are looking for (i.e. talk through PC, mobility, etc.)
Integration with leading smart phones – what you are looking for (i.e. IM&P client
on your phone?)
Is presence/busy lamp field required on all devices (see who is on the phone)?
What does call flow look like today (i.e. do all calls come in through a main
number and the receptionist transfers to the other locations)?
Can you please provide a list of extensions being utilized today at each location?
The RFP requests that we describe our “failover capability” or provide “failover to
an alternate source for telephone service”. Your current configuration includes
PRI’s and POTS lines that provide limited Disaster Recovery capabilities. Would
West Chester Township be open to reviewing the capabilities of SIP Trunks as part
of the proposal process even though it wasn't specifically stated in the
RFP? Combined with the HA/DR capabilities of today’s Unified Communications
systems, SIP Trunks can provide you a highly available, highly resilient solution to
all of your locations.
The RFP mentions 911 Emergency lines in the lobby of all Fire Stations. Please
describe what that Emergency line does. Is that a “ring down” line that
automatically calls the nearest 911 PSAP when the user lifts the handset? If so, is
that currently connected to your PBX’s at each location or is the service provided
directly by the phone company?
A required feature listed on page 9 is Fax/eFax Management/Fax to email/Fax
Server/analog Faxing. There is a wide range of capabilities around fax
technology. Please describe your current fax environment. Are the fax lines
connected to your PBX and ultimately using dial tone from your PRI’s? Do the fax
machines connect directly to POTS lines? Is there an existing fax server that we
need to integrate with? If not, based on your current number of fax users and
volume of faxes received we can recommend a faxing solution for you.
Page 10 references the ability to record incoming and outgoing calls to selected
extensions that must be stored for up to one year. Does West Chester Township
plan to provide storage space to house those recordings or should the bidder
provide the required storage? Also, there are several common ways to configure
recording and anticipating these will be helpful in building the appropriate
solution. Do users plan to:
a.
Record calls ad hoc/on demand as chosen by the user?
b.
Randomly select calls to be recorded on a system wide basis?
c.
Randomly select calls to be recorded from certain telephones?
d.
Record 100% of calls on a system wide basis?
e.
Record 100% of calls from certain telephones?
Is a local area network topology available to share with bidders that may allow us
to review the general configuration in advance and identify any foreseeable issues
in network configuration prior to the proposal and full blown Network
Assessment?
In reference to the “Trunk Groups” in each location, can you tell us how many
physical PRIs (Primary Rate Interface) there are and which building they are
located in.
Are you planning to run the phones on PoE (Power over Ethernet) or will you
need power supplies quoted for each handset?
What type of cable are the current phone jacks running on? If data cable, (Cat5e)
are these jacks terminated as data or with just the pairs for the current phones.
How much rack space is currently available at each location for the new phone
systems?
Will you be tying any analog stations into the phone system? (Elevator, Fax,
Postage, Callbox)
Will any of your users be utilizing headsets on the new system?
In the event of running the phones on a separate network infrastructure, is there
any unused fiber connecting the buildings that can be used?
Would you like to be quoted for any additional/spare handsets or other
hardware?