There are certain absolute standards related to network cable.  These are; Category 5e, Category 6 and now Category 6a.  These are the copper data cable choices that are recognized as standards in the industry. Category 5 is no longer produced as part of the standard, being replaced by Category 5e.

There are other terms, however, that are often thrown around, like Cat 5E (“big E) and Cat 6e (little and big e).  These are not part of the industry standards, these are marketing tools/designations used by some cable manufacturers.  The reason is simply that their cable performed better in their lab tests than the industry standard thresholds, so they slapped an “e” on it, or sometimes a bigger “E”.

Category 5 came out in the early 90’s and was a huge advantage to faster networks (let’s not mention Category 4).  Category 5 was rated for 100 MHz.  The cable had 8 individually insulated, 24 gauge conductors separated into four twisted pairs. The Category 5 standard was pushed so fast by the industry to support IEEE protocol that it did not address numerous crosstalk issues.  These issues created errors in the transmission of data down the cable.  This was corrected by the Category 5e standard.  Category 5e is rated for 100 MHz as well, but it does have different twist rates on the pairs of cables to address the crosstalk issues.

Then along came Category 6.  Slightly heavier gauge conductors, and usually with a separator membrane between the pairs, Category 6 is rated for 250 MHz.  The newest/latest standard is Category 6a, or “Augmented Category 6”.  Each pair has a dividing membrane in addition to the main pair separator membrane.  In our experience with Category 6a, the overall cable jacket seems much thicker and heavier than its Category 6 counterpart.  Category 6a is rated for 500 MHz, doubling that of standard Cat 6.

For 10/100/1000 BASE-T ratings the length limits on all are 300’ (not including length for patch cables at each end).  For 10 Gig applications, Category 6 is rated only to about 180’.  Cat 6a, however, does not have this limitation and can run 10 Gig the full 300’.

So when considering a “big E” solution over the standard, it is important to weigh the cost differences with what you are actually getting.  A cable in the lab can certainly perform at better levels, but there is no guarantee that the performance will match the lab once installed.  Does a patch cable or a jack match the same specifications as that “enhanced” cable?  A cable system is only as good as its weakest link, so using the same quality throughout is important.  Another consideration is that cabling testers will only test to the standards, so there is no real way to gauge better performance.  A quality installation is usually the key to maximizing the performance of your cabling materials.  Limiting the number of mistakes; like kinked cables, over-stressed pulling, limited or no untwisting of pairs for termination, during install will provide you with the best results.

(Article by Charles Bressler – ECS Account Manager)

Protect Your Electronic Equipment Investment

When most people think about protecting their data they probably think about cyber attacks and hackers.  But, it is just as important to physically protect your data and phone equipment from the environment.  Heat, dust, and power issues are the main problems in data rooms, big and small.  Humidity or water from nearby pipes and gases, or smoke, from nearby manufacturing or production areas are concerns as well.

Another huge problem for protecting voice/data equipment and equipment rooms are door locks.  Making sure the equipment room has proper locks with limited availability prevents unauthorized access.

What are the effects of even one piece of equipment going down: dead equipment, the cost of replacement, employee down time, the loss of production and the potential loss of customers.

Steps to help in case of emergency outage:
1)    Having an emergency plan in place-maybe the most important thing.  Do you know where you can find a replacement part?  Is it an overnight ship or stocked local?  Is it something you should have a back-up of at your site?  Do you know the life expectancy of that particular piece of equipment?  What is the equipment warranty and what does it cover?

2)    Make sure your vendors/installers contact information is easy to find.  Have a label on the equipment or rack or backboard that has all of their contact information.  Find out what your vendors emergency response time is to evaluate how quickly they can remote or on site service the issue.

3)    Work with your vendors/installers to make sure you have a list of all equipment, including manufacturer’s part numbers to make it easier to locate for replacement.

4)    Label each piece of equipment so they are easy for even a lay person to locate and access.  Label each connecting cable as well so they are easy to determine where they are supposed to go.

5)    Invest in a UPS or surge suppressor for all equipment to protect against dirty power, power spikes and fluctuations and brown outs.

6)    Make sure all equipment that is supposed to be grounded, is properly grounded to the main building ground.

7)    Keep power cables labeled and organized so they are not easily tripped over or can easily become unplugged.

8)    Keep the equipment room clean and tidy and limit access to prevent dust from kicking up.  Blow or vacuum dust from equipment.  It will collect at any cooling fan intake.

9)    Install drip pans in ceiling below any pipe fittings or valves.

10)  Install environmental sensors in equipment room to notify or alarm when environmental conditions change.

11)  Install thermometers at different rack levels and near other equipment to monitor equipment temperatures.

12)  Invest in cooling methods like air conditioning units if the equipment room is too hot.

At ECS we have seen it all.  Dirty and dust filled equipment rooms at a hospital.  Phone equipment installed right next to a mop sink.  Equipment plugged into power connected to a light switch for the room so when the light switch goes off, so does the customer’s equipment.  Extension cords used to feed racks and backboards.  It is important to keep in mind that some of this can negate a warranty.

One can’t guarantee 100% reliability 100% of the time, but, by doing even a few preventative measures one can prolong the life of their equipment investment and shorten the length of downtime.

Ask ECS about an equipment room assessment today.

(Article by Charles Bressler – ECS Account Manager)

Avaya IP Office Base Cards:

“The IP500 control unit has 4 slots for the insertion of cards. These cards can be divided into two types; base cards and daughter cards. Base cards include a front panel and ports for cable connections. Daughter cards can be added to a base card in order to provide additional facilities (typically trunk connections).”

THE FOLLOWING BASE CARDS ARE AVAILABLE:                                                                                  

IP500V2 Digital Station 8 Card (Maximum 3)
This card provides 12 RJ45 ports. The first 8 ports are DS ports for the connection of Avaya digital phones other than IP phones. The card can be fitted with an IP500 daughter trunk card, which then uses the additional 4 RJ45 ports for trunk connections.
This card accepts one IP Office 500 trunk daughter card of any type.
This card supports selected Avaya 1400, 2400, 5400 and 6400 series phones, and 3810 wireless phones.

4400 Series phones (4406D, 4412D and 4424D) are not supported on this card, only on Digital Station expansion modules. Therefore a maximum of 360 4400 Series phones are supported in the system.

IP500V2 Analog Phone 2 Card (Maximum 4)
This card provides 2 analog extension ports (1-2) for the connection of analog phones. The card can be fitted with an IP Office 500 daughter trunk card, which then uses the last 4 RJ45 ports (9-12) for trunk connections.
This card accepts one IP Office 500 trunk daughter card of any type.

IP500V2 Analog Phone 8 Card (Maximum 4)
This card provides 8 analog extension ports for the connection of analog phones. The card can be fitted with an IP Office 500 daughter trunk card, which then uses the additional 4 RJ45 ports for trunk connections.
This card accepts one IP500 trunk daughter card of any type. When fitted with an Analog Trunk daughter card, it provides a single power-fail port.

IP500V2 Combination Card  (Maximum 2)
This card works in the IP500 V2 only and provides:
4 analog trunk ports
2 analog extension ports for the connection of analog phones
6 Digital Station (DS) ports for the connection of Avaya digital phones
10 VCM channels to support IP telephones or voice networking

This card already includes an IP500 trunk card, therefore no additional trunk card is possible. It provides a single power-fail port (port 8). A maximum of two of these cards is allowed in the control unit.

IP Office 500V2 VCM Card (Maximum 2)
This card provides voice compression channels for use with VoIP calls, SIP trunks and IP-based voice networking. The module is available in variants supporting 32 or 64 channels.

The maximum number of voice compression channels supported, using IP500 VCM base cards, Combination Cards and / or IP400 VCM cards on IP500 Legacy Card Carriers, is 148.

Please note, the maximum number of channels which may be used on each IP500 VCM card varies according to the codec used.

Maximum VCM channels available, by codec type:
G.711
VCM 32 = 32 Channels
VCM 64 = 64 Channels
Combo Card = 10

G.729
VCM 32 = 30 Channels
VCM 64 = 60 Channels
Combo Card = 10

G.723
VCM 32 = 22 Channels
VCM 64 = 44 Channels
Combo Card = 10

G.722
VCM 32 = 30 Channels
VCM 64 = 60 Channels
Combo Card = 10
This card accepts one IP Office 500 trunk daughter card of any type.

IP500V2 4-Port Expansion Card(Maximum 1)
This card provides connectors for 4 additional expansion modules
The 4-port expansion card must be inserted in slot 4 of the control unit.
It is not possible to connect a daughter card to the 4-port expansion card.

IP500V2 Legacy Card Carrier (Maximum 2)
This card allows a variety of IP400 trunk and VCM cards to be used with the IP Office 500 control unit. The front of the card includes a number of panels that can be snapped off to match the ports available when an IP400 trunk card is fitted.

This card does not accept any IP Office 500 daughter trunk cards.
The IP Office 500 control unit can accept up to 2 IP400 trunk or VCM cards by mounting each card on an IP Office 500 Legacy Card Carrier
This card supports, one each, of the following IP400 cards:                                                               
PRI T1
Dual PRI T1
ANLG 4 Uni
VCM 4
VCM 8
VCM 16
VCM 24
VCM 30

IP500V2 Avaya Unified Communications Module (Maximum 1)
The Avaya IP Office Unified Communications module (UCM) is an integrated CPU running Linux integrated onto an IP Office IP500 V2 only.
This card does not accept any IP Office 500 daughter trunk cards.
The applications included on the UCM are full Linux versions of the Applications Server DVD and will therefore support both Voicemail Pro, which can also work as a Centralized, Backup or Distributed Voicemail, and one-X Portal incorporating the one-X ® Mobile Preferred for IP Office.
The UCM will include an implicit Preferred Edition license so all server software functionality will be available depending on the User package purchased, e.g., Power User, TeleWorker, etc.

Compatibility:                                                                         
Supported on IP Office Release 8.0 Q1’12 Service Pack
Delivered with Preferred Edition License
Requires Essential Edition License
Not supported on IP Office Basic or Quick Editions
Installs in any one of the slots in the IP500v2 Control Unit – 1 Card only per system
Delivered with Preferred Edition License

Capacity:                                                                                            
Voicemail Pro for 200 mailbox subscribers including English Text-to-Speech
Up to a maximum of 20 VM Pro channels
one-X Portal including IP Office Mobility features for up to 50 one-X Portal Users for IP Office

Licensing:                                                                                           
The UCM will automatically allocate a “Preferred Edition” license in the IP500v2, also automatically providing 4 Voicemail Pro channels
An additional 16 Voicemail channels/port license can be added, providing up to 20 Voicemail channels

LEDS
LED 1 – CPU – Running Heartbeat (Green Steady with Amber Blink)
LED 2 – Reboot indication with LED 3
LED 3 – Internal SD Card activity and reboot indication

Switch 1:                                                                                             
Shutdown – Press more than 2 seconds
Start Up – Press to start-up
Alternate Boot – If the card is about to boot, press and hold until the LEDs go out to select alternate boot sources

Switch 2:                                                                                             
Not currently used

Front Panel Interfaces:
USB Ports 1 & 2
Configuration and voicemail back-up
Software upgrades
Connection of a keyboard for maintenance purposes
HDMI Socket
Connection of a Monitor for maintenance purposes
Ethernet Interface

Common Design:                                                                                
Configuration, upgrades, and diagnostics are done through the Web Control browser interface
Same as an external Applications Server
The UCM has an internal 32GB Solid-State Drive configured with the CentOS Linux OS
Same OS as an external Linux Applications Server

Hardware Specifications:                                                                                           
Processor: Intel Atom 1.6GHz Z680
Memory:  2GB
1.0 GB – one-X Portal
0.3 GB – Linux OS and VoiceMail Pro
0.7 GB – Future features
Hard Drive: 32 GB SSD (solid-state drive)
6 GB for Operating System and applications software
26 GB for log files and voicemail files (approx 380 Hours voicemail storage)

Applications:                                                                                       
Voicemail Pro including English Text-To-Speech Note: TTS is a licensed feature
one-X Portal for IP Office

These are full versions of the 8.0 IP Office Applications server
VMPro supports backup or distributed voicemail configurations
one-X Portal includes Mobility Services for up to a maximum of 50 one-X portal Users

Voicemail Pro Features not supported:                                                                                              
Voicemail Pro runs on both Windows and Linux servers. For Voicemail Pro server running on Linux such as with the Unified Communications Module, the following Voicemail Pro features are not supported:
VB Scripting
3rd Party Database Integration
VPNM
UMS Web Voicemail (However, access via IMAP and one-X Portal for IP Office are available as alternatives.)
ContactStore

ECS Provides Wireless Telephone Solution for Retirement Community Campus

Efficient Communication Solutions, Inc. (ECS) was asked to find an affordable wireless phone solution for a Des Moines based retirement community.  The property has three large apartment/condo type buildings with four floors each and a two story pool house, all set in ten wooded acres.

The community has two administration offices that are manned during business hours.  However, when potential residents would visit for a tour, the office personnel would have to leave the offices to conduct the tour and leave the phones, and callers, behind.  The customer tried multiple consumer-grade/home quality cordless phones, but due to the size of the community, concrete construction, and the trees, the range on the consumer-grade wireless phones were absolutely not effective or acceptable.

ECS recommended an EnGenius phone solution, the DuraFon PRO base unit with two handsets, one for each office.  Only one base unit was needed to cover most of the campus, especially in the areas they needed most, like offices, inside buildings and in the parking lot.  The maintenance personnel can also use them when they need to get to some of the harder to reach areas where cell phones lack signal, such as the elevator shafts and electrical rooms.

The handsets ECS specified are industrial quality and will hold up well for years against accidental drops and rough handling.  The DuraFon will allow expandability by permitting up to 90 handsets with each base unit, multiple base units connected together, and additional external antennas for greater signal strength.

“We wish we’d done this, years ago”, says their main facilities person.  The installation was simple as the base unit connects either directly to incoming analog lines or to a PBX.

In a campus environment, a hospital, or large warehouse these are the simplest and most economical way for staff to stay in touch as they move about.  They are great for nursing staff, maintenance and facilities people, security personnel, warehouse managers, etc.  They improve productivity, enhance safety and provide quicker communications which equals better customer service.

For further details on the DuraFon product see: http://www.engeniustech.com, or contact ECS.

(Article by Charles Bressler – ECS Account Manager)

Avaya IP Office – Server Requirements for Preferred Messaging (Voicemail PRO)

Application: VoiceMail Pro “Standalone”

Min PC Resources:
256MB RAM (or higher) Hard Disk Free Space = 2GB+ (or higher)
Intel Pentium:
Any – 1.4GHz clock speed (or higher)
Intel Celeron:
Any – 1.7GHz clock speed (or higher)
AMD:
Any – 1.4GHz clock speed (or higher)

*To avoid replacing the server when adding new applications we recommend that a Pentium 4 2.8GHz (or equivalent) is used when possible.

Windows OS support for IP Office Preferred Edition (Voicemail PRO) R8.0                                                                                                                                      
The following information is a summary of the operating systems on which the IP Office application “Preferred Edition” (Voicemail PRO) Release 8.0 has been tested and is supported on.

(While the applications may function on other operating systems, they have not been tested by Avaya and are not supported by Avaya)

Windows Servers:
2003 – 32bit
2008/2008R2 – 32bit or 64bit

Virtual Server Support:
For IP Office Release 8.0, “Preferred Edition” (Voicemail PRO) is supported while running on the following virtual servers:
• VMWare.
• Microsoft Virtual Server.
• Microsoft Server Hyper-V.