Transnet subsidiary Protekon realised huge cost savings in calls when it recently installed a voice-over-data solution from CCI, one of South Africa`s largest independent voice, video and data convergence companies.
Western Cape-based CCI linked the Parc du Cap and Modderdam branches of the design and construction firm with an Avaya EuroGeneris PABX system on either side, as the main thrust of the project. The PABX enabled switching of calls between branches over the company`s leased line at a lower cost than would have been possible over Telkom`s public switched telephone network.
The EuroGeneris PABX`s are interconnected by means of Avaya`s ClearTrac voice over data products. The ClearTrac V352 is a branch office solution for integrated data and voice applications. The modular unit supports four integrated universal serial ports, two integrated analogue voice connections, and two slots that can be configured to accept the following:
* One optional 2-port analogue voice connection module (for a total of four analogue voice connections)
* One optional 10Base-T LAN port module
* One optional CSU/DSU module
CCI`s CEO, Steve Pinkney, says the EuroGeneris system makes further savings possible as it employs least-cost routing by way of its automatic route selection (ARS) feature. It also meets the future needs for mobility of Protekon employees, who are often on-site, via its Wireless DECT 12 functionality.
Fanie Botha, MD for Avaya South Africa comments, "The savings associated with transporting voice over packet networks must not come at the expense of voice quality. ClearTrac supports a variety of voice compression algorithms to meet the varied needs of our customers. In particular, ACELP-CN is supported, providing the best voice quality available at 8kbps transportation. Among competitors, ClearTrac has superior voice quality for compressed voice."
Also featuring integrated cost control, the EuroGeneris provides precise analysis of calls without the necessity to add external call analysis software.
The two PABXs installed at the branches support 50 extensions each, "making it ideally suited to the small and medium-sized market segment that the EuroGeneris caters for," says Pinkney.
The installation uses a Telkom-owned 64 kbps link, which has two voice-over-data channels. "This leaves 48kbps for data traffic, which is ample," he adds.
Ken Boss, IT manager of Protekon, says CCI came in at a very competitive price. "But what swung it for us was their willingness to listen to our rather complex requirements and make it work. First of all we wanted to link the two branches to enable dialling the other branch as an extension, that is, without having to pay Telkom rates. Any overseas or Telkom number would of course still go through the Telkom network.
"They also listened more carefully than any other service provider. One of our employees uses a hearing aid that made it necessary for the old telephone system to interoperate with it. CCI was very responsive to our needs," Boss says.
CCI`s network division also configured the leased line to link the local area networks at branch level to form a wide area network. The company installed the ClearTrac devices at either end, providing seamless integration of voice and IP data, by consolidating traffic from servers and PABXs across the network.
Pinkney says CCI also upgraded both LANs to include switched traffic, instead of hubs, increasing the network speed significantly through bandwidth switching instead of sharing. Whereas the local area network featured 10Mbps hubs before, these have been upgraded to 10/100 switches, increasing bandwidth throughout the LAN to 100Mbps.
CCI installed the Avaya Cajun Campus switches on both sites. The Cajun P330 Stackable Switching System provides modular functionality and port density, carrier-level reliability and building-block simplicity at a stackable switch price. The modularity and power provide the basis for building a network from the closet to the backbone.
Cajun P330 was designed for convergence - the modular features and ease of expansion, in combination with RealNet Rules policy management provide the infrastructure for converged networks.
Installation was done in two weeks for just over R400 000.
Share