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Frequently Asked Questions
2009 PKI Certificate Initiative
Digital Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) security certificates are used for data encryption on secure communications links in several Avaya products. By design, security certificates expire after a period of time, requiring system administrators to update them periodically. This advisory is to notify customers that many Communications Manager systems worldwide have PKI certificates with an expiration date of March 11, 2009. A small number of Application Enablement Services (AES) and Modular Messaging systems also have certificates that expire on this same date.
Below is a list of what systems are affected and how they are affected.
Communication Manager releases 2.0 – 4.0.1
1. Translation file synchronization will fail between the main server and any Local Survivable Processor (LSP) or Enterprise Survivable Server (ESS). In case of network disruption, failover to an LSP or ESS will proceed as normal after certificate expiration. If, after certificate expiration, the system administrator performs any station moves, adds, changes or any other action which modifies the translation file, the LSP and ESS will not be able to use this updated information.
2. SIP trunk creation will fail. SIP trunks created before the expiration date will continue to operate normally. Features which use SIP trunks include SIP phones, Expanded Meet-Me Conferencing, G860 media gateways, service provider connectivity and others.
3. Links to Application Enablement Services (AES) and Modular Messaging adjuncts will fail.
4. The encrypted link option with software duplication between an S87xx server pair will fail. Software duplication without encryption will continue to operate normally.
5. The Upgrade Tool, found on the Communication Manager server’s maintenance web page will fail.
Application Enablement Services
The following features and capabilities of Application Enablement Services will not operate properly after the certificate expiration date:
? AES 3.x, 4.0 and 4.0.1 that are used with end user applications (e.g. NICE) with media encryption enabled (encrypted port 4722) will be impacted.
Modular Messaging
The following features and capabilities of Modular Messaging will not operate properly after the certificate expiration date:
? Only MM R3.x systems that use SIP are affected. SIP stops working when the certificate expires.
** Technical procedures for obtaining a new Remote Feature Activation license can be accessed by clicking here.
Consultedge is here to help. Contact us at (800) 626-2515 or support@consultedge.com.
Click here to download this information.
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Important Notification
Daylight Savings - November 2007
At 2:00 a.m. on November 4, 2007, most of North America will switch from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time. The time change is one week later than in previous years.
Some products will update automatically, but others may require manual adjustments or remediation. Many systems were patched prior to the Spring 2007 DST change, many were not. If your system is awaiting a patch, a manual change will be necessary.
Consultedge is available to help you ensure that the time change does not interfere with the performance of your system. We stand ready to work with you in making the necessary adjustments.
Updating the timing of your equipment is not a complex task, but the adjustments must be made before your system automatically changes the time on October 28, 2007 to avoid disruption. The unusual “time change” this year is the result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended Daylight Saving Time two weeks every year.
For more detailed system compliance information, click here to check support on your Avaya platform.
For more information, contact your Account Manager or Customer Service at (800) 626-2515 or support@consultedge.com.
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What is the difference between IP Telephony and VoIP?
Many in the communications industry will use IP Telephony and VoIP synonymously.
Clinical definitions will tell you that VoIP is nothing more than the
use of a protocol to deliver a conversation. Consultedge differs dramatically
in how we use the terms.
IP Telephony is used by Consultedge and Avaya to describe the much more
valuable experience of communicating effectively, reliably, and with quality
utilizing the same TCP/IP protocol that enables the Internet. With IP
Telephony, VoIP is exploited and is given the user friendly features and
productivity enhancing aspects of business communications applications
as well as the network management tools that make it an assured enterprise-wide
asset.
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Can Avaya IP Telephony Solutions work on my Cisco Network? What
should I Know?
Yes, Avaya has designed its portfolio of IP Telephony Solutions to be
interoperable with most vendor’s voice and data networks, including
Cisco. By using open industry standards Avaya infrastructure and software
is incredibly flexible when deploying in a mixed vendor environment. Quite
often a total enterprise solution requires a mix of components from multiple
vendors, which may also optimize your existing investments in network
infrastructure.
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Why is interoperability and IP Telephony vital to business today?
The promise of IP telephony is that it allows your business to communicate
and operate as one highly-effective, integrated entity. Regardless of
how many locations or what technology platforms were purchased over time,
if they can work together, then users can gain new benefits without having
to learn new interfaces. Moving to IP with a number of different vendor
applications and equipment supporting voice and data functions can be
a challenge, but it is really the norm.
Interoperability is critical to reap the benefits of incremental infrastructure
or application investments. As the world leader in enterprise IP telephony,
Avaya has designed IP Telephony solutions specifically to work across
your existing networks, applications, and devices.
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How can IP telephony and VoIP help mobile workers to be more productive?
Mobile users want the convenience of all of the communications tools they
use at the office when they are not at their desk. They want an intuitive
way to communicate easily on the device of their choice, anywhere they
work, and stay connected through one phone number and one message mailbox.
Before the convergence of IP telephony and wireless communications this
concept was a pipe dream. The expense of enterprise enabling workers made
it impractical to extend communication features beyond a wireline radius
of the PBX and impossible to extend them across the PSTN.
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How is intelligent communications revolutionizing the customer experience?
Business leaders know they must evolve into true customer-driven enterprises
in order to gain customer loyalty and increase profits. However, it is
often difficult to achieve this in a cost effective manner and maintain
a competitive edge at the same time. Intelligent communications solutions
more efficiently and effectively connect customers with the right people
and processes, across locations and business functions.
Customers are no longer tied to single-line home telephones. Rather, they
have alternative ways of communicating such as instant messaging, emailing,
or using the web. At the same time, they are demanding greater responsiveness
and expertise in addressing questions and issues when they call the customer
service center. As interactions become more multimodal and collaborative,
businesses must leverage all of their resources to offer a highly satisfactory
experience for their customers.
Consistently meeting and exceeding customer expectations across all touch
points and communication media require a thoughtful intelligent communications
platform. Such a platform must connect contact center communications applications
with other business applications allowing customer care decisions to be
driven by information such as the customer's preferences and transaction
history.
Consultedge and Avaya offer intelligent communications that help businesses
achieve the highest level of customer service while maximizing resources
across locations and organizations.
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How can a business use outbound communications for relationship
building, yet not annoy its customers?
Outbound relationship building is about servicing customers, not annoying
them. Over the years, predictive dialing has become associated with those
annoying telephone calls we all receive during dinner, asking us for money.
However, the customer-centric world we live in today demands that we interact
frequently with customers. The way we interact and think about reaching
out to our customers is changing. More and more businesses are finding
ways to be more proactive about strengthening relationships, like notifying
their customers when their flight is delayed, or reminding them of an
upcoming appointment, for example. It’s becoming more about reaching
out to customers with information they need and value, not reaching out
to them with sales pitches they don’t care anything about.
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Will Avaya Contact Center solutions run over IP?
Contact Center solutions within the Avaya Customer Interaction Suite are
infrastructure agnostic. A strength of an Avaya contact center solution
is that it allows you to run IP at the core, IP at the endpoints, and
IP for the transport - or any combination thereof! Avaya multi-media contact
center applications support multi-vendor platforms, and run over multi-vendor
data networks. Whether fully IP or a mix of IP and TDM, Avaya allows you
to evolve to IP-based communications where and when it makes sense for
your business - truly your path, your pace, your choice.
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What can a medium sized business do to create a competitive advantage?
The last decade has seen a growing business consensus on the necessity
of using contact centers as a front-line tool for providing differentiated
support to end-customers and prospects. It used to be that powerful contact
center technology capable of creating competitive advantage was affordable
only to larger enterprises. Smaller firms simply couldn’t compete.
Avaya has closed that gap. Whether your company requires only a few or
many employees, Avaya Contact Center Express is designed to deliver the
performance and features your business needs to compete on an even footing
– and at a price you can afford.
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Who can help me build a business case for Mobility?
Consultedge offers consulting and integration services and expertise to
help you build your business case for Mobility and create an integrated
communications roadmap aligned with your business strategy. In addition,
Avaya can help you design, build, and implement Mobility solutions.
Our consultants provide expertise to help you streamline integration,
enhance workflow, and optimize communication applications for greater
productivity across your operations. Consultedge consulting and integration
services are built on proven interoperability experience and advanced
tools for the design, integration, and optimization of your communications
across technologies, platforms, and application vendors.
When you need a trusted advisor to help develop strategies and deploy
solutions, Consultedge is there. Our know-how includes migrating to next
generation solutions, optimizing contact centers, and deploying converged
communications. Our consultants are certified and qualified to work in
virtually any environment, whether it is composed of only Avaya equipment,
another vendor's equipment or a mixture of both.
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How can I increase productivity and reduce conferencing expenses?
Avaya Meeting Exchange is a conferencing solution including reservation-less,
scheduled/meet-me, attended/event, and web conferencing. With this easy-to-use,
in-house solution, you can save money on monthly conferencing expenses
and collaborate more effectively to be more productive.
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How can I achieve optimum performance of my IP telephony applications?
On the path to Intelligent Communications—the merging of communications
applications with business goals to better connect your staff, suppliers,
and customers—you can rely on the technology of IP telephony to
unite your business. But, new technologies mean changing your usual communications
environment. With IP telephony, new factors play a role in daily operations,
adding a layer of complexity and risk to supporting your business communications.
To assure the best performance and uptime, IP telephony requires support
beyond the traditional maintenance you rely on for voice communications.
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How can my business gain enterprise class IP telephony without
a major investment?
All businesses can benefit from the productivity and customer service
enhancements that IP telephony makes possible. Simplify collaboration
by integrating email, voice, mobile and video communications. Create a
uniform experience for customers, whether they contact you by call, email,
or online. There are paths a company of any size can take to migrate to
IP telephony. But for many companies, deploying and managing an enterprise
level, on-premise system might be daunting due to cost and the need for
skilled resources. A hosted solution from Avaya allows businesses with
as few as 50 users access to a full-featured, market-leading IP telephony
solution, but with extremely low risk.
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Are there unique security concerns in a converged network?
Companies face a variety of security concerns in a converged voice and
data network. Each application on that network represents an entry point
for hackers. Traditional data security policies and procedures must be
expanded to include voice, and engineered so that they do not impact IP
voice quality. And, there's a growing list of security and privacy regulations
that organizations must comply with.
Although security attacks in a converged network aren't new, they can
occur through the “gaps” that occur at the convergence of
two, formerly separate, networks. Denial of Service, eavesdropping, identity
spoofing, and toll fraud are some of the most significant concerns in
a VoIP environment.What can be done to secure access to a converged network?
Consultedge can provide protection against unauthorized access to a corporation's
computing systems that share a LAN with communication systems. With our
Secure Access and Control service, we use secure IP-VPN or Frame Relay
connectivity and a secure alarm concentration appliance located behind
your firewall to reduce the potential for unauthorized access to your
network elements.
This continuous-connection tunnel provides a single point for inbound
and outbound access to your converged network and supports monitoring
of up to 500 devices. Access permission is managed through a secure single
sign on to Avaya online applications.
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