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Progress update - December 2024
The Telephony Modernization Project made significant progress in its mission to modernize communication systems, while closing out the first phase of the project on Dec. 18, 2024.
A customer town hall was held to announce PBX sunset dates, address questions, and increase agency awareness. The team successfully migrated additional users to Microsoft Teams and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), enhancing system adoption.
To ensure consistent service delivery and improved customer experience, a Standard Service Delivery Model Template was developed and finalized. Migration efforts were expanded to facilitate a broader transition to the new platforms. The project prioritized stakeholder engagement, conducting outreach and delivering targeted communication methods to ease the adoption process. Feedback from the town hall sessions was actively monitored, with plans adjusted to address identified concerns and challenges.
Additional accomplishments included publishing one-pagers and updated service pages to provide clear, accessible information the sunset dates for legacy services. PMO close-out activities have commenced ensuring a seamless transition to operations to sunset the legacy services.
Read the full December project status update.
Overview
WaTech is migrating from legacy telephony hardware and services to modern alternatives.
The purpose of this project is to modernize the legacy telephony hardware and service delivery model by streamlining and standardizing how telephony services are provided.
This effort will focus on retiring the legacy hardware, which has reached the end of support that is deployed at some customer locations. The goal is to migrate legacy hardware and technologies to modern cost-efficient standardized solutions for WaTech and our customers.
Objectives
Services
- Identify services that need to be discontinued and set dates for sunset.
- Identify and document future service delivery models and technologies for voice services.
Migration
- Coordinate with customers to migrate to modern voice services such as Microsoft Teams Telephony, Avaya SIP and WaTech Connect.
- Review TDM (Centrex) and offer to move customers to our modern services such as eFax, Teams, etc.
Customer sites
- Partner with our telephony customers to sunset legacy telephony hardware and solutions currently in use.
- Assist our customers with planning and migration to WaTech’s standardized telephony solutions.
- Ensure out-of-date hardware is updated or moved to a network or cloud-based solution.
- Review agencies’ needs and discuss options to migrate to Microsoft Teams or Avaya SIP.
Cost savings
- In most cases, moving to these new technologies will lower telephony costs. For example, both Microsoft Teams Telephony and Avaya SIP include domestic long distance and voice mail with the service. Microsoft Teams is offered for $4.50 per month and Avaya SIP for $22 per month. A non-SIP Avaya service averages $25 per month plus voicemail and long-distance charges, and Centrex lines start at $45 per month.
Benefits
- Cost savings from converting to Teams or SIP.
- Cost savings from review of bill and removing unneeded services.
- Moving to a modern, supportable telephone service.
- Removal of old hardware and lead/acid battery-based UPS devices from locations.