Many firms are aware of the emerging role and increasing prevalence of IP-based and converged voice, data and video systems in the law firm environment. And while much has been written addressing the costs, benefits and considerations of this technology from the business and functional levels, there seems to be less discussion on how this might impact a firm’s physical space (supporting infrastructure) or operations (business continuity). Since business continuity /disaster recovery planning is high on most firms’ minds—and it appears that the legal industry is one of the most active in the real estate market these days—this article will address IP/converged systems in the context of these two activities.

Physical Infrastructure Requirements
When firms evaluate their office space options, many relocate to new space or expand and/or upgrade existing offices. These activities present the optimal time to replace aging phone systems and upgrade the infrastructure supporting voice and data systems. As these IP-based systems (or voice over IP—VoIP) are evaluated based on cost, benefits and features such a system can offer to the firm, requirements of the physical infrastructure (i.e., power, cooling, cabling), the impact on space and business continuity planning must be taken into consideration.

Cable Plant
For a firm to get the greatest performance from a new IP-based system, a high-quality cable plant needs to be in place. VoIP systems require only a single cable to deliver voice and data services, as opposed to the traditional scenario of separate voice and data cabling. This cable must be capable both of handling the voice and data packets traveling between the phone/computer and the switch in the telecommunica-tions room and delivering the power necessary to drive the phone set. The introduction of this electrical current on the cable and the interference it creates, necessitate the need for a high-quality and high-performance cable plant.

To meet these requirements (at a minimum), an enhanced Category 5 cable should be used for horizontal station connections. If the installation of the IP system takes place concurrently with a build-out or cable plant upgrade, Category 6 cabling should be considered. The higher transmission qualities and physical construction of Category 6 cabling allow for relatively error-free communication between devices and isolate the electrical interference created by the power being delivered to the phone set. Category 3 and Category 5 cabling do not deliver the same performance as newer cable, and most manufacturers of IP systems do not recognize Category 3 as viable.

Even though Category 6 cable was created for the purpose of supporting Gigabit Ethernet (communicating at one billion bits per second), IP-based voice systems limit communications to 100 Mbps (one hundred million bits per second). This is because it is typical to connect the telephone device to a single network/cable connection and then plug the computer into the telephone device. While this provides the benefit of the single cable connection (referenced above), it limits the speed of the computer connection to the maximum speed the phone can deliver. Today, that is 100 Mbps. It is anticipated that this will increase in the future, but for now the options are to run a second, separate cable for the computer or to accept the speed limitation.

The backbone cabling for these systems should consist of either multimode fiber optic cable (either 62.5/125 or 50/125-micron) or Category 6 UTP copper cable. The reason for this is the need to transmit data between the switches in the telecommunications rooms and the core switch in the computer room at gigabit speeds.

Power and Fault Tolerance
The introduction of the VoIP switch components in the telecommunications and computer rooms calls for an evaluation of the power and general fault tolerance available in these spaces. While data networks have always required these things to ensure “uptime” and availability, traditional voice systems have been somewhat taken for granted. However, now that the voice systems are more data-like (running on the same network and on similar devices) for both business and life-safety reasons, the physical environment has to be very well planned.

One of the first things to consider is whether there is sufficient power available to support the switch and/or Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units in the telecommunications and computer rooms. The distribution of the power within these rooms (i.e., a dedicated circuit per outlet) needs to be taken into account to provide diversity and redundancy. It is critical to ensure that the phone systems have the same or more fault tolerance as the data systems.

The purpose of having redundant power supplies in the switch is to ensure that if one fails, the other can maintain uninterrupted operation. This goal is defeated if all of the power supplies plug into the same electrical circuit. In an emergency situation, this can be critical to the safety of the people in the building. To ensure even further reliability, a minimum of two UPS units should be installed to allow for diverse power to be supplied to the switch. If one UPS fails, the other unit can provide power and protection for the switch. Again, each UPS unit would need to be plugged into a dedicated electrical outlet.

Physical Space
With the increase in the amount of equipment required to support the VoIP system (chassis-based switch, external redundant power supply, UPS units), one must determine if there is adequate space available for the equipment in the existing racks. If there is not sufficient space, accommodations for an additional rack need to be provided. With this increase in equipment, the heat load generated in the room will increase. Based on the heat load and the overall size of the telecommunications room, an exhaust fan or other cooling mechanism may be required.

Business Continuity Planning
Most firms are in various stages of thinking about, planning or implementing a business continuity plan. These range from technology-focused disaster recovery plans to full-blown business continuity plans that address the people, process and physical records aspects of their businesses. While the data systems tend to be thought about first, it is just as critical to determine how people will communicate both internally within the firm and to the outside world.

VoIP systems allow firms to enhance their business continuity plans through such features as IP-based softphones, mirroring and replication of voicemail systems, and redundant call routing paths. But in order to take advantage of these features, firms need to evaluate their connectivity and bandwidth requirements to ensure that the combined voice and data traffic does not overwhelm their existing network.

Let’s examine these items and determine how they can impact the business continuity initiative. Softphones allow people to connect to the VoIP network from a variety of devices and in locations physically separate from the office. During normal operation, this allows a person working from home to connect to the network over a high-speed connection and gain access to all of the phone features (3-digit extension dialing, access to voicemail, etc.) that he/she would have in the office. These same capabilities can be leveraged in a disaster scenario, especially in a situation in which the system is running and available, but personnel cannot get into the building due to a localized disaster.

Mirroring and replication of data systems is commonplace as part of a business continuity plan. For example, connecting Storage Area Networks (SANs) from one facility to another and using specialized software to mirror and replicate (move data automatically from one system to another to make them identical) is a core part of many data system recovery plans. The same can be applied to your voice systems now that they are becoming more data-like in nature. With the dependency that we now have on voicemail to communicate and conduct business, the ability to access a backup system at an off-site location in the event of a failure to the main system can be a critical part of an overall recovery plan.

Assess for the Best ROI
The tasks of evaluating, selecting and implementing IP-based voice systems require as thorough an assessment as any data system. In some cases, where life safety and issues such as E911 are concerned, they may require even more. There are considerations beyond features and costs that must be examined. At the same time, the added ability to support business continuity and other process improvements should not be overlooked. A comprehensive planning process that takes into account all of the relevant aspects will provide the biggest return on investment, as well as the comfort that these systems will be available and accessible when they are needed most.

About our authors . . .

Steve L. Falkin leads Baker Robbins & Company’s Telecom, Facilities and Disaster Recovery practices and has been involved in the majority of the firm’s telecommunications, data center and cable plant design projects. He is registered with Building Industry Consulting Services International (BiCSi) and has attained professional certification as a Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD). Steve is a noted speaker and author on the use of technology within law firms, and may be reached at 312.201.8400 or sfalkin@brco.com.

Frank M. Kristoff is a senior member of Baker Robbins & Company’s Telecom, Facilities and Disaster Recovery practices. He is a member of Building Industry Consulting Services International (BICSI) and is a Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD). An expert in designing and preparing specifications for traditional PBX and Voice-over-IP systems, physical security systems, and audio-visual systems, as well as in cable plant and computer room design, Frank has authored numerous articles on related subjects. He may be reached at 312.201.8400 or fkristoff@brco.com.