Background

You have been working with a small independent service provider. They currently provide voice and Internet services to rural businesses and residences and want to offer a cloud-based videoconference service. Although the experience is not consistent, most of their residential customers are happy using solutions like Skype™ because it's more of a novelty than a productivity tool. But the business customers who have attempted to have conferences from their desktops and mobile devices have been unhappy with the videoconferencing experience. Since they sell bandwidth, the customer will encourage their clients to have HD conference calls. Their voice service has a reputation for extremely high reliability and they want their video service to support the same expectation; nearly zero downtime.

Current infrastructure

This service provider is using Avaya Networking equipment and Communication Manager (CM) based solutions. Most of the CM systems are 5.2.1. Some entire towns or even counties get their service from single redundant Communication Manager solution.

Objective

To test the acceptance and feasibility, the service provider would like to offer videoconferencing for a selected list of small businesses who currently buy voice and data/Internet connectivity from the service provider. The trial would include about 100 SMB customers. Since this is a service provider, the normal 1 to 10 (1:10) ratio would not apply, and for the trial, would like to start with about a 2.5 to 10 (2.5:10) ratio. If this trial is a success, they would like to expand to other geographies. The service provider wants to be able to offer multi-party videoconferencing from their client's office, using: a local video enabled endpoint (they could provide with the service), or their client's desktop PC, or their client's mobile device. Although it might not be an option used by very many SMB customers, the Service Provider would like to trial the ability for clients to manage their own videoconferencing service. The service provider expects each client to have only one or two videoconferences simultaneously. The service provider knows that there are some businesses with existing Cisco/Tandberg H.323 video endpoints and a few with Cisco (not Tandberg) immersive telepresence systems. They require the ability for them to join point-to-point and meetme calls. Since this is a feasibility "trial", the account team wants to propose a separate Scopia® solution and not an integrated UC solution. As the designer or sales engineer, what combination of Scopia hardware and software components, would you select to achieve these benefits and meet the client's needs?