Avaya Training and Certification Recommendations 2

[jtwood149]

First off, thank you all for the advice and information you offer on these forums.

I just inherited an Avaya IPO Office System:

It consists of three IPO500V2 units on an SCN. Two of these devices are on the same LAN, one is connected over a hardware VPN (router to router)

Everything is on Version 7.0(12)

I've been looking at classes/certifications just to better manage and handle the system internally and wanted to come to you for recommendations. I've been lurking around here as a guest for some time, gaining all sorts of good information from the comments and responses many of you supply to newbies and seasoned veterans of IPO alike. Your input to others questions has enabled me to switch the IPOs to a separate VLAN and apply QoS without too many problems. The Voicemail Pro server was moved to a newer operating system/hardware and I've begun tracking and alerting on Call Quality of Service Issues (because we were having huge problems at times. 2 weeks experience with these Avaya IPOs and I realize a bit of training would be a huge help.

The certifications and licensing for Avaya seems to be more than a bit confusing to me, it seems I am not alone. I don't plan on reselling or doing installations for customers, but I'd like to manage the system internally. More than likely I'll just take the class and then at some point when I have the free time, take the certification test just to have the paper. When I looked through Avaya's site, there seem to be as many paths for certification as CISCO offers, without my familiarity of the offerings. I'm just looking for the basic "how in the **** do you do <INSERT HERE> basic task." (Adding extensions, adding SIP trunks, call routing, mobility features, button programming, troubleshooting, etc, etc,etc)

When I searched posts, I found certification/training information that seemed to be for Communication Manager, but nothing regarding IPO. If I've asked a silly question, please be easy on me, its been a hectic two weeks documenting and getting a handle on this system so that when an emergency or problem happens I am not SOL.

Thanks in advance

 

[fonedude]

Check Jenne or ScanSource Catalyst.

 

[AACon]

I will tell you straight up as a former teacher of these classes, most of the classes give you the basiscs, but are geared towards tech's getting them "up and running" without a TON of customization. That stuff you generally learn via trial by fire, or from places like this.

I can tell you however there are lots of Business Partners out there (large and small) that offer "Administration" courses that would take you on a 6+hr virtual course (fully on the fly) to learn how to do that stuff. Much more cost effective, and you're usually learning from a tech who has seen it all.

-Austin
ACE: Implement IP Office

 

[intrigrant]

I am also a former Avaya certified trainer and to my opinion you learn more from the variuos youtube instruction video's as you will learn on a official Avaya Virtual class training nowadays.
And a training from a experienced engineer is invaluable to get on going with IP Office, it can point down to your needs and leave the stuff out you will never need.

 

[jtwood149]

So, I am hearing that the training is pretty basic and I may just as well skip it if I am getting comfortable with the basics of the system.

So which of you experienced engineers wants to meet up for beer and pizza and a little IPO training? Of course...one has to be quite careful when beer is involved. Isn't it said that something you learn with your mind in an altered state is best remembered in the same altered state? Wouldn't that mean I would always need to administer the IPO while drinking beer? Wait! - That isn't a horrible idea!

In all seriousness, maybe I'd be better off to order up an IPO and some basic licensing for a test rig? The classes aren't cheap, that is for certain. Does Avaya offer some sort of test setup that has fully featured licensing but just for a really limited developmental basis? I don't even know what all is available, but I've seen thing like the Voicemail to Email, One-X Mobile, and who knows what else. A little demo system that offers up a taste of all of it would make life interesting. Does this exist in some way shape or form? Or do I need to license out everything myself for a test unit?

Thanks again.

 

[intrigrant]

Avaya sell demo systems to certified resellers, these have the most used licenses and are very suitable for education.
I love beer and pizza but I think I am not in your region (netherlands) but maybe there are others providing this service here.
Drop me a mail at avayalogsatgmxdotcom

 

[derfloh]

you need an Avaya SSO login and PLDS access. Then you can download the server edition ISO and install it as IPO Anywhere. It is all IP but full licensed for seven users and some SIP channels.

 

[jtwood149]

Intrigrant - Yeah, I am in Northwest Pennsylvania, United States - A bit out of your area The demo systems seem to be limited availability according to Avaya.

Derfloh - I just happen to have an SSO account and PLDS access. I'm fine without having a digital/analog ports and all that jazz. I just want something I can break...err...I mean configure, without affecting the live system. Thank you very much for the suggestion.

I'm downloading the ISO as I write this. Hopefully this is just the key to success that I needed. Thank you for the recommendation!!!

 

[AACon]

Our company provides administration training on these systems. I'm not sure I can promote myself here though.

-Austin
ACE: Implement IP Office

 

[mkoker]

If you're looking for a crash course there is a company out there that does them if you become a part of their Avaya Affiliate Program.

 

[jtwood149]

I did take a basic training through a company that was a few hours of driving away. While its obvious no crash course will provide a significant amount of the knowledge about these systems that is available, it was a start. I feel way more comfortable with the phone portion of the system (I have an IT/Network/Server Administration background)

@derfloh
I installed the server edition ISO in a VM. I have enough unused kit and a few unused SIP lines I can play with and test on.

@AACon
I looked for a way to PM you concering that, but I couldn't figure out how to do such a thing.

@mkoker
At this time I wasn't looking to become an affiliate as I am managing our in house systems. Although, as I experience more and more of this, I may consider pursuing some of the certifications and doing installations.

I do have a few questions for the GURUs out there. Some questions about how to approach some configurations and best practices.

***It seems my predecessor configured all of the individual URIs in the SIP trunks (Same incoming groups, different outgoing groups). Then he modified the short codes under the user settings (in most cases, User Rights, in many cases in Users). The ARS table is default.

I was under the impression from what I've gained from the class and reading around here that I am much further ahead to define the SIP trunk to use the group/user data and point my short code for that SIP trunk to an ARS table defined for that trunk. In almost every case, the DID is associated with a hunt group, not a particular user.

***Additionally, I have 2 SIP trunks with 2 different providers. I am guessing that I would use a second short code? Or is there a "cleaner" way to configure this? Or would I be best off to create the short codes at a user rights level and apply the user rights to the hunt groups?

The reason I am concerned is that I see short codes configured on multiple levels in the current configuration, most which don't seem to make a lot of sense or do anything, but because of the many configurations done in the individual users the likeliness of having something not work as intended seems to be high. I'd rather stick with standard practices on this. It would be decent if the next person that comes into this position doesn't have the headaches.

***Along with all of this, how in the world do you start with a clean/default configuration in the IP Office Manager? I know how to default the IPO, but I just want to restart the entire configuration. I am actually considering this as "good" option. (Okay, this isn't a general question and very specific, but literally EVERYTHING I can find is how to default the IPO (I don't feel like going that route at all))

***Also, when you document a system such as this, what do you use to document and what do you document? I know its a vague question, but while I am tearing this apart and making some fixes and changes, documentation (creation, as it doesn't exist) would be a fairly decent idea.. There are over 100 extensions on 3 IPOs in an SCN and 25+ DIDs, so not a huge implementation, but sizable enough to be confusing and time consuming to document.

The entire configuration is a bit of a headache. There were several lines in the SIP trunk configuration that were out of service when dialed externally, the numbers aren't published within the company, aren't a DID on the SIP accounts. There are multiple Hunt Groups not in use, extensions that are not in use, users that are not in user, added short codes on multiple levels.


Sorry for the multiple newbie questions and long windiness of this post. I also wasn't sure whether I should make a new post for this or not as its general questions. As I said before, I am looking for generalizations more than specific step by step. Best practices for the IPO in the real world, so to speak

 

[AACon]

I fixed my QR code. I'll let you figure out how to use it

-Austin
I used to be an ACE. Now I'm just an Arse.