Lacking in-house expertise, a large public school district relies on Cerium to upgrade its Avaya Aura Communication Manager phone system.
Voice communications may be critical to day-to-day operations, but few organizations have extensive phone system expertise in-house. That was the challenge facing a large public school district in Eastern Washington.
The district need to upgrade its Avaya Aura Communication Manager phone system to the current release before it reached end-of-support. However, upgrading the system is a complicated process involving multiple servers that provide voice communications across the district.
The district’s IT team didn’t have that expertise in-house and couldn’t risk downtime. The district turned to the experts at Cerium Networks to handle the upgrade without any downtime or disruption.
The district’s IT team didn’t have that expertise in-house and couldn’t risk downtime. The district turned to the experts at Cerium Networks to handle the upgrade without any downtime or disruption.
Solution: Seamless Phone System and Gateway Upgrade
Cerium’s long experience with Avaya phone systems played a key role in the planning and execution of the upgrade. The Cerium engineers knew all of the issues involved and the problems that often arise in the upgrade process and were very knowledgeable of the district’s Avaya environment. They developed a plan for a phased upgrade Avaya Aura Communication Manager and 67 Avaya G450 and G430 gateways over the summer, doing a piece at a time to minimize risk.
Strong communication helped ensure that the district’s in-house team was on the same page with the Cerium team. They would have update calls every few days and used Teams chat to communicate across multiple time zones and work schedules.
Strong communication helped ensure that the district’s in-house team was on the same page with the Cerium team. They would have update calls every few days and used Teams chat to communicate across multiple time zones and work schedules.
Results: East Coast Expert Helps Streamline the Process
Cerium had an engineer on the East Coast do some of the work remotely in his time zone. Utilizing engineering resources on the East Coast ensured that some of the upgrade efforts were done out of the district’s main operating hours. The East Coast engineer had his work done and tested before the district’s team arrived for their day.
The district’s in-house engineer was expecting to put in late evening hours and get up early for testing. He didn’t have to do that. This coordinated effort across multiple time zones greatly streamlined the project and minimized disruption.
The district’s in-house engineer was expecting to put in late evening hours and get up early for testing. He didn’t have to do that. This coordinated effort across multiple time zones greatly streamlined the project and minimized disruption.
