IP Office Community

Since day 1, the IP Office has been a product that has changed it’s requirements – on both the hardware and software side – constantly. For this reason, I find myself (as a technician/installer) constantly reviewing orders and project plans and coming across errors in design.

For example, tomorrow evening I have scheduled an upgrade with a customer who is moving from their IP406v2 to a new IP500v2. As many know, the IP406v2 has 8 digital station ports as part of it’s built-in design (in addition to 2 POTS ports and 8 LAN ports). The design on the new IP500v2 calls for a Combo Card – which contains 6 digital station ports, 2 POTS ports, and 4 analog trunk ports (and 10 or so VCM channels for IP-related telephony).

So, with the combo card alone in the IP500v2′s design (no additional DS8 boards), we are actually losing 2 digital station ports in the move from the IP406v2 to the IP500v2.

The customer is maxed out on digital ports on their current system – 8 on the 406, 30 on the expansion DS30. So, the problem arises now, roughly 24 hours before the upgrade is to begin.

Now as a technician, I must expect that the salesperson for this customer will take care of all necessary design and review prior to equipment sale, and will have foreseen the need for the required number of digital ports. But as is more common than not, this did not occur and I have found the error in design.

I do not necessarily want to add the title of “Design Specialist” to my resume, however it seems that it is a rare job that goes by where I do not catch such errors of omission.

Therefore, I am now referring to myself as “Technician and Design Monitor” – in that order.