What works and why

IT experts offer their advice on top technologies including VoIP, patching, WAN services, SOA, security and more.

Good advice is generally as welcome as it is hard to come by. Add "free" to the equation, and we're talking rare indeed.

In this segment, Network World reporters have turned to IT and other experts who are willing to share some of their favorite insights on a range of topics facing today's network professionals. Topics include:

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Good advice is generally as welcome as it is hard to come by. Add "free" to the equation, and we're talking rare indeed.

In this segment, Network World reporters have turned to IT and other experts who are willing to share some of their favorite insights on a range of topics facing today's network professionals. Topics include:

• Planning a VoIP rollout? Keep both hands on the reins lest "feature envy" take a heavy toll.
• "Patch, patch, patch, test, test, test:" There's more to it, but that's a good place to start.
• Want the latest and greatest WAN services? Don't get locked into the moldy oldies.
• How is service-oriented architecture like dieting? Find out here.
• Managing network security begins with managing the people who make it happen.
• If you think e-mail archiving is too expensive, consider the cost of not doing it.

Details follow - did we mention this is free?

VoIP: Ask questions upfront

By Tim Greene and Phil Hochmuth

Unforeseen VoIP glitches range from who gets the fancy phones to how you track phone use by department so you can bill them for what they use.

The phone project manager should have veto power over who requires more than a standard handset, or department heads will start dishing out the more expensive, feature-rich models to people who really don't need them. "They want the phones with more buttons," says Roger Fahnestock, IT director for Kane County government in Illinois.

IP call servers log calls, but don't translate them into calls by department or flag the calls that cross the public phone network and incur toll charges. Customers should plan to buy software that converts the logs into readable bills if they hope to charge departments.

Businesses need to figure out how costs will be divided for VoIP, because it raises all sorts of questions. If a department gets one more employee, does it pay for the phone? If all the ports on that department's switch are full, who pays for another switch? If the IT department pays, what is a good way to plan for such unexpected costs?

Businesses must figure out how long they want the phones to work when the power fails. A one-unit battery backup may support a group of phones for 20 minutes, but it may require extended-run battery modules to keep phones up for three hours. That means planning for the cost of the backups and also figuring out whether there's enough space in the wiring closet to house them. In some cases, a back-up generator may be a better option.

Vendors have 911 schemes that link corporate IP phones to physical locations so ambulances can find the person who made a call for help, but these systems must interface with carrier 911 networks. Expect to dedicate time to make that interface work properly, because it is far from standard.

Departments left to set up their own interactive voice-response systems may come back to IT for help because they don't have a good sense of how to set them up. For example, one user cited a department that created 10 options for callers to choose, forced them to listen to all 10 before they could punch a number, and had no option to bump out to an operator. As a result, everybody was hanging up in frustration before they made a selection. Then the department head complained that the phones weren't working because there were no inbound calls.

If VoIP is intended to minimize the number of phone lines, businesses should plan to install a fax server to get rid of analog fax lines. And if modems are necessary, plan to keep analog lines to support them or be prepared to suffer with temperamental analog-to-digital modem-conversion gear.