This project will introduce you to an important role of IT/Network Managers: To select an IP PBX solution for the new call center at a company’s headquarters based on the evaluation of the company’s needs and vendors’ VoIP product features. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) would like an 8- to 10-page document (double-spaced, font size 12) that addresses the following tasks.

• After a numerical-matrix evaluation, select one solution from a list of vendors, containing features and capabilities to potentially meet your company’s requirements.
• Justify your recommendation by writing an analysis that supports such a selection based on an overall evaluation of the product and the benefits it will bring to the company.

• The Course Project is worth 170 points and is comprised of the following deliverable documents.
  • Week 2: Outline (20 points)
  • Week 4: Vendor Selection – RFP Draft (50 points)
  • Week 6: Analysis and Recommendation – Finalized RFP (100 points)
• Following is the list of vendors for you to choose from.
  • Avaya
  • Genesys
  • Interactive Intelligence
  • Mitel
  • Siemens
• Use the following check list to evaluate each vendor’s product.
  • Experience and Connectivity (40%)
    • Experience of the company – 5%
    • ACD based on Windows – 5%
    • Call Center includes 400 agents – 15%
    • Connectivity to current Avaya PBX – 15%
  • Multimedia Support (40%)
    • E-mail – 5%
    • Chat – 5%
    • Voice Mail – 5%
    • IVR – 5%
    • Outbound dial – 5%
    • CTI integration – 5%
    • URL Browsing – 5%
    • CRM support – 5%
  • Total Cost (20%)
• The document is intended to be a professional document, and shall only address the company’s business requirements and concerns.
• The document should assign a numeric value/score to each check list item for each vendor’s solution.
• The document should have statements justifying the score given to each feature in the cross-vendor evaluation.
• The primary grading emphasis will be on the similarities and differences among vendors in terms of each checklist item.
• Use each week’s lecture, reading assignments, labs, and discussions as guidance and supporting information for your paper.
• The plagiarism policy is in effect. References to specific product information must be cited throughout the document.
• APA formatting is required for the document.
• The document shall be your individual and original work. This is not a team project.
• Questions concerning the preparation of this document may be discussed in weekly Q & A discussion forums.