VoIP meets hydro powerCompanies with a number of sites and remote offices

in particular are able to reduce their telephony costs

considerably by making consistent use of Voice over IP

(VoIP). Energiedienst Holding AG is in the process of

replacing its traditional telephone lines with VoIP services,

giving it a more flexible and robust system at a lower cost.

Additional advantages of the new technology include the

ability to manage the infrastructure from one central point,

as well as powerful new communications capabilities such

as video telephony.

The Challenge

The project has not only been concerned

with joining together Energiedienst Holding

AGs various branches using Voice over

IP (VoIP). In addition, it is intended

to gradually move the its telephony

connections to its telephone service

provider from traditional primary rate

interfaces over to VoIP. At the same

time, the reliability and availability of the

existing connections must be guaranteed.

The communications infrastructure must

be implemented so that it can be managed

from one central location.

Solution

Avaya has bound the utilitys VoIP

communication solution to the Deutsche

Telekom SIP infrastructure by means of

Session Border Controllers. Combined with

SIP trunking, these produce a solution for

linking a VoIP-compatible PBX to the

public telephone network. On a step-by-

step basis, all of the ISDN lines used for

voice telephony will be converted to Voice

over IP, thus realising significant cost

benefits. To increase the resilience of the

solution, Deutsche Telekom is providing

redundant line feeds. The Avaya

components operated by Energiedienst

Holding AG also benefit from redundancy.

Result

Infrastructure that is compatible with

Deutsche Telekoms SIP trunking

Highly resilient solution

Lower monthly costs

Centrally managed telecommunications

solution

Unified Communications applications

such as Unified Messaging, desktop

integration, video conferencing and

presence indication

1CASE STUDY

Rheinfelden is currently the location for a 380 million euro investment in a modern hydroelectric powerstation.

2

avaya.com/emea

Energiedienst Holding AG (EDH) is a

regional Swiss electric utility company that

supplies South Baden and Switzerland with

power acquired from hydroelectric sources,

along with other related services. With

headquarters in Switzerland, two

administrative bases in Germany and

a range of remote offices, the Group

relies on a powerful telecommunications

infrastructure. Various sites require primary

rate interfaces, along with the associated

hardware, not to mention the costs and

management requirements. Our business

is experiencing a growth phase. To

keep the costs of the communication

infrastructure under control while

maintaining our flexibility, we depend

heavily on Voice over IP, says Friedhelm

Bumer, IT manager at EDH. Its not only

for our 2000 internal extensions that we

use this technology. Thanks to SIP

trunking, we are also linked to our

telecommunication provider by VoIP.

Its important to us to be innovative in all

areas. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)

trunking is an essential requirement for

migrating from ISDN to IP telephony.

Even though it uses VoIP technology, a

connection of this type functions just like

a regular ISDN connection. In other words,

the telephone service offers the same

connectivity and features as a conventional

system, irrespective of VoIP.

Availability is key

Among all the advantages of SIP trunking

in terms of simplified infrastructure, the

key benefit for EDH is the availability of its

telephone lines. Stability and reachability

must not fall below the acceptable levels

to which customers and staff alike are used

from traditional ISDN telephony. In the

case of Energiedienst Holding, Deutsche

Telekom as the SIP trunking provider offers

The Ryburg-Schwrstadt hydroelectric plant

We do not only want

our own products to be

innovative, we demand

technical infrastructure of

a similar standard. For that

reason, VoIP is a good

solution. The technology

is future-proof, it offers

us many options in terms

of communications

capabilities and it even

reduces cost and

complexity.

Friedhelm Bumer,

Head of IT, Energiedienst

Holding AG

3avaya.com/emea

something that is so far unique: making

the VoIP connection redundant. There

is one feed coming from Frankfurt and

another from Munich. This means a lower

risk of failure compared with a primary rate

interface, which makes the solution highly

available, explains Markus Bayer, who is

responsible for IT at Avaya.

So far we have converted 10 of the

30 channels at one site to VoIP. The

stability of the combination of Deutsche

Telekoms SIP trunking and the Avaya

communication solution is so impressive

that we have decided to gradually replace

the rest of the ISDN channels with VoIP

too, says Bumer. If it all proceeds as

planned, within a period of 24 months all

of the sites will be linked to each other

and to Deutsche Telekom by VoIP. This

soft upgrade to modern, IP-based

communications is being managed

in cooperation with the German

telecommunications operator. It is

responsible for converting individual

blocks of numbers to Voice over IP on

a gradual basis.

In order to further increase the resilience

of the solution, Energiedienst is also

operating a distributed data centre.

This guarantees the redundancy of the

components that form the intelligent Avaya

Aura communications solution.

Fantastic flexibility

High availability is vital for the electric

utility, as customers have to be able to

reach call-centre agents at all times.

If the EDH power distribution network

experiences a failure, then the utilitys

VoIP infrastructure can expect to receive

hundreds or even thousands of calls within

just a few minutes. By increasing the

available network bandwidth in such

situations, it is easy to improve

reachability. Such flexibility would be

inconceivable with ISDN lines.

Outbound calls are immensely important,

too, as Energiedienst is active in the

electricity trading business and therefore

needs to be able to make its own outgoing

calls at all times. Even in the VoIP age,

confirmations of successful trades are

still received by ISDN fax. And to ensure

resilience here, too, the Avaya Unified

Communications system that functions as

a fax server is also operated with sufficient

back-up in a cluster solution.

A large proportion of the electricity sold by the company is generated in its own power stations, which use exclusively renewable energy sources. In its main NaturEnergie brand, it supplies electricity that is certified as being generated solely from hydroelectric power.

The stability of the

combination of the

Deutsche Telekom SIP

trunking and Avayas

communication solution

is so impressive that we

have decided to gradually

replace the rest of the

ISDN channels with

VoIP too.

Friedhelm Bumer,

Head of IT, Energiedienst

Holding AG

4avaya.com/emea

Central management

reduces complexity

Voice over IP, and the use of traditional

data connections, provide the IT and

telecommunications specialists at

Energiedienst with a further advantage.

They are able to manage the entire

infrastructure from one central site. All

of the components can be monitored

and configured from the head office in

Rheinfelden. This is assured by dedicated

data connections (MPLS, Multiprotocol

Label Switching) that have been

established between the sites. These were

already present, due to the companys

participation in the electricity trading

business, and the organisation also

possessed the experience in working

with networked IP infrastructures. In

addition, in a kind of managed-service

implementation, one of our technicians is

permanently on-site at EDH. He works with

the local technical experts to carry out

everyday configuration and maintenance

tasks, explains Markus Bayer from

Avaya. Before switching to IP-based

communication we had a very complex

network made up of very different

technologies and access types. SIP

trunking and VoIP have dramatically

reduced this complexity and therefore the

administration costs. At the same time we

have a lower risk of failure, because a

Laufenburg hydroelectric plant in the utilitys network.

5avaya.com/emea

simpler solution is generally more stable

than a complex one, says head of IT,

Bumer.

Naturally Secure

Equally, the two Session Border Controllers

(SBCs) are also managed centrally. These

form the redundant interface between the

Avaya communications infrastructure and

Deutsche Telekoms SIP systems. One of

the reasons for needing an SBC is that the

SIP protocol that is being used permits

a range of possible implementations for

certain telephony features such as call

forwarding or toggling. Once it has been

correctly configured, the controller acts

as a translator between the different

implementations of the standards, ensuring

communications pass seamlessly from

one to the other. To further reduce this

complexity in the future, Avaya intends

to integrate the SBC functionality into

Avaya Aura.

In addition, the Session Border Controller

also protects the VoIP network itself.

With similar functionality to a firewall,

it inspects all of the data packets flowing

into the Avaya infrastructure, and only

allows through those that are actually

carrying voice traffic. This protects

the VoIP system against attack from

malicious hackers.

The new Avaya HD 1000 video telephony

solution installed in the conference rooms

is demonstrating its flexibility. The SIP-

based solution has been integrated in

the new Avaya Aura communication

infrastructure with the help of Avaya

technology. Regular, high-resolution video

conferences save our senior executives a

lot of travel time, says Bumer. It also

reduces our environmental impact, which

is a matter of priority to us as a green

energy provider.

From now on, EDHs senior executives will

communicate by means of Avayas state-of-

the-art Desktop Video Device. The touch

screen-operated end device runs Avaya

Flare Experience and provides fast, easy

access to real-time communication and

collaboration tools.

These include standard applications, such

as a web browser and instant messaging,

as well as desktop video, social media,

audio/video/web conferencing, a wide

choice of folders, presence information and

context-sensitive history. Tools like these

remove the need for different interfaces

and directories for communicating through

a host of different channels.

Avaya Flare Experience also uses the SIP-

based communication platform Avaya

Aura, which provides all channels of

communication at EDH. This includes the

connection to the companys Microsoft

Exchange server, so the scope also

encompasses UC functions and e-mail.

Consistent GUI

In principle, all EDH employees have

access to the Avaya one-X Communicator,

the unified communications software

solution that combines a myriad of

communication channels such as voice

telephony, video conferencing and web

conferencing in a single user interface.

Users can also see at a glance their

colleagues presence information. At the

moment were using the software in certain

areas. If it performs as well as we think it

will, it could end up replacing the current

Microsoft Office Communicator, Bumer

explains.

SIP trunking and VoIP have

dramatically reduced this

complexity and therefore

the administration costs.

At the same time we have

a lower risk of failure,

because a simpler solution

is generally more stable

than a complex one.

Friedhelm Bumer,

Head of IT, Energiedienst

Holding AG

SOLUTION & PRODUCTS

Avaya Aura communications solution

One-X Communicator UC client

Avaya C3000 UMS solution

Avaya Aura Conferencing

Avaya Aura Session Border Controller (SBC)

Avaya IP Telephone 9641G

Avaya HD video solution 1000

Avaya Desktop Video Solution with Avaya Flare

Experience

Avaya Aura Presence Service

Contacts

With intelligent communication solutions from Avaya, you can put your company on the

right foot. More information can be found at www.avaya.com. Or just give us a callfree

on 0 800 - GOAVAYA (0 800 - 46 28 29 2). Our customer advisors are looking forward to the

opportunity of telling you about the many different options offered by our solutions.

Also firmly on the agenda is a plan to

switch the EDH contact centre to Internet

telephony. The team, currently comprising

more than 100 agents, will then be able to

access the Avaya Aura Contact Center.

One of the key benefits of switching to

VoIP is that the process of creating virtual

teams spanning various sites will simply be

a matter of a few mouse clicks.

This will allow the utility to deal more

efficiently with peak loads, such as those

that occur regularly after it has sent out

bills to its customers. Energiedienst

Holding AG continues to use third parties

to help it cope with the excess workload

when the amount of incoming calls

escalates. If the call centre is switched

over to the new technology, further

innovations will be feasible.

For example, Energiedienst will be

able to link its CRM system with its

communications solution, and allow its

call-centre staff to view all of the relevant

customer information on their PC monitors

while they are on a call. The open

interfaces of the Avaya solution establish

the framework for this interoperation. With

its consistent implementation of Voice over

IP, Energiedienst Holding AG has already

chosen the right course for the future.

ABOUT ENERGIEDIENST HOLDING AG

The core activities of Energiedienst Holding AG (EDH) are focused on electricity and various power services. Through the companies in its group, EDH covers all of the stages of the electricity value chain, from generation to portfolio management, distribution networks and retail. The groups head office is in Laufenburg, in Switzerland. It also operates other major sites in Germany (administrative centres in Rheinfelden and Donaueschingen) and its own hydroelectric power stations at Rheinfelden, Laufenburg and Grenzach-Wyhlen. In 2009 the group sold 7,370 million kilowatt hours of power and generated turnover of 766 million. More than 750,000 inhabitants in its operating territories rely on EDH to supply their electricity. For a number of years, Energiedienst has focused on ecological matters. A large proportion of the electricity sold by the company is generated in its own power stations, which use exclusively renewable energy sources. In its main NaturEnergie brand, it supplies electricity that is certified as being generated solely from hydroelectric power.

6

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About Avaya

Avaya is a global leader in business communications systems. The company

provides unified communications, contact centers, data solutions and related

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