Abstract

This project analysis report is about setting up the VoIP infrastructure in the upcoming branch of Al Ghandi in UAE. The main objective is to provide the company with a cost-effective and efficient alternative solution of their communication network. This project analysis report is comprising of a client’s requirement, team meetings, and stakeholder perspective. At the same time, this project analysis will also give a detailed insight into the selection of the approach for setting up VoIP within time and cost. A recommendation for the technical challenges that the team can face during the project is also a part of this project analysis.

Introduction

Voice over IP or VoIP is an alternative tool for traditional phones. After the development of IoT (Internet of Things), multiple new innovations have been designed and developed. VoIP is one of them. Although the VoIP needs internet network and devices running the internet to properly work, incorporating it along with the PABX (private automatic branch exchange) devices, allows this technology to be used with conventional phones. This incorporation of VoIP with the PABX is the latest trend in the corporate world (Rohloff, Cousins, & Sumorok, 2017). Not only in UAE but also throughout the world large companies and organizations are adopting this VoIP in order to minimize the cost for traditional communication tools. The use of the VoIP is found to be saving up to 70% of the communication cost (Volkov, et al., 2018).

Increasing network access, especially in public places due to the decreasing prices of broadband and other network items (Fayyaz et al., 2016) has acted as the beneficiary for small organizations. These organizations can use VoIP in order to save more on their communication budget. Al Ghandi is one of these small organizations, that primarily work as a car dealership. The opening of a new branch in UAE requires a communication medium for them so that they can remain connected with their headquarters. Therefore, VoIP is the best solution for them. This project analysis is all about the selection of the best-suited approach for the establishment of the VoIP solution for Al Ghandi. The key components of this project analysis report are client requirements, stakeholder perspectives, detailed analysis of the approach and the discussion regarding possible challenges and their mitigations.

Client Requirements and Constraints

In order to successfully complete this project, a number of different steps should be taken. The very first thing is to understand the actual need of the client. The client requirements can only be understood by personally meeting with them. A summary of meetings, types, and parties along with the client requirements and constraints are as follows:

Team Meetings

In order to achieve the aims and objectives of this project at least three team meetings are required. The first team meeting will be before the planning phase. This meeting will provide an insight into the actual project. This meeting will also discuss the design of the project and basic project management techniques that will be used in this phase. The second meeting will be about the selection of the methodologies for handling the project. This meeting will be in between the technical team. The pre-analysis meeting will help in developing the project framework, especially about the selection of VoIP framework, because of the possible security threats associated with it (Dantu et.al., 2009). The last meeting will be the client meeting, this meeting will highlight any mistakes during the project. This will also act as the closing meeting of the project. 

Client Requirements

Every project has some basic requirements, besides its objectives. Client requirements for this project will be of a technical nature. A summary of these requirements along with their impact and client priorities is given below.

Requirement	Impact	Priority
Development of the new VoIP Infrastructure	Change the traditional communication method as well as reduce the overall communication budget.	Very High
Use of cost-effective tools such as VCOM and VLAN	Minimize the cost of the project. Does not need additional hardware for working.	High
Upgrade HRSP technologies in the current system	Save time and cost. Provide backup in case of any fault.	Medium

Client Constraints

The limitations of this project are usually related to the technical as well as the legal perspective. The project is not intended to provide the company with the legal aid required for the development of the private VoIP network. The technical constraint of this project is that this project is not designed to develop the internet network or the local area network for the company (Chirdchoo et.al., 2013).

Stakeholder Perspectives

The main stakeholder or the actual client of this project is Al Ghandi. Besides them, there are other key stakeholders that can be benefited from this project as well. The very first of them are the clients or customers of Al Ghnadi. As Al Ghandi are the car dealers that are willing to open their branch in UAE, the new VoIP network infrastructure will help their customers in getting easy and quick support from them (Epstein, 2009). Second key stakeholders of the project are the team members of Al Ghandi, who can easily make them connected to their headquarters or to each other, when they are outside their office and even in remote places where traditional phones are not available, over a secure communication system.

Comparing the perspective of these two stakeholders with the perspective of the actual client i.e. Al Ghandi, it is found that for Al Ghandi the project is more economical in nature, while for its customers and employees this project is more productive in nature than being more economical, therefore the project will provide them with multiple benefits as for the other stakeholders.

Analysis

In order to perform an analysis of a project the best approach is to identify the methodology that should be used in the project execution phase. For this project the identification of the methodology or the approach regrading the communication network system is mandatory because of the need of the selection of the best suitable and efficient method for Al Ghandi.

Methodology

Communication is one of the major factors that is required in companies and organizations working at multiple locations. There are multiple methods and approaches that can be used to develop a communication medium. Each of these media has its own advantages and disadvantages. In the context of Al Ghandi, a communication media is required for their new branch in the UAE. In order to select the more concurrent and robust communication medium for them, analysis of different organization have been done. These organizations are studied for traditional and modern communicational mediums. A detailed review of different communicational mediums found in these organization are as follows.

Landlines

Landlines are the oldest and the traditional approach for communicating in between long-distance locations. Although there is the most reliable source of communication medium for any organizations but are found to be expensive. Normal landline costs more than any other modern communication approaches. The monthly line rent, taxes, additional service charges and separate charges for national and international calls are some of the extras that end up increasing the total cost. The other disadvantage of landline besides the expenses is the limitation of moving the calling equipment. Landline is a fixed medium that cannot be moved freely even in the same building.

Mobile Phones

The second most used and one of the modern communication media is a mobile phone. The cellular phone has a clear advantage of being movable over the traditional landlines, but it costs almost the same as the landlines are. Although, it can opt for pre-paid and post-paid billing the cost for making calls, especially the long-distance ones is similar to that of the landlines.

VoIP

One of the modern communication media that is a good example of the technological advancements and innovations is VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol. It has multiple advantages over the previous two both in terms of cost and quality. By using the internet, this approach can use both landline and mobile phones and build an over-existing layer of the network that allows these devices to communicate with each other without expending any extra bills and other charges. VoIP has several advantages that make it the most suitable one for Al Ghandi.

Advantages of VoIP

The key advantages of VoIP are:

• Build on the internet, provides more powerful communication than the traditional landline and cellular phones.
• Can connect to remote devices using WAN.
• Universally available fax and voice mail services
• Can use old telephones as well by just adding a gateway.
• No extra billing for national or international calls.
• Because of the presence of mobile phones can communicate in remote distant areas.

Requirements for VoIP

As discussed earlier, the requirement for setting up a VoIP network is not so complex and expensive.  Since the whole network protocol is based upon the internet, therefore a simple internet network, LAN is required.

• A simple LAN or WAN network.
• VoIP gateways, if traditional landline phones or fax machines are required to set.
• A computer server to control the VoIP.

For setting up VoIP at the UAE branch of Al Ghandi, following functional and non-functional requirements are required.  These requirements are extracted from the minutes of clients meeting and the survey of multiple organization having VoIP. Beside that the website of the UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority was also searched to gather “the required information with regard to VoIP policy and the licensing framework” (Cherrayil, 2018).

Functional Requirements

• The VoIP must have the functionality of conference calls.
• The participant must be added, dropped and muted during a conference call.
• Video call option must be available for future extension.
• Sending and receiving fax and emails should also be added as the primary functionality.

Non-Functional Requirements

• High-quality video and voice calls.
• Minimum setting up and maintenance cost.
• Easily useable and reliable.

Case Example

A similar case example of VoIP integration is of Al Danube Group. The group has recently switched to the VoIP communication system. The project was planned and executed by OSI Infotech (“Projects”, 2019). The company was using a traditional communication system prior to the installation of the VoIP system. Since Al Danube Group is one of the largest building material group in UAE, that has a large number of branches and working sites spread throughout the UAE (“Danube Group”, 2019), centralized and robust telecommunication was required that can easily connect all of its employees and locations. OSI Infotech used CISCO Smart Business Communications System to develop a VoIP system. The system provided the company with the ability to communicate over a simple local area network connection using standard internet protocol (“Network Integration”, 2019). The project cost the company around 30000AED.

Discussion

VoIP is one of the modern innovations (Saini et.al, 2019). It is a better alternative for the traditional communication system. Companies like Al Ghandi, can not only save a lot of time and cost on their budget but also can attain an opportunity to easily and effectively meet their aims and objectives, by adopting the VoIP against their traditional communication network. This project is therefore designed to provide Al Ghandi with a new VoIP network infrastructure at their branch in UAE along with the upgradation of the previous one so that they can have a good communication system. The project, although, provide Al Ghandi with a better solution for their current communication need, but at the same time, a number of challenges may be faced by the project team during this project. Some of those major challenges are related to the technical issues while others are related to the management.

The primary challenge in this regard is the setting up of the VoIP itself. Since the UAE branch is newly opened, therefore a completely new internet infrastructure will be required. In order to establish a new LAN network at the branch, some of the basic factors or requirements of the final product should be considered carefully. The first factor in setting up a new LAN network for AL Ghandi is the availability of the VoIP feature. In order to develop a VoIP structure, it must be available by the internet service provider. Once selected, the second major challenge that the team has identified is the speed of the internet. Since the functional requirement of the VoIP requires the ability to conduct conference calls and video calls, high-speed internet service is, therefore, a must-have. The second challenge is to minimize the cost as much as one can. Since the key reason behind the opting up of VoIP over the other traditional communication mediums is the cost-effectiveness of the communication media. In order to minimize the cost, the selection of the VoIP devices must be done with great deliberation and after having a market survey. Another technical challenge that the team may face during the project is the setting up and configuring the whole network. In order to minimize the security risks associated with ill configuration, the industry standards must be followed accordingly. In order to confirm the configuration, a quick review of the overall setting from the internet provider organization is also beneficial as it will verify that if the settings and configuration are well acquainted with the settings of the LAN.

In order to properly complete a project, a team with not only high qualifications and skills is required but the team members having good knowledge of project management are also needed. Therefore, team members must acquire a good knowledge of project management as well as the skills set of setting up the VoIP.

References

Cherrayil, N. (2018). No issue with licensed VoIP services in UAE: TRA. Retrieved from https://gulfnews.com/business/no-issue-with-licensed-voip-services-in-uae-tra-1.1541608223212

Chirdchoo, N., Cheunta, W., Saelim, K., & Kovintavewat, P. (2013). Design and implementation of a VoIP system for campus usage: A case study at NPRU. 2013 13Th International Symposium on Communications and Information Technologies (ISCIT).

Dantu, R., Fahmy, S., Schulzrinne, H., & Cangussu, J. (2009). Issues and challenges in securing VoIP. Computers & Security, 28(8), 743-753.

Danube Group. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.aldanube.com/

Epstein, J. (2009). Scalable VoIP mobility. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Fayyaz, Y., Khan, D., Fayyaz, F., Qadri, S., Naweed, S. & Fahad, M. (2016). The Evaluation of Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) by means of Trixbox. International Journal of Natural & Engineering Sciences, 10(3), 33-41.

Network Integration. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.osiinfotech.com/data-center-solutions.html

Projects. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.osiinfotech.com/studies.html

Rohloff, K., Cousins, D., & Sumorok, D. (2017). Scalable, Practical VoIP Teleconferencing with End-to-End Homomorphic Encryption. IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 12(5), 1031-1041.

Saini, H., Singh, R., Patel, V., Santhi, K., & Ranganayakulu, S. (2019). Innovations in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Singapore: Springer Singapore.

Volkov, A., Baskakov, A., Muratchaev, S., & Volkova, E. (2018). Development of a Complex Model for VoIP Technology with the Possibility of Application in 5G Networks. 2018 IEEE East-West Design & Test Symposium (EWDTS).