Another Install.. well you know

Working with a client on a VOIP migration and the first thing I asked for was documentation. The client assured me that he had documentation but it was hard-copy and on-site.

I then asked when was the original VOIP gateway installed and was told "over 10 years ago".

I've been doing this long enough that I can anticipate what might happen if I don't dig in a bit more. I asked for an onsite contact, reached out, and asked them to take a few photos of the equipment, room, and 2 page documentation.

It didn't take long to realize that the documentation didn't line up with what i saw in the photos.

I called the technical contact, explained what i found, and suggested we go for an onsite visit to ensure that we knew what we were getting into. the contact insisted that everything was fine and the site was almost an hour's drive so he preferred we deal with any issues during the cutover.

I arrived at the client site about 30 minutes early to review the equipment, validate the documentation and address some of the concerns I had.

Of course, the documentation was incorrect and I needed to determine which line was in which port, so I simply grabbed and connected an analog phone to each line, called my cell, and noted the phone number.

Of course, I always bring a power bar, extension cables, and a variety of Ethernet cables. I'm glad I did since we needed them all.

In the end, we completed the migration, I cleaned up the closet, labeled everything, took photos, and created a 10-page site document. I emailed them the PowerPoint file so they can keep the document updated.

The moral of the story is to please keep your documentation up to date and double-check everything before you proceed with any work. In this day and age of video conferences and the ease to email a photo or video, you should get as much information as possible ahead of time.

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