Live Streaming
Large-Scale Cisco Phone Migration for a Global Financial Services Firm
Client
Financial Institution
Industry
Finance
Year
Duration
1 week
(01)
Project overview.
A major American financial services company needed to modernize its outdated phone system across five U.S.-based office locations. The organization’s legacy Cisco UC phones had reached end of life, lacked ongoing support, and no longer provided the user experience or feature set required for a modern business environment.
After a previous engineering firm failed to complete the rollout successfully, PM2 NET was brought in to recover the project and execute the migration of more than 6,000 phones across multiple regions. PM2 NET assembled distributed field service teams in California, Virginia, and Texas to complete staging, asset tagging, inventory tracking, removal of legacy phones, cabling, profile migration, software transfer, and functional testing.
Through structured execution, regional coordination, and careful scheduling around business hours, PM2 NET successfully supported the client’s large-scale phone migration while minimizing disruption to employee productivity.
Client Background
The client is one of the world’s oldest and largest investment management organizations. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company manages more than $1.7 trillion in assets and employs over 7,000 people.
Although most of its assets are based in the United States, the company maintains a global presence with offices across America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Because of the scale of its operations and the importance of reliable communication in the financial services industry, the organization required a modern, dependable, and supportable phone system across its U.S. locations.
(02)
Challenge.
The organization’s phone system was outdated across five U.S.-based locations. Its legacy Cisco UC phones, including Cisco 7961 and 7906 models, had reached end of life and no longer received product support or device maintenance.
Users also found the old phone interface outdated and difficult to use compared to newer communication devices. The company needed upgraded phones with improved features, better usability, and continued vendor support.
The scale of the project added significant complexity. More than 6,000 phones needed to be migrated across multiple office locations, including three sites in California, one in Virginia, and one in Texas.
The project became even more challenging after the company initially selected another engineering firm that failed to deliver due to errors and timeline issues. PM2 NET was then asked to step in, stabilize the rollout, and complete the migration across the client’s geographically distributed offices.
The migration also had to be performed during and around employee working hours. PM2 NET needed to avoid disrupting business productivity while ensuring that each phone was installed, configured, tested, and mapped correctly to its assigned user and extension.
(03)
Result.
PM2 NET assembled dedicated field service teams for each geographic region involved in the rollout. Teams were deployed to support the client’s locations in California, Virginia, and Texas.
The project followed a standardized process at each site to ensure consistency and efficiency. PM2 NET technicians were responsible for:
Staging new phones
Asset tagging devices
Tracking inventory
Uninstalling legacy phones
Connecting cabling to new phones
Migrating phone profiles and software
Transferring extension and user data
Testing each phone for proper operation
Marking failed devices for troubleshooting
Each technician was properly badged for site access, and each location followed a defined timeline to maintain project momentum. This structured approach helped PM2 NET coordinate work across several large office environments while reducing the risk of errors.
At each branch, PM2 NET teams mapped phone placement carefully to ensure that new devices were installed at the correct designated locations. The team transferred data from legacy phones to the new system, including user extensions and phone profiles, using a process referred to as teleporting.
After installation and migration, PM2 NET performed functional testing on each phone. This included MIN testing to confirm short-distance and long-distance call connectivity. Technicians also tested headsets, three-way calling, call forwarding, and other key user features.
If a phone failed during testing, PM2 NET marked the device for follow-up troubleshooting to ensure issues could be resolved without disrupting the broader deployment schedule.
The Result
PM2 NET helped the financial services company recover a previously troubled phone migration and execute a large-scale rollout across five U.S. office locations. More than 6,000 phones were installed and migrated with careful attention to user mapping, profile transfer, cabling, and functional testing.
The new Cisco phone environment gave the organization a supported platform with modern functionality, improved user experience, and longer product lifecycle support. By coordinating field teams across California, Virginia, and Texas, PM2 NET helped reduce operational disruption and maintain continuity for the client’s employees.
The company also gained improved compatibility with modern Cisco collaboration platforms and infrastructure standards, positioning its phone environment for stronger reliability and easier future management.
Technology Advantages
The upgraded Cisco phone system provided compatibility with key Cisco communications platforms, including:
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.6.2 and above
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express 10.0 and above
Cisco Business Edition 6000 8.6.2 and above
At the user level, the new phone system offered a stronger experience than the legacy devices. Compared to the older phones’ 4-bit grayscale displays, the upgraded phones included a 5-inch Wide Video Graphics Array display and a visual voicemail indicator.
Users also benefited from a more ergonomic design, simpler menus, hearing aid compatibility, and volume control. These improvements helped create a more accessible and user-friendly communications experience.
The new phones also supported 802.3af and 802.3at Power over Ethernet compatibility, Link Layer Discovery Protocol, Cisco Discovery Protocol, 802.1q, and 802.1p. These capabilities helped the organization integrate the devices more effectively into its enterprise network environment.
The company could also take advantage of Cisco EnergyWise technology, which enables measurement and reporting of energy consumption across corporate infrastructure. This allows organizations to regulate which devices receive power, when they receive power, and how much power they consume. Across multiple branches and buildings, this functionality can support meaningful energy savings and improved infrastructure control.
Key Outcomes
Recovered a previously delayed and error-prone phone migration
Migrated more than 6,000 phones across five U.S. locations
Supported offices in California, Virginia, and Texas
Replaced end-of-life Cisco UC phones with modern Cisco devices
Completed staging, asset tagging, inventory tracking, cabling, profile migration, and testing
Minimized disruption by working around employee business hours
Verified short-distance calling, long-distance calling, headset functionality, three-way calling, and call forwarding
Improved user experience with modern display, visual voicemail indicator, ergonomic design, and accessibility features
Enabled support for modern Cisco communications platforms and energy management capabilities
Live Streaming
Large-Scale Cisco Phone Migration for a Global Financial Services Firm
Client
Financial Institution
Industry
Finance
Year
Duration
1 week
(01)
Project overview.
A major American financial services company needed to modernize its outdated phone system across five U.S.-based office locations. The organization’s legacy Cisco UC phones had reached end of life, lacked ongoing support, and no longer provided the user experience or feature set required for a modern business environment.
After a previous engineering firm failed to complete the rollout successfully, PM2 NET was brought in to recover the project and execute the migration of more than 6,000 phones across multiple regions. PM2 NET assembled distributed field service teams in California, Virginia, and Texas to complete staging, asset tagging, inventory tracking, removal of legacy phones, cabling, profile migration, software transfer, and functional testing.
Through structured execution, regional coordination, and careful scheduling around business hours, PM2 NET successfully supported the client’s large-scale phone migration while minimizing disruption to employee productivity.
Client Background
The client is one of the world’s oldest and largest investment management organizations. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company manages more than $1.7 trillion in assets and employs over 7,000 people.
Although most of its assets are based in the United States, the company maintains a global presence with offices across America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Because of the scale of its operations and the importance of reliable communication in the financial services industry, the organization required a modern, dependable, and supportable phone system across its U.S. locations.
(02)
Challenge.
The organization’s phone system was outdated across five U.S.-based locations. Its legacy Cisco UC phones, including Cisco 7961 and 7906 models, had reached end of life and no longer received product support or device maintenance.
Users also found the old phone interface outdated and difficult to use compared to newer communication devices. The company needed upgraded phones with improved features, better usability, and continued vendor support.
The scale of the project added significant complexity. More than 6,000 phones needed to be migrated across multiple office locations, including three sites in California, one in Virginia, and one in Texas.
The project became even more challenging after the company initially selected another engineering firm that failed to deliver due to errors and timeline issues. PM2 NET was then asked to step in, stabilize the rollout, and complete the migration across the client’s geographically distributed offices.
The migration also had to be performed during and around employee working hours. PM2 NET needed to avoid disrupting business productivity while ensuring that each phone was installed, configured, tested, and mapped correctly to its assigned user and extension.
(03)
Result.
PM2 NET assembled dedicated field service teams for each geographic region involved in the rollout. Teams were deployed to support the client’s locations in California, Virginia, and Texas.
The project followed a standardized process at each site to ensure consistency and efficiency. PM2 NET technicians were responsible for:
Staging new phones
Asset tagging devices
Tracking inventory
Uninstalling legacy phones
Connecting cabling to new phones
Migrating phone profiles and software
Transferring extension and user data
Testing each phone for proper operation
Marking failed devices for troubleshooting
Each technician was properly badged for site access, and each location followed a defined timeline to maintain project momentum. This structured approach helped PM2 NET coordinate work across several large office environments while reducing the risk of errors.
At each branch, PM2 NET teams mapped phone placement carefully to ensure that new devices were installed at the correct designated locations. The team transferred data from legacy phones to the new system, including user extensions and phone profiles, using a process referred to as teleporting.
After installation and migration, PM2 NET performed functional testing on each phone. This included MIN testing to confirm short-distance and long-distance call connectivity. Technicians also tested headsets, three-way calling, call forwarding, and other key user features.
If a phone failed during testing, PM2 NET marked the device for follow-up troubleshooting to ensure issues could be resolved without disrupting the broader deployment schedule.
The Result
PM2 NET helped the financial services company recover a previously troubled phone migration and execute a large-scale rollout across five U.S. office locations. More than 6,000 phones were installed and migrated with careful attention to user mapping, profile transfer, cabling, and functional testing.
The new Cisco phone environment gave the organization a supported platform with modern functionality, improved user experience, and longer product lifecycle support. By coordinating field teams across California, Virginia, and Texas, PM2 NET helped reduce operational disruption and maintain continuity for the client’s employees.
The company also gained improved compatibility with modern Cisco collaboration platforms and infrastructure standards, positioning its phone environment for stronger reliability and easier future management.
Technology Advantages
The upgraded Cisco phone system provided compatibility with key Cisco communications platforms, including:
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.6.2 and above
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express 10.0 and above
Cisco Business Edition 6000 8.6.2 and above
At the user level, the new phone system offered a stronger experience than the legacy devices. Compared to the older phones’ 4-bit grayscale displays, the upgraded phones included a 5-inch Wide Video Graphics Array display and a visual voicemail indicator.
Users also benefited from a more ergonomic design, simpler menus, hearing aid compatibility, and volume control. These improvements helped create a more accessible and user-friendly communications experience.
The new phones also supported 802.3af and 802.3at Power over Ethernet compatibility, Link Layer Discovery Protocol, Cisco Discovery Protocol, 802.1q, and 802.1p. These capabilities helped the organization integrate the devices more effectively into its enterprise network environment.
The company could also take advantage of Cisco EnergyWise technology, which enables measurement and reporting of energy consumption across corporate infrastructure. This allows organizations to regulate which devices receive power, when they receive power, and how much power they consume. Across multiple branches and buildings, this functionality can support meaningful energy savings and improved infrastructure control.
Key Outcomes
Recovered a previously delayed and error-prone phone migration
Migrated more than 6,000 phones across five U.S. locations
Supported offices in California, Virginia, and Texas
Replaced end-of-life Cisco UC phones with modern Cisco devices
Completed staging, asset tagging, inventory tracking, cabling, profile migration, and testing
Minimized disruption by working around employee business hours
Verified short-distance calling, long-distance calling, headset functionality, three-way calling, and call forwarding
Improved user experience with modern display, visual voicemail indicator, ergonomic design, and accessibility features
Enabled support for modern Cisco communications platforms and energy management capabilities
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