Cisco IP Telephony System Upgrade Strengthens Resilience and Flexibility for Multi-Purpose Entertainment Venue

Our client’s multi-purpose entertainment venue hosts a diverse range of sporting, arts, and live events throughout the year. Operated by a public body responsible for maintaining and developing key UK venues, the facility continues to play a central role in its city’s cultural calendar.

In December 2024, the client initiated a procurement process for a telephony upgrade to modernise and strengthen their communications environment. Cinos’ proven track record in Cisco communications positioned the company strongly, leading to contract award in March 2025.

The project focused on modernising the venue’s Cisco Unified Communications environment to ensure continued support, resilience, and alignment with current technology standards. Building on a well-established Cisco telephony foundation, Cinos was tasked with upgrading the environment to the latest version of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) to enhance operational stability and provide a future-ready platform for ongoing telephony needs.

In preparation for the UK’s transition away from ISDN lines, the client would also be adopting SIP-based connectivity for PSTN calling. As SIP connectivity would be managed by a third party, Cinos’ role was to configure the CUCM environment to integrate seamlessly with the new SIP service, supporting both internal and external calling requirements.

To maximise value and minimise disruption, Cinos were to retain existing handsets where possible, replacing only end-of-life conference phones and legacy voice gateway hardware to ensure full compatibility with the updated telephony platform.

Prior to delivery, Cinos developed a detailed migration and implementation plan, following best practices and Cisco’s recommended lifecycle approach. This structured methodology ensured that the upgrade could be completed without disrupting the organisations’ day-to-day operations.

Using the existing database as a baseline, Cinos deployed a new virtual environment on the client’s hosting infrastructure, complete with updated servers, IP addresses and host names. The Unified Communications Managers and Unity Connection voicemail platform were upgraded to the latest stable Cisco release, providing a secure and fully supported telephony platform.

To prepare for the migration from ISDN to SIP connectivity, Cinos replaced the legacy Cisco voice gateways with new Cisco Catalyst 8200 CUBE gateways. This ensured that when the SIP provider completed their service migration, the client would be ready to adopt full IP-based calling. Certificates were also added to enable the future use of instant messaging and softphones, giving the organisation greater flexibility in how it manages communications.

Throughout delivery, Cinos’ project management framework provided structure and assurance. From design workshops through to testing, go-live and rollback planning, every phase was carefully controlled to ensure a smooth migration and minimal downtime. Rigorous testing of application clusters, SIP routing and handset deployments ensured that the system was fully operational at go-live, with no interruption to business operations.

Cinos retained and reconfigured the existing Cisco CP-7821 and CP-7841 handsets and supplied 40 additional CP-7821 units, pre-configured for future expansion. End of life conference phones were replaced with modern CP-8832 units, providing improved audio quality and usability for meeting and conference rooms.

A new Cisco Flex-3 Agreement was also put in place, giving the client simplified licence management and access to the latest Cisco collaboration technologies under a flexible commercial model.

As part of the contract, Cinos now provides a fully managed service for the venue’s telephony environment. Acting as a single point of contact, Cinos oversees all system support, incident management and vendor liaison, ensuring the solution remains reliable, secure, and aligned with ongoing operational needs.

Through this successful upgrade, the venue now benefits from a modern, supported, and future-ready telephony platform, underpinned by Cinos’ continued partnership and technical expertise.

Following a PRINCE2-aligned approach, Cinos delivered the upgrade with minimal impact on live operations. By building and testing the new environment in advance, including application clusters and SIP test numbers, the client was able to continue day-to-day operations throughout the project.

Users remained on familiar handsets and interfaces, avoiding workflow disruption or retraining, and only 3 out of approximately 200 handsets required additional attention after migration. This careful planning ensured a smooth transition to the new platform without operational disruption.

By transitioning to SIP, the venue has strengthened its telephony infrastructure ahead of the BT PSTN switch-off scheduled for 2027. The migration to SIP removes reliance on legacy ISDN lines, mitigating potential connectivity risks caused by physical copper faults or maintenance disruptions.

With a SIP-ready platform in place, the client now benefits from a flexible, scalable foundation for future communication needs. The enhanced infrastructure supports seamless integration with modern collaboration tools, unifying voice, video, and messaging across a single resilient network.

Cinos now provide a fully managed service, ensuring the client’s Cisco telephony environment remains secure, stable, and optimised for ongoing operations. Core service elements include change management and vendor liaison, with Cinos overseeing all Cisco engagement to deliver a consistent and streamlined support experience.

Through structured service reviews and reporting, the client receives full visibility of system performance and continuous improvement opportunities. This ongoing collaboration gives confidence that its communications environment will continue to perform reliably over time.

The new Cisco telephony platform provides the venue with a strong foundation to adopt future communications innovations. With the latest CUCM in place, the client can explore AI-enhanced capabilities such as intelligent call routing and integration with CPaaS solutions to further enhance operational efficiency and user experience.

Looking ahead, working with Cinos also opens a pathway to the Cloud via Cinos Cloud. The platform provides a flexible and scalable route to cloud communications, enabling the venue to expand, adapt, and integrate new capabilities when the time is right, without major disruption to existing services.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager version 15 sits at the heart of the venue’s upgraded telephony infrastructure. As Cisco’s flagship call-control and session management platform, CUCM v15 supports a unified ecosystem of SIP telephony, messaging, conferencing, mobility, and presence.

By adopting version 15, the client benefits from modern architectural enhancements, improved administration efficiency, and higher scalability. The platform supports tighter integration with cloud-connected UC capabilities, advanced security features, and richer support for hybrid deployments.