Managed Wireless LAN Welcome Kit






 

Welcome Kits Home

  • Overview

  • Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) enable your teams and you to work anywhere in your corporate environment where a Wi-Fi signal can be received. As an alternative or enhancement to your wired LAN, wireless LANs push allow your network to be accessed areas where it would be impossible or inconvenient to otherwise serve – such as hallways, auditoriums, conference rooms, food courts, and other common areas. Devices like tablets or smartphones rely on Wi-Fi for connectivity in an enterprise network. Many enterprises choose to go entirely wireless, without a local wired infrastructure. Whether your devices utilize wired or wireless connectivity, it’s all about flexibility and helping your teams to be productive where it best suits them.

    By choosing Verizon’s Managed WLAN, you leverage our expertise to design, implement, and manage your wireless network for you or with you, depending upon your business goals. With WLAN in a broader Managed Network Services, If you are provided Managed WLAN in addition to other Managed Network Services, Verizon is able to gives you a more holistic, unified view of your network, from end to end.

    You can monitor your managed network through near real-time reporting that provides information on usage, coverage, security, performance, and capacity. Additionally, we provide a portal to you as a standard feature enabling near real-time tracking of the managed service implementation process, project status, inventory tracking, contacts, change management requests, and trouble tickets.

  • Your Verizon team

  • Your Managed WLAN Services team (also known as your Managed Services Delivery Team) will help guide you through the full scope of services from contract signature to the eventual handoff of your network services to the Verizon Network Operations Center (NOC).















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Managed Services Project Manager +

  • The Managed Services Project Manager is the primary contact for you regarding your Managed WLAN Services. They are responsible for the overall implementation of the project and serve as your single point of contact throughout the course of the project. Your Managed Services Project Manager will arrange a Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call to review and approve the Engineering Design Document and begin the implementation process.

    Below is a list of activities to be performed by the Managed Services Project Manager:

    • Schedule and run the Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call.
    • Perform overall project Below is a list of activities to be performed by the Managed Services Project Manager   
    • Management services for the timely delivery and successful activation of the network with Verizon.
    • Act as the ultimate point of escalation for the project team.
    • Confirm on-time delivery of the project and will pursue/escalate any unmet milestone deadlines.
    • Host conference calls among all relevant parties.
    • Develop the project plan jointly with the Verizon account team, you, and other support groups.
    • Secure and manage all resources necessary for project execution.
    • Coordinate resource scheduling with Design and Implementation Engineers.
    • Lead the development of processes and procedures required for network implementation.
    • Oversee the completion of all steps in the defined process.
    • Publish open action items and status reports. 
    • Establish reporting procedures with you and Verizon.
    • Publish open action items and status reports.
    • Establish reporting procedures with you and Verizon.
    • Maintain the order tracking with milestone details for circuit/CPE Orders.
    • Interface with Verizon organizations to collect status information.
    • Act as the point of contact for any order-related issues.
    • Verify overall project delivery is compliant with the contract.
    • Conduct project closeout meeting. Transitions any remaining non-project issues for follow up.
    • Provide re-engagement and, if applicable, change management instructions to you and the Verizon account team and you.

    Note: E-mail communication sent by your assigned Managed Services Project Manager will contain the Managed Services Project Manager contact information along with escalation contact information.

Order Manager +

  • Your Order Manager will communicate as needed in the form of periodic emails and/or follow up calls to provide status updates regarding the implementation and activation of your Managed WLAN Services. The Order Manager will work all aspects of the order directly with you and will gather any additional information needed. As noted above, a Managed WLAN solution involves multiple products and service items. The Order Manager and Managed Service Project Manager will be in full communication with each other to help move your order to provisioning.

    Though your Managed Service Project Manager is your primary contact for your Managed WLAN Services, you may contact your Order Manager via email or phone at any time.

Design Engineer +

  • Your Design Engineer is responsible for the physical and logical design and development of your network.

    Below is a list of activities to be performed by the Design Engineer:

    • Create your organization’s custom Engineering Design Document.
    • Work with you to help develop an application Test Procedural Document (if applicable).
    • Review & verify your hardware and software configurations.
    • Review redundancy, availability requirements, and security requirements.
    • Make revisions to Engineering Design Document (EDD), as required.
    • Review IP addressing scheme & request IP Addressing allocation for secondary addressing for network management. Note: does not apply to Cloud-Controlled Access Points (Cisco Meraki) or Software Defined Wireless LAN (Mist, a Juniper Company).
    • Provide activation/technical requirements template and hands project off to the Implementation Engineer.
    • Implement the necessary WLAN controllers, either on premise or in the Verizon data center. Note: only applicable to controller-based architecture from Cisco or HPE Aruba.Provide visibility to your network for network management (i.e., management PVCs) once the link has been provisioned.
Implementation Engineer +

  • The role of your Implementation Engineer is to act as the technical point of contact during any required device installations while providing virtual support on all managed equipment or circuits, taking over the network implementation from the Design Engineer after the first few sites are implemented.

    Below is a list of activities to be performed by the Implementation Engineer:

    • Communicate with you as necessary for required technical information.
    • Confirm out-of-band (OOB) Access.

    Note: OOB Access is only required for Wireless LAN controllers and not to Access Points.

    • Confirm Layer 1, 2, and 3 connectivity for the hardware and access. 
    • Validate all necessary IP traffic is passing as designed.
    • Build logical configurations for connectivity to your network.
    • Engage other Verizon teams if activation of the port as needed.
    • Act as your technical point of contact during device activation.
    • Test devices to confirm they meet security and compatibility standards for your existing network devices.
Project Engineer +

  • Upon successfully completing the implementation of your Managed WLAN Services, your network services will be handed off to the Verizon Network Operations Center (NOC). The NOC will be responsible for incident and change management activities after your solution is accepted under management.

    Within the NOC, your organization will have a Project Engineer assigned. Below is a list of activities to be performed by the Project Engineer:

    • Manages the hand-off transitioning process of networks from Design & Implementation (Managed Services Delivery) to Service Assurance (NOC)
    • Point-of-Contact for non-real-time-service issues
    • Point-of-Contact for your account requests and password resets.
    • Point-of-Contact for your AirWave account registration and password resets.

    Note: not applicable to Cloud-Controlled Access Points and Software Defined Wireless LAN.

    • Maintains the Enterprise Service Portal (ESP), the Managed Network Solutions Database of Record

    For more details, click on the Network Operations Center in the left navigation of this welcome kit.

  • Preparing Your Site

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  • Preparing your site for a successful Managed WLAN Services implementation

    Your Managed Network Solutions will review the site and other requirements with you on the Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call.

    Customer action

    If you will have any new services either activated or installed, please review the following site readiness details below, and take appropriate action as needed.

  • Engineering Design Document

    The Engineering Design Document is a vital portion of any Managed Network Services offering. The customized document provides you with the technical details relating to your solution and works as the source document Verizon leverages for all of your Managed Network Services.

    The Solutions Architect (SA) is responsible for developing the high level design that the Design Engineer will use to create the low level design.

    A typical Engineering Design Document would include these sections:

    • Introduction
    • Existing network details
    • Proposed design details
    • Hub and remote site details
    • Internet access
    • Default and LAN routing protocols
    • WLAN design considerations
    • Failover/load sharing availability
    • Device operating system requirements
    • Routing scenarios (normal, remote, failure)
    • Quality of Service (QoS) required
    • IP addressing
    • VoIP/IP telephony (*)
    • Physical design (*)
    • SNMP and security (*)
    • Network management and reporting tools (*)
      • Out-of-Band (OOB) access.
      • Note: out-of-band management access is only required for Wireless LAN controllers.
      • In-Band access
      • Management
      • Reporting
    • 3rd Party networks / activities
    • Business continuity / disaster recovery plans
    • Migration requirements
    • Customer responsibilities/actions
    • Project assumptions/caveats

    (*)The Design Engineer (DE) is not responsible for the ongoing life cycle of the network, and therefore, would not regularly update the Engineering Design Document, unless a DE Designated support contract is purchased.

    Customer action

    To help your Managed WLAN Services project stay on schedule, you should begin to confirm that you have answers to the required Engineering Design Document sections listed above after signing the Managed WLAN Services contract.

    Site requirements

    Review Verizon’s Customer Readiness Website. This site will assist you in preparing for your Managed WLAN Services with Verizon. Reviewing the content on this site and following some simple steps will help facilitate a smooth installation and activation of your service.

    Physical Requirements

    When there are physical, onsite components to your Managed WLAN Services, you must take specific action and/or ensure the following items are appropriately addressed:

    • The local contact must verify receipt of “room ready” requirements such as secure space for service equipment, power levels for the circuit and equipment as communicated by Verizon and conduit /cabling path and wiring needed to connect equipment to the DMARC (Demarcation) requirements and a date on which they will be completed.

    Customer action

    You are responsible for general inside wiring which is not part of the activation of the customer premise equipment (CPE) or services.

    • You are responsible for drilling in wall and ceilings when access points are to be mounted, which is not part of the activation of the customer premise equipment (CPE) or services.
    • Assume responsibility for hardware, software and memory compatibility issues related to existing equipment you choose to use.

    Customer action

    You are responsible for the configuration of any CPE that is not Verizon supplied.

    Demarcation (DMARC) extensions

    If any of the Managed WLAN Services Verizon will handle for you need to be extended beyond the telecommunications demarcation point, you are responsible for ensuring extended demarcation facilities are installed and ready upon implementation.

    Alternatively, you may be able to order a DMARC extension from Verizon or a third-party Local Exchange Carrier (LEC).

    Note: Delays in extending your DMARC may result in Managed WLAN Service implementation delays.

    Power requirements

    Loss of electrical power may cause your Verizon access service to cease working if there are no accommodations made for back-up power. Verizon highly recommends you install an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) onsite.

    Verizon does not provide UPS units; however, if you choose to implement a UPS, the following are some guidelines for reliable communication in case of a power outage:

    • Back-up the entire building using UPS. This will help protect all devices and equipment from power failures, including telephony, data networking, and PCs.
    • Provide a separate generator for back-up power (in addition to the feed provided by the utility company). In this case, you may still need to add UPS, because it may take a few minutes for the generator to ramp up.

    Note: The advantage of this approach is that less battery time is needed for each UPS. You should consult with your Managed Network Solutions for any additional power requirements as needed.

    Issues

    The graphic below shows some common situations that may cause issues or delay your Managed WLAN Services.

    For more detailed information about preparing your site for your upcoming installation (either performed by you or Verizon), please refer to Verizon’s Customer Readiness website.

  • Preparing for successful delivery

  • Steps for a successful delivery of your Managed WLAN Services

    To successfully deliver your Managed WLAN Services, there are some activities for both Verizon and you to complete.

    Verizon steps

    Verizon will take the following actions to provide a smooth implementation of your Managed WLAN Services:

    • Your Managed Network Solutions will provide you with his or her contact details, and other information associated with your Managed WLAN Services order.

    Note: You will also receive the full contact details for your Order Manager, Design Engineer, Implementation Engineer, and any other relevant Verizon contacts.

    • Managed Network Solutions will schedule a Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call with other Verizon team members and you.
    • Upon successful submission of your Managed W-LAN Services order, your Managed Network Solutions would be your lead contact for the project to provide weekly status calls and as needed communications.
    • Managed Network Solutions will arrange the Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call with you, your Order Manager, Design Engineer or Solution Architect, and the Implementation Engineer to help develop your Engineering Design Document (i.e. IP Address plan, etc.).
    • After the kickoff call, the Design Engineer documents the details, the service needs, and sends the Engineering Design Document to you for approval. When approved, then Design Engineer starts to work on design, documentation and configurations.
    • Confirmation of your schedule implementation timeline with your Managed Network Solutions and the Design Engineer.
    • Managed Network Solutions will coordinate all project components from start to finish as part of the service:
    • Examples:
      • Verizon will project manage (through your Managed Network Solutions ) the staging, configuring and installation of your WLAN equipment purchased from Verizon at your facility.
      •  Coordinate 3rd parties as necessary
    • Submit Letter of Authorization (LOA) for finalization of your managed services. Also may be referred to as Letter of Agency (not applicable if Monitor and Notify service level is selected).

    Note: Ask your Verizon Account Team for details on how to properly fill this out.

    • Provide periodic updates on the progress surrounding the Managed WLAN Services implementation.
    • Notify you in advance of any system maintenance and/or Telco work that could impact your installation schedule.
    • Advise via “handoff” email from your Managed Network Solutions that the network is under “managed” status and billable.
    • After your site is under management, the Verizon Network Operations Center (NOC) assumes the responsibility of your network services.

    Customer steps

    The following steps on your part will also lead to a successful and timely delivery of your Managed WLAN Services:

    • Attend the Customer Kickoff Call / Order Verification Call. Your Managed WLAN Services order is unable to move forward without your attendance on this call.
      •  Check your site specific information prior to Verizon submitting the order to verify that your orders comply with your site requirements. The correct site address information should be supplied.
      • Provide information as requested by your Managed Network Solutions, Design Engineer, and/or Implementation Engineer.
    • Begin to assemble details for the areas to be requested within your Engineering Design Document.
    • Provide physical site information like floor plans and/or site survey documentation.

    Customer action

    To speed up the process, you should have ready all of the information needed for your Engineering Design Document before this call. The primary items needed for the Engineering Design Document are found later on within this welcome kit.

    • Review and approve your organization’s Engineering Design Document
      • Provide all information necessary to implement the service such as the IP Address plan. Verizon needs to understand the IP addresses associated with your Managed WLAN Services plan.

    Note: not applicable to Cloud-Controlled Access Points and Software Defined Wireless LAN.

    • If needed, prepare your site for installation (as outlined below).

    Customer action

    As an example, upon notification by Verizon of the Telco tentative dispatch date, you should ensure each local contact will be onsite for the installation and knows about the pending order. If the local contact will be unavailable, an alternate contact must be provided to avoid a reschedule and missed appointment.
    Instruct the local contact(s) to direct the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) technician to the location where the circuit demarcation (Telco Closet) is to be placed and advise them if the demarcation must be extended other points within the building.

    • Notify Verizon as far in advance as possible of any times during which activations or installations may not be scheduled so as to not impact your delivery schedule.
    • If a change to the established activation/installation date is required, communicate those changes as soon as possible to your Managed Network Solutions.
    • Inform Verizon of any networking changes (your facility, 3rd party changes, etc.) that are relevant to your Managed WLAN Services.

     

    Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call

    The Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call is the first gathering set up by your Managed Network Solutions after your Managed WLAN Services contract has been signed. The call would consist of:

    • Verizon Managed WLAN Services team introductions, roles, and responsibilities
    • Expectations of Verizon and your organization
    • Validate the project scope and services
    • Discuss timelines and deliverables
    • Next steps

    Note: The Customer Kickoff Call / Order Verification Call is for the complete Managed WLAN Service order and not for each individual location covered under the order. Your Managed WLAN Services order is unable to move forward without your attendance on this call.

    Your Managed Network Solutions will provide you with the due dates for the activation/installation of the services handled by Verizon through your Managed WLAN Services. These are the dates Verizon will be ready to activate/install your service(s).

    Customer action

    Please ensure you are available on the date  you have agreed with the Order Manager for the order verification call to take place in order to avoid any potential service downtime.

    Note: Your Managed Network Solutions will be your primary point of contact moving forward until the completion of your Managed WLAN Service.

     

  • Installations

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  • Verizon-performed Installations

    As a part of your Managed WLAN Services with Verizon, installations may be required for the services you need. If you choose to use Verizon for your installation needs, note the following steps will occur:

    • Your Managed Network Solutions will coordinate Verizon installation dates with you and/or your local contact for your Managed WLAN Services.
    • If needed, a pre-installation survey may occur before the actual installation (depending on the product).
    • Verizon will dispatch the installation team(s) for the service to your location(s).

  • Customer action

    The local contact must ensure technicians have access to all on-premises wiring and space locations.

    Note: After hours fees may apply. Please review your contract for details on these charges.

    • Post-installation, Verizon will verify the network service is provisioned and will send information that the service is complete.

    Note: Only installation services purchased through Verizon would be coordinated by your Managed Network Solutions. Any delays with outside vendor services associated with your Managed WLAN Services may impact the timing of the management of your services.

    Customer action

    After implementing your Managed WLAN Services, any new services may have to go through the contracting process. Ask your Verizon account team for more details.

    3rd Party/Self-installations

    If you choose to have your installations performed by a 3rd party or through your internal means, it is your responsibility to provide any updates or details to the Managed Network Solutions.

    Note: Only installation services purchased through Verizon would be coordinated by your Managed Network Solutions.

  • Business continuity plan

  • Service disruptions can hurt a company's bottom line and compromise an organization's mission. The economic and reputational imperatives of the current market have shifted the discussion from IT disaster recovery to an enterprise-wide business continuity focus.

    Organizations of all sizes and industry types should have ongoing, enterprise-wide Business Continuity Programs that develop, prepare and exercise the various areas of continuity from critical business processes to IT service availabilities. The Business Continuity Program should address areas such as Emergency Response, Impact Analysis, Business Continuity Plans, Disaster Recovery Plans, Supplier Plans, Exercises, and ongoing BC program management.  

    The goals of today’s most relevant Business Continuity Programs are those providing organizations with an enterprise-wide business continuity focus, that not only includes strategizing and planning for IT service availability and disaster recovery, but addresses the ability to manage all areas of critical and continuity activities of the program to help prepare and mitigate the impact from ever-increasing risks threatening to interrupt organizations’ critical processes.

    Key criteria your organization should consider when creating a relevant, enterprise-wide Business Continuity Program to help protect your business critical information and processes

    • The Executive Team has established enterprise-wide business continuity objectives
    • The BC Program is
      • Enterprise-wide, and extends beyond the IT department
      • Part of the organization’s annual operational budget
      • An on-going, steady-state operation of the business
    • Regular assessments and reviews to validate business recovery requirements, priorities capabilities and compliance requirements
    • IT Service strategies and recovery solutions to maintain effective service resiliency and availability align to the business requirements
    • Appropriate emergency response, business continuity, communications and disaster recovery plans are designed and developed to provide proper guidance during an event
    • Regular BC Program maintenance is being performed to manage the program changes
      • Determine if you can/will manage the BC Program internally, or using a BC partner
      • If a BC partner, determine those with the best capabilities to manage your organization’s size and needs
      • Confirm the group or persons managing your BC Program is qualified, they have references, ISO accreditations and BC certifications
    • Annual exercises and tests are performed before an event happens, validating your plans effectiveness
    • Develop clear and simple methods, policies and procedures to follow
    • Keep all resources properly trained
    • Once the event is over, you should have a plan in place to bring your business back to normal operations

    Verizon can help you with your Business Continuity planning needs

    Verizon's portfolio of Business Continuity Consulting, Planning and Management help reduce the risk and impact from a disruption by providing enterprise-wide Business Continuity Programs that generate strategic solutions, formulate plans and manage program preparations to provide effective continuity measures should an unavoidable crisis occur.

    With the Verizon Business Continuity Management portfolio of consulting services and programs, we help our customers to effectively prepare and maintain continuity during planned and unplanned events to help reduce the risk and impact from disruptions. Please contact your Verizon account team for further assistance.

  • Manage your account with Verizon Enterprise Center

  • Easily Manage your Services Online

    The Verizon Enterprise Center makes it easy for you to monitor, manage, analyze and optimize your Verizon products and services online. Available seamlessly between desktop, tablet and smartphone – you can act on your crucial data wherever your work takes you.

  • Global Change Management

    Global Change Management (GCM) is a framework within Verizon Enterprise Center  portal of multiple integrated applications for ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) based service management. It is designed to simplify the change management process for Verizon customers through the Verizon Enterprise Center  portal. In the GCM framework, you can create and submit Managed Network Services (MNS) change or service requests through Verizon Enterprise Center  portal. When changes become necessary, Verizon engineers work closely with you to review, assess, schedule, and execute required changes.

    Changes to networks are categorized into standard and optional, depending on the impact to the network. Optional requests—generally defined as requirements that alter the existing network design—are routed to engineering through a project initiated by the account team.

    Managed WLAN Services at the Full Management service level, and includes Standard change management (router configuration, password, request for information, scheduling maintenance, etc.) in the monthly service fee. Optional change management is available for an additional per change fee. You may initiate change management requests through Verizon Enterprise Center.

    Note: Standard change management is included in the Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC) and the Optional change management is a Non Recurring Charge (NRC).

    Note: Information on the global change management activities associated with the Full Management service level can be found within Verizon Enterprise Center.

  • Wireless LAN architecture types

  • Verizon supports three Managed Wireless LAN architectures: controller-based wireless architecture, such as Cisco’s “Lightweight” architecture; virtual controller-based, such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Aruba’s “Aruba Instant” architecture, and cloud-based architecture, such as found with Cisco Meraki and Mist, a Juniper Company

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    1.1 Controller-based architecture

    With a controller-based architecture (such as Cisco Aironet and HPE Aruba), the "traditional" function of an Access Point (AP) is divided and shared between a "Lightweight" AP and a Wireless LAN controller.

    APs, in a controller-based architecture have limited functionality, with most of the wireless intelligence and AP access residing at a central controlling device - the Wireless LAN controller.

    1.2 Virtual Controller-based Architecture

    With the virtual controller-based architecture (such as found with Aruba Instant and Cisco Mobility Express), the wireless LAN controller functionality has been virtualized and embedded in the access points.

    The embedded virtual controller functionality, which is active on a single AP at any given time, handles the functions of the Managed Wireless LAN Service within the APs of the same network and broadcast domain, including but not limited to security policies, intrusion prevention, radio frequency management, and quality of service.

    Tunnels are set up between the virtual controller and the APs for management and data traffic to support Customer’s wireless applications.

    1.3 Cloud-based or Cloud-Controlled Architecture

    With a cloud-based or cloud-controlled architecture, such as found with Cisco Meraki and Mist, a Juniper Company (the platform for Software Defined Wireless LAN, or SD WLAN) the access points are centrally controlled, with every access point receiving its configuration, policy, and OS from “the Cloud”.

    The cloud-based architecture has a “view” of all connected access points and can report on and adjust network parameters accordingly.

  • Managed Wireless LAN service levels

  • Three service levels are available with the Managed Wireless LAN service:  Monitor & Notify, Physical Management, and Full Management.

     

    For all three service levels Verizon will:

    • Poll the devices under management every three minutes
    • Respond to alarms generated by failed polls (indicates that a fault has occurred)
    • Notify you of the problem
    • Open a trouble ticket on your behalf
    • Offer a 15-minute proactive outage notification (Service Level Agreement (SLA) applies)
    • Assume responsibility to clear all network and access related issues

    As noted above, Verizon will electronically notify you about fault conditions. Final responsibility for clearing faults depends on the service level and the nature of the fault.

    The differences in fault resolution responsibilities are outlined in the table below:

     

  • Managed WLAN Services options

  • WiFi router

  • Network Engineering

    With Network Engineering, Verizon provides additional reporting, analysis, engineering planning, design, and change-management support services. The Network Engineering service option is typically used for larger networks, i.e. with 20+ managed devices under Full Management.

  • Guest access

    In case you are looking for a solution to offer Wi-Fi connectivity to your visitors, Verizon offers several options that could be used, depending on the underlying network infrastructure that is used as part of the Managed WLAN Service.

    All architectures are supported by the Purple-based guest Wi-Fi solution, which includes content filtering capabilities and allows easy access to the Wi-Fi network by your guests who may be using social media accounts or accessing other online platforms and content. Social media account logins provide rich social media-based analytics for you in a dashboard, which helps to understand your customer base even better.

    If you use a cloud-based architecture from either Cisco Meraki or Mist Systems, the natively supported guest Wi-Fi functionality can be used so that visitors at your locations can connect to the Wi-Fi.

    Several authentication options are available across these platforms to ensure that you can select the authentication mechanism for your visitors that best fits your requirements.

    Splash page design

    In the event that you would like to use a splash page that welcomes your visitors when they would like to connect to the Wi-Fi, Verizon can provide design support at an additional charge to have such a splash page created for you.

    This makes it possible to use Verizon’s design experts to take into account your corporate branding requirements for the splash page that your visitors see when they would like to log onto the network.

    Mobile location analytics

    This feature enables capturing information broadcast by the wireless devices of guests and end users and uses such data for marketing purposes, subject to applicable laws and regulation.

    Mobile Location Analytics provides insight into trends in foot traffic across your locations and shows quantity of people passing by your locations, trends in dwell time of visitors and trends in visitors returning to your locations.

    Content filtering

    Verizon’s guest Wi-Fi tools also provide options to control what content can be visited on the network. Inappropriate content can be blocked by requesting either a specific category of sites to be blocked or the specific sites that should not be accessible to your visitors, while they browse the Internet on your network.

    Wireless assessment

    Where required and at an additional charge, Verizon can provide WLAN site assessment. The wireless site assessment determines the wireless requirements, suitable locations for the Managed WLAN hardware, and identifies possible interference based on the results of a Radio Frequency (RF) analysis.  If Customer opts not to contract for or provide such a wireless assessment, Verizon will deploy and monitor the WLAN based upon Customer’s requirements.

  • Reporting and tools

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  • Verizon integrates technology from industry-leading vendors to provide network performance reporting capabilities in its Managed Network Solutions portfolio so you can baseline your network, quickly identify problems, optimize performance, control costs, and perform network planning.

    These automated reporting and analysis tools continuously select and gather key data from network devices. This information is then used to monitor and evaluate performance and determine performance trends that may signal potential trouble areas requiring modification of network usage, traffic re-prioritization, or potentially a new network design.

    As your requirements, applications, and network usage changes, performance-reporting tools enable continuous evaluation of the network and critical adjustments to fine-tune performance and control costs.

  • AirWave Management Platform (AMP)

    AMP is the standard reporting platform for Verizon's controller based Managed WLAN solutions.

    This application offers an automated reporting and analysis tool that provides you with comprehensive daily and ad hoc reporting to quickly assess the health and performance of the Managed Wireless LAN service.

    Cisco Meraki dashboard

    In case are using the cloud-based solution from Cisco Meraki as part of your Verizon WLAN solution, you will be granted with access rights to the Cisco Meraki dashboard.

    Within the dashboard, you will have access to all configuration settings of the Cisco Meraki devices that Verizon manages for your organization, as well as reporting information that provides insight into the health and usage of your network.

    The Cisco Meraki dashboard provides reports such as the Clients Report, which identifies what devices have connected to the network, and provides usage information, Operating System (OS) information and what applications have been used.

    Another report that is available in the Cisco Meraki dashboard is the Summary Report. The Summary Report provides a summary of usage information across the overall network.

    It shows what access points are used most, what Service Instance IDs (SSIDs) are used more than others, what clients have consumed most bandwidth on the network, what Access Point (AP) models are used most, what applications are consuming most bandwidth, what client device manufacturers are consuming most bandwidth and what operating systems are seen most on the network by usage.

    The dashboard also provides a function to run a report on the PCI compliance status of the network. This report provides recommendations to Customers who may utilize Cisco Meraki-based network to assist them in complying with the Payment Card Industry Standards (PCI).

    Mobile Location Analytics – if enabled – are also accessible in the Cisco Meraki dashboard. As briefly explained in the service option section, these analytics can be used to compare visitor trends between sites or after launching campaigns, and to find the effect of actions on visitor dwell time or repeat visit frequency.

    Mist Systems dashboard

    Reporting and analytics are available through the Mist Systems dashboard that is accessible to customers as part of the Software Defined Wireless LAN solution.

    The Insights report in the dashboard provides a summary of usage and health information across the overall network. The report includes information about what access points are used most, what SSIDs are used more than others, what clients have consumed most bandwidth on the network, what applications are consuming most bandwidth and other information that provides useful information about the use and health of your Wi-Fi network.

    The Wi-Fi Service Level report provides a summary of the performance of the precision service level metrics that have been configured for the Wi-Fi network.

    Besides access to the above-mentioned reports in the dashboard, you will also have access to all other sections in the dashboard. The dashboard also provides location analytics information, as well as additional health and usage information of your network. Furthermore, you will also have access to the configuration settings of the network and the network health status of the network.

    • Hosted Network Services
    • Premises based
    • Premises based Dedicated – SD-WAN only

    Below is a brief description of each of the Virtual Network Services portfolio of services available currently. Additional details and breakdown of the individual vendor service packages can be provided by your Account Manager.

  • Network Operations Center (NOC)

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  • Upon successfully completing the requirements of your Managed WLAN Services, your network services will be handed off to the Verizon Network Operations Center (NOC).

    Your Managed Network Solutions / APAC OM will send a “handoff” email to you and anyone else you designate within your organization. The email will:

    • Confirm your network is officially under management
    • Provide you with points of contact
    • Explain the process to report in-scope and out-of-scope network changes

  • Customer action

    If you do not receive a “handoff” email from your Managed Network Solutions, please contact your Managed Network Solutions directly to determine the timing of the transition of your network services to the NOC.

    The Network Operation Center performs automatic alarm detection, fault isolation, trouble-ticket generation, event and maintenance correlation, customer notification and updating, in many cases without the manual intervention of network support staff. The Network Operation Center also provides deep visibility into the circuits and equipment that make up your network to help more effectively manage your services.

    The Network Operation Center monitors your networks through a combination of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) polling/traps, Application Programming Interface (API) polling, Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) pings, and SYSLOG messages from devices.

NOC services +

  • The following are services available to you within the Network Operation Center (based on your contract with Verizon):

Fault management +

  • For all Managed WLAN Services levels, Verizon will proactively monitor your network, isolate faults, and notify you in the event of an alarm. Rapid Fault Isolation enables Verizon to test network elements in parallel, automatically. Verizon can proactively detect a customer outage, perform fault isolation, and initiate repair action, in many cases without human intervention

    • Verizon will dispatch support in the event of router hardware trouble for customers subscribing to the Full Management service level. Support for the Full Management service level includes all physical and logical router configuration management support.

    For further details on tickets and priorities under Fault Management, ask your Verizon account team for details.

Configuration/change management +

  • As networks evolve, configuration changes invariably become necessary. As soon as a device comes under Network Operation Center management, Verizon engineers save configurations to servers so a back-up copy is available. In addition, a regular back-up process collects and saves all configurations. Verizon uses a rigorous process to help safeguard the design of customer networks.

    When changes become necessary, Verizon engineers work closely with you to review, assess, schedule, and execute required changes. In scope changes to networks are categorized into the following:

    • Emergency. Related to imminent failure(s) or current outage. The customer would initiate an emergency change by opening a ticket through the customer service center.
    • Express. Minor change to a single site that does not require scheduling.
    • Standard. Changes that require technical assessment and scheduling are covered under the standard option. Standard change requests require advance notice of three business days (72 hours).

    Optional requests—generally defined as requirements that alter the existing network design—are routed to engineering through a project initiated by the account team.

    Note: The Managed WLAN Full Management service level includes Standard change management (router configuration, password, request for information, scheduling maintenance, etc.). Standard change management is included in the monthly service fee. Optional change management is available for an additional per change fee. Initiate change management requests through Verizon Enterprise Center.

Security Management +

  • Security Management broadly defines those functions and activities performed by Verizon to help keep your solution [network and Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)] secure. In addition to the security and survivability features of our Network Operation Center facilities, the functions and activities include, but are not limited to the following:

    • Security Privileges. Establish security privileges for the devices under management.
      • Maintain password
      • Enable passwords
      • Enable secret passwords
    • Access Control. Access to the network and the device under management.
    • Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS) Administration. TACACS is an authentication protocol developed to provide remote access authentication and event logging. Verizon’s preferred and recommended installation is that Cisco devices have TACACS set up.
    • Add/Modify/Delete Filter and Access Lists. Access list and filters are used to define conditions for how packets are handled by the router or switch. Packets are dropped, permitted, or routed based on these filters/access lists.
    • Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)-Related Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS). Upgrade. Initiate the process to upgrade a router or switch’s operating system to mitigate known security vulnerabilities with the current code.

    Customer action

    Verizon will not upgrade any security associated code within your managed network without your prior notification and/or approval from you. In the event any security code needs to be upgraded by Verizon, you have the responsibility to check how that upgrade may affect any other security protocols your organization may have in place.

    • OS Upgrades. Initiate the process of upgrading a router or switch’s operating system to eliminate known bugs with the current code – usually performed as an “emergency” upgrade.
    • Back-Up and Maintain Router Configuration: Regular back-ups are accomplished through the use of a custom Verizon proprietary script.

    Note: Only the Managed Network Services Organization (MNSO) Network Operation Center engineers will have access to the configuration servers. Each MNSO Network Operation Center engineer is assigned a secure logon ID and password to access the configuration back-ups. Having the backed-up router configurations fully accessible to MNSO Network Operation Center engineers helps provide rapid restoration of services and accurate documentation about your network.

Escalation guideline +

  • Verizon’s objective is to restore your services to their normal operating conditions quickly and efficiently. To accomplish this objective, Network Operation Center and the Customer Service Centers use escalation guidelines set up to push or drive issues to resolution.

    Instead of escalating on the basis of time, escalations are value-based. The objective is to add value to the escalation process across the board for all customers and all circumstances, as well as to add standardization to the processes.

    Note: You may request escalations at any time during an outage by calling into the Customer Service Center or directly contacting Network Operation Center management (as provided in your “handoff” email).

    Value-based escalation may be understood as follows:

    • During outages, Customer Service representatives review tickets hourly to update you.
    • They assess whether escalations are needed. If there is no progress since the previous review, an escalation is made to the next level of management.
    • However, if the appropriate focus and resources are being applied, escalations may be deferred. Technical escalations by the Network Operation Center to local-exchange or third-party carriers follow the same value-add process.
Verizon network maintenance +

  • Verizon strives to perform network maintenance activities with little or no disruption to our customers. However, regular and sometimes emergency maintenances are unavoidable. Every attempt is made to schedule your maintenance windows during weekends, late night, or early morning hours to reduce negative impact.

    Note: For global wide type of changes the Verizon backbone team sends out a notification. The Verizon backbone team would not wait for your approval to perform the global wide changes.

    A formal change control system is used through Verizon Enterprise Center to request, approve, schedule, notify, and implement changes.

    Customer action

    Contact your Verizon account team about setting up Verizon network maintenance activities notifications.

Customer Network Maintenance +

  • Customers are required to notify Verizon when equipment or site-maintenance activities that may cause outages or generate alarms on Verizon systems become necessary.

    A customer maintenance change request, specifying the beginning and end date and time, should be created through Verizon Enterprise Center portal.

  • Training and service contact information

  • 10 training and service contact information 300x227

  • Training

    The Customer Learning Portal provides Verizon Business customers with training and resources for products, systems and tools. To access the Customer Learning Portal, please go to:  https://customertraining.verizon.com.

Service Contact Information

The matrix below provides you with the contact information you need to view or make changes to your account information.

  • Service issue

    Maintenance notification

  • Be prepared with the following information:

    Refer to the notification email.

     

    Verizon enterprise center portal

    N/A

     

    Service team

    Contact Assigned Service Team or subscribe to Premium Client Services (PCS)

  • Call

    Contact Verizon with the contact information provided on the maintenance notification email

     

    Verizon enterprise center live chat

    N/A

     

    Account team

    Contact Assigned Account Team

  • Service issue

    Verizon Enterprise Center Tools and Training

  • Be prepared with the following information:

    N/A

     

    Verizon enterprise center portal

    Verizon Enterprise Center Link

     

    Service team

    Contact Assigned Service Team or subscribe to Premium Client Services (PCS)

  • Call

    Send an e-mail to: ctd-cos@verizon.com

     

    Verizon Enterprise Center Live Chat

    N/A

     

    Account team

    Contact assigned account team

  • Service issue

    Billing

  • Be prepared with the following information:

    Billing Account Number / Service ID/ Location ID

     

    Verizon enterprise center portal

    Verizon Enterprise Center Link

     

    Service team

    Contact Assigned Service Team or subscribe to Premium Client Services (PCS)

  • Call

    800-444-1111 (24 x 7).

     

    Verizon enterprise center live chat

    Verizon enterprise center link – Chat (available under “Support” > “Contact us & Send feedback”)

     

    Account team

    Contact assigned account team

  • Service issue

    Order

  • Be prepared with the following information:

    MNS identifier

     

    Verizon enterprise center portal

    Verizon Enterprise Center Link *

     

    Service team

    Contact Assigned Service Team or subscribe to Premium Client Services (PCS)

  • Call

    Contact Assigned Account Team

     

    Verizon enterprise center live chat

    Verizon enterprise center link – Chat (available under “Support” > “Contact us & Send feedback”)

     

    Account team

    Contact assigned account team

  • * Available for certain services only

  • Frequently asked questions

What service levels are available with Managed WLAN? +

Verizon’s Managed WLAN Service is available with three service levels:

  • Full Management
  • Physical Management
  • Monitor and Notify

Note: For full description, refer to Managed Wireless LAN Service Levels Section, above.

Why do I need to have an OOB Access? +

The purpose of the Out Of Band (OOB) Access is to allow our engineers to connect to the Wireless LAN Controllers, where applicable, and configure remotely. Where used as part of the service design, you have to maintain the OOB Access  throughout the entire Managed WLAN Services lifecycle to help Verizon maintain your Wireless LAN Controllers.

Note: OOB is  optional for Physical Management and Full Management service levels of Managed WLAN Services.

Note: If applicable, OOB Access is only required for Wireless LAN Controllers. Access points do not require OOB  Access.

What is the Customer Kickoff Call/Order Verification Call and why do I need to attend? +

Customer Kickoff Call / Order Verification Call is a vital next step in the process of implementing your Managed WLAN Services with Verizon. Your designated Managed Service Project Manager will arrange a Customer Kickoff Call / Order Verification Call with a Design Engineer and the Implementation Engineer to help develop your Engineering Design Document (i.e. IP address plan, etc.).

While you may have discussed some configuration details with your Verizon Account Team, it is important to review the entire configuration, discuss dependencies, and confirm you and your site are ready for activation.

Once this call is completed, you will receive your Engineering Design Document from your Managed Service Project Manager to approve, at which point your project can move forward towards management.

When will my service be activated/installed? +

If there are any new installations or activations associated with your new Managed WLAN Services, the timing of service activation is related to several onsite activities (e.g. construction, Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) coordination, DMARC extension, permits/approvals, internal cabling and drilling in walls and ceilings to mount the access points etc.).

Your Managed Service Project Manager will work with you to find the best time to set up your activation/installation timing and to answer any questions that may arise.

What might trigger an “alarm” within my managed network? +

When your network is under management with Verizon’s NOC, an alarm may be triggered informing you of a service interruption, slow performance, or outage. You would be notified based on the notification criteria you provided at the beginning of the project (phone and/or email).

Note: An alarm will trigger for only those network items under management by Verizon. Any non-Verizon network elements will need to be cared for by you. 

What is Global Change Management (GCM)? +

Global Change Management (GCM) is a framework within Verizon Enterprise Center of multiple integrated applications for ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) based service management. It is designed to simplify the change management process for Verizon customers through the Verizon Enterprise Center portal. In the GCM framework, you can create and submit Managed Network Services (MNS) change or service requests through Verizon Enterprise Center. When changes become necessary, Verizon engineers work closely with you to review, assess, schedule, and execute required changes.

Changes to networks are categorized into standard and optional, depending on the impact to the network. Optional requests—generally defined as requirements that alter the existing network design—are routed to engineering through a project initiated by the account team.

The Managed WLAN Services includes Standard change management (device configuration, password, request for information, scheduling maintenance, etc.) in the monthly service fee. Optional change management is available for an additional per change fee. You may initiate change management requests through Verizon Enterprise Center.

What is Network Discovery Service? +

For organizations with large networks, Network Discovery Service will help a customer to find what is connected to their network. If you subscribe to the Network Discovery service, Verizon will run CPE-discovery software on your network to collect information about your CPE connected to that network, including its manufacturer, age, current software, configuration, and similar information. If you are interested, please contact your Verizon account team.

Can I access Verizon Enterprise Center from a mobile device? +

With Verizon Enterprise Center Mobile, you have access to information you need to manage your critical business functions on-the-go. You can manage your Verizon account from a smartphone or a tablet using the mobile application for single sign-on access to Verizon Enterprise Center, My Business Account.

Smartphone users can download an app from Google Play or the App Store that supports access to Verizon Enterprise Center, My Business, and Verizon portals. Simply search for “My Verizon Enterprise;” download the app; and conveniently launch right into Quick Tasks or sign in to your business portal for more management options. An icon is added to your phone’s home screen for easy access the next time you log in. Requirements are as follows:

  • App Store: Apple iPhone models that have at least a 13.x iOS version in the U.S. on any carrier or Wi-Fi network.
  • Google Play: Selected devices using an operating system of Android 5 or higher in the U.S. on any carrier or Wi-Fi network

You can also access Verizon Enterprise Center Mobile with a tablet by signing into a browser-based application at http://verizonenterprise.com. The tablet functionality will be the same as the smartphone app, supporting key business functions that vary by the users’ portal and permissions. Accessing the Verizon Enterprise Center from a mobile device or tablet will not provide the same options as the desktop version.

Verizon Enterprise Center portal users can use Quick Tasks for repairs, billing, and some wireless functions or sign-in to get access to key business functions delivering near real-time information to you.

What do I do if I need to change something with my service? +

There may be a time in which you need to make a change to your service. You can submit a ticket through Verizon Enterprise Center or contact your Verizon account team for assistance.

Where do I go to place a new order? +

If you have a need to place an additional services order for SD WLAN, you may submit a change order with your Verizon account team.

If I think my network is down, how do I verify Verizon is working the issue? +

uring your network implementation, you will identify contacts within your organization that would be notified in the event of outages. Notifications are e-mailed to these contacts after a trouble ticket has been opened. These e-mails include a ticket number (e.g., 20163103101249 in a year/month/day/ticket number format) that may be entered into Verizon Enterprise Center portal to review.

If notification is not received from Verizon, you may contact Verizon to open a ticket through the Verizon Enterprise Center portal or through Verizon Customer Service (24 x 7) via our Verizon Enterprise Center or Quick Status.

Do you manage security services? +

Yes. If you are interested in having your organization’s security services managed by Verizon, you can contact your Verizon account team as Managed Security Services is a separate service from Managed WLAN Services.

Are there fees for any after-hours work with my Managed WLAN Services? +

There may be extra costs associated with any Verizon-performed work that occurs during or outside of normal business hours. Please review your contract or contact your Verizon account team for details on these charges.

Does Verizon provide any other Managed Services? +

Yes. Verizon offers a robust suite of Managed Network services to complement your Managed Wireless LAN service, including:

  • Managed Virtual Network Services (VNS) – such as VNS SD (Software Defined) WAN, VNS WAN Optimization, VNS Security.
  • Managed WAN and WAN Optimization.
  • Managed SD WAN.
  • Managed LAN.
  • Managed Security Services.

Key benefits to you of a more comprehensive approach in managing your network include:

  • One trusted partner to work with you to design, implement, and manage network services.
  • We have the management tools – already evaluated, integrated, and proven in the field, and often designed by us – for end-to-end visibility and, critically, cross-service fault correlation.
  • We have the cross-service skillsets and certifications.
  • We handle vendor management and bonding.
  • We deliver world-class SLAs.

Ask your account team for more details.

Does Verizon provide any professional services to help with our in-house needs? +

Yes, Verizon provides a full suite of professional services to assist with your Managed WLAN Services implementation, as well as other Managed Network Service’s needs.  Examples of professional services based solutions are: onsite radio frequency site surveys, support with splash page designs for guest Wi-Fi purposes, and support to have mobile applications updated or created (e.g. to integrate vendor specific functionality, such as location based services functionality into the corporate application). 

Ask your Verizon account team for more details.

When does the billing of the Managed WLAN Services begin? +

Billing for Managed WLAN Services will commence when the site is implemented by the Design or Implementation Engineer and is handed over to the MNSO NOC for management.

Your billing terms are outlined in your contract terms and Verizon Services Agreement.

User Guides for billing and invoices are available on the Customer Learning portal. 

Who do I contact for billing? +
  • Online Inquiries for all Services: When viewing your invoice online in Verizon Enterprise Center portal at www.verizonenterprise.com click “Create an Invoice Inquiry” from the Invoice Summary screen and follow the instructions to create and monitor an online inquiry. You may also track or create a trouble ticket from the portal homepage under the “Quick Tasks” section (no login required).
  • Live Chat: you can chat online with Verizon Customer Care, which can be accessed from the Support tab, with the exception of countries in the APAC region.

Call: Customer Care / Billing: http://www.verizonenterprise.com/ > select contact us > select country > select support.

Services and/or features are not available in all countries/locations, and may be procured from in-country providers in select countries. We continue to expand our service availability around the world. Please consult your Verizon representative for service availability. Contact us.