Cisco Voice to Teams

Position Overview We are seeking a senior Cisco Voice and Microsoft Teams Migration Architect to lead the assessment, design, and phased migration of an enterprise Cisco Unified Communications environment to Microsoft Teams Phone. The current environment uses Cisco Unified Communications Manager 12.5, Cisco Unity, Cisco Emergency Responder, voice gateways, analog telephone adapters, PRIs, SIP services, and emergency-notification integrations. The selected consultant will design a coexistence strategy that allows Cisco and Microsoft Teams to operate in parallel while users and telephone numbers are migrated in controlled phases. This is a contract consulting engagement expected to begin with discovery and architecture, followed by pilot and migration support over approximately 12 months. Key Responsibilities Assess the existing Cisco Unified Communications environment, including: Cisco Unified Communications Manager 12.5 Cisco Unity Connection Cisco Emergency Responder Voice gateways and PSTN connectivity Approximately 1,000 DIDs Approximately 10–12 analog telephone adapters Auto attendants, call handlers and voicemail Physical phones, common-area phones and analog devices Develop a comprehensive current-state inventory of users, extensions, DIDs, devices, dial plans, call-routing configurations and integrations. Design the target Microsoft Teams Phone architecture. Evaluate and recommend the appropriate PSTN connectivity model, including: Teams Direct Routing Certified Session Border Controllers Operator Connect Microsoft Calling Plans Carrier-provided SIP services Hybrid connectivity options Design a coexistence architecture that enables Cisco Unified CM and Microsoft Teams Phone to operate simultaneously during the migration. Develop the routing and interoperability design between Cisco Unified CM, the SBC, Microsoft Teams and the existing carriers. Assess two existing Windstream PRIs and the Fusion Connect backup SIP service. Recommend whether existing PRIs, SIP services and voice gateways should be retained, replaced or retired. Develop a DID migration and number-porting strategy that minimizes business disruption. Review approximately 400–500 potentially duplicated or paired telephone numbers associated with the existing emergency-calling design. Design the Teams emergency-calling architecture, including: E911 and Intrado integration Emergency locations and addresses Dispatchable-location requirements Location-based routing Emergency notifications Emergency-call testing and validation Assess and design migration solutions for: Cisco Unity voicemail Auto attendants and call handlers Common-area phones Analog devices and ATAs Fax and eFax services Singlewire/InformaCast emergency alerting Voice gateways Existing Cisco VoIP phones Develop a pilot migration plan, including representative users, devices, DIDs, call flows and success criteria. Create phased migration waves, cutover procedures, validation checklists and rollback plans. Provide technical leadership during the pilot and production migration events. Troubleshoot call routing, signaling, media, dial-plan, SBC and interoperability issues. Develop operational documentation and provide knowledge transfer to the internal IT team. Assist with the final retirement and decommissioning strategy for Cisco voice components. Required Qualifications At least 8–10 years of enterprise voice and unified communications experience. Demonstrated experience migrating Cisco Unified Communications Manager environments to Microsoft Teams Phone. Strong hands-on experience with: Cisco Unified Communications Manager Cisco Unity Connection Cisco Emergency Responder Cisco voice gateways SIP trunks and PRIs Microsoft Teams Phone Teams Direct Routing Session Border Controllers Enterprise dial plans and call routing Experience designing Cisco and Teams coexistence environments. Experience migrating large DID inventories and coordinating number-porting activities with telecommunications carriers. Strong understanding of SIP signaling, RTP media, codecs, DTMF, TLS, certificates, NAT, firewalls and quality of service. Experience configuring or designing certified SBC platforms such as AudioCodes or Ribbon. Working knowledge of Microsoft 365 administration, Teams policies, user licensing and telephone-number management. Strong understanding of E911, dynamic emergency calling, dispatchable locations and emergency-service integrations. Experience migrating voicemail, auto attendants, call queues, analog devices and common-area phones. Ability to review complex environments, identify risks and produce practical architecture and migration documentation. Strong communication, documentation and stakeholder-management skills. Preferred Qualifications Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate or equivalent Teams Phone experience. Cisco CCNP Collaboration, CCIE Collaboration or comparable Cisco voice expertise. AudioCodes, Ribbon or other Microsoft-certified SBC certification. Experience with Intrado E911 services. Experience with Singlewire InformaCast. Experience supporting higher education, government, healthcare, manufacturing or large-campus environments. Familiarity with VMware-hosted Cisco Unified Communications applications. Expected Deliverables Current-state Cisco voice assessment and inventory Requirements and dependency summary Microsoft Teams Phone target architecture Cisco and Teams coexistence design SBC and PSTN connectivity recommendation Carrier and number-porting strategy E911 and Intrado migration design Endpoint, ATA, fax and analog-device strategy Pilot migration plan and success criteria Phased migration roadmap Cutover and rollback procedures Test and validation plan Risk and dependency register Cisco decommissioning plan Administrative documentation and knowledge transfer Engagement Details Engagement type: Contract consulting Work arrangement: Primarily remote, with possible onsite support for major migration events Initial phase: Discovery, assessment and architecture Estimated duration: Phased engagement over approximately 12 months Start date: As soon as possible Schedule: Flexible, with availability required during scheduled maintenance and migration windows Ideal Candidate The ideal consultant is not simply a Cisco administrator or Microsoft Teams specialist. We need an architect who has successfully connected, operated and migrated both platforms in a production enterprise environment. The consultant must be capable of owning the technical design, identifying migration risks, coordinating with carriers and vendors, and guiding the organization through a controlled transition from Cisco Unified Communications Manager to Microsoft Teams Phone.