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Like most new technologies, switching to VoIP costs up front and promises to save down the line. Knowing whether the time to switch is now, later, or never, requires analysis and consideration – and professional advice.
At Networking2000, we’ve carefully worked through the pros and cons of VoIP. Our job is to help businesses evaluate the potential of different technologies and make the right decisions. And the best way to do this is to put our money where our mouth is and try it ourselves.
Networking2000 now runs its entire phone network on VoIP.
So what attracted us to VoIP and what makes us confident to recommend it to our customers? The headline facts are appealing – the Internet is free, so if calls can be routed via the Internet, costs should be lower. Plus, Internet technology makes remote management easy.
So is this an easy call? The answer is not easy without expert advice, as there is so much at stake. Switching phone systems is expensive and disruptive and while VoIP has its benefits, traditional phone systems are evolving fast and can offer competitive call rates. So what questions need to be asked before your company can confidently choose a VoIP telephone system?
This article outlines the considerations involved in assessing VoIP and its potential benefits and drawbacks. Ultimately, the decision rests with you – but our aim is to help you make this decision and to help you implement VoIP if that is the route you choose to go.
Here are some of the factors that will influence the decision…
How many users do you have?
Do you have multiple sites and home-workers?
What sort of technology have you invested in already?
Would you benefit from better integration between telephony and IT?
Are you looking to replace your existing PBX or simply enhance it?
And of course, what level of investment are you willing to make?
This list is brief, but gives an idea of the considerations that need to be taken into account.
One of the common reasons for moving to VoIP is the savings that can be made on call tariffs. However, this has to be weighed against the level of investment required and the fact that most telecoms operators now offer a wide variety of cost-efficient tariffs. If cost is the main consideration, then we can offer you a quick review of your existing charges and propose cheaper alternatives employing least cost routing (LCR). This does not involve any changes to your existing phone connectivity or your local equipment.
However, the real advantage in migrating to VOIP is the combination of benefits that it brings, not just lower tariffs. These include:
greater functionality
home and office integration
unified messaging, and
simpler more intuitive management
Lower tariffs – VoIP offers the greatest savings to customers who have multiple offices and home workers, with a good proportion of national and international calls. As VOIP uses the Internet to carry calls there are no charges for calls between VOIP users. These savings need to be balanced against the cost of providing Internet connectivity with the ‘quality of service’ (QOS) required.
Greater functionality – A VoIP system integrates your computer and voice services, with simple ‘on-screen’ indication of incoming calls and ‘click-to-dial’ services through to full support for applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). VoIP phones are connected directly to your internal network and can work over wireless networks and blue-tooth. VoIP phones can look like conventional phones, with or without visual displays (for displaying web content, ticker-tapes, security camera feeds etc.) or they can be ‘soft-phones’, using a headset connected directly to a PC, laptop or pocket PC. A soft-phone is an application which displays a conventional phone interface on-screen, but with additional features such as video telephony.
Home and Office Integration – Many home Internet users now have a broadband connection and the costs involved for key home workers is generally not prohibitive. With the correct choice of connection and suitable termination equipment, a home user can use VoIP to make free phone calls via their office based, VoIP enabled, PABX. Even the roaming user can be equipped to connect to the office PABX from anywhere where a broadband connection is available. The advantage is that the home user will appear to other office users as a local extension. For businesses with several regional offices, this means that calls can by-pass national tariffs. And for companies that require it, secure broadband networks can be used with no exposure to the outside world.
Unified Messaging – The problem with traditional phones is that they all have different numbers! Most people will have a mobile, work and home number. In addition they may also have an email address, a fax number, and even a messaging client running on their PC. VoIP offers ‘convergence’, merging all of these contact numbers into a single ID which routes all communications directly to the user, wherever they happen to be. Once they have ‘logged-in’, via a mobile, landline, PC, PDA etc, then all of their messages will be routed to them.
There is also the concept of ‘presence’. For example, you at your desk but do not wish to be disturbed unless a message is urgent. You may be willing to take calls from everyone except your ex-girlfriend who will receive an automated ‘out of office’ reply. You may be happy to respond to instant messaging (corporate and secure messaging, of course) but not the phone. These varying degrees of ‘presence’ can be easily advertised to the outside world in a ‘converged’ environment and it includes all forms of communications through emails, faxes, messaging, voice and video conferencing.
While a fully converged world for everyone is still a little way off, it is now possible to have a single mailbox to store all communications regardless of the medium employed – using wireless handhelds and your exchange mail-server. The advantage is that you don’t even need to log-in - you can be permanently in touch regardless of your location.
Simpler Management – In a VoIP world, your phone is seen as another network node and is easily addressable and managed using web-based management tools. Anyone who has tried to manage a conventional digital phone system will be acutely aware of the complexities of dial-plans and the associated expense of call-out charges for telephone engineers. Software updates and maintenance are simplified as they use the same techniques used to manage conventional network equipment. For example, the Cisco Call Express employs the same box (the Integrated Services Router, ISR) to deliver VOIP, routing, firewall and VPN services. ISR offers tremendous flexibility and ease of management in a single unit, and at an affordable cost.
At Networking2000, our own experience has left us convinced that there are real gains to be made from VOIP, but only if the customer’s needs have been properly analysed. Pre-sales consultation is an essential part of our service and we will only recommend a technology if we feel the customer would benefit. For many businesses, there is no need to throw away the existing digital phone system - in many cases we can suggest upgrades that retain the value of the existing investment whilst offering the greater functionality of a VoIP system.
So, back to the question - ‘Choosing VoIP – An easy call?’ We believe the answer is ‘Yes’, given the right advice. As a mature technology, with millions of handsets in use and a market set to grow to in excess of $5.5Billion by 2008, VoIP has to be taken seriously. If you are looking to upgrade or replace your existing phone system then why not take 5 minutes to speak to one of our dedicated telecommunications consultants. We promise to make it an easy call.
Call us today on 08000 743 788
for a free quote.
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