As Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) rapidly gains critical mass
-- some enterprise projects already involve more than 100,000 users
-- it's hard to come up with reasons
not to make the move to
VoIP. Palo Alto, Calif.-based The Radicati Group Inc. recently
forecast that nearly three-quarters of corporate phone lines will
use VoIP within the next three years. Major rollouts are under way
at blue chip companies like Bank of America and The New York Times
Co.
But for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the decision is
not a no-brainer. As
SearchSMB.com noted in a recent article, SMBs can be
intimidated by the scope and technical complexity of a migration,
which can involve major changes to infrastructure as well as a
complete replacement of desktop and server-room equipment. That's a
shame, because SMBs are usually the first companies to benefit from
a new technology. There are shortcuts to making the migration
easier.
Assuming you've already decided that VoIP is a good idea for
your business, consider some important deployment issues:
The outsourcing dilemma
The biggest issue is whether to outsource to a service provider.
A service provider can take much of the pain out of a migration.
Users generally upgrade to VoIP handsets and hand off network
administration and maintenance to the vendor, which agrees to
provide a set of services at an agreed-upon level of
reliability.
There are many hosted services available, including offerings
from big-brand companies like
Sprint Nextel Corp. and
Verizon Communications Inc. and ranging down
to highly specialized SMB specialists like
CBeyond
Inc. in Atlanta and Voila IP Communications Inc. in Houston.
There's a good list of services
here.
The big issues with hosted services are price and features.
Prices can range from less than $100 to almost $200 per month per
employee Most carriers offer unlimited local and long distance
calling, but that's not always the case. Some also throw in
features like unified email integration mail or "follow-me"
forwarding. Reporting capabilities can vary widely, but that is
critical for SMBs that want to monitor employee calls or correlate
that information with call reports. Be sure to ask about those
features.
In the case of hosted services, migration is fairly
straightforward. You plug in to the Internet and go. Be sure you
write a clear request for proposal and get commitments on service
levels before making the switch. You also need to consider your
growth needs. Choosing a vendor that focuses on the
sub-100-employee market may not serve you well if you plan to get
big. Also, if integration with Saleforce.com Inc. is high on your
priority list and not on the vendor's, it's probably a bad fit.
Keeping it in the family
The more challenging option is to install and operate your own
equipment. This is no simple task, but it can be far less expensive
in the long run. On-premise installation can also offer many
options for expanding and enhancing your VoIP environment
later.
Complexity is a concern, so several vendors are competing to
sell appliances that combine hardware, software and management in a
single physical box. Talkswitch in Ottawa, Ontario, sells an
appliance that's smaller than a laptop PC and supports 14
extensions at a price of less than $700. Los Angeles-based
Fonality
Inc. has a box that supports unlimited IP telephones and up to
12 analog telephones for $1,000. For another $1,000, you can get a
package of advanced call center features.
Aastra
Technologies Ltd. in Concord, Ontario, sells a serverless VoIP
system that works on a peer-to-peer basis. You plug your phone into
an Ethernet port and discover other phones on the network.
Of course, you can always go the safe route and choose
Cisco Systems Inc.,
Nortel Networks Ltd. or
Avaya Inc. These companies are big brands in
VoIP, but they are enterprise-class players that have not
necessary made a big push for smaller markets. You could spend a
lot of money for capacity you don't need. A used market is
developing on
eBay. It may be worth a check before you
call a vendor sales rep.
Whether you choose a hosted or on-premise approach, you will
need to evaluate the handsets your employees use. This is more
complicated than it may appear. People have an affinity for their
telephone handsets that can torpedo the benefits of switching.
Most VoIP equipment works best with handsets that are optimized
for the technology. However, those handsets can run well over $300
each, and you may want to stick with the investment you've got for
a while. Just about every VoIP hardware vendor offers adapters that
accommodate analog phones. You can buy yourself some investment
protection with this approach. If you decide to go with the digital
handset option, look for devices that can connect to Wi-Fi networks
to give users the option of connecting to your voice network from
anywhere in the world.
An on-premise approach will also require you to analyze your
network. VoIP traffic needs to be elevated to a high priority in
order to avoid interruptions and slowdowns. Become familiar with
terms like quality of service and Multiprotocol Label
Switching. These are the standards for network reliability, and you
will need to know about them to optimize bandwidth.
If you do decide to go on-premise, consider
Asterisk.
This open source private branch exchange software is taking the
market by storm. Asterisk buys you protection from the turmoil that
characterizes the software market. It also holds the promise of
supporting a rich community of enhancement applications that could
give you many options to expand your VoIP network in the future.
Asterisk is still young, but it shows promise as being the platform
of choice for third-party developers who are innovating in
VoIP.
You've decided to take the VoIP route and you'll be better off
for it. Congratulations.
Paul Gillin is a technology writer and consultant and former
editor-in-chief of TechTarget. His Web site is
www.gillin.com.