Comparing VoIP vendors

For many companies, the tough decision isn't whether to use IP telephony or not -- it's which vendor to choose. There may be considerations of current voice or data vendors already at use in an organization, and each vendor provides a different set of features and management tools. With all of the variables involved, the choice may seem daunting.

To help simplify this task, we've collected some of Carrie Higbie's tips and tricks for vendor selection, garnered from her "Ask-the-Expert" section. Carrie regularly answers your questions on the topic of "Preparing your network for VoIP." At the bottom of this page, we've included links to her answers about comparing VoIP vendors for further information.

Vendor selection tricks

1. My favorite sneaky trick is to check each vendor's Web site under the press releases section. Find someone that installed the system a year or so ago. Give them a call and ask them how the installation went, what surprises they have had since, and how the current administration of the system is going. Ask if they had to reconfigure their network, as this is not an expense that would normally be included. Also, have each vendor provide you with an ROI/TCO comparison based on your situation.
2. Check whether your local carriers support the same equipment. Also check to see how they handle priority and quality of service. I would also recommend looking at market share and the stability of the company.
3. Do a "bake-off" between the systems. Have each vendor provide you with a list of their features and benefits -- warranty, capabilities, interoperability, scalability, etc. What may be important to me may not be to you, so this method is certainly the best way to review the features-to-price comparisons.

4. Create a scorecard for each vendor, including all the information that is important to your organization. Evaluating the critical things will help you with your decision. Here is a list of examples to include in your scorecard:

   • Features
   • Maintenance costs
   • Warranty periods
   • Training times
   • Ease for moves, adds and changes
   • Availability of local support
   • Backup power options in the event of a power loss
   • E-911 capabilities
   • Interoperability with other equipment
   • How analog lines are addressed

About the author: Carrie Higbie, global network applications market manager for The Siemon Company, has been involved in the computing and networking industries for nearly 20 years. She has been involved in sales, executive management and consulting on a wide variety of platforms and topologies and has held director and VP positions with fortune 500 companies and consulting firms. Carrie has taught classes for Novell, Microsoft and Cisco certifications, as well as CAD/CAE, networking and programming on a collegiate level. She has worked with manufacturing firms, medical institutions, casinos, healthcare providers, cable and wireless providers and a wide variety of other industries in both networking design/implementation, project management and software development for privately held consulting firms and most recently Network and Software Solutions.