Calling for managed VoIP?

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Sean Burke didn't shed any tears after giving the heave-ho earlier this year to a frame relay network that had been carrying phone calls and data transmissions. Burke, network director for advertising and marketing firm InChord Communications in Columbus, Ohio, traded up to an IP-based VPN that now carries IP voice, data and even a little videoconferencing among seven domestic sites and an office in London. Now InChord pays for T-1 access to AT&T's IP backbone rather than for the MCI frame relay service. What he and other users are moving toward are essentially managed VoIP services.

Burke now pockets roughly $4,000 per month in savings. That's no small savings, especially when considered along with the greater reliability of the VPN over the frame relay net, Burke says.

"When we move into a new building, we can cut 40% off our wiring costs by dropping only [Category] 5 wire now," Burke adds. "Not having to pay the telephone company for moves, adds and changes is also great - we can do those in minutes" with the Cisco IP phones.

What's missing is rich management from the carrier, particularly QoS capabilities for prioritizing bandwidth based on the application, time of day or user status. "End-to-end QoS is really important to us to get from a carrier," Burke says. It would save him from monitoring traffic levels at seven remote sites before injecting IP voice into the network.

What Burke and other users really crave is a fully managed VoIP service that would take the onus of worry off their shoulders.

With such a service, a carrier provides the premises-based access device - a DSL or cable modem, remote-access router, even a multi-protocol multiplexer - for packetizing voice before it enters the wide area. Carriers also may bundle in IP phone handsets or the software for turning laptops and PCs into voice terminals. And, the managed service provider should offer service-level agreements that guarantee a certain percentage of uptime or minimum thresholds of downtime.

Managed VoIP portfolios, from incumbent carriers and specialty providers, offer support for audioconferencing, videoconferencing, presence, follow-me/find-me and other voice-related applications. Tom Roche, executive director of advanced products and services for the enterprise solutions group at Verizon, even suggests that most customers won't be able to fully benefit from VoIP without a carrier's help. "An IP network needs to be constantly managed to be sure it's at peak performance and efficiency," he says.

Verizon, like AT&T, plans to launch managed VoIP within the next six months.

But the sales pitch for managed VoIP has a disconcertingly familiar ring of convergence to it. IT managers have heard it before for ISDN, ATM and frame relay. One pipe, one protocol, one network, one management interface, one bill. Mix voice, data and video traffic in ways that can be customized to your requirements. Save gobs of money in the process, and streamline internal support requirements.