The ABCs of VoIP

It may seem complicated, but moving from PBX to VoIP is easy with these simple best practices

Given the importance of telephone systems, refreshing the technology can be daunting. However, for small and midsized businesses who consider upgrading from a PBX to VoIP, the benefits are clear and, with proper planning, the implementation is not very frightening. Consider these three steps:

Getting started

There are a number of factors SMBs must consider when transitioning from a PBX environment to VoIP. Before digging into the technical details, it is important to set a budget and identify the unique business drivers behind the transition.

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Given the importance of telephone systems, refreshing the technology can be daunting. However, for small and midsized businesses who consider upgrading from a PBX to VoIP, the benefits are clear and, with proper planning, the implementation is not very frightening. Consider these three steps:

Getting started

There are a number of factors SMBs must consider when transitioning from a PBX environment to VoIP. Before digging into the technical details, it is important to set a budget and identify the unique business drivers behind the transition.

Here are some questions to ask to be sure the transition meets your requirements:
 Do you need to network remote locations to headquarters?
 How much intra-company calling is occurring between locations? For example, is there a benefit to transferring customers, vendors or other parties between various locations?
 Do you have locations and/or clients outside the United States?
 Do you have workers that routinely travel between locations?
 Do you have remote workers (both permanently remote and "road warriors")?
 Are there special applications (call center, integrated voicemail, unified communications) driving the move to VoIP?
 Is the telephony staff/IT staff administering multiple PBXs in multiple locations?

The next major question is whether you should choose a multi- or single-vendor solution. There are pros and cons to each. While the multiple-vendor approach may provide a superior experience to users, sorting out responsibilities and accountability between vendors in the event of a problem can diminish or completely negate the value of the approach. Good contracts and savvy management can make it work, but the single-vendor approach may carry lower management costs and simplify the resolution of any issues.

To help you make the right decision, create a list of "must haves" and draft a "good, better, best" approach to evaluating each vendor's ability to meet your needs. By establishing a clear understanding of why your company is moving to VoIP you will ensure you choose the best approach and vendors to drive the overall success of the project.

VoIP best practices revealed

After developing clear answers to these questions, set your strategy and expectations, including a timeline and a budget. Finally, communicate the plan not only to the partner(s) you choose, but also to key stakeholders and people within the organization who will use the new technology. This will set the stage for internal adoption and provide your partner(s) with clear parameters to design the right solution.

The Technology

SMBs that are starting from scratch with VoIP should consider a network assessment to ensure the infrastructure is capable of supporting the new technology. Examine connectivity to the wide area network (WAN) Internet and public switched telephone network (PSTN) to determine if the infrastructure is sufficient to handle VoIP. Here are some key considerations:
 Wiring: CAT5 or better is preferred
 Switches: Do you have Power over Ethernet (PoE)? Are the switches Layer 3?
 WAN: Does the WAN support voice traffic? Is the WAN managed or unmanaged?
 PSTN: How many lines and what type of lines are at each location?
 Power: VoIP phones require power, as opposed to a digital set that gets power from the cabinet. Power can be supplied by local power, power injectors or PoE switches. What power solution will work best for the business environment?