Although the self-anointed tech-savvy often deride them, late adopters of technology sometimes have a distinct advantage in that they are working with proven, mature technologies. The key step for late adopters is knowing when the pendulum has swung from business risk to lost advantage and cost savings. For organizations yet to consider VoIP, please note that in this area, the pendulum is moving toward the latter very quickly.
Editor’s note: Welcome to our first Talking Technology. Each week, the SMB experts from CDW will discuss key issues for small business networks.
Although the self-anointed tech-savvy often deride them, late adopters of technology sometimes have a distinct advantage in that they are working with proven, mature technologies. The key step for late adopters is knowing when the pendulum has swung from business risk to lost advantage and cost savings. For organizations yet to consider VoIP, please note that in this area, the pendulum is moving toward the latter very quickly.
Now in its later generations, VoIP continues to mature steadily, offering attractive cost savings and features to organizations of all sizes. VoIP can help small and midsize businesses (SMB) compete with larger enterprises not only on cost but also on level of service. For example, VoIP can enable collaboration over long distances with customers and partners, or it can increase personnel mobility and accessibility through such features as the smart routing of calls to the office, home, a remote location or cell phone. Softphones on PCs let VoIP users log on and make or receive phone calls anywhere they have a broadband Internet connection, as if the call were at their own desk.
For SMBs, however, capturing those benefits can be much more complicated than just plugging phones into computers or loading applications. Let’s take a look at what’s new in VoIP and what it offers SMBs — with associated caveats.
As widely perceived, VoIP can lower monthly and total costs for voice and data services. Certainly it will reduce monthly usage fees, as well as help new or expanding businesses avoid some cabling and wiring costs. IP telephony also enables some services — unified messaging, video teleconferencing, CRM, least-cost call outing and IP Centrex, for example –that are harder or more expensive to run over telecom carriers’ high-speed digital networks.
However, embracing VoIP requires thought and planning. Companies need to be sure their system will provide adequate quality and reliability. VoIP, in general, still hasn’t reached the high, uniform service standards traditionally applied to analog PBX systems. Your system can achieve these standards if you learn the unique language of IP telephony and do your homework before starting to spend. Important things to consider include:
* Number of locations. How many locations do you have, and how dispersed are they? The more you have and the farther apart they are located, the more attractive VoIP becomes, but the more challenging it can be to assemble the right setup for your firm.
* Open source vs. proprietary platforms. Most service providers offer proprietary VoIP platforms, which come at a sometimes substantial cost. What you get in return is some level of support and the opportunity to learn less about the guts of your system. If you’re long on do-it-yourself network knowledge and short on cash, however, there are open source platforms that can work well at considerable savings — but they are not for the novice.
* Pure vs. hybrid VoIP. “Pure” VoIP — all IP, all the time — may afford you maximum flexibility and manageability, and the cost analysis may look great if you don’t have a large investment in legacy telephony. Hybrid approaches will let a firm with sunk costs in legacy telephony get some leverage from VoIP, and the approach provides conventional backup if the IP system goes down.
* Bandwidth. You need to be sure there’s enough, and there may be real costs to add power and router capacity to meet your needs, so look hard at this upfront. Most common complaints about the quality of VoIP have to do with voice latency and incoherence from voice packets being scrambled or dropped. That’s usually a bandwidth problem, however, not a hardware problem. Test your LAN infrastructure by simulating a surge in traffic during peak hours to see if it can support your move to VoIP.
* Network redundancy. If you go pure VoIP, cover yourself with multiple access points and a robust server structure. And prepare for the first server crash, which is inevitable.
* Support. Migrating to VoIP requires integrated support for voice and data functionality in your IT operation. You’ll need to redesign your Internet backbone for voice, and maintain it for the newly integrated functions.
* Security for VoIP. This topic may deserve a column of its own, but for now, suffice it to say that converting your voice traffic to data packets and putting them on a network presents the same vulnerabilities your data network has always had. Your best approach is to integrate your voice capabilities into a solid, comprehensive security plan that protects your entire network. A reliable technology partner can help you with this.
VoIP may be a promising option for your company. Here are four steps to take that will help you make sure your setup fits your current needs and allows for your business direction:
* Work with a reputable vendor that can help you with your technology evaluations and will be around to support you during and after implementation.
* Before specifying your solution, conduct a complete network assessment to determine all your requirements, your total costs and your total benefits.
* Choose a system that can scale with your business, taking into consideration all the variables: your VoIP platform, your carrier and your support resources.
* Select and stick with a protocol (802.3af or 802.3p, for example) that fits your plans for powering the system and providing wireless capability.
