* Join us at Network World's VoIP Technology Tour
After a short spring break, my Network World Events colleagues are back on the road with our free Technology Tours. In early June, Network World columnist and President of Nemertes Research Johna Till Johnson will be presenting this year’s VoIP roadshow. The VoIP tour is one of our most popular events, so make sure you sign up to attend. At the seminar, you’ll learn about VoIP and wireless, integrating VoIP and messaging, VoIP and telecommuting, and VoIP and security.
I caught up with Johna this week and asked her what has changed since the last VoIP tour and what obstacles still need to be overcome in VoIP adoption.
Q: What have been the biggest changes in the VoIP sector since the last Network World VoIP Tech Tour in September?
Fundamentally, it’s this: VoIP has gone through an inflection point from being something an IT executive had to defend considering to something an IT executive has to defend NOT considering. For instance, 12 months ago if you wanted to do VoIP, you had to explain why. Now if you DON’T want to do VoIP, you have to explain why.
Q: What do companies still view as the biggest obstacles to implementing VoIP and how can they be overcome?
They tell us their top concerns are around the ability to effectively manage and secure VoIP. There’s also something folks don’t often articulate, but that you can sense as an undercurrent when they discuss their issues and concerns. Namely, it’s that they want to be able to precisely articulate the benefits from convergence so they can avoid spending time, money, and effort chasing the cool tech trend of the week.
Q: Have the security concerns been addressed by the industry or are there new security issues cropping up?
There are a slew of critical security issues, and we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg on them. Fundamentally, they fall into two main categories: Privacy concerns, and potential denial-of-service attacks.
Privacy concerns arise because it’s becoming increasingly fast and easy to create “VoIP spyware” that records and forwards conversations, or searches through servers looking for particular conversations. But realistically, the big wave of VoIP spyware is probably 6 months to a year off – algorithms (and hackers) aren’t quite that intelligent yet.
The bigger issue at the moment is denial of service – any data virus, spam, or Trojan that can take down the data network can also take down the (converged) network. And voice-specific viruses and attacks are coming online. As we discuss in the seminar, if you hate spam, you’ll LOATHE SPIT (Spam over Internet Telephony).
Bottom line: Security is still one of the great unsolved problems.
Q: Aside from the cost savings, what are the other benefits being reported by early adopters?
The majority of real benefits are top-line benefits. I don’t want to call them “productivity enhancements” because people think of productivity benefits as “soft dollars,” and in fact, they really don’t have a lot to do with productivity per se. What they’re really about is enabling a business to rake in more cash by using VoIP than it did without VoIP – for example, retail companies sell more sweaters, manufacturers make more tin cans, and hotels sell more of the expensive and high margin “ancillary services” (dinners, spa treatments, froofy drinks at the theme bar). We’ll be showing examples of all of the above at the seminar.
Q: How are the early adopters moving to the next level with VoIP? Are they adding video over IP or introducing wireless VoIP and what are the considerations when moving to this level?
Absolutely they are. The majority of the folks we’ve benchmarked are either doing IP telephony over wireless or plan to do so within the next 12 months, and the same with video. In terms of concerns, there’s all the usual suspects: QoS (particularly when combined with encryption), security, etc. But there’s nothing insurmountable.
Q: In one of your presentations at the events, you’ll be going through top-10 lessons essential to VoIP successes – could you share with us one from the list?
One of the most important things to do is to be sure you understand your organization’s fundamental business processes and success metrics to see where VoIP can fit in. Whether you make cans, distribute labels, teach students, or save lives, there are business interactions that can be made faster, better, and more effective with converged communications. The trick to capitalizing on your convergence implementation lies in understanding precisely what those interactions are, and working closely with the business owners to gain their support in integrating VoIP into the process.
For more about the 4-city VoIP tour that’s taking place June 7-16, please go to:
http://www.networkworld.com/events/voip05/index.html
You should also check out our new-look Convergence/VoIP Research Center on NetworkWorld.com, which is edited by Senior Editor Tim Greene. For convergence advice, tests and opinions, please go to: http://www.networkworld.com/topics/voip.html
*** We’ve also added two new dates to the Network World Wireless and Mobility Tour. My colleagues Craig Mathias, principal of Farpoint Group, and Keith Shaw, Network World senior editor of product testing, will be in Boston on June 21, and Denver June 23.
For more information about the Wireless and Mobility Tour, please go to:
http://www.networkworld.com/events/wireless05/agendapresenters.html
