The keystone that will lock in VoIP as the successor to TDM technology has yet to be hefted into place. It may in fact take another decade before we see the full potential of VoIP phone systems. The keystone we are referring to is the deployment of standards based IP infrastructure by the public carriers.
VoIP phone systems are seemingly ubiquitous. Sexy new VoIP PBX systems and VoIP business solutions are announced almost every day. The technology is credible and past issues including voice quality have been sorted out. What’s the catch?
The catch is that the benefits realized by users of VoIP business phone systems relate mainly to internal communication. Organizations with distributed national and international operations gain the most from implementing VoIP phone systems. They achieve savings because their internal communication doesn’t go via PSTNs and they achieve significant savings as a consequence. Conversely, organizations that don’t have remote operations, work from home employees or a mobile workforce need to be far more creative in making a business case to justify a VoIP deployment.
The greatest pain for business is associated with external not internal communication. Most businesses have more customers than employees. To service, retain and acquire them a business must make an increasing volume of external phone calls. As most VoIP services interoperate via PSTNs employing TDM technology they are not using end-to-end VoIP services. Before that can happen the carriers must upgrade their infrastructure from TDM to VoIP technology.
Are the carriers about to upgrade their infrastructure any time soon? It’s unlikely. Collectively Tier 1 carriers have an enormous sunken investment in Class 4 and 5 switches. They work just fine and will probably continue to work for at least another decade. No matter how cheap the replacement VoIP gear, its more expensive than hardware that’s already installed and on the balance sheet.
Tier 1 carriers also have an investment in existing business models. These models are based on using TDM infrastructure not packets of data. Change is inevitable, but it always involves risk. The carriers have demonstrated time and again that they are risk averse, at least when it comes to tinkering with their main source of revenue. It’s been a topic of discussion for more than a decade, but there’s little evidence of change.
It’s also significant that there is little or no agreement on standards for carrier VoIP. There are even differences between carriers on how they handle SIP trunking and Caller ID. In the absence of enforceable standards between carriers there is little prospect of reliable VoIP peering between carriers any time soon.
For now and the immediate future, enterprise users of VoIP phone systems must reconcile themselves to enjoying less than fifty percent of the potential upside available from their VoIP business solutions. At some point the carriers will replace their infrastructure and agree on standards for IP-based carrier services, but it may take the entrance of a new breed of carrier before that comes to pass.
By: Chris H Green
Posts Tagged ‘Business Phone Systems’
VoIP Phone Systems – There’s a Fly in the Ointment
February 14th, 2010Business Phone Systems VoIP – VoIP Phone System Buying Tips
October 4th, 2009
You’ve might have heard a lot about business VoIP phone systems and may be trying to figure out all of the technical terminology. To add to the confusion, as technology changes so rapidly you may feel it’s almost impossible to keep up. So called experts can drive us crazy making us feel that we absolutely need to implement this bleeding edge gear now. We’ll take a look at it practically, where the rubber meets the road.
The obvious question we need to constantly ask ourselves is will this help me or just add unnecessary costs to my budget? Keep in mind that that new technology may allow us to reform our business to a more efficient practice so it helps going into evaluations with an open mind.
Contrary to much of the talk on the street, one option to explore is a converged solution. This incorporates a proven PBX phone system platform and layers in an element of VoIP. Meaning you could use VoIP within your phone system to tie in remote workers or connect other offices more efficiently and cost effectively. The core of your business phone system would be cutting edge traditional technology. Search platforms that are able to accept SIP trunks, which could be an inexpensive disaster recovery plan or a way to help lower your phone bill.
Look for ways to help reduce monthly recurring costs by finding ways to increase efficiency. A converged solution can also make the overall implementation cost easier to swallow. Most times a converged solution is not as pricey and in the right environment works very well.
With VoIP phone system technology on the fast track, we can create a legitimate argument for not wanting to own rapidly changing equipment. Some phone system vendors can offer true refresh upgrade programs. Meaning you could upgrade your phone system at any time in the lease without penalty. This would lend itself to more of a rental mindset and has become more popular as forward thinking companies realize they may not be ready for the bleeding edge technology today but see the benefit in the near future.
Business phone systems using VoIP don’t necessarily need to be bleeding edge. Converged systems using a proven platform can be a great solution to help create efficiency, reduce monthly costs and help soften the blow to the budget of a new implementation. We also talked about financing solutions to help protect against technology obsolescence.
By: Mike Dolan
