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VoIP

Making Sense of VoIP from IP PBX to Voice QoS

Within the alphabet soup of the VoIP phenomenon lies a wealth of benefits for companies that lay the proper groundwork and take a step-by-step approach to VoIP implementation. Putting all of the hype aside, are you clear on the best ways to reap the benefits of voice over IP? This section aims to equip you with the information you need to begin formulating a plan.

Voice over IP Definition and its Major Benefits

VoIP stands for "voice over Internet Protocol" and involves a number of interconnecting processes that convert a voice signal into a stream of data packets that are distributed to and then returned from a packet network. One major reason for making the transition is, as VoipReview.org puts it, "...the greatest benefit of VOIP is that because you are paying for transmitted data only as used, the cost reduction is staggering."

An additional major benefit of VoIP is its revolutionary effect on communications, supporting the operation of telecommuting, collaborative white board meetings held online, and "follow me" phone services, all of which make you and your business message completely mobile and geographically independent

Network Assessment Before the Transition is One Critical Step

The Aberdeen Group reported on five major challenges1 that stand in the way of VoIP implementation for companies considering IP telephony, and those are:

  1. Security
  2. Business justification
  3. Interoperability
  4. Cost
  5. Measurable Return on Investment (ROI).

Even more ominously, research from the Gartner Group resulted in their statement that, "Fully 85 percent of existing networks can't handle VoIP traffic and 75 percent of enterprises that don't analyze their IP network infrastructure before deployment won't see a successful VoIP implementation."2

Business Needs a Unified View of Differing IP / TDM PBX Systems to Predict and Measure Voice QoS

Frost & Sullivan analyst Krithi Rao recently stated that, "Given the current state of the enterprise telephony market, most enterprise customers are requiring unified management of disparate IP/TDM PBX systems and environments, which requires the normalization and correlation of data." There's no question that the enterprise will need quality of service standards for voice in order to build a business justification for VoIP. Converged communication management solutions that leverage analytics are helping meet these needs, as in the case of Communicado's solutions and our integration with Telchemy's Voice QoS technology.

Based on research like that done by Aberdeen, Frost & Sullivan, Forrester, and Gartner, Communicado's assertion is that a proper assessment like the ones made possible by the features built into VXTracker™ and the Streamline™ Service Management Platform can make the difference between success or failure in VoIP implementation.

More Resources:

1 "Beyond Dial-Tone," December 2006, Aberdeen Group.

2 "Dodging VoIP Predeployment Pitfalls," P. Musich, eWeek, December 12, 2005.