With the liberalisation of the telecoms sector, the regulatory environment is finally catching up with technology, allowing convergence to move closer to becoming a reality.
This is the view of Geoff Rehmet, senior consultant for new business development at Internet Solutions, discussing the opportunities that voice over IP (VOIP) will create for the corporate market.
"We have witnessed a major shift from 20 years ago, when voice was the main system of operation. Today data is the main system corporates are using, with voice being viewed as a special type of data," says Rehmet.
He quotes a BBC Radio report, which says British Telecom will invest up to lb3 billion per annum over the next decade in order to transform its network to an all IP environment.
"Something like this is only now possible because we have the systems that can prioritise voice and thus maintain its quality. In order for voice and data to co-exist on a single network, such prioritisation is essential."
VOIP trade-off
Rehmet says when it comes to VOIP, there has always been a trade-off between quality and price, and that corporates need to understand that although it is considered to be a cost-cutting mechanism, if good quality voice is required, it will still have to be paid for.
"The move to VOIP will likely see changes in the way calls are billed, as with a standard voice network calls are usually charged by duration and whether it is in peak hours or not, but I think VOIP will probably be charged at a flat monthly rate, with all on-Net calls being free," he says.
"It is similar to ordering from a buffet - where you can eat as much as you want - as opposed to ordering off the menu, where you pay per item chosen."
Rehmet believes there are many applications for VOIP in the corporate environment, including the development of voice virtual private networks (VPN), in much the same way that data VPNs are set up in large organisations.
Silent revolution
"There is also the possibility of using VOIP for least-cost routing (LCR) purposes, whether the traffic is national, international or cellular; the development of voice communities, which can give a business the option of allowing its customers to bypass the PSTN; and of course the call centre benefits.
"When it comes to international call centres, a converged voice and data network will make integrated applications possible, and will allow for calls to be smoothly redirected from one country to another, without the customer even being aware he is talking to someone elsewhere in the world," says Rehmet.
"This type of function will work well for corporates such as airlines, that have operations in many different countries. They can now operate a single call centre without having to charge clients from other countries international call rates."
He says the key implications of VOIP for companies will be the savings generated by on-Net calling and LCR, a choice of voice quality which will allow for a trade-off between quality and price, the ability to build economies of scale out of shared voice/data networks and the flexibility of new applications, such as converged voice and data direct to the desktop.
"Many of the major telcos are turning to VOIP as their carrier, and it is something of a silent revolution - most of the planned migration to VOIP will be totally invisible to the end-users."
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