Rewind to just a few years ago. Most IT organisations were still only getting their feet wet relative to IP telephony products, by reading, surfing the Net, going to tradeshows and seminars - in essence, trolling for information on this emerging technology that promised to carry voice interactions over the Internet.
Once they gathered what they felt was sufficient data, it was time to begin looking at product options, for the premise-based IP PBX phone systems that initiate an IP call, and for the voice over IP (VOIP) solutions that send IP calls as data packets over the Internet.
Unfortunately, most IT chiefs found back then that the only solutions available for IP telephony and VOIP were partial ones. They also found that such incomplete solutions make it difficult to meet 100% of their organisation's communications requirements.
Back to today: the 'incomplete' IP telephony/VOIP solutions problem isn't as much of an issue. Instead, the problem is how to sort through the substantial number of products that seem to do everything needed for a successful IP telephony deployment; or, more precisely, how to choose the best IP telephony product for an organisation.
Experience with thousands of IP telephony deployments suggests there are three distinct factors any IT chief and business enterprise should consider throughout the decision-making process:
* Innovation: When linked with technology like IP telephony, the term 'innovation' can easily be overused and watered down. But innovation is still a critical assessment, as in: How 'forward-thinking' is the product being evaluated? Most likely, an IP telephony product is being evaluated because an organisation is using an outdated telephone system that needs to be replaced or upgraded. In this case, the following 'innovation' questions should be asked:
There are three distinct factors any IT chief and business enterprise should consider throughout the decision-making process.
Dave Paulding is regional sales manager, UK and Africa, for Interactive Intelligence.
Does the new offering support the latest open communications standards, such as SIP? Does it include an application suite strong enough to extend the functionality employees and customers need? Is it flexible enough for multi-site offices and mobile workers, and scalable enough to add more? Does it easily integrate with other products that are already deployed? Essentially, will the product being gauged keep the business out in front of the technology curve? Making the evaluation with an 'innovation factor' in mind will ensure the process won't be repeated anytime soon.
* Experience: Industry knowledge and business experience relates as much to the company being bought from as it does the products it sells. How long has it been in business? How many IP telephony installations does it have? Does it have the support infrastructure to complete a successful deployment? Ignoring the 'experience factor' will raise the risk level, oftentimes beyond a company's comfort zone.
* Value: This really is a bottom line evaluation. Based on the total cost of buying and owning the product, is the business getting the best value for the money it is spending? In other words, consider all costs overall and not just the purchase price. Vendors who score high in the areas of innovation and experience will also typically be leaders when it comes to the 'value factor'.
With these three factors guiding the overall selection process for any IP telephony solution, below are some specific items to include in an evaluation. Note that some are business related, some are technology related, and both aspects must be considered.
* What is the reason for replacing the old system? It seems like such an obvious question (with many possible reasons), but often there are differing internal views to the answer - which can cause consternation and misjudgement in selecting a new IP telephony system. Arrive at the core reason, ask this question, and then be sure everyone is in agreement of the answer.
* What are the size requirements for the new system? Can the system scale to meet current requirements, as well as requirements eight to 10 years from now? If so, is its scalability simple and straightforward? Do remote employees need greater access to the communications system while out of the office? It can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for some IP telephony communications systems to let remote employees and mobile workers appear as if they're in the office and serving as an integrated part of the organisation when they're not; or, essentially, the 'always in' capability of a growing mobile workforce. Features such as 'browser-based remote system access', 'follow-me' and 'available forward' make mobile employees available at all times.
* Does the business require increased co-ordination between teams, customer service and field services? Across departments? Many organisations have difficulty synchronising between departments, workgroups and distributed offices to always know who's available, who can help with a pressing issue, what department can respond to customer inquiries and so on. Any IP telephony system worth its weight should include real-time presence management, across all locations and departments, for all employees whether in the office or away from it.
* Does the business need to manage telephony resources for multiple locations, and has its current systems been cumbersome and expensive to administer and maintain? If this is important to the organisation, recognise that proprietary 'multi-box' phone and communications systems generally have multiple administration interfaces. That is, no single point of administration. Conversely, a single box solution, or one that can be deployed and managed as a virtual single box solution, is essential in this case.
* Does the company have several high-volume interaction groups and/or informal call centres, such as customer service, sales, marketing, technical support, etc? For many vendors it is extremely difficult and expensive to offer screen pops and 'big call centre' functionality for small groups of 10 to 40 agents within an enterprise. Other vendors simply can't offer this type of functionality at an affordable price, if at all.
* Is the company planning an initial blend between IP telephony and traditional TDM resources? An IP telephony system should provide options for VOIP that offer maximum flexibility 'down the road'. Translated, an organisation should be able to install the new system on traditional telephony interfaces and migrate to VOIP later with no costly forklift upgrades. A strong contender for the business should also offer VOIP for the telephony interface using SIP for all incoming calls and stations, or using SIP only for stations leaving traditional trunk interfaces connected to the PSTN.
* What other applications does the company plan to deploy in the future? Screen pops, unified messaging, call recording, screen recording - even if not deployed immediately, planning the need for future applications now will help in system selection. Several IP telephony systems aren't architected to handle expanded applications without adding multiple hardware boxes, which are both difficult and expensive to administer.
While this list isn't all-inclusive - it would take far more space to include every consideration - it does provide several key questions and considerations to include as part of a company's IP telephony product selection. Also, combined with general measurements against innovation, experience and value, these factors will help ensure the solution a business ultimately chooses is one that meets its needs for years to come.
* Dave Paulding is regional sales manager, UK and Africa, for Interactive Intelligence.
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