Internet Protocol telephony (IPT) is becoming a key driver in the evolution of voice communications, gathering impetus over the past 12 months with the opening up of the local telecommunications market.
Increased adoption rates for IPT are the bright spot in the enterprise communications market, demonstrating that the technology has lost its "immature" label.
Cost saving has always been top-of-mind for those implementing IPT, however, potential or existing users must be aware that the technology can also completely change the way employees work and where they work from.
Many first-generation IP telephony business cases were limited to cost and operational efficiencies and users were concerned with voice channel availability. Clearly defined, first generation IP is the convergence of enterprise voice and data networks and services on a single and unified networked infrastructure, predominantly LAN or campus-focused.
Second generation IP encompasses the delivery of integrated, real-time communications and collaborative applications designed to eliminate artificial network barriers, deliver a compelling value proposition and redefine the marketplace in terms of customer experience across the WAN.
The second generation is ushering in a stronger focus on competitive advantage, revenue generation and productivity improvement. It is set to be an industry-changing technology, creating more end-user and organisational value, rather than the necessary but transitional technological step represented by first generation IPT.
Business imperatives include the need for increased responsiveness, a greater focus on customer service and the requirement for extended and more flexible working hours, particularly with the death of 9-5 as businesses begin to manage by output not by presence. It has also become critical to take advantage of opportunistic communication, moving away from formal scheduled meetings by allowing staff access to the right facilities to make decisions regardless of location. Companies have also seen an increased need to be onsite at customer`s premises.
2005 signifies an inflection point marked by new IP-based products and services aimed at adding enterprise value in the form of productivity improvements. This added value is set to quickly overshadow the capital expenditure and operational efficiency values currently added by the promise of infrastructure convergence.
This second generation of IP solutions, adding consolidated access to multiple enterprise communications resources without regard to distance, medium and time, is required to realise the benefits of these evolving applications in business cases, serving customers and the company itself with collaboration tools that assist in resolving issues and making decisions regardless of location.
By Martinus Pretorius, business unit manager: networking at Datacentrix
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