Business Internet Phone

Australian companies are showing a lot of interest in Business Internet Phones (Voice over IP Pones), yet not many projects are underway due to some constraints that many companies had not thought of before attempting to switch to the latest technology.

The initial pitch for Business Internet Phones (VoIP phones) is largely built on cost reduction, especially through toll bypass on calls between locations outside their local call zone. 

Companies are becoming increasingly savvy, now they are starting to see the benefits that accrue from being able to treat multiple locations as one from a telephony perspective.  This ease of management extends to the integration of voice and other systems.

There are a few other key factors you need to think about:

1. Does the saving justify the cost?
2. Can I afford to be without phones for any period of time?
3. Are the advantages been sold to me outweighed by the costs I will incur to implement the Business Internet or VoIP phone services.
4. What is a worst case scenario if I have a fault (i.e. how long am I without phones)?

Below I have outlines advantages and disadvantages, as you will see there are many more disadvantages at this stage but this will soon change.  Until the advantages cover the costly issues listed as disadvantages or a company has their own solution

Key Advantages:

1. Cost savings on calls on intra-office calling.
2. Transparency throughout your organisation; you can see who is logged in to the phone system from any office anywhere on the Wide Area Network.
3. Transfer of internal documents (non voice related advantage, great for the sales force).
4. Mobile Business Internet Phone Solutions for company fleets (by using softphones).
5. Reduce Line Rental charges.

Key Disadvantages:

1. Cost to setup is high.
2. Network management is a full time job fro one of your employees.
3. Return on investment is normally so poor only large multinational organisations have enough traffic to warrant the return on investment.
4. Many small resellers of Business Internet Phones (VoIP phone) are selling their service and business grade but they are not business grade. 
5. Many resellers do not back their product with any type of guarantees.  They are allowed to get away with this as the Business Internet Phone or VoIP market is not yet legislated like the traditional phone networks are.  Can you afford no ETR (estimated time of restoration) for your communications?
6. It is dependant on the quality of your internet connection.  This means to give your company good quality call traffic you need a high grade business quality internet connection; your best choice would be business Ethernet.
7. You need to run a redundant network as backup for the downtime you will suffer if a fault occurs.  This means you are have no longer made a saving on line rental which was one of the key advantages.
8. If you keep existing phone numbers and take them to a Business Internet Phone (VoIP phone) provider can you get them back to the traditional network should you find the quality or cost savings are not there?
9. Can your current hardware complete the job or do you need to buy a new phone system or upgrade existing hardware.

There are other products that can give you the guarantees of the traditional network whilst allowing you to enjoy the latest technology.  You will not get free calls on this system but it is cheaper as the carriers selling this option will offer either a subsided line rental or SHDSL internet connection.  This product is called VoDSL (Voice over Digital Subscriber Line).

B.S

bs

• Business VoIP
• VoIP for Business
• VoIP Vs VoDSL
• Benefits of business VOIP
• Business VoIP