Enterprise VoIP is making inroads among enterprises that cling
to their circuit switched voice networks. The lure of Enterprise
IP voice is having a single network to serve all modes of
communication. Enterprise VoIP introduces efficiencies into the
network, and allows for tighter integration
Enterprise VoIP is making inroads among enterprises that cling
to their circuit switched voice networks. The lure of Enterprise
IP voice is having a single network to serve all modes of
communication. Enterprise VoIP introduces efficiencies into the
network, and allows for tighter integration. Certainly from the
supply side, we can see that Enterprise IP voice is taking off.
Enterprise IP voice is still in the early stages of adoption,
but is starting to move into the mainstream.
Awareness of Enterprise VoIP is winning over companies for its
ease of use/manageability, flexibility and operational cost.
Ease of use and manageability get high ratings because
Enterprise IP voice equipment overcomes the hassle of performing
mundane telecom tasks. For example, to change a user's location
within the building in a TDM world while maintaining the user's
current extension, physical changes would have to be made to the
network. For companies that don't have qualified staff, they
need to pay for a service call. In an Enterprise IP world, user
identity is coupled to the phone's MAC address, and not to a
particular port, so a user can simply pack their desk phone,
plug it into the LAN port at the new desk, and be up and
running. The convenience of Enterprise VoIP is a huge selling
point.
Other drivers propelling Enterprise VoIP include scalability and
the desire to consolidate voice and data networks. Implementing
multiple wide area networks is expensive, and complexity
increases as the number of networks and sites grows. Large
organizations seek network convergence, and Enterprise VoIP is
the way to get there.
Consumer adoption of VoIP services may also spill over into the
enterprise VoIP world, as was the case with wireless LANs. Once
people get used to advanced features available at home--for
example, visual voicemail--they may end up pushing for the same
capabilities of Enterprise VoIP at work. For companies that are
deploying Enterprise IP voice, the advantages outweigh the
barriers. The initial cost of deploying Enterprise VoIP
technology are capital expenses. There are also some technical
hurdles to adopting Enterprise VoIP although in the long run,
the future of Enterprise VoIP is assured.
For more information on
Ent
erprise VoIP and emerging
VoIP over
IP technology, visit
AudioCodes
About the author:
Johnnny Mayer writes on travel, technology, software, diamonds
and jewelry, business, music and more.
