Shopping for Business VoIP
Telephone Systems
Top Ten Things to Know
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is quickly becoming the modern
standard in business communications. Unified communications are the wave
of the future. Here are the important things to know when shopping for a
VoIP system.
1) VoIP Service Providers
There are two main types of VoIP options to choose from, a hosted VoIP service
or purchasing VoIP equipment. Hosted VoIP service (also referred to as a
virtual PBX) is the most common solution for small and medium businesses. With
hosted service, the hosted service provider supplies the VoIP system managed
and hosted externally to your company. The only equipment you will need to
purchase will be the IP telephones and many times these can be leased as well.
Alternatively, you may opt to purchase your own VoIP phone
system. In this case, the business buys the phone system from a systems
integrator, often the same provider that services or maintains your current LAN
network, and the systems integrator installs the equipment on your premises.
Your business or a contractor you hire is responsible for the maintenance and
operation of the system, ie hardware, software, firmware etc.
If you purchase the system, keep in mind that there may be
additional network equipment needed as well as dedicated servers and reliable
battery backup systems. Network integrity testing should also be done before
implementing a customer owned solution.
2) Cost
There are cost savings to consider when implementing VoIP for your
business. A study done by Nemertes Research, called "Convergence:
Reality at Last", found that the typical implementation cost per CPE
(customer premises equipment) VoIP user ranged from $525 for deployments of
over 1,000 users to $763 for deployments of 100 or less. As users
increase, though, so do the savings per user. Price ranges for hosted
VoIP services average between $2,000 to $3700 per month based on 20 phones with
a T-1. Hosted services require one-time set-up and activation fees
that typically range between $500 and $1,000. Hosted VoIP phone service affords the small business
the ability to get high-end services at a fraction of the initial CPE outlay
costs.
3) Reliability
VoIP, while once considered unstable, has now become a
reliable communication solution. Distributing call
processing functions across the network eliminates any single point of
failure. Choppy calls, once the number one complaint among users, have
now stabilized thanks to newer technology and better networks. Providers are
moving towards a new standard for the VoIP network, H.323. Power backup
systems are normally utilized to keep the network up in the case of a power
outage.
4) Flexibility
Both hosted VoIP phone services, i.e. Hosted PBXs and customer owned VoIP
systems (premise based IP PBXs) offer a great deal more adaptability than
traditional PBX systems. Features can be added to telephone sets
easily. Changes can be made quickly. MAC (moves, adds and changes)
activity is easily completed without the need for a technician to come to site,
saving about $100 per visit. VoIP allows you to move your own telephone
sets while keeping the telephone number and features intact. You simply
unplug your phone and plug it into another jack location that is connected to
the network. As new features and applications are designed they can be
added to your network.
5) Features
VoIP service & systems are feature rich. They provide all the
traditional features you expect such as three-way calling, voicemail, speed
dialing and caller ID. In addition, VoIP phone systems provide other more
advanced features. These are just some of the many available features.
- Call Queing -
allows calls to be put into queues to be answered in turn by a designated
group of extensions.
- Call Center -
enables you to set up calling and answering groups for specific tasks such
as marketing, sales and service.
- Remote Office
Features - provides features that integrate off-site locations such as
satellite offices, allowing them to function as part of the main office.
- Attendant
Console - an integrated control system that manages calls and functions
from a single interface.
- Find / Follow
Features - features that automatically route calls to employees regardless
of their location. Calls can be presented to multiple locations
simultaneously.
- Fax - VoIP
supports faxing. Fax can be added to each individual's inbox.
- PC Calling -
also called click to call, calls can be placed and received via the
PC. This may take the place of some cell phone usage, such as making
a call from a laptop over a high speed Internet connection in a motel
instead of using a cell phone.
- Enhanced 911 -
When dialing 911 it automatically sends the address of your location to
the emergency personnel.
6) Maintenance
Hosted PBX VoIP providers offer time and cost savings by providing ongoing
maintenance at their off-premise location. Customer owned VoIP solutions afford
the ability to reduce administrative costs by incorporating all voice and data
solutions into a single management interface. This interface can often
include gateways, controllers, telephones and applications.
7) Infrastructure
Traditional PBX telephone systems required at least one pair of wires to the
desktop. With VoIP, only one cable (a data connection) is needed to the
desktop, which will accommodate both voice and data. The cost savings
realized by running less cable in a new office scenario could average $70 to
$100 per station.
8) Customer Service
An important consideration is the service level your provider offers.
Hosted VoIP service providers typically offer an excellent range of options for
service and maintenance. Look for service that includes 7 x 24 x 365
coverage. Many options also include a number of support hours that enable
you to utilize provider network support. MAC (moves, adds and changes)
pricing is separate and providers usually offer a 24-hour turn-around
time. Upgrades may be included in your package. The cost of your
service plan will be based on the number of elements that are host
controlled. Ala Carte support items are also available. Business
VoIP providers offer competitive services that may be able to custom-tailor a
plan for you, so ask your representative.
9) Productivity
Converged applications such as unified messaging enable users to spend less
time working between different systems to retrieve messages. With a VoIP
phone service or system, your voice messages, e-mails and faxes can all be
delivered to one desktop account. Other capabilities such as click
to call and Microsoft Outlook integration save time. Efficiency also
increases, as staff members are able to answer their calls no matter where they
are with "find me - follow me" capabilities. Phone tag is
reduced. A survey conducted by Sage Research showed an increase in
productivity of up to 3 hours per week.
10) Cutting Edge
With its converged services and adaptability, VoIP phones are here to
stay. VoIP is easily updated to latest versions of software, giving you
access to the newest technology available. This keeps you a step ahead of your
competition, poised to allow even more enhancements. The future offerings
are limitless, with likely further integration to include CRM and other
customized business process tools.
Small
& Medium Enterprise Business VoIP
The Small Medium Enterprise
and Business VoIP Jay R. Brandstadter
The Small Medium Enterprise or Small Medium Business is viewed as
the next exciting area of opportunity in the growth of Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) or IP Telephony (IPT). The scope of a system can range from a
handful of telephones to dozens of voice and other terminals and from a single
business location to multiple networked sites across the country. This article
examines business VoIP in two parts: (1) telephone systems of today, and, going
forward, (2) VoIP options.
Part 1-Traditional Voice
Options for the Small or Medium Enterprise
Since as long as telephones
have been around, businesses of all sizes-small, medium, and large-have used
them. The pre-VoIP business of today can use a premises-based telephone system
(such as a key system or PBX) for their business locations, or can use
network-based (often called hosted) solution from a variety of service
providers including telephone companies and other entities. The hosted offering
could be as basic as a few "business telephone lines" from the
provider, or it could be PBX-like capabilities delivered via the provider's
equipment and network to the business. Let's look at these in a little more
detail.
Key Telephone Systems
We've all seen key telephones although perhaps we didn't know the
name at the time. The phones have multiple buttons (or "keys") with
separate buttons that provide access to each "outside" (telephone
company central office) line, intercom, and special features ("hold",
et. al.).
The key telephone system (KTS) lets users:
(a) Access more than one central office line,
(b) Answer or access a central office line from more than one telephone,
and,
(c) Place a line on hold in order to answer or initiate calls on other
lines.
Usually the KTS includes an intercom capability that allows users
on different telephones in the system to communicate with one another. By the
way, the user gets dial tone from the central office when connected to an
outside line for placing a call.
The components of a Key Telephone System are:
(1) Central controller or key service unit that provides the interface
and switching between incoming central office lines and system telephones,
(2) Station cabling to connect each telephone to the key service unit,
(3) Multi-button telephone sets or key telephones,
(4) Power supply
System capacity depends on the key service unit. In a typical
system, each incoming central office line appears on a separate button on every
key telephone set that can make or receive calls on that line. Normally, a
visual indicator, such as a small light, allows the user to tell if the line is
in use. The same light flashes at a certain rate when an incoming call is
ringing on the line, and flashes at a different rate when a call is on hold.
Recently, the feature set and add-on flexibility of a key system
has grown to rival that of many small PBXs. Also, like its PBX brethren, key
systems have utilized digital telephone technology for many years.
Additionally, key telephone systems are now available that do not require a separate
key system unit or central controller since the requisite intelligence and
logic can now be built into each telephone.
PBX Systems
Generally, if your company has more than 80-100 employees and/or
you have specific advanced functionality demands, then you are likely to be
using a PBX rather than a key system. The PBX was originally on the business
site or premises-based, but in recent years more and more viable network-based
or hosted alternatives have been developed as we will see in Part 2. The origins
of the Private Branch Exchange (PBX) were in the early part of the 20th century
when telephone switchboards first started to be automated. PBX technology has
typically been a downsized version of telephone central office switches and
associated equipment scaled for the enterprise or organization. The technology
bases have gone from electromechanical to stored- program (i.e., computer)
controlled, from analog to digital to ISDN to IP. The PBX, its peripherals, its
phones were referred to (still are in some places) as Customer Premises
Equipment or CPE.
The PBX connects office telephones in an enterprise or business
with the public telephone network. It connects telephone company or other
service provider lines (called "trunks") to the organization's users,
and allows an organization to have fewer outside lines than extensions because
statistically not all extensions will be in use at once. Without a PBX, an
enterprise will need one line for every employee with a telephone, with a PBX
system, the company only needs to have as many lines as the maximum number of
employees that could be realistically making outside calls at one time. (This
is could be as low as around 10% of the number of extensions, this statistical
reduction is known as "concentration')
Every telephone is connected to the PBX. When an employee takes the receiver
off hook and dials the code for external calls (usually "9"), the PBX
connects the user to an outside line (again, referred to as a
"trunk"). Additionally, the PBX performs other switching functions,
connecting outside callers with inside extension lines and extensions with each
other as needed.
The initial core functions of a PBX were to route and handle calls
and to share common facilities such as central office trunks and access to
specialized subsystems. Over time, many functions and features have been added.
The list below is just a sampling of the magnitude of capabilities in and
around today's PBX.
- Comprehensive
telephone feature sets
- Voice mail and
messaging, integration with e-mail
- Directory
services, directory dialing, dial-by-name, automated attendant
- Automatic Call
Distribution (ACD) for Call Center types of needs
- Least Cost
Routing and other Routing Services
- Call Accounting,
Billing, and System Management
- Numerous conferencing
options
- Web integration
including user management of moves, adds, and changes
- Wireless
integration, PDA support, VoWLAN, VoWiFi
- Display-based
phones and their support, soft phones
Network-Based or Hosted
Solutions
The care and feeding of a premises-based telephone system places
demands on the business for attention, resources, and budget. Some are willing
to give up ownership (and often, control) of their phone system, weigh budget
and other operational tradeoffs, and evaluate the option of network-based or
hosted alternatives. Some are unwilling to even consider any form of
outsourcing. For all but the smallest of business sites capable of
accommodation by multiple service provider lines, what this all reduces to is
whether on not a hosted or "Centrex-like" approach makes sense for
the business.
In terms of older definitions, Centrex (which originally meant
"Central Exchange") is a PBX-like service offered by the telephone
companies and other carriers in which the switching equipment is located at the
service provider's site, not the customer premises. Basically, a
"PBX" is offered to a customer that is crafted from the switching
infrastructure and resources of the service provider. A key advantage of this
is to get the PBX out of your building and locate it where the service provider
is totally responsible for its operation, reliability, upgrades and
performance, and where qualified service technicians and other support staff
are available. The acquisition and maintenance costs of the PBX (capital
expense) are traded off against the cost of leasing the Centrex service
(operating expense).
Centrex-like and similar hosted variants such as the hosted PBX
can often be the preferred solution for the small to medium-sized enterprise.
This holds especially true for enterprises with multiple locations but it
applies to others as well. Note that hosted solutions are no longer the
exclusive domain of phone companies and carrier-centric providers; there are
many new suppliers of hosted services including providers of hosted IP PBXs
that we'll discuss in Part 2. Consider the model of the Internet and IP
communications--it doesn't matter to the user (or client) where the server(s)
are as long as the work gets done economically and efficiently. Hence why should
it really matter that the PBX is on your physical site?
Considerations and
Discussion
It is interesting to consider telephone systems currently in
place. If you look at the numbers of existing telephone systems VoIP doesn't
have a strong showing, however as you will see in Part 2 VoIP telephone systems
shipments have overtaken legacy TDM voice shipments as of 2005. An
estimated break- out for traditional TDM voice solutions for low line size
(<100) establishments is:
|
Key Systems
|
60%
|
|
PBX
|
30%
|
|
Legacy Centrex
|
10%
|
For larger line sizes, PBXs start to dominate.
Traditional "Centrex" has declined over the years but
has retained a niche in government and educational institutions. Centrex has a connotation
to many as a mostly negative reminder of big telephone company dominance, high
costs and inadequate features. Today's hosted PBX solutions, as we will discuss
in Part 2, overcome these problems and are a very viable alternative.
Note that all of the traditional voice solutions that we've looked
at are independent of the customer's data communications and data networks.
Voice and its systems and networks came first and "data" was carried
by and handled by what was once a voice-only circuit-switched infrastructure.
With the movement to VoIP and voice/data convergence, not to mention the
expanded role of IT in a business of any size, that has changed. Let's turn now
to Part 2 and options in the era of convergence.
Part 2-Voice/VoIP Options
for the Small or Medium Enterprise in the Era of Convergence
There is no doubt that VoIP is the mainstream direction for voice.
In early 2005, VoIP shipments overtook that of legacy TDM voice, and a
significant portion of business telephony has already migrated to VoIP.
Basically, the question of "Why VoIP?" has been replaced with
"When VoIP?" For the small or medium-sized enterprise there are
a number of scenarios.
Retain Traditional Voice
-Do Not Transition to VoIP
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a guideline for
some people. There are many who are perfectly happy with PCs running Windows 98
and there really are folks without cell phones. There are businesses that can
continue with their legacy voice systems, but sooner or later events, triggers,
or self-assessments will happen that will cause those enterprises to re-examine
telephony. When that occurs in today's (and tomorrow's) climate, business VoIP
will be explored and likely be chosen as the next approach for the business. By
and large, these factors are independent of any technological advantage that
VoIP telephone systems may have over traditional systems such as enabling more
employee mobility and work site geographic freedom.
The kinds of events, triggers, and realizations leading to new
looks at the enterprise telephone system include:
- Enterprise
Organization Changes
-acquisitions, mergers, divestitures
-re-organization, new/revised business missions/initiatives
- Enterprise
Location Changes
-new locations, moves
-consolidations, closing facilities
- Enterprise Voice
/ IT Infrastructure Changes
-lease expirations, equipment / telephone systems / support at end of life
-IT / network upgrades, new IT functions
- Enterprise
Internal Monitoring
-operating expenses for telephony and related
-asset depreciation
Transition to VoIP
Migration to VoIP can be done in numerous ways and it is dependent
on the current technologies and number of sites of the business. (Moreover,
since we are looking at business VoIP, the relation between voice and data at
each business site and across the networks used by the business needs to be
understood at some point, this will be examined in more detail in a future
article on VoIP telephone systems.)
For the moment, let's consider the business as being served by
legacy premises-based telephone systems (key system or PBX) since that is the
majority of current deployments. The options for transitioning to business VoIP
then are:
- Single site
business can transition to a premises-based VoIP or hosted VoIP
- Multiple site
transitions to
(a) Premises-based VoIP at all sites, or
(b) Hosted VoIP serving all sites, or
(c) Mixture of premises-based and hosted VoIP
Premises-Based VoIP
A premises-based VoIP system can be an IP PBX or an IP- capable key
system. Depending on what was at the business site previously, transitioning to
a premises-based VoIP solution can result in replacing the incumbent telephone
capability or upgrading it to add IP telephony. There are a variety of PBXs and
key telephone systems from numerous vendors that can be upgraded by adding
appropriate circuit cards, software, and other elements to provide VoIP at the
business location without the need for "rip and replace". Typically,
these systems permit "hybrid" operation of both circuit-switched
telephony, and VoIP, and allow for a mix of IP and legacy telephones. However,
depending on circumstances and the economics of the situation, replacement of
the old system with a new IP PBX may be the appropriate choice for a premises-based
scenario. Multiple site businesses are challenging for premises-based
solutions especially when there are multiple PBX technologies that need to be
networked for the business. More on that subject when we examine the tradeoffs
between premises-based and hosted VoIP systems.
Network-Based or Hosted
VoIP
The network-based or hosted VoIP solution, often called the hosted
PBX or hosted IP PBX represents a new breed of telephony. It provides
network-centric IP applications (in this case voice and related capabilities)
via an Internet-like model of servers (which can be resilient and secure) and
geographically dispersed clients/users. The hosted approach shares some notions
of service provider ownership/management and centralization with
"Centrex", but as noted some years ago, "It's Not Your Father's
Centrex".
A hosted IP PBX system delivers IP PBX functionality as a service,
available over a public or private network such as the Internet, a service
provider's private network or a corporate Intranet. Rather than acquiring
IP PBX equipment, users contract for services from a hosted service provider.
The functions provided by a hosted IP PBX service are comparable to those of an
IP PBX system installed at the user's premises. Hosted IP PBX customers don't
buy, install, maintain or upgrade any IP PBX hardware or software; the IP PBX
equipment is managed and operated by the service provider, who then shares
access to the system among many users /customers. Customer site equipment to
interface with the service typically consists of telephones (IP or legacy TDM
with appropriate adapters), gateways, and a router for connecting to the site's
LAN. Also, customers will often have system management and administrative
access tools from the hosted service provider for making changes,
adding/modifying individual user attributes, monitoring performance and the
like.
The idea of using the public Internet for business VoIP
communications may be problematic to some. However, experience with consumer
residential services has shown that handling VoIP over the Internet works well,
works reliably and it is generally acceptable to sender and receiver. Voice via
the Internet was considered OK for the PC hobbyist a few years ago but was not
looked at as "business grade". However, there has been much
technological improvement from the days of "send and pray" to
today. It is an option you may want to consider with regard to cost and
voice quality tradeoffs in examining hosted VoIP services for a small or medium
sized enterprise.
Considerations and
Discussion
Let's go back now to our earlier introduction to transitioning to
VoIP and consider some of the tradeoffs. In particular, the pros and cons of
network-based or hosted VoIP vs. premises-based VoIP solutions
The hosted PBX approach has numerous advantages over the
premised-based PBX solution for single or multi-site businesses
- More
"Carrier-Grade" in Reliability, Resiliency, Security, and
Scalability
- Less Complex to
Engineer, Manage, and Support
- Easier to Add
New Services and Enhanced Technologies
- Typically, Open
Standards and More User Choices in Terminals and Devices
- Less Impact on
User's IT Infrastructure
- Faster to Deploy
and Train Staff
The hosted solution has additional benefits for multi-site
deployments
- Provides
Centralized User and System Management
- Easier to Add
New Locations and Resize Existing Locations
- Provides Uniform
Functions (Dial Plan, Features, Apps, etc.) Across Network
- Easier Migration
from Legacy and Can Support Mixed (IP/TDM) Network
- Less Complex to
Support Remote and Work at Home Users
There are a few disadvantages of the hosted approach such as the
need to have a separate connection to the host for each user at a site, and the
related notion that all calls (including the local ones across the office) must
be "back-hauled" and handled by that host. Additionally, some
functions are a little more complex when handled by a hosted PBX provider then
they are when handled by a premises IP PBX. But, on balance, there are no
feature disadvantages of network-based hosted IP PBX vs. premises-based IP PBX.
Note further, that with Web-based system and user management tools, the hosted
services customer has the same, if not better, control of moves, adds, changes,
and other similar processes as the premises IP PBX customer.
With regard to cost, acquiring and operating a premise IP PBX can
cost the enterprise customer more, perhaps many times more, than that of using
the hosted IP PBX option. As always, your mileage will vary, every
customer situation is different.
The road to VoIP is interesting and challenging. Do your homework
and enjoy the ride.
Benefits of a hosted PBX
service vs. customer owned PBX with maintenance agreement vs. SIP trunking
For small business users hosted (also called Hosted PBX or Virtual
PBX) or managed VoIP services are a cost effective way to utilize high quality
business VoIP. These options enable the SME (small to medium enterprise)
to keep operating expenses down, helping to fuel more money back into a growing
business. Here is the information you need to make an informed decision
regarding a business telephone system.
Hosted PBX
Hosted PBX phone service offers businesses all the advantages of
utilizing VoIP without the large initial investment needed to purchase your own
network equipment.
- Equipment
resides with the provider. The hosted PBX service provider can
quickly and easily resolve service problems remotely.
- Hosted services
enable you to take advantage of redundancy and backup that would be costly
to maintain on premise.
- Purchase and
lease phones only as needed. Your system can grow with your future
needs, just add phones.
- System updates
and enhancements are taken care of automatically by the hosted PBX service
provider.
- Hosted PBX
service providers offer support as needed, you don't need staff to
support your service
Managed PBX
Managed PBX service agreements enable you to outsource the
management of your PBX system. For a monthly charge, you can get a fully
managed system solution.
- One call for all
your needs. Managed services allow you to combine maintenance of
your voice and data solutions.
- Service problems
are handled remotely. In cases where a technician is required to
come to your location, the managed services provider is responsible for
clearing the trouble start to finish.
- Managed services
can provide statistics and reports necessary for your business.
- Managed services
typically charge on a per line basis, making this a good choice for small
businesses.
- Managed service
providers normally assign a specific service specialist to your
account. This representative is responsible to oversee your account
and make sure your system is properly maintained and serviced.
SIP Trunking
SIP trunking provides true converged voice and data onto common IP
connections. Interface to SIP trunks eliminates the need for media
gateway devices to interface IP voice to PSTN (public switched telephone
network).
- Less customer
premise equipment necessary to connect to PSTN
- Offers
scalability, so that as the company grows, the necessary infrastructure is
already in place
- Eliminates the
need for traditional voice circuits.
- Utilizes IP
connections and either a private network or the public Internet for
infrastructure.
- SIP trunks can
support high quality advanced multimedia services such as
videoconferencing and unified messaging.
- Flexibility to
use multiple service providers based on rates and time of day.
VOIP FEATURES
System Features
- Online PBX
Controls (system management interface)
- Multiple
Auto-Attendants
- Day and night
modes - 'time-based routing'
- Voicemail
- Flexible routing
- Terminate
extensions to any 10 digit number
- Transfer to any
outside number (including cellular phones)
- Conferencing
- Music on
hold/transfer
- Custom
music/message on hold/transfer
- Directory on
phone
- Intercom
- Dial by
extension
- Dial by name
- Record greeting
remotely
- Record user
names
- Hardware- and
software-based options
- and more!
Phone Features
- Caller ID
- Call Waiting
- Call Forwarding
- Find Me/Follow
Me
- Call Transfer
- Last Number
Redial
- Speed Dial
- Three-Way
Calling
Voicemail Features
- Password
protected
- Unavailable/busy/temporary
greetings
- Voicemail to
email (delivered as .wav file)
- Remote access
- On-phone
"message waiting" indicator
