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1. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon
to an IP nEt work
Contents
Executive summary 2
Deployment trends 3
Cost efficiency 4
Definitions 4
Flexibility 6
Convergence 6
Productivity 8
IP Gateways 8
Challenges 9
Voice over IP or voice over the internet 9
Choosing a vendor 11
Session Internet protocol 11
Conclusion 12
in association with

2. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
ExECutIVE SuMMary
the effort which organisations Despite having been discussed organisations will reap the full
are currently expending for nearly a decade, mainstream benefits of VoIP when they address
on the transition to IP implementation of voice as a service the issues throughout their entire
on so-called converged IP data infrastructure, which may favour
voice will, in the long term,
networks has finally begun in earnest a hosted solution. If they pursue
be rewarded with lower among large and medium-sized piecemeal migration the optimal
infrastructure opex costs, organisations (1) over the last 12 position of cost efficiency and raised
reduced telephony tariffs and months. productivity is not guaranteed.
increased productivity for
their employees. through the use of voice over IP the key to corporate success is
(VoIP), organisations aim to achieve the ability to respond quickly to
significant cost efficiencies in changing market conditions, new
infrastructure opex, telephony tariffs competitors and emerging customer
and total cost of ownership (tCo). demands. therefore, organisations
should be wary of the potential
Beyond cost-cutting, VoIP services pitfalls of locking themselves in to an
promise to make productivity inflexible VoIP solution which limits
enhancements, such as conferencing their growth potential or is unable to
and unified messaging, more easily accommodate radical changes. they
available to employees than with must look for the most flexible end
conventional voice systems. to end solution.
Ref (1) 200 or more employees in association with
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3. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
DEPLoyMEnt trEnDS
74 percent of large Despite the prevalence of email, IP services, according to market
organisations expect to fully instant messaging and SMS (short analyst firm IDC (2). the majority
migrate their voice networks message service), voice is still the of these - 81 percent - are IP-based
leading business communication telephony solutions at some or all of
to IP-based by the end of
tool. Voice applications can the companies’ sites and 36 percent
2008. By December 2005, 28 consume up to 25 percent of an involve enabling VoIP calls over their
percent had taken the first organisation’s ICt (information and wan.
steps. (IDC) communications) budget, according
to ovum, a market research firm. three-quarters of these companies
In the third quarter 2006, (ie one in five of the total surveyed)
shipments of IP telephones the notion of ‘IP (Internet protocol) began this transition in the period
rose 15.7 percent over the everywhere’, whereby organisations from Jan – Dec 2005.
adopt IP throughout their entire data
previous quarter in western
and voice infrastructures, has been however, having waited six or
Europe. (IDC) talked about since the early days seven years to begin the process,
of the internet boom in the late- organisations now expect to move
By 2010, there will be 48.5 forward quickly. according to IDC’s
1990s. and while some early-adopter
million VoIP connections. (IDC) organisations took up the challenge survey, 74 percent of large firms
immediately, it is only in the last two expect to fully migrate their voice
In the third quarter 2006, years that significant numbers of networks to IP-based by the end of
shipments of IP telephones large organisations with extensive 2008, that is, to replace all tDM voice
rose 15.7 percent over the infrastructure investments have with IP services.
previous quarter, according begun to deploy VoIP as the first step
to IDC’s survey among 16 towards pure-IP networks. there are three main factors driving
this upsurge in activity to implement
western European countries.
In December 2005, 28 percent VoIP: cost efficiency, flexibility and
the top three vendors, in of large enterprises had already employee productivity.
order, were Cisco, avaya and implemented some converged
alcatel.
Ref (2) Voice and Data Convergence
Hits the Mainstream: Why Enterprises
are Quickly Migrating Their
Networks, IDC.
the survey was conducted among
440 large companies in Spain,
Germany, Belgium, the netherlands,
Ireland, Italy, France, the uk and
the uS. in association with
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4. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
CoSt EFFICIEnCy
Modern organisations experience Leaving aside power distribution,
DEFInItIonS increasing pressure to be more this requires maintaining two
efficient so as to thrive in today’s infrastructures, with all the ensuing
fiercely competitive business operational expenditure, managing
climate. Economic and technological two distinct sets of suppliers and
What is IP?
globalisation means business runs employing support staff with skills in
Internet Protocol (IP) is a 24/7; new competitors emerge in PBx and data networks – which are
the form of well-funded start-ups rarely combined in the same person.
communication language
or existing businesses moving in
that enables a network of from other sectors; organic growth Furthermore, organisations with
computers to communicate so is supplemented by mergers and more than one building have
we can send emails and share acquisitions; customers are more frequently evolved with a single
documents and other files. IP knowledgeable, networked and data network but a separate PBx for
is the underlying mechanism vociferous than ever before; and the each building. the result is a web
battle for talent – capable people of complexity which, even if well-
for the worldwide network of managed, can inhibit growth and
with commercial and technical skills
computers that make up the and a sound work ethic – further flexibility and increase costs per site.
internet and the language exacerbates the pressure on
that browser software uses to companies to be more efficient, to do By carrying voice as a service on the
access websites. more with less. data network, these operational costs
can be reduced. the operational costs
In the constant search for smarter of maintaining the PBx network(s)
ways to do business and, more will be eliminated, as will any costs
What is Voice over IP (VoIP)? importantly, new streams of revenue, that would have been incurred
organisations rely heavily on their ICt by changing the voice network
VoIP is the technology used to infrastructure. when the organisation expands or
transmit voice conversations otherwise changes operations.
over a data network using IP. network savings
By running voice across a single
the data network involved
For historical reasons organisations IP network, branch offices need
might be the Internet or a have operated two distinct networks, no longer maintain separate PBxs
corporate intranet. VoIP takes one for voice and one for data, which and all equipment associated with
an analogue voice, encodes it have evolved in parallel as business voice traffic can be centralised.
digitally, converts it into requirements have changed. a desk according to a recent study of large
in a conventional company has three uS companies, once the converged
wires running to it: one for power, networks had achieved ‘steady state’,
one for data and one for the internal annual operating costs were 30
(continued page 5) phone system. percent lower for a single IP network
in association with
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5. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
(continued from page 4) than for separate voice and data incurring per minute call charges.
networks (3). Moreover, the capital
cost of equivalent services, such as a But if the organisation operates
voicemail server, tends to be much a single IP network, a VoIP call
packets, and transmits them lower for IP systems than for PBx. from one part of the organisation
over the data network to to another, no matter how
their destination using the however, the organisation will still geographically dispersed, will be free
most efficient path. at the need to employ support staff who of charge (that is, the call will not
understand data networks and incur a cost per minute, although
destination the packets are
understand how voice works as a it will share the burden of network
reassembled and reconverted service on an IP network. this may operational costs). VoIP systems
to the format they started in: require an increase in support staff enable least-cost routing, so that calls
analogue voice. numbers rather than a reduction are routed to “hop on” the enterprise
during the transition from separate wan using the IP PBx and then
voice and data networks to a single “hop off” again at the location that
IP network. offers the most savings. Dedicated
What is IP telephony? client software provides this service
obviously this will not be the case if transparently to caller and called
as the use of IP has evolved, so the PBx is hosted: the cost of support party.
has the range of applications staff will be born by the service
and devices that can be provider. For highly distributed organisations
supported. the use of IP is with multiple branches, these
now common in multimedia allied to the cost-reduction equation telephony cost-savings can be
is the fact that as legacy PBx systems significantly large enough to justify
communication and can also reach the end of their serviceable the move to VoIP.
be used with telephones and lives, firms are faced with the
telephone systems to make decision of whether to invest in a applications
phone calls across the internet. new PBx or make the transition to a
this technique is most VoIP system. Given the advantages, the advantages described above can
it is natural that they should choose also be applied to mobile phones,
commonly associated with
to retire the legacy PBx and switch so that when travelling abroad, for
low-cost phone services via from dual infrastructure to a single IP example, the client software on the
the public internet promoted infrastructure. handset knows to make the call using
for residential or home use. the appropriate roaming agreement
telephony tariffs via the enterprise or hosted IP PBx,
so that the call is made using the
another source of cost reduction lowest-cost route. the IP PBx deals
(continued page 6) realised by VoIP is lower telephony with the QoS (quality of service)
tariffs. using conventional PBx issues, ensuring that voice traffic
systems, calls from one branch office is given priority over less critical
to another would be routed over applications, such as email.
the PStn once they leave the PBx,
Ref (3) Choosing a Communications
Managed Service Provider: Strategies
for Decreasing Risk and Cost in
Converged Networking, Lippis
Consulting in association with
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6. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
FLExIBILIty
(continued from page 5) another attraction of moving to For organisations that have
VoIP is the ease with which additions followed this line of reasoning
moves and changes can be executed furthest and divested themselves
and new voice services deployed. of the physicality of manufacturing,
What’s the difference their business comprises of pure
between IP telephony the demand for flexibility in business knowledge workers - people
and VoIP? is, in part, the realisation of what late- operating in streams of information
nineties business gurus, like James that feed their decisions and the
VoIP and IP telephony are Martin, dubbed business agility (4): business processes.
closely related: IP telephony is harnessing technology to provide
dependent on VoIP. VoIP is the an organisation with the ability to Even for organisations that retain
respond quickly to the demands more traditional structures, such as
building block for delivering of its customers and changing manufacturing and distribution, their
conversations over an IP competitive position. employees require greater flexibility
network. to avoid confusion, to make accurately informed
the use of IP to enable
business and telephony
applications is referred to as IP
telephony, whereas VoIP is the
underlying technology.
Conventional separate voice and data infrastructure versus converged
infrastructure
Ref (4) Cybercorp, James Martin,
Amacom, 1996 in association with
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7. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
decisions in near-real-time, bringing Few office workers master the
products to market more quickly, functions of the PBx system available
ConVErGEnCE and responding to customers and on their desk phone. In fact, office
suppliers appropriately. workers are increasingly using
mobile phones at their desks because
Infrastructure changes these offer a familiar interface with
Convergence is a word used an easily accessible list of contacts.
by telcos, infrastructure Given these high-paced conditions of according to a study conducted by
vendors, service providers, modern business, many organisations Strategy analytics in august 2005, 22
analysts and the press as a are finding that their premises percent of workers use mobiles while
catch-all to imply a mystical are in a constant state of internal at their desk. Some estimates are
construction, breakdown and even higher: that four out of 10 calls
alloying of voice and data
reconstruction with teams allocated made from an office are made from
networks. In reality it often dynamically to M&as, new projects, mobiles.
means replacement of the spin-offs or ‘fire-fighting’.
voice infrastructure rather however, an IP PBx offers the chance
than a merging of the two. Changing desks, adding new people to reinvigorate the desk phone
or operations and eliminating with a host of services configurable
For example, in a converged unused lines due to layoffs is an and accessible from the familiar
IP network, voice will be a arduous process of hardware and interface of the PC. office workers
software changes with conventional will no longer have to remember
type of data traffic running
PBx systems. on an IP PBx, effecting which esoteric keypad combinations
over the IP network, and moves, changes and additions is are required to set up a conference
telephony applications, such much simpler. call, they can select conferencing
as multiparty conferencing, functions from their screens, pull in
will be services embodied by Configurable applications callers and engage in IM sessions
software and configurable with participants during the
allied to the flexibility of IP networks conference.
from a PC. to accommodate changes and
additions is the increased ease with an IP PBx can also integrate with
which they can deliver configurable mobile phones and applications.
voice applications, such as within the campus a mobile phone
conferencing, redirection and follow- can be made to operate as if it
me services. after cost reduction was an extension of the IP PBx. For
and flexibility, the promise of greater remote and mobile workers, soft
employee productivity is the third phones can provide all the facilities
factor driving the adoption of VoIP. of an IP PBx extension from a laptop.
in association with
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8. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
ProDuCtIVIty
Beyond the office environment, a skills, sound work ethic, broadband
VoIP system also makes it much web access and a grasp of at least
IP GatEwayS easier to accommodate mobile and one language other than their
remote workers and provide them mother-tongue – is in short supply
with the same telephony services as in developed nations with ageing
to connect a company’s VoIP if they were sitting at their desks. demographics.
system to the public network
requires an IP gateway In businesses such as professional organisations have to cast their nets
running h.323 protocol or SIP services firms which rely on highly wider and wider to recruit and retain
mobile knowledge workers, talented people. that inevitably
(session initiation protocol customers expect to be able to means offering flexible and remote
– see page 10) which deals contact consultants and account working to build teams connected
with the interface between managers immediately - wherever in the virtual world rather than the
packetised IP and the circuit- they are. physical office.
switched PStn.
Deploying an IP PBx can improve Consequently, the number of
h.323 and SIP provide similar customer service by providing employees fulfilling some aspect of
functionality. seamless transparent mobility their role in mobile and/or remote
with facilities like follow-me and a conditions is increasing dramatically.
single direct-dial contact number Industry analysts at IDC estimate
which connects to the called party there were some 650 million mobile
regardless of whether they are at and remote workers in 2004. By 2009
their desk or at a remote location. that will have risen to 850 million, or
about one in four of the total global
Economic and societal changes workforce.
towards hot-desk policies, home
working and remote working are organisations have to accommodate
becoming the norm rather than the these fundamental changes when
exception. organisations will have planning their ICt infrastructures.
to cope with increasing numbers running voice as a service on an
of employees based outside the IP network can help provide this
traditional office environment. flexibility. For example, a remote
worker using a ‘soft phone’ on her
Business analysts agree that the laptop can make and receive calls
organisations that will be most over an IP virtual private network
successful in the future are those (VPn) with the same facilities and at
which harness the greatest human the same call rates as if she was using
talent. But ‘talent’ - educated people a desk phone in the office.
with technical and/or commercial
in association with
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9. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
ChaLLEnGES
Given the challenges detailed however, organisations which opt
VoICE oVEr IP or VoICE previously, how should organisations to do nothing will miss out on the
respond? Let’s look at some opportunities to reduce capex and
oVEr thE IntErnEt alternatives. opex ICt costs as detailed previously,
and find their growth and flexibility
Some vendors offer voice calls 1. Do nothing. inhibited by the complexity of the
using the internet, but this dual network. accommodating
raises quality of service (QoS) For the organisation where separate flexible, remote and home workers
voice and data networks happily will require a significantly higher
issues.
coexist, doing nothing is a tempting level of expense and effort, and
IP packets suffer from delay route. Voice is a critical business services which raise the productivity
tool and transferring it from a of employees, such as unified
(lag in transferring data
conventional network to an IP messaging, conferencing and remote
packets from one point to network will cause disruption and softphones, will remain beyond
another), jitter (variations in require skilled staff and project reach.
delay) and loss (packets don’t management.
arrive at all), all of which can the organisation which does nothing
compromise real-time voice. will increasingly lose out to leaner
more flexible competitors who use
Voice over the Internet treats the flexibility of their VoIP facilities
voice data like any other to reap the cost-efficiency benefits,
respond to market changes more
packet. under peak loads
quickly and serve their customers
voice frames will be dropped better. Eventually, the do-nothing
equally with data frames. non- approach will lead to reduced
voice data is not time-sensitive profitability and poor value for the
and dropped packets can be business owners.
corrected by retransmission.
Besides, at some point the PBx will
Voice needs to be real time so come to the end of its serviceable
dropped voice packets cannot life and it is now almost impossible
be corrected thus. to purchase PBx equipment
without some form of IP technology
incorporated. Even if the strategy
is to do nothing for now, wise
(continued page 10) managers will be planning for the
day when a decision has to be made
remote workers can have the because operating with the current
same functionality as office-based equipment is no longer feasible.
workers
in association with
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10. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
(continued from page 9) 2. Invest in a new IP PBx only. 4. Internet telephony
to maximise the shift to IP organisations may also be tempted
organisations have to consider their by the promise of reduced telephony
Voice needs alternative paths whole infrastructure at the same costs to outside parties into adopting
to guarantee a continuous time. Purchasing an IP PBx and internet telephony as the only means
flow of packets regardless of connecting it to a tDM line to the of carrying voice to the outside
congestion on the network. outside world without an efficient world. But pure Internet telephony
IP gateway, or using conventional is not a carrier-grade service yet in
within a company’s intranet,
handsets instead of IP handsets, is terms of quality and reliability in
IP telephony facilitates the not maximising the IP PBx or the the same way as circuit-switched
delivery of voice packets potential of VoIP. technology is.
across the network with speed,
control, and plenty of options. 3. Single-vendor vision that is not to say that pure internet
telephony will never achieve
organisations using the another danger is that organisations this standard. In the meantime,
internet to route external calls commit themselves wholeheartedly organisations that require the same
to one vendor’s vision of the future. high levels of quality and reliability
do so without the means to
this is particularly a danger with VoIP as are available on the PStn should
manage the traffic, assure the services where vendors have created keep their options open.
quality of the conversation, a lot of excitement in the press with
and without advanced epic visions of ‘convergence’. 5. Consider whole infrastructure
features enabling the end user
to control the calls. Convergence is not the holy Grail. organisations will not reap all the
organisations do not need another benefits of VoIP through piecemeal
Voice over the internet technological marketing concept but migration, but only when they
services may soon be a cost-efficient flexible infrastructure address the issues throughout
which provides a stable platform on their entire infrastructure. they
enterprise quality but are not which to conduct dynamic business. should also look at support costs.
there yet. a voice solution which requires
retaining flexibility in the esoteric support knowledge is also a
infrastructure is vital: surviving and dangerous route for an organisation
thriving in the modern competitive to take, even if the system fulfils all
world depends on it. the dangers of the other requirements of quality,
opting for cul-de-sac voice systems reliability and flexibility. Specialised
which inhibit growth or will prove staff are expensive to recruit and can
expensive to adapt should business be even more expensive to retain if
operations change cannot be over- they decide to use their position as
emphasised. lynch-pin to hold the company to
ransom.
in association with
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11. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
ChooSInG a VEnDor
So, given the potential dangers the organisation recruit and retain
above, what should an organisation sufficient project managers for the
SIP look for in a voice-solutions vendor? implementation of the solution
In today’s economic climate and support staff for its day to day
businesses cannot predict the future. running?
Session initiation protocol arguably, they never could.
(SIP) is an open multi- Dealing with this uncertainty points
media signalling standard, “humans whether acting as heavily in favour of a hosted solution
a ‘rendezvous’ protocol, individuals or in collective fashion in for VoIP which is managed 24/7
a firm or government, face massive leaving the organisation to focus
which allows endpoints
inherent uncertainty about the effect on its primary business purpose.
on the Internet to discover, of their actions,” says Paul ormerod, this is why IDC’s survey (2) found 20
locate, negotiate, and theoretical economist and founder percent of large enterprises currently
establish sessions. SIP allows of the henley Centre for Forecasting. use managed services for separate
carrier voice equipment to “whether it is the great characters voice and data networks, but in the
interoperate with enterprise of tragedy or the giant corporations future, 39 percent expect to use
such as Microsoft, the future remains managed services for converged
voice equipment over an IP
covered in a deep veil to all. Species, voice and data.
network. SIP sets up and tears people, firms, governments are all
down voice calls to and from complex entities that must survive in Migrating to a VoIP solution using a
the enterprise over this IP data dynamic environments which evolve hosted service provider means the
network. over time. their ability to understand vast majority of capex costs and risks
such environments is inherently are borne by the provider. Security
SIP provides the limited.” (5) of the system, resilience and disaster
communications directory recovery and the recruitment and
therefore, the foremost attribute retention of project management
server with the means to reach
required is flexibility. organisations and support staff will also fall to the
each individual’s desk phone, can buy or lease equipment which provider.
mobile, PDa, email and instant claims to be upgradeable, but
messaging (IM) programme. how upgradeable is it in reality? opex costs will be known and
It supports multiple forms how many people will be working predictable and the organisation can
of real-time communication, at headquarters in three years choose between per user or flat call
time? how many branches will the rate charges. the effects on the VoIP
including voice, video, and
organisation support? what will be system of changes to the business
instant messaging, and allows the policy on home working and can be calculated with the provider
for ‘presence’ information (see hot-desks? If swingeing carbon on a what-if basis.
page 11) on the network. taxes make extensive business travel
unfeasible, how will the organisation Even if the organisation chooses
SIP is published by the adapt to video conference the hosted service route to VoIP, it
Internet Engineering task meetings? will the organisation still has to ensure that it chooses a
Force (IEtF) and is supported require a contact centre? how will provider which not only suits their
by all major vendors of IP
PBxs, IP phones, IP gateways
and call managers.
Ref (5) Why Most Things Fail, Paul
Ormerod, Faber & Faber, 2005 in association with
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12. VoICE SErVICES
ManaGInG thE tranSItIon to an IP nEt work
For further information current business position but has a single provider is unlikely to be
on finding the right VoIP the flexibility to cope with emerging able to offer the range of equipment
solution business needs, in terms of network and services that a large organisation
infrastructure and new telephony requires for its changing needs, but a
[url here] applications, even if these are quite strong partnership with an industry-
radical. therefore the systems the leading hardware and infrastructure
provider offers will have to be vendor should be in place.
scalable and modular with the ability
to design a solution which fits the Voice communication is such a vital
business as it evolves, rather than a business tool that organisations may
one-size-fits-all solution, balk at relinquishing control of it
to a service provider. But with well-
the provider should be able to managed service level agreements
identify precisely where savings and struck with the right provider,
efficiencies from migrating to VoIP organisations can smooth their
will occur for the organisation and transition to VoIP and benefit from a
offer a uniform experience to all resilient and flexible solution.
users, regardless of where they access
the system from.
ConCLuSIon
the effort which organisations are employees and virtual teams in the
currently expending on the transition highly distributed organisations of
to VoIP will, in the long term, be the future.
rewarded with reduced tCo of
their telephony systems from lower the fact that an organisation cannot
infrastructure opex costs, reduced predict what its business will look
telephony tariffs and increased like in the timeframe of the life of its
productivity for their employees. infrastructure points heavily towards
a hosted managed PBx as part of the
however, an optimal outcome for solution.
these firms will be achieved in the
modern competitive environment Convergence is not the holy Grail.
only if they consider flexibility a organisations do not need another
top priority and look to address all technological marketing concept.
infrastructure issues, not just deploy they require a cost-efficient flexible
a piecemeal solution. Voice is the infrastructure which provides the
leading business communication tool right platform on which to conduct
and thus will be central to integrating dynamic business.
Copyright Colt and IDG Global
Solutions 2007
all trademarks are the property of
their respective owners in association with
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