IP Telephony (IPT) is now firmly established as a viable business communications technology. However, given the high cost of implementation, IT leaders still struggle to make the case to upgrade aging legacy PBX systems. This solution set will help you: •Gauge IPT appropriateness. •Understand the costs, benefits and risks. •Move forward with the IPT proposal. Include non-financial factors in the IPT proposal, including improved operational flexibility and access to new features. If you can’t communicate the business value of these areas, you won’t be successful.

1. Make the Case for IP Telephony Info-Tech Research Group

4. Info-Tech Research Group Gauge IPT Appropriateness Understand Costs, Benefits and Risks Move Forward with the Proposal

8. Info-Tech Research Group Gauge IPT Appropriateness Understand Costs, Benefits and Risks Move Forward with the Proposal

9. Most organizations experience long payback periods and no short term ROI – IPT is a long term investment. Info-Tech Research Group “ We’ve sunk a lot of capital into our equipment – our phone sets and the PBX infrastructure – so to go to VoIP we’d have to invest either in some sort of system integration with our PBX or replace a lot of phones. We just haven’t seen an ROI case. “ With the amount of long distance calling we do, the payback period would be so long that we just haven’t been in a big hurry to do the upfront investment in VoIP. But we fully expect that it’s the way that we’ll go in the future - within 3 years we will begin transitioning to an IP-based solution. - Director of IT, Engineering & Architecture Firm ” + No Near-Term ROI Difficulty quantifying productivity gains High Initial Investment = Long term operational savings +

10. Underestimate the cost to implement at your own peril. Info-Tech Research Group “ There are all kinds of costs associated with VoIP that are really network costs but you can’t go without. I had to have PoE, so we had to replace every switch in the whole environment. We had to implement QoS and we had to do a study to see if the network would support it. Vendors are not going to talk up the stuff you need to do under the covers to really make the system work. - IS Manager, Municipal Government ” Costs to Consider Network Infrastructure Hardware & Software Implementation External Expertise LAN/WAN upgrades, including deployment of Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches, are commonly required to meet power, capacity and Quality of Service (QoS) needs Call control and messaging servers, gateway equipment, IP phones, and related devices. Per-seat licensing can range from $150 to $450 per user depending on features. Labor costs (internal and/or external) for installation of new hardware, software, cabling, and any necessary renovations, upgrades, and configurations. If the organization does not employ staff with the necessary knowledge and skills, third party vendors or consultants may be required to assist in planning and implementation.

14. Info-Tech Research Group Gauge IPT Appropriateness Understand Costs, Benefits and Risks Move Forward with the Proposal