Daily Telecom News By Luis Galarza
VoIP Industry Updates.- After the The Federal Communications Commission announces a Forum to discuss Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) a few years ago. Where all FCC Commissioners participated. The hearing was open to the public, and seating were available on a first-come, first-served basis. The purpose of the Forum was to gather information concerning advancements, innovations, and regulatory issues related to VoIP services.
A new survey of enterprise customers from Deloitte & Touche Technology concludes that by 2006, more than two-thirds of Global 2,000 companies will begin deployment of VoIP technology.
The poll, involving responses from 131 enterprises in North America, Europe and Asia, also found that approximately 26% of the participants already have deployed desktop VoIP, although only one-third offer the technology to all employees.
Cost reduction seems to be the main attraction to enterprise users: 84% single it out as the main driver.
The Deloitte study also finds that VoIP has the potential to transform other operations within the enterprise, including call centers, offshoring operations and telecommuting tools. One other optimistic note: 79% of current VoIP users say they are either mostly or highly satisfied with the VoIP technology they have deployed.
INCREASED FUNCTIONALITY
Tony Kern, deputy managing partner with Deloitte's technology and telecom practice, says the survey shows that initial misgivings about VoIP largely have disappeared because the technology has become more reliable and is being integrated more easily into other enterprise applications.
"There is obviously more involved here than just cost," Kern notes. There are a lot of collaborative tools and ways to integrate VoIP technology into other enterprise applications, such as the customer support system, which also provide benefits."
Kern adds that reducing the cost of internal and external calls, as well as the lower capital investment needed for VoIP implementations, is helping focus enterprise executives on the usefulness of VoIP.
The Deloitte survey is being released at a time when VoIP seems to be gaining real traction in the enterprise space, and service providers are becoming more proactive in moving beyond simple commercial VoIP applications, SBC, for example, recently signed a deal for a large enterprise VoIP deployment at Ford Motor Co. involving 50,000 IP phones. SBC plans to step up its enterprise push.
Bank of America recently decided to install 180,000 Cisco Internet phones in 5,800 locations over the next three years. Integrator Electronic Data Systems Corp. will help in that installation. Boeing also recently opted for a VoIP deployment.
This in part reflects the increasing comfort executives have with the technology. "The initial performance of desktop VoIP was generally poor, with voice quality significantly inferior to that from existing analog systems," says Kern. "However, the offering has improved markedly with the falling price of VoIP equipment, rising call quality, improving functionality and the growing experience of service providers."
EXECUTIVE INVOLVEMENT
Kern adds that while it has great potential, VoIP technology should be applied sensitively because it also has great potential to disrupt large organizations. A flawed installation, for example, can basically paralyze a large business by crashing both voice and data communications.
The report recommends that at least four top "C-level" executives--the CEO, CFO, COO and CIO--become involved within each enterprise implementation to insure that any VoIP deployment goes smoothly, and that the benefits are maximized across the organization. For example, Kern notes that the COO likely would oversee the integration of VoIP into other customer applications, while the CIO would focus on integrating the voice and data networks.
"VoIP may eventually become a standard communication technology that does not require a moment's thought," Kern says. "But today it still requires careful consideration." The new systems, skills and equipment that are required also involve significant investment, deployment efforts and training, he adds.
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