Phone systems brisbane the 9 most important things

The 9 Most Important Things To

Consider

When Purchasing a

Phone System

What is Beyond the Desk Phone?

By Greg Eicke

Phone Systems Brisbane | 1300 851 411

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Publishing details

© Greg Eicke, 2015


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Contents

LEGAL NOTICE ............................. iv

Chapter 1: Introduction ................... 1

Chapter 2: The 9 Most Important

Things to Consider When

Upgrading Your Phone System ...... 4

Chapter 3: What is beyond the desk

phone? .......................................... 89

Chapter 4: Do I really need a Digital

Key Telephone System or a more

comprehensive Unified

Communications (UC) solution? ... 11

Chapter 5: How can I leverage the

flexibility of mobile smart phones

and tablets? .................................. 18

Chapter 6: Can I extend the value of

my other business investments? 223

Chapter 7: Have I considered all

available options? ......................... 27


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Chapter 8: If it doesn’t fit don’t force

it .................................................... 36

Chapter 9: Cost Verses Total Cost of

Ownership .................................... 38

Chapter 10: Have I put myself in my

customers shoes? ........................ 38

Chapter 11: Bonus questions to ask

vendors ......................................... 38

Chapter 12: Success Stories ........ 40

Chapter 13: Concluding Remarks

.................................................... 457

Chapter 14: Bonus Chapter Don’t

buy a VoIP Telephone System

Before Reading This Chapter ..... 458


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LEGAL NOTICE

The Publisher has strived to be as

accurate and complete as possible in

the creation of this report,

notwithstanding the fact that he does

not warrant or represent at any time

that the contents within are accurate

due to the rapidly changing nature of

the Industry.

While all attempts have been made to

verify information provided in this

publication, the Publisher assumes

no responsibility for errors,

omissions, or contrary interpretation

of the subject matter herein. Any

perceived slights of specific persons,

peoples, or organisations are

unintentional.

In practical advice books, like

anything else in life, there are no


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guarantees of savings made.

Readers are cautioned to rely on their

own judgment about their individual

circumstances to act accordingly.

This book is not intended for use as a

source of legal, business, accounting

or financial advice. All readers are

advised to seek services of

competent professionals in legal,

business, accounting and finance

fields.


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Chapter 1: Introduction

Greg Eicke has been working at the

leading edge of voice

communications for the past 29

years. In that time we’ve found that

most companies are interested in two

things when it comes to their phone

technology. Firstly, how to increase

their productivity with better voice

and data communication and

secondly, how to reduce the phone

bill. We bring great news for the

business owner who is looking for

impressive productivity increases

and equally enjoyable cost savings.

Another key frustration for

businesses is the sheer complexity of

many phone and data solutions. The

good news is that communications


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complexity ends with Phone Systems

Brisbane ! As do all of its painful

implications. Almost three decades in

this industry has enabled us to

develop what we call ‘brilliantly

simple’ phone solutions. These

solutions will make communications

and collaboration second nature for

your workforce. And of course they

save you big dollars in ongoing

phone costs… another reason why

they are brilliant!

Now onto the ’9 Most Important

Things to Consider when Upgrading

Your Phone System…’ We put this

document together to help people

become aware of where the pitfalls

are when purchasing new phone

solutions and what options you have

available to you. We’ve been able to

piece all of this together because for


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the better part of our career’s we’ve

installed, maintained and sold

Telephone Systems. This has also

allowed us to provide sound advice

from ‘Feet on the Street and Hands

on Technical Experience’ so that our

clients get the best solution and value

for money


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Chapter 2: The 9 Most

Important Things to Consider

When Upgrading Your Phone

System

Upgrading your phone system can

be a mine field of confusion and

techno babble. It is so important to

get this purchase right since

communication is the life blood of

any modern organisation.

Are you confused by any of the

following?...

? Do I need a digital telephone

system or a comprehensive


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Unified Communications / VoIP

phone system

? What is beyond the desk phone

? VoIP, Unified Communications,

Web conferencing and

Collaboration

? How can I leverage off mobile

phones

? How can I extend the value of

my existing business

investments

If you are, then you’re not alone.

This guide was developed by Greg

Eicke who has 29 years of ‘feet on


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the street’ experience helping

organisations implement the best

and most cost effective

telecommunication system for their

individual needs.

The nine most important questions

you need to ask before you

purchase a phone system. They

are

1. What is beyond the desk phone?

2. Digital or UC?

3. How can I leverage the flexibility

of smart phones and tablets?

4. Can I extend the value of my

other business investments?

5. Have I considered all available

options?


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6. Have I put myself in my

customers’ shoes?

7. What is my cost verses cost of

Ownership?

8. If it doesn’t fit don’t force it.

9. Questions to ask vendors.

Each of the remaining chapters

takes a more in depth look at each

of these nine important

considerations.


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Chapter 3: What is beyond

the desk phone?

We communicate in a bewildering

array of ways every day, but we give

little thought to the potential profit

and efficiency increases of modern

communications integrated into

business processes. In most cases

these technologies are almost

always isolated Silo based, which

means little or no integration and the

true potential of the device or

application is not realised. Here are

some ideas you may not have

considered.

? PC based applications –

Softphones, Instant Messaging,

Chat, VoIP.

? Smart Mobile Phones


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? Tablets such as the iPad,

Samsung Galaxy, BlackBerry

Playbook.

? Screen Sharing where others can

see your desk top

? Conferencing

? Voice Mail to email

? Video

? Fax to the desk top and smart

phone

? Instant Messaging and chat

? Integrated Unified

Communications Platforms, not

Silo based system used in

isolation.

Some considerations about your

business processes

? Do all employees work in the

office or not?


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? How do employees connect when

they work remotely or travel

? Can I adopt IP telephony with my

existing system?

Is the sales person trying to baffle

you with techno babble and sell you

on features that you don’t really

need, offer no business

improvement and may rarely use? A

true professional telco expert will

expand your knowledge and reveal

ideas where you can gain significant

financial advantage from smart

telephony features.


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Chapter 4: Do I really need a

Digital Key Telephone

System or a comprehensive

Unified Communications (UC)

solution?

Look beyond the phone system

and Telco bills. It’s easy to stay put

and stick with the status quo,

however the world around us is

changing very fast. The last big

change was from Analog to Digital

in the late 90’s. The development

of digital has long since ceased

making way for IP Telephony and

unified communications.

The impact of smart phones places

every user in easy reach with

instant email, chat, Instant


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Message, presence, voice mail to

email …

Just stop for a moment and think of

when you didn’t have a mobile

phone, let alone a smart phone.

“How did I cope” I hear you say,

well let’s look at telephone systems

is the same light.

If you need some of these

features … you need a DIGITAL

system

Low hardware costs.

Ease of maintenance.

Basic call handling.

Low IT literacy of Staff.

Analog equipment like basic

cordless phones and fax

machines.

Traditional PSTN & ISDN lines.


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Simple Voice Mail.

You need to purchase a Digital

Key Telephone System

If you need some of these

features ….

Multiple Branch Offices – so

your customers can easily

communicate with you.

Roaming staff between branch

offices – simply log into your

phone just like you do for your

PC.

Customer Relationship

Management (CRM) Software

Integration / click to dial / fast

accurate access to contacts

/email / voice mail.


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Access to key staff regardless of

location – Teleworking – you

don’t have to go to work to be at

work.

Desktop Telephony Software for

Feature Rich telephony –

Visual Voice Mail / Presence /

Instant Message / Conferencing /

Collaboration/

Increased staff efficiencies /

productivity / Business

Processes – Many small

improvements make quite a

difference overall result.

In house administration which

means lower cost of

ownership.

Rich User Presence Information

– know whether a person is

busy before you call.

Advanced Call Management


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Conference calls so you can

avoid the hefty cost incurred by

carrier supplied conference

bridges.

Central Telephone Operator /

Reception means you can

potentially save thousands on

staff wages.

Desktop Fax – Means you can

send direct from your desk top

and receive direct to your inbox.

Perfect for sales orders, support

requests and personal fax’s.

Instant Message across your

enterprise. The perfect way to

communicate discretely.

Video conferencing – So users

can easily take advantage of the

power of video, perfect for

support sessions and when you

need a face to face meeting with


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a colleague in another state or

city.

Staff Mobility – So you be sure

customers can reach staff with a

single call no matter where they

are and be able to work from

anywhere.

Web Collaborative

Conferencing – so you can

easily create conference calls

and share your desk top screen

saving thousands on travel

expenses.

Call Recording – So you can

maintain best practices and

enhance customer service.

You need to purchase a Unified

Communications or IP

Telephony solution


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What is Unified

Communications? Unified

communications bridges the gap

between IP Telephony and other

computer related communication

technologies.

Unified Communications is not a

single product, but a set of

products that provides a consistent

unified user interface and user

experience across multiple devices

and media types.

What is IP Telephony? IP

(Internet protocol) telephony is a

technology that supports telephone

calls on your computer network. In

the office you will see that your

telephone can now plug into the

same cable as your computer

bringing both devices and their full

potential closer together.


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Chapter 5: How can I

leverage the flexibility of

mobile smart phones and

tablets?

It takes more than a laptop and

mobile phone to keep remote

employees connected today. Being

connected means instant access no

matter where and when. Many

telephony manufacturers have

developed applications for smart

phones and tablets so users can

instantly access the same


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information on their mobile devices

just like they would on their desk top

in the office.

Did you know?

60% of employees say they don’t

need to be in an office

32% of employees globally now

rely on more than one mobile

device

38% of employees are most

productive at home

Cisco Systems Mobility Survey, 2012

… The daily commute to work is

stressing out Australian workers

more than ever and technology is

badly needed to improve things,

according to a new study…

technological solutions include


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introducing greater flexibility to

work from home (35%)…

The smart phone has

revoultionised our world, here are

some ideas for you to consider.

– Empower mobile smart phones

and tablets with Telephony

applications so users can be

productive no matter where they

are.

– Before you call, instantly know if a

person is busy or unavailable no

matter where you are.

– One number contact features for

key employees like “Find Me”,

“Follow Me” and “Mobile

Twinning”.


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– Leverage flexibility with dynamic

call routing like

Have your mobile ring at the

same time as your desk phone

Have your mobile or desk

phone ring based on the

location of your mobile phone

using GPS coordinates.


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Chapter 6: Can I extend the

value of my other business

investments?

You can potentially re harvest the

initial investment in many other

business applications enhancing

business processes and employee

efficiency. A small improvement in

each business process amplified

over each employee is a tangible

and significant financial gain.

Seamlessly integrating

communication and collaboration

tools is essential for businesses

wanting to remain ahead of the

competition. Mobile employees,

geographically diverse customers

and demanding shareholders

require access to communication


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tools that are flexible and easy to

use.

By centralising and managing

these capabilities provides your

business with a transparent and

scalable solution. Accelerated

business processes and decision-

making are key benefits that our

customers experience because

they have immediate access to

people, data and applications:

anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Imagine beginning an email or

instant message to a colleague then

realising that person is on line.

Instead, you decide to connect with

them via video from your desktop to

discuss the content of your original


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message ... instantly. That is the

power of unified communications.

Customer Relationship

Management software (CRM)

integration so you can click to

dial, know who’s calling before

you answer, easily logs calls

from customers.

Voice Mail to email integration so

you never miss an important

message again.

Fax integration which means you

can receive fax no matter where

and when.

Multi party conference,

collaborate with other staff easy

and very cost effectively.

Desk Top Screen sharing takes

conferencing to the next level.


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Identify where integration can have

a big impact. A tiny gain for each

phone call or business process

cannot be ignored.

– What are employees asking for?

– How can you help improve

productivity?

– Cloud offerings increase

flexibility and capability.

– Look beyond the phone system.

Communications Enabled

Business Processes is where you’ll

see Unified Communications on

steroids. You can build on your

telephony solution investment

gaining in many other areas of your

business.

– Very Efficient.


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– Very Productive.

– Improved investment value.

– Enhanced strategic value.

– Server and Cloud based Sales

Force.com, Netsuite and

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

– Microsoft Outlook


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Chapter 7: Have I considered

all available options?

What are the latest innovations?

? Cloud based solutions – Proven,

Flexible and very capable

? What’s going on beyond the desk

phone

? Mobility – Smart Phones and

Tablets

? SIP trunking for lower call costs

? Unified Communications

? Presence – Beyond conventional

telephony

– Instant Message

– Chat

– Text

– Video

– Availability

– Make only one call


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– No Telephone Tag

– More Efficient

– Excellent Strategic Value

? Desk top Video – Beyond

conference rooms, collaborate

with staff and customers.

? Live video presentations and web

seminars.

? High Definition Audio and Video –

lots more value

Changing, upgrading or modifying

one communication component can

potentially impact your other

communication means.

– So have you considered all

aspects and potential

implications?

– Will your Telephone System keep

up with the changing world?


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– Is your telephone system capable

and flexible?

If you are buying a complex

solution like we were, you need to

understand what you’re getting.

Greg was the one who made sure

we understood which gave us the

confidence to move ahead.


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Chapter 8: If it doesn’t fit

don’t force it

It’s not just a telephone, it as a

part of a powerful suite of

business tools.

Build mobility into you planning

Allow you to take your business to

the next level

Telephone System should work

with you, not against you

Don’t stay with limited features

Staying connected should be easy

Unified Communications

– Presence

– Instant Message

– Text

– Voice Mail

– What works for you?

Must be easy to deploy


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Must work the way you want to

Enjoys the latest applications and

capabilities

Potential telco cost reductions

Scale up and down according to

your needs

Support remote workers

Business Continuity and recovery

Redundancy

Cost certainty – Total cost of

ownership

“As a large medical clinic, we

are used to spending a lot on

telephone accounts, however

we are saving between 50 to

60 percent off our monthly bill

…. It is good to know that the


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system should pay for itself

within two-and-a-half years.

Scalable - Don’t under estimate

and overestimate growth.

Your customer needs may change

over time and new competitors with

better technology will certainly

come your way. Don’t get stuck

with massive hardware

investments. Long term contracts

should be avoided and don’t get

cornered into an expensive “forklift”

upgrade. Due diligence is key here.


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Chapter 9: Cost verses Total

Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Your phone system is not a

commodity –

Telephones are critical to the

success of any business; don’t

base your decision on price.

Telephone calls may be a

commodity, don’t get caught in the

fatal trap of bundling your calls with

the purchase of your phone

system. The rule of thumb is

“bundle and beware”, this is where

telcos are only interested in your

monthly spend not how to improve

your business.

Good telephone systems cannot be

purchased anywhere; it must be

specifically designed and


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engineered for your business

needs. A correctly well designed

telephony system will return your

investment faster through more

efficient business processes so you

can lead your competition and gain

more market share.

It’s not just about the phone

calls.

Understand the value the right

system can provide.

Empower your business with

advanced features like “Follow

me” and “Find Me” and remote

working.

Make sure it supports every part

of your business.

Leverage its capabilities with

other business processes.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)


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Beware of hidden costs. The

phone bill is only part of the real

cost. Here are some things to

consider.

Upfront Investment for hardware

and phones

Installation and cabling

Ongoing administration and

maintenance

Upgrades and enhancements

Remote access and diagnostics

Adds moves and changes

IT personnel involvement during

deployment

Eco friendly

Training


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Chapter 10: Have I Put

Myself In My Customers’

Shoes?

Put yourself in your customer

shoes; understand exactly how

your customer calls are handled.

Monitor this regularly; don’t wait

for a customer complaint.

Test the calls.

How did the system handle your

call?

Was it easy to navigate?

Call during and after hours so

you know for sure how your

customers perceive your

company.

Have a clear idea on what will

happen for each incoming call.


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Know where the call has been

before you answer with history

notes and call traces.

Think about implications of a

negative customer experience.

Think about the impact of adding

intelligence to your calls with

integration with CRM software.

This is often overlooked or

treated as a toy.


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Chapter 11: Bonus questions

to ask vendors

? Were the available voice

technologies explained in “layman

terms” to make an informed

decision?

? Did they offer tangible and proven

cost reduction strategies?

? Do they sell and support

recognised brands – Certified by

manufacturer?

? Does the offer include “long term”

Telco contracts for your loyalty? –

Bundle and beware.

? Ask for testimonials - how recent

are the testimonials?

? What is their depth of experience

in my industry or specific business

needs?


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? What technical and training

support is available?

? Can I access support and training

outside of normal business hours?

? My business is Australia wide –

can I be supported?

? Ask for an example of how a

difficult / extraordinary customer

service issue was resolved –

Provide a testimonial


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Chapter 12: Success Stories

Here’s what a few people have said

about the way I have helped them to

easily solve common communication

problems in their businesses…

“The combination of Direct Dial

numbers, personal voice to email

messaging and ability to reroute

calls from the field to the office (and

visa versa) has meant that our

customers are now receiving

enhanced levels of service at no

additional cost to FITEC”

Tim Isaacs, General Manager.

FITEC


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Normally a sales person will tell you

anything to make a sale… he

delivered on his promises. Greg is

good at keeping an eye out for ways

to reduce costs… we have saved

about $900 a month since the new

phone system was installed.”

Ross Tait, CEO. Ballina Toyota

“…we have virtually halved the

monthly cost of calls to mobile

phones… His advice proved to be

financially sound, and we are very

happy with Greg’s thorough attention

to detail”

Darryl Dickson, Chief Financial

Officer. Huebner Toyota


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As I write this, we are in the middle

of flu season and we have had

nowhere near the number of

complaints from patients saying they

could not get through to the clinic…

We were losing more than 1,000

calls a month with our old system.”

Cathy Sawyers, Practice Manager.

Wellers Hill Medical Centre.


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“ It was clear that Greg’s primary

objective was to make sure that I

was fully informed of the details and

comfortable with the decision I was

making. The other suppliers

seemed to be mainly focused on

closing the deal.

Marcie Richardson, CEO Lincoln

Brokerage.


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I was impressed with the effort that

Phone Systems Brisbane went to in

understanding and analysing our

needs. Greg recommended a terrific

IP Telephone system and then

provided some wonderful

recommendations on how to reduce

our phone bill by up to 48%.

Kate Casey, Manager Mitchell

Ogilvie Menswear.


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“I have dealt with Greg Eicke for

many years and he always takes

the time to understand our needs

and concerns. Greg is easy to talk

to, especially when it comes to

explaining in layman’s terms how

the telephone system will

operate”.

Laurice Woods, CEO. Janitor

Supplies


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Chapter 13: Concluding

Remarks

Another key frustration for

businesses is the sheer complexity

of many phone and data solutions.

The good news is that

communications complexity ends

with Greg Eicke! As do all of its

painful implications. Almost three

decades in this industry has enabled

me to develop what I call ‘brilliantly

simple’ phone solutions. These

solutions will make communications

and collaboration second nature for

your workforce. And of course they

save you big dollars in ongoing

phone costs… another reason why

they are brilliant!


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BONUS CHAPTER

Chapter 14: Don’t buy a VoIP

Telephone System Until You

Have Read this Chapter.

Introduction

This chapter is structured in a way

that answers some of the more

commonly asked questions. If some

of the concepts are new to you, don’t

worry. The language used in this

chapter is deliberately ‘plain English’

and should help dispel some of the

common myths and misconceptions

around VoIP.

If on the other hand you are an IT

professional, it may be

advantageous to chat further over a

coffee. After 29 years in the industry

we have a keen understanding of


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the intricacies of telephones and

computers sharing a common

platform. From our considerable

experience the best results come

from collaboration between

telephone vendor and IT team. The

overriding goal is to complete the

project, not to compete.

VoIP 101

What is it VoIP?

VoIP means Voice over Internet

Protocol, not Voice over the Internet.

The key words here are “Internet

Protocol” which in lay man’s terms

mean a converts voice calls to

‘packets’ of data that travel over data

networks. The most common

preconception is that all VoIP calls

travel via the Internet. This is not


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the case and in fact those that do

are often of the poorest quality. The

best quality VoIP calls come via

private IP data connections that

don’t touch the public Internet at all.

Why are some VoIP calls poor in

quality?

VoIP calls that traverse the public

Internet can be of very poor quality.

This is simply because there is no

Quality of Service (QoS) Guarantee

with the internet. This is because

the public Internet is not a quality

controlled service.

So how do you make VoIP calls

without using the internet?


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Easy! With a business grade data

connection that has guaranteed

QoS.

What’s the difference between VoIP,

IP Telephony & Unified

Communications?

These things can all be part of the

same telephone solution. Look at it

this way…

VoIP best describes “voice over a

data network” whereas IP Telephony

is the hardware (handsets, servers,

switching equipment). Unified

Communications refers to a set of

features available with IP Telephony

solutions.

Unified communications bridges the

gap between IP Telephony and

other computer related

communication technologies.


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IP (Internet protocol) telephony is a

Telephone System that supports

telephone calls on your computer

network. In the office you will see

that your telephone can now plug

into the same cable as your

computer bringing both devices and

their full potential closer together.

UC is not a single product, but a set

of products that provides a

consistent unified user interface and

user experience across multiple

devices and media types.

Some of the features include…

Instant Messaging


Page | 52

Real time presence

information

Video Conferencing

Complex Call control

Web Conferencing

Speech recognition

Unified messaging

Voice mail

Email Integration

SMS

Desktop Fax Integration

Mobility.

Remote Workers

Multi-Site organisations

Software Integration

Web Collaboration

How does VoIP work?

VoIP converts voice calls to data

packets that travel over networks

using the same Internet Protocol that


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facilitates the exchange of data.

Most VoIP calls are made using IP

phones.

Calls from site A to site B within the

same data network

Some VoIP calls can be made

entirely over IP computer networks.

This is where the ‘cheap calls’ come

in. This solution is best suited to

multisite enterprises that have a

robust business grade data network

provider (like Telstra, Optus, iSeek,

etc.) in place for their business.

Calls from company A to company B

not on the same data network

One way to do this is to route VoIP

calls via the public Internet, however

the call quality is very poor.


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To ensure high quality VoIP calls

must be routed via traditional phone

networks. VoIP calls that circumvent

phone networks incur no long

distance charges. VoIP systems

frequently include conference call

support at no additional cost.

Since VoIP uses the same network

and protocol as other Internet

services, integrating telephones

with, for example, e-mail becomes

far simpler. A message might

automatically play over an IP

phone’s speaker, and the text of the

message might then show on the

phone’s screen. These systems can

be integrated with text messaging

and other notification avenues to


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provide reliable, effective

communication.

Where is it all going?

As data networks become

increasingly more reliable and high

speed networks approach ubiquity,

the move toward VoIP will continue.

More and more institutions are

finding that the switch makes sense,

economically and technologically.

VoIP will likely see greater

integration with online services.

VoIP is part of a larger trend toward

converged communications, which

promises expanded feature sets and

increased reliability and

effectiveness of enterprise

communications. Phones will


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incorporate presence data (where

are you now), allowing for highly

relevant and targeted

communications.

What are the implications for

business?

VoIP technology is a game changer!

Unfortunately many businesses

have been burnt by it. This is not

because the technology is bad but

because it has been purchased for

the wrong reasons and or badly

implemented.


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Many companies have implemented

robust computer networks that host

a growing number of enterprise

platforms. They understand the need

to continually maintain and upgrade

this infrastructure. At the same time,

many enterprise phone systems are

old and costly to maintain. IP

Telephony or Unified

Communications provides an

opportunity to operate fully featured

phone service on the existing

network infrastructure. Along with

efficiency and productivity savings,

companies can benefit from

additional features and integrated

systems.

Who’s using VoIP now?

The PBX (Private Branch Exchange)

technology that underlies traditional


Page | 58

phone systems has reached its end-

of-life stage. VoIP is a way to

leverage IP technology for lower

infrastructure costs, improved

network efficiency, converged

communications, productivity

improvements and improved end-

user features.

Unified communications is certainly

moving to the front burner at most

companies. According to the 2010

Nemertes benchmark, "Building the

Virtual Workplace," 79 of 100

enterprises interviewed were

planning to deploy unified

communications over the next two

years.

Most of the building blocks of a

unified - communications

architecture are already in use at

most companies. Ninety-six percent


Page | 59

of benchmark participants report the

use of at least one tool, such as

audio, video, web conferencing,

instant messaging or a presence

application.

The challenge for many IT

executives is to make the business

case for unified communications.

This can be tricky, because

purported productivity benefits can

be hard to quantify. However,

business cases do exist. Companies

see unified communications as a

way to improve internal

communications and increase

productivity. There also is the

potential for cost savings.

"Even the bottom line is feeling a

positive impact: one business

reported a 15 per cent increase in

revenues as a result of unifying their


Page | 60

communications. It's no wonder that

the majority of IT managers we

talked to see it as crucial to growth."

Mike Robinson, converged

communications director at

Dimension Data

What are the downsides?

Perhaps the biggest drawback of

VoIP is that it is subject to the same

limitations as other data network

activity—the data network can be

slow or overloaded, and this can

degrade the quality of VoIP calls.

When the quality and reliability of

phone call are vital, the network

infrastructure must be first rate.


Page | 61

In addition, regular upgrades and

network maintenance will likely

result in some amount of downtime

for VoIP solutions. This can be a

sticking point for businesses

accustomed to virtually uninterrupted

phone service.

Setting and managing expectations

is an important part of a successful

VoIP deployment. Any institution

considering migrating to VoIP must

carefully evaluate the many options

to determine the point at which the

benefits of VoIP outweigh the

limitations. However, a highly

decentralised IT environment would

pose another layer of complexity for

a VoIP line implementation.


Page | 62

Imagine you’ve just bought a brand

new 50” Flat screen TV, digital, high

definition - it’s the latest technology.

In the shop the picture looked crystal

clear. You get it home, take it out of

that huge cardboard box and then

connect it up. You start to get

frustrated because the picture is

fuzzy and breaking up – nothing like

it was at the shop. After carefully

reading the instruction manual you

realise the problem is that 25-year-

old rusty antenna on your roof. It’s

good enough for the old TV but it

just doesn’t cut it for digital.

What’s this got to do with VoIP?

Glad you asked! Just like using a

rusty old antenna with a brand new

digital TV, many companies have

tried to use the Internet for their


Page | 63

VoIP. And just like that rusty old

antenna, the Internet simply doesn’t

cut it when it comes to VoIP for

business use.

That’s where I come in. VoIP needs

to be delivered properly. It’s like

hooking up cable TV directly into

your brand new 50” flat screen TV.

You get perfect quality and a heap

more features!

Technology

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