Decentralize Your Business Operations with Hosted VoIP Phone Systems

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "Decentralize Your Business Operations with Hosted VoIP Phone Systems"

Transcription

1 White Paper Decentralize Your Business Operations with Hosted VoIP Phone Systems Contents Executive Summary....2 Five Benefits of Hosted VoIP....2 Benefit #1 support home workers....2 Benefit #2 cost effective ways to grow....3 Benefit #3 flexibility for managing growth....3 Benefit #4 business continuity....4 Benefit #5 requires minimal IT expertise....5 Five Business Implications....5 Implication #1 telephony can effectively be outsourced....5 Implication #2 - placing trust in the cloud....6 Implication #3 - SIP trunking....6 Implication #4 the future of the office....7 Implication #5 the future of your business Conclusion....8 About Ziff Davis B2B Ziff Davis B2B is a leading provider of research to technology buyers and high-quality leads to IT vendors. As part of the Ziff Davis family, Ziff Davis B2B has access to over 50 million in-market technology buyers every month and supports the company s core mission of enabling technology buyers to make more informed business decisions. Copyright 2014 Ziff Davis B2B. All rights reserved. Contact Ziff Davis B2B 100 California Street, Suite 650 San Francisco, CA Tel: Fax: marty_fettig@ziffdavis.com

2 Executive Summary Phone systems are the communications lifeblood of all businesses, but can be limiting in several ways. This is certainly true for legacy telephony, where phone systems were not just expensive but inflexible. They did a great job with telephony service, but created a centralized environment that posed challenges for businesses looking to expand beyond their four walls. Large enterprises have the means to address those challenges, but most small businesses do not. For the latter, the footprint of their legacy phone system has largely defined the footprint of the business. The Internet, and later VoIP, has changed that, but the more pertinent development for small businesses is the evolution of hosted services. VoIP has been available this way for some time, but only recently has it become fully aligned with the needs of small businesses. With these developments, businesses no longer need to be built around centralized models, and hosted VoIP creates new possibilities for decentralized operations that improve competitiveness in today s global marketplace. This guide explains how hosted VoIP brings greater flexibility for small businesses, and frees them from the limitations imposed by legacy telephony. These freedoms, however, bring business-level implications, which are also explored in order to give this guide a balanced perspective. Five Benefits of Hosted VoIP There are many benefits from using hosted VoIP, and this guide has been prepared with a particular focus on having a decentralized phone system. By nature, legacy systems are centralized around a physical location, but VoIP opens up new possibilities, and below are five benefits specific to this scenario. Benefit #1 - support home workers PThe trend for home-based work has been growing for some time, but two factors have prevented it from being even more popular. First is the lack of trust from management that their employees will be as productive and engaged, and second is the limited ability to communicate effectively. Of course, the latter impacts the former, and legacy technologies simply didn t make this viable on a broad scale. Two related developments have changed that the Internet and IP-based communications. The Internet has made the always-on digital lifestyle possible, and tools like VoIP make it possible to balance today s work/life demands. In short, happy employees are productive employees, and small businesses have lots of their own reasons to support to support these desires. While home-based employees can be reasonably engaged with near real-time tools like , fax and chat, real-time modes such as telephony are far more desirable at least from management s point of view as a proxy for being in the office. This is where VoIP becomes ziffdavis.com 2 of 8

3 a key driver for home-based workers, and if you need a switched system, hosted VoIP makes even more sense. This model is more economical than a premise-based system, and it easily extends the full feature set to employees wherever they are, so long as they have a broadband connection. Supporting home-based employees is a micro-level example of how a decentralized phone system adds value. Not only do employees get the basic benefits of VoIP, but their home phone will function just like their office phone. As such, when making or taking business calls, the call display shows their desk coordinates, meaning that the other party doesn t know that they re working remotely. This creates a more professional appearance, allowing your business to come across as a larger scale operation, but without the larger scale overhead that comes with having everybody working at the office. Benefit #2 - cost effective way to grow By nature, most small businesses want to grow, and cost is often a constraint. Generally speaking, landline telephony costs have been declining, and are not a major budget item. Legacy telephony, however, has always been perceived as expensive, especially for small businesses, so VoIP has been a welcome development. In terms of reducing the cost of telephony service, VoIP is definitely good news, but the associated phone systems can still be a big investment. Premise-based systems are still the norm, and the expense can be justified by the control that comes with ownership. Many forms of hosted VoIP exist, and with these come a variety of options to suit your needs. Some businesses have the resources and/or desire to manage their system in-house, but others will prefer to outsource as much of this as possible. In this regard, the decentralized nature of VoIP is a cost-effective way to grow, even with minimal IT resources. The cost savings are especially attractive when growing by adding new office locations. Working from home is great for individuals, but in other cases, you need more sites to support both customers and overall operations. With legacy telephony, each site requires a standalone phone system, and that can be costly if only supporting a handful of employees. The underlying technology for hosted VoIP means that you only need to add broadband connectivity to a new site, and from there, the phone system at Head Office can easily be extended to support those new employees. Benefit #3 - flexibility for managing growth Related to the cost savings outlined above, comes flexibility with hosted VoIP. When businesses are in growth mode, office space is a primary issue. Some scenarios warrant committing to long term leases, while others may be more transient, such as trying to enter a new market without making a major investment. Agility is often a form of competitive advantage for small businesses, and flexibility is one way of achieving this state. VoIP is highly flexible as a service, and hosted VoIP provides similar ziffdavis.com 3 of 8

4 flexibility on an operational level. Since you don t need a phone system for each new location, the associated cost factor comes out of the equation when considering your growth plans. Whether adding one new site or several, they can all be supported from your core phone system at Head Office. The key to growing this way is SIP trunking, which provides full IP connectivity between each new site and your Head Office. You can certainly do this with legacy trunking PRIs (Primary Rate Interface) but these are more expensive and can only be purchased in fixed bundles of 23 channels. Not only that, but your telco my tie you into long-term contracts for these. Aside from being able to right-size with SIP trunking only taking as much connectivity as needed to support employees at the new site with VoIP, but the scale can easily be adjusted up or down. This is a great way to control costs when staffing needs fluctuate with peak busy times. This form of flexibility is not well understood when considering hosted VoIP, but can be a major virtue for supporting a decentralized growth plan. Benefit #4 - business continuity This is another benefit not widely considered with hosted VoIP, but is a key enabler for decentralized growth. Generally speaking, the more sites you have, the harder it is to manage the business, and this is where having a consistent communications solution has value. Hosted VoIP fits that bill perfectly, but even more than you might think. The idea of business continuity has changed with the Internet and the rise of a 24/7 economy. Today, competition is global, and many businesses must be able to support customers across all time zones. Before VoIP, this wasn t much of an issue with telephony since the PSTN never goes down. Even when power failures hit, the phone service still works; unlike with VoIP, which won t work when there s no power to keep the data network running. Fortunately, with premisebased systems, there is usually PSTN failover for VoIP, so calls can be routed over the legacy network. However, for longer outages, this won t totally do the job. With hosted VoIP, the service is based in a remote data center, and many providers have a redundant architecture, meaning they use multiple data centers in different locations. In the event that one data center goes down, the services are mirrored in the other locations, providing another layer of continuity for your phone service. For businesses that have lived through hurricanes, floods, extreme weather, and even overloaded power providers, this capability will be most welcome. Hosted VoIP translates into reliable service, and when adverse conditions hit, your business can still function, regardless of where your employees are based. This is where the decentralized model makes even more sense, as productivity doesn t suffer when employees cannot get into the office, and all sites can communicate with each other, even if a few don t have local power. ziffdavis.com 4 of 8

5 Benefit #5 requires minimal IT expertise VoIP is generally is appealing for this reason, especially when switched systems are used. Legacy PBX systems have long been the backbone of business communications, but there is an ongoing maintenance component. Not only does this cost add up over time, but these systems require specialized expertise. Large enterprises can provide much of this support internally, but IT operates on a much smaller scale with small businesses. This lack of expertise can be an inhibitor for VoIP phone systems, although the needs are less complex than with legacy systems. However, to the extent that VoIP itself is a new and unfamiliar technology, there can be concerns here as well. Whatever your IT situation and/or comfort level, there are variations of hosted VoIP to make all aspects of the service manageable. Aside from providing the service itself, cloud-based providers can also take on the task of ensuring your network can effectively support VoIP along with everything else it has to do. This solution is typically called managed services, where all you need to do is have the phone system deployed onsite, and they take care of the rest. Over time, this may prove an expensive option, but for businesses that either choose to not or cannot make the required IT investment, they can now have phone service that s on par with their largest competitors. Aside from allowing your business to step up to VoIP quickly, this path also makes it easy to expand operations or even right-size them in terms of either head count or office sites. While a hosted VoIP service is centralized at a data center, it supports any form of decentralization for the business. As such, you can add or drop remote branches as business conditions dictate, or do the same for supporting home-based employees. Whatever addresses the needs of the business, you can do so without being constrained by the current state your IT operations. Five Business Implications Having considered these benefits, there are implications to address by choosing to deploy hosted VoIP. These are largely business-level considerations, but also have IT-specific implications. Each of the five implications below can be managed with good planning, and doing so will help you fully realize the advantages of having a decentralized operations model. Implication #1 telephony can effectively be outsourced This decision is not made lightly, especially if you ve been using legacy telephony for a long time. With few exceptions namely Centrex there is only one way for businesses to get legacy service. Not only were incumbent telcos the only option before VoIP, but the service was used on their terms, not yours. Even though multiple options for VoIP have been available for years, most businesses remain legacy-based. One reason is philosophical, in that management believes telephony is too strategic to outsource. There is merit to this thinking, but as we move further along the ziffdavis.com 5 of 8

6 spectrum from TDM to IP, hosted options gain more credence. VoIP continues to mature, closing the gap with legacy to the point where parity has been achieved in almost every regard. While voice remains mission-critical to any business, the underlying telephony service can now be done equally well onsite or offsite. Once businesses come to that point of thinking, they are then ready to accept the hosted option for voice namely VoIP. This rationale becomes even stronger when thinking about growing in a decentralized manner. As noted earlier, legacy telephony does not support this model very well, but hosted VoIP does. By extension, then, outsourcing telephony becomes a key step forward in supporting this growth plan. Implication #2 - placing trust in the cloud By accepting the idea that telephony can be outsourced, acceptance of the cloud must follow. The cloud itself, however, requires its own scrutiny, as several implications arise for telephony. Businesses may not realize how extensively they have been using the cloud for other things that drive operations, such as Salesforce.com. Most business software is going in this direction, led by Google, with Microsoft now trying to keep pace via Office 365. As with VoIP, the cloud is quickly maturing, and is certainly able to meet the needs of small businesses. Concerns do remain about reliability and security, but the overall trend is clear. Since VoIP has largely reduced telephony to being just another data application, the holdbacks for hosted telephony become fewer. In this regard, the move to hosted VoIP may simply be one more step along the way for a broader cloud strategy to run your business. What you may not realize yet is that more steps will follow, and for that reason, having a cloud strategy will be essential to a decentralized growth plan. The cloud helps you do that by decoupling operational growth from the need to have physical resources at every place of business. In fact, the more decentralized you become, the greater are the cloud s efficiencies. Related to that, however, will be the need for more engaging forms of communications otherwise, workflows become inefficient. This is why VoIP is just one step along the way. Once that becomes established, you ll soon become aware of the needs that Unified Communications addresses. This is a topic unto itself, but with further research, you ll see why this makes decentralization so much more manageable. Implication #3 - SIP trunking When it comes to extending the capabilities of your VoIP phone system to branch offices, this is where SIP trunking becomes a factor. As explained earlier, you can do this with legacy trunks, but given the drawbacks, SIP trunking has some distinct advantages. In addition to those already cited, the economics alone are compelling. As such, aside from the practical benefits to push VoIP out to wherever employees may be, there is a financial upside independent of supporting your decentralization plans. ziffdavis.com 6 of 8

7 There is a forward-thinking aspect to consider as well. VoIP is just one mode supported by SIP trunking, and if you move along to UC, decentralization becomes even more powerful. Beyond VoIP, SIP trunking makes video more viable, both in meeting rooms and on the desktop. Nothing drives remote collaboration better than video, and as employees learn to be more comfortable with it, this will be just as valuable to your plans as VoIP. Conversely, there are some realities to consider before going head-long into SIP trunking. SIP is widely viewed as the de facto protocol for VoIP, but is still young and not standardized the way comparable protocols are for legacy telephony. As such, both vendors and service providers lack a universal standard for SIP, creating challenges for SIP trunking on a broad basis. Some players are more SIP-friendly than others, and you ll need to do some research here, especially for the VoIP phone system you plan to use. Implication #4 the future of the office Getting beyond the technology issues, consideration of hosted VoIP should raise bigger questions about the role the office plays in your business. One of VoIP s advantages is being able to support any operational configuration. At one end is the fully centralized business where all employees and resources are in one office or location. This could be a one-man show, a micro-business of five employees, or a mid-size operation with say, 50 employees. Once you get too big for one space, more offices are added, either locally or afield, depending on what s needed to support your customers and suppliers. Now the business starts becoming decentralized, even if only two sites in total. Finally, there s the fully decentralized business where there is no Head Office to speak of, if at all. This takes us into the virtual organization model, but you have to be highly organized to work this way. Hosted VoIP plays a different role in each of these scenarios, and for that reason, you should now be thinking about your future needs. What s the best way to support your customers? In what environments are your employees most productive? How much office space can your cost structure really support? What model optimizes your business processes? These are just a few questions that can help shape your thinking about where and how decentralization provides business value. Whatever path you take, rest assured that hosted VoIP can support your plans. Implication #5 the future of your business An even bigger picture question has to do with the business itself. Whatever plans you make for hosted VoIP will impact not just how much decentralization you do, but also why and how you do it. In other words, the driver may simply be cost reduction, which comes in many ways here lower telephony costs, reduced trunking costs, less office space, fewer full time employees, etc. You may also have a broader vision, perhaps with an eye to virtualizing the entire operation. If you increasingly move away from office space towards home-based and remote workers, that ziffdavis.com 7 of 8

8 calls for a different skill set and makeup in employees. Not everyone can do that, plus human nature dictates that we like to be social, and that s what the office provides. Technology can go a long way from making remote employees feel part of the team, but it s still virtual and you can only expect so much. Now think about what s best for your customers, not to mention the customers you wish to get down the road. Not all customers are created equal, and there are strategic decisions to be made here in terms of what market you really want to serve. Decentralization may open doors for new markets, but it could make it harder to support some current customers. As such, your decisions around hosted VoIP are business-related as much as being technology-related. Conclusion The important message from this guide is that phone systems should not dictate your plans for office space. Prior to VoIP, the high cost of both legacy service and phone systems were enough to be a factor in such decisions. This is no longer the case, and with VoIP, decisions about phone systems can actually be made at any time. Whether that happens before an office move, during the move, or once you re settled in, there are solutions you can have up and running in very little time. Many of these scenarios point to the hosted VoIP model, where all the complexity is basically outsourced to the cloud and managed by your cloud-based VoIP provider. With hosted VoIP, you can even keep your existing phone system, so it s not essential that an office move requires a new investment. The key benefit in operational terms is the ability to extend hosted VoIP to as many locations as you need. In other words, with the service being centralized in your VoIP provider s data center, all your locations can connect into that system, including home-based workers. Given the flexibility of VoIP s underlying technology, the more decentralized your operations, the more sense hosted VoIP makes for telephony. This model is far more economical than remaining premise-based, especially if you re still using legacy phone systems. In fact, hosted VoIP can be so effective that you can do away with offices altogether and have all your employees work remotely. Virtual businesses don t make sense for everyone, but VoIP does make this option possible, and is just one more example of how this is a step forward from legacy telephony. ziffdavis.com 8 of 8

5 Reasons to Deploy a Cloud-Based VoIP System

5 Reasons to Deploy a Cloud-Based VoIP System White Paper 5 Reasons to Deploy a Cloud-Based VoIP System Executive Summary The cloud has been a dominant technology trend in 2013 and isn t showing any sign of slowing down in 2014, especially for hosting

More information

Five Implications that make Hosted VoIP Good for your Business

Five Implications that make Hosted VoIP Good for your Business White Paper Five Implications that make Hosted VoIP Good for your Business Contents Executive Summary....2 Five Business Implications for Hosted VoIP...3 Implication #1 - Size Doesn t Matter Anyone Can

More information

Top 5 Considerations for Your Next Phone System

Top 5 Considerations for Your Next Phone System White Paper Top 5 Considerations for Your Next Phone System Contents Introduction....2 State of the Market 5 Key Trends....2 Trend #1 Changing Role of the Desk Phone....2 Trend #2 Voice is a Commodity

More information

Hosted PBX and Beyond

Hosted PBX and Beyond Hosted PBX and Beyond A New Value Proposition for Service Providers White Paper J Arnold & Associates, May 2011 Hosted PBX and Beyond - a New Value Proposition for Service Providers Table of Contents Executive

More information

Why Your Business is Not Too Small for VoIP

Why Your Business is Not Too Small for VoIP White Paper Why Your Business is Not Too Small for VoIP Executive Summary If you re a small business, you may think that larger businesses have all the advantages. That may be true for things like purchasing

More information

1/16/07 Jon Arnold OK WITH CORRECTIONS NO FURTHER PROOF NEEDED CORRECTIONS REQUIRED SHOW NEW PROOF

1/16/07 Jon Arnold OK WITH CORRECTIONS NO FURTHER PROOF NEEDED CORRECTIONS REQUIRED SHOW NEW PROOF APPROVAL Date: Description: Analysts In Media Level 9, 55 Broad Street, New York, NY, 10004 T +212 488 1777 F +212 785 2593 IMPORTANT Job#: PLEASE check this proof carefully for errors and omissions. Your

More information

Take It or Leave It: Moving Your Business VoIP System

Take It or Leave It: Moving Your Business VoIP System White Paper or : Moving Your Business VoIP System Contents Executive Summary....2 Five Considerations for Moving Your Business VoIP Phone System....2 Consideration #1 circumstances around your move....2

More information

Making Sense of Unified Communications Five Decision-Making Strategies

Making Sense of Unified Communications Five Decision-Making Strategies White Paper Making Sense of Unified Communications Five Decision-Making Strategies Contents Executive Summary....2 Unified Communications - State of the Market....2 Five Decision-Making Stategies....5

More information

Making the Business Case for Remote Workers with VoIP. October 2012

Making the Business Case for Remote Workers with VoIP. October 2012 Making the Business Case for Remote Workers with VoIP October 2012 Ziff Davis Research 2012 All Rights Reserved Table of Contents Introduction.... 03 About this guide.... 03 Remote worker - some definitions....

More information

IP Phone: Top 10 Considerations Buyer s Guide. June 2013

IP Phone: Top 10 Considerations Buyer s Guide. June 2013 IP Phone: Top 10 Considerations Buyer s Guide June 2013 Ziff Davis Research All Rights Reserved 2013 Table of Contents Executive Summary.... p. 3 Top 10 Considerations.... p. 4 Consideration #1 - what

More information

Migrating Your Business to VoIP Five Key Success Factors

Migrating Your Business to VoIP Five Key Success Factors White Paper Migrating Your Business to VoIP Five Key Success Factors Contents Executive Summary....2 Five Key Success Factors....3 Success factor #1 - recognize this is a journey....3 Success factor #2

More information

There s Life After Your Nortel PBX

There s Life After Your Nortel PBX White Paper There s Life After Your Nortel PBX Table of Contents There s Life after You Nortel PBX, Lots of Life....2 There s Life After Nortel, and There s Life After Nortel.................................................

More information

Business leaders, meanwhile, are looking for reporting that will help them drive efficiency and maximize returns on their technology investments.

Business leaders, meanwhile, are looking for reporting that will help them drive efficiency and maximize returns on their technology investments. Businesses don t buy phone systems for fun. If you re in the market, you re probably responding to an event, such as a move or serious problems with an existing system. Perhaps, you are looking to gain

More information

MARKET BRIEF Plug and Play: Managed IP Telephony

MARKET BRIEF Plug and Play: Managed IP Telephony MARKET BRIEF Plug and Play: Managed IP Telephony Sponsored by: NEC William Stofega September 2006 IP TELEPHONY: BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES Global Headquarters: 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA P.508.872.8200

More information

VOXOX 5BENEFITS OF A. HOSTED VoIP SOLUTION FOR MULTI-OFFICE BUSINESSES. a VOXOX ebook. Communications to the Cloud:

VOXOX 5BENEFITS OF A. HOSTED VoIP SOLUTION FOR MULTI-OFFICE BUSINESSES. a VOXOX ebook. Communications to the Cloud: VOXOX 5BENEFITS OF A HOSTED VoIP SOLUTION FOR MULTI-OFFICE BUSINESSES a VOXOX ebook 0Taking 2013 VOXOX, Inc. Communications to the Cloud: CONTENTS 2 INTRODUCTION 3 TOP CHALLENGES 7 FINDING A SOLUTION 12

More information

Unified Communications: The Layman s Guide

Unified Communications: The Layman s Guide White Paper Unified Communications: The Layman s Guide Contents Introduction....2 What can you expect in return?....2 How Unified Communications Works....2 Challenges Ahead....2 Are you ready?....3 About

More information

November 2013. The Business Value of SIP Trunking

November 2013. The Business Value of SIP Trunking November 2013 S P E C I A L R E P O R T The Business Value of SIP Trunking Table of Contents Introduction... 3 What Is SIP Trunking?... 3 What Is the Demand for SIP Trunking?... 5 How Does SIP Trunking

More information

Convergence: The Foundation for Unified Communications

Convergence: The Foundation for Unified Communications Convergence: The Foundation for Unified Communications Authored by: Anthony Cimorelli, Senior Product Marketing Manager Onofrio Norm Schillaci, Principal Sales Engineer Michelle Soltesz, Director, Marketing

More information

Understanding The Benefits Of Unified Communications And Hosted VoIP

Understanding The Benefits Of Unified Communications And Hosted VoIP Understanding The Benefits Of Unified Communications And Hosted VoIP oip Having Unified Communications (UC) in place can benefit not only your organisations but also your employees and customers. The Benefits

More information

8 REASONS MORE COMPANIES ARE MOVING THEIR BUSINESS PHONES TO THE CLOUD

8 REASONS MORE COMPANIES ARE MOVING THEIR BUSINESS PHONES TO THE CLOUD 8 REASONS MORE COMPANIES ARE MOVING THEIR BUSINESS PHONES TO THE CLOUD The sport of business is a competitive one and, increasingly, companies are using cloud-hosted business tools as an advantage to communicate

More information

The Business Value of SIP Trunking

The Business Value of SIP Trunking July 2013 US$39.00 S P E C I A L R E P O R T The Business Value of SIP Trunking By Khali Henderson Editor-in-Chief, Channel Partners COMMUNICATIONS Table of Contents Introduction... 3 What Is SIP Trunking?...

More information

White Paper. 7 Business Benefits of Moving From an On-Premise PBX to a Cloud Phone System

White Paper. 7 Business Benefits of Moving From an On-Premise PBX to a Cloud Phone System White Paper 7 Business Benefits of Moving From an On-Premise PBX to a Cloud Phone System 7 Business Benefits of Moving From an On-Premise PBX to a Cloud Phone System Tipping Points: Factors typically driving

More information

SIP Trunking: The New Normal in the Cloud Era

SIP Trunking: The New Normal in the Cloud Era SIP Trunking: The New Normal in the Cloud Era Executive Summary As IP and VoIP technologies continue to mature and the thirst for cloud services escalates, the SIP Trunking market is growing rapidly, driven

More information

UC FOR THE CLOUD ERA HOSTED, VIRTUAL & MANAGED

UC FOR THE CLOUD ERA HOSTED, VIRTUAL & MANAGED UC FOR THE CLOUD ERA HOSTED, VIRTUAL & MANAGED WHITE PAPER WHITE PAPER UC FOR THE CLOUD ERA 2 COMMUNICATION: THE FOUNDATION OF BUSINESS In the past, the private branch exchange (PBX) likely saved your

More information

Five Signs You Need a VoIP Phone System

Five Signs You Need a VoIP Phone System White Paper Five Signs You Need a VoIP Phone System Contents Executive Summary....2 Five Signs for a Change....2 Sign #1 - Cost....2 Sign #2 - Nobody is using the desk phones....3 Sign #3 - Legacy telephony

More information

Business Services: Hosted PBX And Beyond

Business Services: Hosted PBX And Beyond Business White Paper Business Services: Hosted PBX And Beyond Table of contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Legacy Environments 5 Solving the Communications Puzzle 6 Hosted PBX 10 Pulling it all together 12

More information

Unified Communications and Collaboration The Questions You Need to Ask

Unified Communications and Collaboration The Questions You Need to Ask Unified Communications and Collaboration The Questions You Need to Ask UC&C: What s in it for your people and your business? Giving end users the IT infrastructure they need to perform at their best can

More information

Hosted vs On-Site IP-PBX A Guide for SMEs

Hosted vs On-Site IP-PBX A Guide for SMEs A Guide for SMEs When switching to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony, the decision of whether to use a hosted or on-site phone system (IP-PBX) must be made. Both have fundamental differences

More information

How To Save Money On An Ip Trunking (Ip Trunking)

How To Save Money On An Ip Trunking (Ip Trunking) SIP Trunking The line is virtual. The benefits are real. Savings, scalability, and service for any business What is SIP trunking? In the days before the internet, a trunk was the name for a dedicated line

More information

How To Understand And Understand The Value Of Voip

How To Understand And Understand The Value Of Voip White Paper VoIP Primer Five Technology Basics SMBs Need to Understand Contents Executive Summary....2 Five Technology Basics for VoIP....3 Basic #1 - VoIP is data....3 Basic #2 - VoIP uses a different

More information

SOLUTION BRIEF Communications as a Service (CaaS) February 2011

SOLUTION BRIEF Communications as a Service (CaaS) February 2011 SOLUTION BRIEF Communications as a Service (CaaS) February 2011 What s the one constant in today s economy? Change. And in this ever-changing economy, it s the more nimble enterprises that will survive

More information

Untangle communication complexity with ShoreTel s brilliantly simple solution

Untangle communication complexity with ShoreTel s brilliantly simple solution Untangle communication complexity with s brilliantly simple solution 2 UNTANGLING COMPLEXITY Untangle complexity Change is a constant today. The Internet has transformed business into an always-on world

More information

Inside the Business VoIP Revolution. The Rise of Cloud-based Phone Systems Over Traditional Service

Inside the Business VoIP Revolution. The Rise of Cloud-based Phone Systems Over Traditional Service Inside the Business VoIP Revolution The Rise of Cloud-based Phone Systems Over Traditional Service INTRODUCTION The business phone solution marketplace has reached a tipping point where companies seeking

More information

collaboration Keeping people in touch efficiently

collaboration Keeping people in touch efficiently collaboration Keeping people in touch efficiently What is collaboration? At its best, unified communications (UC) is just what it says it enables better interaction between people by integrating what were

More information

IP Telephony: Reliability You Can Count On

IP Telephony: Reliability You Can Count On WHITE PAPER IP Telephony: Reliability You Can Count On Architecture Matters Table of Contents 1. IP Delivers a Foundation for Reliability.................................. 3 2. Compare Three Different

More information

VoIP for the Small Business

VoIP for the Small Business Reducing your telecommunications costs Research firm IDC 1 has estimated that a VoIP system can reduce telephony-related expenses by 30%. TechAdvisory.org SME Reports sponsored by Voice over Internet Protocol

More information

SIP Trunking Guide: Get More For Your Money 07/17/2014 WHITE PAPER

SIP Trunking Guide: Get More For Your Money 07/17/2014 WHITE PAPER SIP Trunking Guide: Get More For Your Money 07/17/2014 WHITE PAPER Overview SIP trunking is the most affordable and flexible way to connect an IP PBX to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). SIP

More information

IP contact center Executive brief July 2007. Innovation with Internet Protocol contact centers: how IP communications empower business.

IP contact center Executive brief July 2007. Innovation with Internet Protocol contact centers: how IP communications empower business. IP contact center Executive brief July 2007 Innovation with Internet Protocol contact centers: how IP communications empower business. Page 2 Contents 2 Introduction 3 Traditional call center blues 4 Imagine

More information

Is Hosted VoIP Right For You?

Is Hosted VoIP Right For You? By Pat Moulton Is Hosted VoIP Right For You? Hosted PBX Overview: With the availability of cheap broadband services, migrating applications and storage from premise-based servers to the cloud has become

More information

Differentiate your business with a cloud contact center

Differentiate your business with a cloud contact center Differentiate your business with a cloud contact center A guide to selecting a partner that will enhance the customer experience An Ovum White Paper Sponsored by Cisco Systems, Inc. Publication Date: September

More information

VoIP Deployment Options

VoIP Deployment Options AN ATLANTIC-IT.NET WHITEPAPER VoIP Deployment Options Whether cloud-based or on premises, IP-based voice platforms can deliver a wide range of significant business benefits. 2 VoIP Deployment Options EXECUTIVE

More information

No. 1 - The Simple Guide to SIP Trunking. City Lifeline Technology Briefing

No. 1 - The Simple Guide to SIP Trunking. City Lifeline Technology Briefing No. 1 - The Simple Guide to SIP Trunking City Lifeline Technology Briefing We ll be adding these to our website every couple of months or so, to provide you with useful and informative information on a

More information

The History & Future of Unified Communications Introducing Unified Communications

The History & Future of Unified Communications Introducing Unified Communications The History & Future of Unified Communications Introducing Unified Communications The worker of the future is virtual. Far from wanting a 100% telecommuting, work from home experience, this new breed of

More information

How To Choose Between A Phone System For A Business

How To Choose Between A Phone System For A Business Which Hosted vs On-Premises UC: is right for your business? Hosted vs On-Premises UC: Which is right for your business? When considering your next phone system, there are lots of choices available today.

More information

Hosted vs On-Site IP-PBX A Guide for SMEs

Hosted vs On-Site IP-PBX A Guide for SMEs A Guide for SMEs 1 When switching to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony, the decision of whether to use a hosted or on-site phone system (IP-PBX) must be made. Both have fundamental differences

More information

IP PBX Buyer s Guide. Learn what an IP PBX system can do for you and understand what issues you should consider during your decision-making process.

IP PBX Buyer s Guide. Learn what an IP PBX system can do for you and understand what issues you should consider during your decision-making process. Learn what an IP PBX system can do for you and understand what issues you should consider during your decision-making process. IP PBX Buyer s Guide Copyright 2007, Tippit, Inc., All Rights Reserved Contents

More information

SIP Connectivity. A Beyond Wires White Paper

SIP Connectivity. A Beyond Wires White Paper Introduction Can you ever imagine having a life without wires? No more being drawn back to a power socket, being stuck to a location or being governed by some CAT5 cabling?! In this White Paper we will

More information

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED. A Practical Guide to VoIP for Small Businesses

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED. A Practical Guide to VoIP for Small Businesses YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED A Practical Guide to VoIP for Small Businesses FACING UP TO THE CHALLENGES. 1 What you need to know. Now. Your business is growing. Your customers expect great service. Your employees

More information

Enhanced Enterprise SIP Communication Solutions

Enhanced Enterprise SIP Communication Solutions Enhanced Enterprise SIP Communication Solutions with Avaya Aura and Allstream SIP Trunking An Allstream White Paper 1 Table Of Contents Beyond VoIP 1 SIP Trunking delivers even more benefits 1 Choosing

More information

An Oracle White Paper February 2014. Centralized vs. Distributed SIP Trunking: Making an Informed Decision

An Oracle White Paper February 2014. Centralized vs. Distributed SIP Trunking: Making an Informed Decision An Oracle White Paper February 2014 Centralized vs. Distributed SIP Trunking: Making an Informed Decision Executive Overview Businesses across the globe are migrating from TDM access services to SIP trunks

More information

Whitepaper Best of Both Worlds. Making the most out of your Office 365 Licensing and Increase Productivity How to add Lync Enterprise Voice

Whitepaper Best of Both Worlds. Making the most out of your Office 365 Licensing and Increase Productivity How to add Lync Enterprise Voice Whitepaper Best of Both Worlds Making the most out of your Office 365 Licensing and Increase Productivity How to add Lync Enterprise Voice Table of Contents Getting the most out of your Office 365 Deployment...3

More information

SIP TRUNKING THE COST EFFECTIVE AND FLEXIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO ISDN

SIP TRUNKING THE COST EFFECTIVE AND FLEXIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO ISDN SIP TRUNKING THE COST EFFECTIVE AND FLEXIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO ISDN A cost-effective alternative to ISDN that provides flexibility and continuity Reliable voice services SIP trunking is the fastest-growing

More information

VoIP for a Global, Mobile Workforce One Source Networks White Paper

VoIP for a Global, Mobile Workforce One Source Networks White Paper VoIP for a Global, Mobile Workforce One Source Networks White Paper 3 VoIP for a Global, Mobile Workforce 5 Mobility Enablers SIP and Cloud PBX 7 Cloud-based VoIP Solutions Save Time and Money 9 11 Sounds

More information

UNIQUE A COMPLETE, FLEXIBLE HOSTED TELEPHONY AND UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION, HELPING YOU CREATE A PROPOSITION THAT IS

UNIQUE A COMPLETE, FLEXIBLE HOSTED TELEPHONY AND UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION, HELPING YOU CREATE A PROPOSITION THAT IS WE MAKE IT POSSIBLE A COMPLETE, FLEXIBLE HOSTED TELEPHONY AND UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION, HELPING YOU CREATE A PROPOSITION THAT IS UNIQUE WHOLESALE HOSTED CENTREX TAKING COMMUNICATION INTO THE CLOUD

More information

Beyond Connecting the Call: Empowering Corporate Strategy With Hosted IP-Based Contact Routing

Beyond Connecting the Call: Empowering Corporate Strategy With Hosted IP-Based Contact Routing WHITE PAPER Contact Center Solutions Beyond Connecting the Call: Empowering Corporate Strategy With Hosted IP-Based Contact Routing Executive Summary...2 In a Holding Pattern The Limits of Aging Technology...2

More information

It s no secret that businesses are moving to

It s no secret that businesses are moving to Building High-Performance Cloud Telecom Infrastructures By: Darren Schreiber, 2600hz It s no secret that businesses are moving to the cloud. Services such as Google Apps and Microsoft SkyDrive are well

More information

Get the right communications toolkit to achieve business growth

Get the right communications toolkit to achieve business growth Get the right communications toolkit to achieve business growth The way your business communicates is changing. As businesses increasingly adopt more flexible ways of working, is it time for you to consider

More information

VoIP for the Small Business

VoIP for the Small Business Reducing your telecommunications costs Research firm IDC 1 has estimated that a VoIP system can reduce telephony-related expenses by 30%. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has become a viable solution

More information

COMPARING THE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP OF TDM AND SIP CONTACT CENTERS

COMPARING THE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP OF TDM AND SIP CONTACT CENTERS COMPARING THE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP OF TDM AND SIP CONTACT CENTERS TABLE OF CONTENTS Are You Paying Too Much Running Your Contact Center?...1 Market Trend: IP Migration Reduces Contact Center Overhead

More information

Nuvia Cloud UC Interconnect Reference Guide

Nuvia Cloud UC Interconnect Reference Guide Nuvia Cloud UC Interconnect Reference Guide Not all Cloud UC services are created equal. Large organizations need a solution that provides the security, flexibility, and reliability required for mission-critical

More information

VoIP / SIP Planning and Disclosure

VoIP / SIP Planning and Disclosure VoIP / SIP Planning and Disclosure Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and session initiation protocol (SIP) technologies are the telecommunication industry s leading commodity due to its cost savings

More information

Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions - 1 - Terms and Conditions 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

More information

SIP Trunks. The cost-effective and flexible alternative to ISDN

SIP Trunks. The cost-effective and flexible alternative to ISDN SIP Trunks The cost-effective and flexible alternative to ISDN A cost-effective alternative to ISDN that provides flexibility and continuity Reliable voice services SIP trunking is the fastest-growing

More information

White Paper. Open Source Telephony: The Evolving Role of Hardware as a Key Enabler of Open Source Telephony in the Business Market.

White Paper. Open Source Telephony: The Evolving Role of Hardware as a Key Enabler of Open Source Telephony in the Business Market. White Paper Open Source Telephony: The Evolving Role of Hardware as a Key Enabler of Open Source Telephony in the Business Market Produced For: Produced By: July 2006 The Evolving Role of Hardware as a

More information

Ironton Global The Ins & Outs of SIP Trunking June 2013 THE INS AND OUTS OF SIP TRUNKING

Ironton Global The Ins & Outs of SIP Trunking June 2013 THE INS AND OUTS OF SIP TRUNKING Ironton Global The Ins & Outs of SIP Trunking June 2013 THE INS AND OUTS OF SIP TRUNKING THE INS & OUTS OF SIP TRUNKING The business world remains in a constant state of flux as companies come and go and

More information

Providing a quality IT Support & Consultancy service in the South East

Providing a quality IT Support & Consultancy service in the South East Providing a quality IT Support & Consultancy service in the South East At M2 Computing, we provide flexible, affordable IT consultancy and systems support across the South East. With a proven track record

More information

LEAVING LEGACY BEHIND: TRANSITIONING TO AN IP VOICE COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION WHITE PAPER

LEAVING LEGACY BEHIND: TRANSITIONING TO AN IP VOICE COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION WHITE PAPER LEAVING LEGACY BEHIND: TRANSITIONING TO AN IP VOICE COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION WHITE PAPER Leaving Legacy Behind: Transitioning to an IP Voice Communications Solution Introduction Seeking to be more efficient

More information

Buyer s Guide. 10 questions to ask. Essential information about your Voice over IP options

Buyer s Guide. 10 questions to ask. Essential information about your Voice over IP options VOIP Buyer s Guide 10 questions to ask Essential information about your Voice over IP options VoIP is the Future. There s a lot of buzz about Voice over IP these days. People are talking about how it can

More information

How to Buy a Business Phone System

How to Buy a Business Phone System How to Buy a Business Phone System An Inside Guide to What You Need to Know When Choosing a Business Phone System Digitcom Canada Rimrock Road, Toronto, Ontario, M J A T:. - or... E: sales@digitcom.ca

More information

How to Choose Between VoIP and Unified Communications

How to Choose Between VoIP and Unified Communications White Paper How to Choose Between VoIP and Unified Communications Contents Executive Summary....2 Five Needs Based Considerations....2 Consideration #1 - what is driving the need in your business?....2

More information

Building A Buisiness Case For UCaaS: Moving To Scalable Cloud Communications

Building A Buisiness Case For UCaaS: Moving To Scalable Cloud Communications Building A Buisiness Case For UCaaS: Moving To Scalable Cloud Communications Scalable Cloud Communications: The Right Choice For Your Business? Business communications used to be easy. Companies were able

More information

The cost effective and flexible alternative to ISDN

The cost effective and flexible alternative to ISDN SIP Trunks The cost effective and flexible alternative to ISDN A cost-effective alternative to ISDN that provides flexibility and continuity Reliable voice services SIP trunking is the fastest-growing

More information

Crossing Boundaries for Contact Centers

Crossing Boundaries for Contact Centers Crossing Boundaries for Contact Centers Knocking Down Geographies and Walls Blair Pleasant President & Principal Analyst COMMfusion LLC Brad Herrington Senior Manager, Solutions Marketing Interactive Intelligence,

More information

How Virtualization Complements ShoreTel s Highly Reliable Distributed

How Virtualization Complements ShoreTel s Highly Reliable Distributed WHITE PAPER How Virtualization Complements s Highly Reliable Distributed Architecture How Virtualization Complements s Highly Reliable Distributed Architecture Table of Contents 1. Executive summary...3

More information

Avaya plus Skype for Business: The Best of Both Worlds

Avaya plus Skype for Business: The Best of Both Worlds Avaya plus Skype for Business: The Best of Both Worlds Table of Contents Begin with the Avaya Advantage... 1 Three Ways to Incorporate Avaya with Skype for Business... 2 Why Avaya is the Top Choice for

More information

COSMOCOM WHITEPAPER SERIES

COSMOCOM WHITEPAPER SERIES Stephen R. Kowarsky skowarsky@cosmocom.com COSMOCOM WHITEPAPER SERIES CONSOLIDATION 2.0: CONSOLIDATION TRENDS IN CONTACT CENTER TECHNOLOGIES AND OPERATIONS Stephen R. Kowarsky, EVP CosmoCom, Inc. January

More information

White Paper. Calculating the Real Cost of a Business Phone System

White Paper. Calculating the Real Cost of a Business Phone System White Paper Calculating the Real Cost of a Business Phone System Calculating the Real Cost of a Business Phone System How cloud phone systems eliminate the many hidden costs of an on-premise PBX Most IT

More information

Moving toward unified communications

Moving toward unified communications White Paper Table of contents 2 An industry evolves 2 Opening up a world of choice 3 Laying the groundwork for future integration 4 Looking ahead at the roadmap 4 Reaping benefits of UC today Moving toward

More information

Unified Communications, Diverse Benefits

Unified Communications, Diverse Benefits TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS Unified Communications, Diverse Benefits Adopting a unified communications platform increases productivity, reduces costs and improves end-user service. Your staff may sit in cubicles

More information

How To Make A Phone System More Reliable And Reliable

How To Make A Phone System More Reliable And Reliable WHITE PAPER Enterprise Applications, Features and Benefits of Sangoma Vega Media Gateways Table of Contents Overview...3 Applications...4 Branch Offices...4 SIP Trunk Termination...6 PSTN Trunking Termination...7

More information

North American VoIP Access and SIP Trunking Services Markets

North American VoIP Access and SIP Trunking Services Markets North American VoIP Access and SIP Trunking Services Markets UC Adoption and Increasing Customer Awareness Drive Demand for SIP Trunking Services September 2011 Table of Contents Executive Summary - Executive

More information

The Communications Partner That Can Transform Your Business

The Communications Partner That Can Transform Your Business The Communications Partner That Can Transform Your Business Broadcore s comprehensive service offering is very valuable to our organization. We no longer manage several different providers to get reliable

More information

LIGHTPATH HOSTED VOICE HELP REDUCE COSTS, INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND STREAMLINE COMMUNICATIONS

LIGHTPATH HOSTED VOICE HELP REDUCE COSTS, INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND STREAMLINE COMMUNICATIONS Contents Abstract... 3 Research overview...... 4 IP voice vs. traditional telephony...... 4 Benefits of hosted voice... 4 Increasing employee productivity.... 5 High Availability... 5 Network reliability...

More information

5 Tips to Choosing the Right Business Phone System

5 Tips to Choosing the Right Business Phone System WHITE PAPER 5 Tips to Choosing the Right Business Phone System www.vology.com (888) 808-2199 sales@vology.com 5 Tips to Choosing the Right Business Phone System PAGE 1 Table of Contents The Importance

More information

VoIP in the Enterprise

VoIP in the Enterprise VoIP in the Enterprise Date: March. 2005 Author: Sonia Hanson Version: 1.1 1 1 Background Voice over IP In the late 1990s Voice over IP (VoIP) was seen as a disruptive new technology that had the potential

More information

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) RE-THINK: what s possible A FlexTEL White Paper April 2012 Table of Contents Introduction... Unified Communication Trends... The Challenges of Building a VoIP

More information

IP Telephony: Reliability You Can Count On

IP Telephony: Reliability You Can Count On WHITE PAPER IP Telephony: Reliability You Can Count On Architecture Matters Table of Contents 1. IP Delivers a Foundation for Reliability...3 2. Compare Three Different Approaches to Delivering Five-Nines

More information

Upgrade or Replace? You want more from your call center software. But should you update your current system or opt for something new?

Upgrade or Replace? You want more from your call center software. But should you update your current system or opt for something new? Upgrade or Replace? You want more from your call center software. But should you update your current system or opt for something new? AN OFFICIAL MITEL KNOWLEDGE HUB GUIDE In today s digital age, it s

More information

SIP Trunks. The cost-effective and flexible alternative to ISDN

SIP Trunks. The cost-effective and flexible alternative to ISDN SIP Trunks The cost-effective and flexible alternative to ISDN A cost-effective alternative to ISDN that provides flexibility and continuity Reliable voice services SIP trunking is the fastest-growing

More information

Levelling the Playing Field

Levelling the Playing Field ROGERS WHITE PAPER 1 Rev. May 2011 page 2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 Small Business Telephony Options 4 Basic Phone Service 4 Traditional PBX and Key Systems 4 Digital Services Business Cable and

More information

Why Cloud CompuTing ThreaTens midsized enterprises and WhaT To do about it

Why Cloud CompuTing ThreaTens midsized enterprises and WhaT To do about it The Cloud Threat Why Cloud CompuTing ThreaTens midsized enterprises and WhaT To do about it This white paper outlines the concerns that often prevent midsized enterprises from taking advantage of the Cloud.

More information

Unified Communications trends and challenges: How to stay on top

Unified Communications trends and challenges: How to stay on top E-Guide Unified Communications trends and challenges: How to stay on top For what seems like forever, unified communications (UC) has been trying to come of age, fighting traditional technology battles

More information

A Look Ahead at Phone Systems in 2014. Will This Be the Year of Cloud-Based Communications and BYOD?

A Look Ahead at Phone Systems in 2014. Will This Be the Year of Cloud-Based Communications and BYOD? A Look Ahead at Phone Systems in 2014 Will This Be the Year of Cloud-Based Communications and BYOD? Contents Will 2014 Be the Year of Cloud-Based Communications and BYOD?... 3 Why Are Cloud-Based Communication

More information

Virtualizing Open Text Fax Server with Realtime Fax over IP and Open Text Fax Gateway

Virtualizing Open Text Fax Server with Realtime Fax over IP and Open Text Fax Gateway Virtualizing Open Text Fax Server with Realtime Fax over IP and Open Text Fax Gateway Abstract Computer virtualization is a revolutionary concept that provides organizations with a powerful, simple, and

More information

SIP Trunking Is a Building Block of Unified Communications

SIP Trunking Is a Building Block of Unified Communications SIP Trunking Is a Building Block of Unified Communications by Zeus Kerravala August 2010 Executive Summary Organizations today are undergoing a major transformation to global, Anywhere Enterprises, and

More information

10 steps to the Cloud for SMBs Introduction to Cloud computing. www.fasthosts.co.uk. Ask the Experts. Making Business Work Better Online

10 steps to the Cloud for SMBs Introduction to Cloud computing. www.fasthosts.co.uk. Ask the Experts. Making Business Work Better Online 10 steps to the Cloud for SMBs Introduction to Cloud computing This paper is designed to explain, in plain English, the real reasons behind how your business can benefit from Cloud computing, and help

More information

The Gotchas of Cloud-Based

The Gotchas of Cloud-Based leading thoughts / may 2013 The Gotchas of Cloud-Based Contact Center Solutions Take a dose of caution when moving to a cloud-based solution. Lessons learned from early adopters. By Ken Barton, Strategic

More information

How to Determine TCO for IP Telephone Systems

How to Determine TCO for IP Telephone Systems How to Determine TCO for IP Telephone Systems HOW TO DETERMINE TCO FOR IP TELEPHONE SYSTEMS 2 INSIDE: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Getting Started What is TCO for UC? Count up Operational Costs Consider the

More information

The Benefits of Hosted VoIP Phone Service for a Distributed Workforce

The Benefits of Hosted VoIP Phone Service for a Distributed Workforce The Benefits of Hosted VoIP Phone Service for a Distributed Workforce Addressing the challenges of a decentralized telecommunications network The Benefits of Hosted VoIP Phone Service for a Distributed

More information