Voice over IP Comes of Age for SMEs (NTOP)
By Mark Long
Contact Center Today
March 15, 2004 11:47AM
newsfactor.com
Net2Phone has developed the hardware/software packages for enabling even small enterprise operators to benefit from VoIP technology. When connected to regular phones or a PBX system, Net2Phone's Max Gateways can enable two to 30 simultaneous calls from a single location.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is moving from the experimental stage to commercial deployments that actually can help small to mid-size enterprise (SME) operators reduce their monthly telephone bills to a fraction of what companies typically have to pay. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission jumped on the bandwagon by indicating that Internet services, such as VoIP , should continue to remain subject to minimal regulation.
"Businesses really need to start thinking of voice as an application rather than as just another utility," said Rick Moran, vice president of product and technology marketing at Cisco's IP communications division. "They also need to start thinking about how they can tie VoIP together with other Internet services, such as Web and e-mail."
"And in a broadband world, there's no reason why they can't improve on audio quality or even add video into the mix," Moran told NewsFactor.
Making VoIP Fly
"You don't really need to throw everything out the window to necessarily enjoy the cost benefits of Voice over IP," said Simon McIver, director of enterprise solutions at Net2Phone. "The use of voice gateways, when combined with a soft switch, can deliver the key cost benefits that small to mid-sized businesses are seeking from VoIP."
Net2Phone has developed the hardware/software packages for enabling even small enterprise operators to benefit from VoIP technology. When connected to regular phones or a PBX system, Net2Phone's Max Gateways can enable two to 30 simultaneous calls from a single location. The company's line of single-user phones for small office/home office (SOHO) applications feature the ability to dial up both VoIP and PSTN calls.
When used in tandem with fully scalable software that can handle up to 150 calls simultaneously, Net2Phone's Max PVN hardware also can enable mid-size businesses to make free calls over their own Private Voice Networks. The company recently installed a hybrid solution for the Turkish airline Onur Air, which has 75 offices throughout Europe, that involved installing the technology at just eight of the airline's locations in Turkey and Germany.
According to Onur Air I.T. manager Can Azun, the Turkish airline realized a savings of 55 percent on its intercity telephone bills, as well as a 70 percent reduction in the cost of the company's international calls.
Next Best Thing
"The next trend we see happening in the marketplace is the expansion of VoIP expanding beyond the enterprise to include supply chains and channels to market," predicts McIver. "This will enable companies to interconnect their various partners into their own voice network to increase the cost efficiency of communications with the partners that companies regularly call," he added.
Net2Phone expects to do just that during the second phase of its project with Onur Air, which will allow the airline to use VoIP to connect directly with its key travel agents in Europe and the Middle East.
VoIP To Go
Small to mid-size companies "can now have their voice and data together at about the same cost as having voice only," said Moran. "For deployment, you either plug right in to an Ethernet network that has been integrated with the public network, or you can interconnect locations using IP."
And when Cisco's Call Manager Express voice application is extended over a Wide Area network, "you can unplug at one location and plug right back in at another, and you are off to the races," Moran added.
Softphone software also is available for converting notebooks into telephone terminals that either can be used to augment a desktop phone or employed as a dedicated replacement. Cisco's IP Communicator can be used with USB input devices or even a Bluetooth-enabled headset with the touch-tone pad for the phone appearing right on the notebook screen.
Now, whenever Moran is required to travel on business, he selects his hotels based on broadband availability and is always on the lookout for the nearest broadband "hot spot."
After logging on to the network from wherever he is, Moran opens his laptop , tunnels into the network, turns on his softphone and is ready to start talking.
"That way, whenever I log in, I actually have all of my services in one place," he added.
PDAs To Get VoIP Connection
Now that laptops have been VoIP-enabled, look for PDAs to follow suit before the end of this year. Headquartered in San Jose, California, HelloSoft has developed an application that Wi-Fi NIC card manufacturer SoftAir Microsystems has licensed for the purpose of adding VoIP capabilities to its line of products for PDAs and notebooks.
"With Wi-Fi already an integral part of the communications, computer and consumer landscape, our goal has been to address the cost issue, because of the fact that software-based solutions will only end up costing a fraction of the price of an IP telephone," said HelloSoft president and CEO Krishna Yarlagadda.
"All that's required to give you VoIP over a wireless LAN is a Pocket PC equipped with an ARM or MIPS processor, together with HelloSoft's enabling IP and very little else in the way of hardware," Yarlagaeda told NewsFactor. |
