"Calling All Telephony Experts"
Some food for thought from the IW Career Page:
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August 10, 1998
Calling All Telephony Experts
Sales and engineering jobs abound for
those who know traditional voice
telephony and IP data networking
By Todd Spangler
Companies in the Internet telephony industry are in the midst of a rapid hiring
phase, with many doubling their staffs in less than a year.
The telephony sector is expected to undergo a sonic boom, making it at least
a $1 billion industry by 2002--from essentially zero two years ago, according
to Forrester Research. The rapid rollout of Net and IP telephony products
and services has resulted in a mad scramble to find a new kind of expert:
Someone who understands nuances of both traditional voice telephony and IP
data networking.
"Experienced engineers are in the most demand," said Jeff Pulver, publisher of
The Pulver Report, an IP telephony newsletter. "In Silicon Valley, a good
voice-over-IP engineer can demand approximately $140,000." Jim Gribben,
director of human resources at IP telephony developer NetSpeak Corp., said
the company has 130 employees, a number that has more than doubled in less
than a year's time. Although NetSpeak, of Boca Raton, Fla., is hiring in all
areas of the company, Gribben added that IP telephony software developers
are the most needed.
"We deal in the world of the Internet, but we also deal with intelligent
networks, data networking, and the wireless space," he said. "We look for
software people who've been involved in object-oriented development as well
as communications protocols." A person with that combination of skills is rare,
said Jeremy Soref, director of marketing at NetXchange, an Internet fax
developer based in Israel.
"When you get into voice and real-time fax, you need a network background,"
Soref said. "The more general issues are the networking issues, and someone
from a telephony background doesn't have the kinds of sensitivity to the kinds
of things that someone from the internetworking side would have, like latency."
Not Just Engineers But it's not only engineers who are in high demand; there's
also a constant demand for salespeople who are technically savvy, according
to Internet telephony executives.
"We're always looking for people to sell IP telephony--it's a demanding
technical sale," said David Greenblatt, chief operating officer of Net2Phone,
the Internet telephony services division of IDT Corp. "To sell this service, you
need to be technically astute--otherwise, people just won't get it." Depending
on their experience, salespeople can make between $35,000 and $80,000
plus commissions, Greenblatt said. He added that he is also constantly on the
lookout for qualified IP telephony developers, who can see starting salaries of
$90,000-plus.
Because Internet telephony engineers are in such demand and can be choosy,
companies sometimes find location is a liability.
Kelly Williams, director of marketing for Hypercom Network Systems in
Phoenix, Ariz., said people who understand the merging of data
communications and telecommunications technology aren't hard to
find--they're just hard to find in Phoenix: "We're recruiting outside our area, in
Texas and other regions." Another difficulty Net telephony firms have had in
hiring is the culture clash between traditional telephony companies, which often
employ the most knowledgeable engineers in the field, and Internet startups.
"It's fairly difficult for us to find people with the telephony background," said
NetXchange's Soref. "You always have the problem that people working for a
Nortel are different kinds of personalities. Startups are dynamic and require
long hours sometimes." On the other hand, the dynamic nature of telephony
companies can have great appeal to some individuals. Observers point to the
career path of Tom Evslin, who started AT&T's WorldNet ISP division in
1994 before leaving in July 1997 to become the chairman and CEO of
Internet telephony startup ITXC Corp.
NetSpeak's Gribben said the kinds of people who fit the NetSpeak culture
are creative individuals who are open to new technologies and have an interest
in breaking new ground.
"Multimedia over IP networks is very hot, but there's not that much
information available, because it's an emerging area. We need people who are
strategic thinkers," he said.
In fact, VocalTec Communications sometimes places a higher priority on a
prospective employee's creative intelligence than on how technically proficient
he or she is, said Carla Cooper, the company's human resources manager.
The 300-person Israeli company, which has operations in Northvale, N.J.,
has hired about 80 employees since December 1997.
Said Cooper, "As long as people can make the transition to a fast-paced
company, VocalTec provides an environment where they can bone up on the
areas they're lacking in."
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