Getting NetSmart - Are you ready for voice over IP?

Are you ready for voice over IP?

Network World, 03/20/02

Sandra Gittlen Next week, Network World launches our Tech Update "Voice over IP: Tackling the Convergence Challenge" and judging from the number of registrations, the answer is "yes."

Registrants for this free, six-city seminar series will hear from Avaya, Foundry Networks, Mitel and NetIQ Technologies, among other companies, about how to integrate voice and data on an IP network.

According to presenter Steve Taylor, author of Network World's Convergence Newsletter and president of Distributed Networking Associates, the question is not if voice over IP rolls out in the enterprise, but when. He says companies are already taking on convergence issues and coming out with strong, integrated networks.

During our State of the LAN/MAN Town Meeting late last year, we asked attendees about their voice over IP plans. A startling number said they have it on the budget for next year. Others said they are still in the planning stages. Very few scoffed at the idea - more than I can say for when we went on the road in the spring of last year.

So, what has changed that makes voice so appealing? My guess is the pressure to reduce expenses. Again and again you've been told over the past 18 months (or more) to slash expenses and do more with your infrastructure. Well, since many of you had already started to beef up your networks, you're in a good position to add voice onto your data nets. And if you're looking at the costs of PBX expansions and keeping around a telecom and data team, then, unfortunately, putting voice over you existing network seems like a good idea for the company's bottom line. I am in no way saying that I think telecom teams are expendable. But if you're being forced to consolidate, something tells me the CFO is going to point this fact out to you.

But what about the quality of the calls? Many people say that we don't have the "five 9s" of reliability. True. But neither do cell phone calls right now. And you certainly aren't going to completely tear down your traditional phone infrastructure. There are going to be certain types of calls - maybe inter-campus - that you can throw down the voice over IP line and save the telco costs. Or maybe those overseas calls that are aggravating expenses.

Deciding which calls you are going to target for the new network is critical. Make sure you do your homework beforehand and test the quality to see if you can tolerate it. If not, then voice might not be the best option for you right now.

There are other things to consider, such as how voice over IP will work with your current LAN and WAN environments. Are you going to have to do a complete overhaul just to satisfy the requirements of a voice network? Are IP phones or IP PBXs the appropriate choice for your environment? Do you know enough about emerging standards such as Session Initiation Protocol to judge what products you need? Do you know how to secure the calls? You can't just put them on your data line and not know whether they are protected. Is quality of service far enough along to tell your users that they will be satisfied with the connection and sustainability of the calls?

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