Pierce notes that the technology management issues that enterprises have to work out before they can consider a VoIP deployment on anything but the most limited scale necessitate a good deal of time and planning. The key thing is to remember that VoIP is only as good as its implementation, and to be absolutely clear about why you need VoIP. "IT departments think it's all just technology, but it's not," Pierce says. "Technology alone rarely solves problems completely, and often not at all."
Despite the fact that she's in the business of selling the technology, Hadden-Boyd agrees. "This might sound anti-Cisco, but companies should do it only as it makes business sense," she says. "Don't deploy technology for technology's sake. Come up with a business reason to do it. A lot of people forget that.'
Beyond that, once the business case for VoIP makes sense, Pierce says that enterprises have to set clear goals and create explicit roadmaps for deployment. Above all, she says that it is vital to get employee buy-in, and that means making sure that everyone knows not just the benefits of VoIP, but how to use the technology. You can't just swap out employees' traditional phones for IP handsets overnight and expect everyone to be happy.
"Companies often don't spend enough time on training, and that's often the killer," Pierce says. "If you don't train users in the ways that the technology can improve their communications, you will have problems. If word gets out that this was a lousy experience " whoa! You need to create good word of mouth in your company to establish the technology's legitimacy."
Apart from the sheer unpleasantness of facing a widespread rebellion from unhappy workers, the whole raison d'tre of a VoIP deployment can be compromised if it includes features that few users want, excludes the ones they need, and comes with no training. "There has to be something in it for people," Haddon-Boyd says. "If you plan it well in advance, and people have a say in it, then you can get buy-in across the board as well as a solution that is tailored to your needs. And that's what companies need."
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
