Not so with Zultys' MX250. As an all-SIP-based solution, it lets network architects choose any SIP endpoint. Its own ZIP 4x5 phones bundle in a firewall, router, NAT, VPN, and built-in Ethernet switch for $400. Third-party SIP phones can also be purchased at just about any price point, depending on the feature set desired. This can dramatically reduce the cost of a remote site installation. Instead of spending $300 for a proprietary IP phone, customers can purchase a SIP version for a third of that price.
Attendant consoles can drop those costs even further. Attendant consoles generally cost about a hundred dollars more than a regular phone. Avaya still charges $500 for its software-based attendant console used with its key system replacement, IP Office. However, many IP telephony vendors now build this functionality into the phone, or, as is the case with ShoreTel, bundle it as an application with the phone.
The difference is particularly acute when it comes to high-end phones. Today's third-party SIP-based softphones, such as Xten Networks' EyeBeam, run around $60, equipped with integrated video, presence, and IM capabilities. A comparable hard client would cost hundreds of dollars, and even Avaya's SIP-based softphone costs twice that amount.
"Telephony vendors make 35 percent of their revenue off the handset," says a marketing manager at one of the major telephony vendors. "A VoIP handset with a color screen will run you $600 to $900. Why would you pay that for a phone? You could buy three Dell PCs for that price." Unfortunately, there's no getting around the software licenses with some phone systems. Half of Avaya's phone-related charges, for example, come from such licenses.
Softphone adoption may sound unlikely at first. To some extent, this is part cultural and perhaps part generational. The likelihood that calls will be missed or interrupted because of a system reboot is far lower now given the relative stability of Windows XP. Today, typical college graduates expect that sort of stability. They're also used to communicating through IM and Webcams and using all the functionality of mobile phones. Using softphones comes naturally to them. Even many of today's traveling workforce and call center agents use softphones for specific applications, so why not the general knowledge worker in the office? No doubt some users will balk at the idea and demand a standard handset, but over time that will be the exception, not the rule.
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.
