So why are companies putting themselves through all this aggravation? Foremost, they're finding that VoIP, which chops up voice conversations into data packets and routes them over a data network or the Internet, can dramatically reduce the cost of phone service. Most companies pay a flat monthly rate for an Internet connection, so costs don't increase with call volume. And when voice calls are just another application on the network, there are opportunities for integrating voice into business processes. Hobart West anticipates a day when customers' files automatically pop up in employees' Web browsers when calls come in. "It's worth it in the long run," says Harenchar, whose company finished its VoIP deployment in July. "It opens up the ability to do customer-workflow integration in ways it's never been done before."
That's a familiar sentiment among businesses betting on VoIP, which include Ford Motor Co. and Bank of America Corp. Companies upgrading their phone systems face the choice of sinking money into yesterday's technology--traditional PBX products--or investing in VoIP, the platform for the future. And they're picking the future: VoIP line shipments increased 52% last year, while PBX-based line shipments were down 29%, according to Infonetics Research. Spending on VoIP will jump from $1.2 billion last year to more than $23 billion in 2009, Infonetics predicts. Research firm Frost & Sullivan forecasts the number of hosted IP-telephony lines will increase from 292,000 last year to 9.7 million by 2010. This means thousands more businesses are about to come face to face with VoIP "gotchas."
Meeting Demand
Equipment vendors and service providers are scrambling to accommodate the growing interest in VoIP. Network Instruments LLC last week released a new version of its network-management software that lets administrators see VoIP traffic statistics and more than 20 metrics that track call quality. Comcast Corp. and Cox Communications Inc., two cable-TV companies, recently started offering VoIP services. Microsoft two weeks ago bought its second VoIP company, media-streams.com ag, a Swiss applications maker. And just last week, a group of VoIP champions, including EarthLink, Google, Pulver.com, Skype Technologies, and Sonus Networks, banded together to promote the technology through the Internet Voice Campaign.
Companies often underestimate how big a change they're in for when installing a new phone system and don't plan thoroughly enough. "They're assuming that, 'OK, it's a different protocol, but it's not very different from the type of system we have today,'" says Lisa Pierce, a VP at Forrester Research.
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.
