Firms blind to business benefits of voice over IP
Skype hype leads to over estimation of cost savings.
Many of the business benefits of voice over IP (VoIP) are being ignored because the success of Skype has overhyped the potential cost savings of the technology, according to network specialist Sentito Networks.
Chris Lee, European vice-president of Sentito, said the technology is often forced through by the board because they have heard it can generate savings. However, IT departments still need to ensure this is the right business decision for their firm and that it can be easily implemented.
“There can be dramatic cost savings but that is [not the only reason they should be moving to VoIP],” Lee argued. “They may not have [thought out] the handset, the service or the security issues – it may be a better decision for that company not to go to VoIP.”
Companies must decide whether to manage VoIP in-house, use a service provider or a mixture of the two. However, Lee argued that IT staff often have a poor understanding of IP and SIP technology, which makes it hard for them to ask the right questions about quality of service and security.
“A lot of education is needed about VoIP services,” Lee said. “IT managers should be asking, can the solution scale and can the network cope? And they should look at the [business] applications – there are some neat additional services you can get like [video conferencing] and voicemail.”