Voice Networking

The primary goal of this paper is to outline the reasons why so many organizations are migrating to IP-centric communications. The business case is not only compelling, it's overwhelming: you (1) save money (2) increase operational efficiencies (3) boost employee productivity (4) improve customer loyalty and retention and (5) drive new revenue streams. The impact on the bottom line is obvious, as is the need to check out those five big benefits.

Executive Summary

The five big benefits of IP Telephony are realized on converged voice-data infrastructures. Local Area Networks (LANs) need to be engineered to carry real-time traffic and IP-PBXs are required to make and receive calls. These changes are significant but they need not be disruptive. Change can be incremental, e.g., few sites require forklift upgrades. Legacy investments must be protected – migration should be flexible and future-proof. It is hard to overstate the importance of getting this first phase right. In fact, it is the key to success. The infrastructure determines the time taken to realize tangible productivity and profitability benefits, and it sets the agenda for new developments. Desktop devices such as the Mitel Navigator and presence-aware, click-to-communicate software are the manifestations of IP Telephony. They're the look and feel of the new communicating and collaborating paradigm. Applications such as the Mitel Your Assistant, employs icons that display the availability of third parties, a feature that minimizes telephone tag and boosts personal and workgroup productivity. Calls and on-demand conferences are established using the intuitive Web interface. Business process improvement, a relatively new development, is the third phase. This is a large subject area but the basic concept is simple: embed real-time communications with real-time data. Business processes are being integrated and information flows from one process to another automatically. Real-time communications is needed when issues arise. The relevant people need to be contacted immediately, so the re is a synergistic link to the presence and availability functionality that was enabled in phase two (The Desktop and its Applications). Network management is another big subject. It is big because everything needs to be managed– desktops, applications and platforms – and it has to be done globally and holistically The days of managing individual elements are over. Holistic solutions must interoperate with mainstream management systems such as HP OpenView, as well as the proprietary systems of network operators and service providers. It's a tall order but one that our management systems can handle.

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