One of the most honest and candid advice a telecommunications professional can give a business when evaluating phone system technology options for their business is to make sure you purchase a VOIP capable phone system. It is estimated that over 90% of new business phone systems shipped in 2010 will be VOIP capable, and we’ll assess the reasons for that trend, as well as explain why owning a VOIP-capable phone system has become a necessity even if it’s not Do not use the features at the time of purchase.

It would be best to start with a brief overview of the different types of VOIP systems available. Not all flavors are the same and each has its own benefits. VOIP tends to mean a lot of things to a lot of people, so let’s make sure we speak the same language before we start. There are two main areas of VOIP to cover:

VoIP Telephone Service: It is defined as the ability of your phone system to interact with a phone service provider through your data connection to make your calls over the public Internet. SIP trunking is the most popular interface method commercially, but we won’t cover this transport method in this article. VOIP phone service promises more competitive prices mainly due to increased T1 usage due to compression, but few phone systems interface with VOIP providers at this time. Each manufacturer must go through a rigorous interoperability testing procedure to verify the quality of service with each operator. Very few systems have completed this process with the few operators that exist. Some think of this as “free long distance” or “fixed rate long distance” which is much more competitive than standard commercial offers.

VOIP Compatible Phone Systems: When we talk about a VOIP-enabled phone system, we’re directly referring to the phone system’s ability to use the language of Voice over Internet Protocol to carry your phone conversations internally or between locations. We are not talking about the ability to make your phone calls through a VOIP phone service provider as detailed above. Using VOIP internally allows you several benefits.

1. Shared cabling infrastructure: VOIP conversations typically require between 16k and 64k depending on compression levels, so a typical office data cabling infrastructure running CAT5e cabling can share the same 100M cabling for voice and data. Voice is prioritized over data to protect call quality, and dozens of phone calls can be made simultaneously without noticeable impact on data speeds. Using a shared cabling infrastructure saves cabling installation costs as well as cabling maintenance costs.
2. Ease of moves, additions and changes: Configuration changes that normally required a technician to visit the site in the past can now be done in-house quite easily. Although many manufacturers will argue that they can now realize this functionality through TDM technology and web interfaces, it was VOIP systems that brought this capability to the forefront with industry-changing ease. For any business that knows its phone system technicians by name, the ability to manage your own system will drastically alter your total cost of ownership. The reduction in MAC charges has made VOIP systems highly desirable simply because they cost less to maintain. System administration is now something that can be done in-house on over 95% of programming changes.
3. The ability to connect offices.: With VOIP capability, you can now connect offices through managed data connections to use your phone systems more cost-effectively than ever before. This gives customers a more seamless experience when dealing with employees from multiple offices and allows companies to offer a more customer-friendly environment. Toll avoidance is an added benefit and eliminates costly toll charges between locations when using VOIP. The business case for more profitable use of labor has begun. The ability to have a single receptionist to handle calls from multiple locations can often pay for a system within a year. Allowing employees who were previously busy answering calls to switch to income-generating activities can take a financial hit depending on the size and configuration of the company.
4. The ability to manage remote employees.: A major trend nationwide has been hiring remote employees for various tasks. They may be related to sales, support, or operations, but the common challenge for all companies has been effectively managing those employees. With a VOIP system and a managed data connection, you can literally connect your remote employee to your phone system with a VOIP phone. Doing so gives the employer access to all of the same management tools they enjoy internally with other employees. You can view real-time availability on the phone, the number of calls made, calls received, talk time and all other relevant information with the appropriate software applications.
5. Ease of database integration: For companies using CRM packages with TAPI or IMAP interfaces, having a VOIP system can be an amazing production tool. Incoming calls can be routed to the desired party based on the schedule and assignment in the CRM. Popups allow users to see who is calling before choosing to answer calls, send them to voicemail, or transfer them appropriately. Desktop Call Control also gives users the ability to dial numbers with a mouse click directly from their contacts. Users can use all the features and functionality of their desk phone from their PC screen. Since labor is often the highest cost for any business, having tools that help make employees more efficient to the tune of several minutes a day can provide incredible benefits.
6. IP Softphones: IP Softphones have proven to be an amazing tool for the right application. Do you make many calls abroad? Do you have employees who travel frequently and need to connect to the hotel phone system? Do you need to connect from trade shows in real time with the appearance of a line? With a software-controlled SoftPhone, you can have full phone system functionality from your laptop or PDA device with a USB handset for a phone! Lots of new apps coming.

There are many other benefits that VOIP systems provide over their more traditional TDM counterparts, but we will limit ourselves to the main ones listed above. While the TDM phone system options are still a viable solution that is slightly more cost effective up front, we find that the projected TCO or total cost of ownership is often lower with a VOIP system due to the set of features available and the production efficiency tools. For those businesses that only have one location, telecom professionals will typically recommend a hybrid system. A hybrid system is a business phone system based on cost-effective TDM technology, but with the ability to add VOIP capability via a media gateway card. Although VOIP may not be a service priority for a business today, it is essential to ensure that you have future capability in case you decide to implement it at a later date.

Perhaps one of the last things businesses consider when purchasing a phone system, but one they should probably consider a bit more, is the resale value of the phone system. Since telecom professionals regularly help their clients through the liquidation process of their old equipment, they are well aware of what old equipment is worth. As with most vintage electronics, you can expect minimal value after five years, but an initial trend appeared last year. Systems without VOIP capability are almost worthless. When companies try to sell off systems as little as five years old, they often find they have no buyers, as the systems do not have VOIP capability. The dramatic switch to VOIP has literally wiped out generations of value in used phone products, as there is literally no demand for it. There will always be some demand for used inventory for major manufacturers such as NEC, Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and Toshiba, but all the others appear to be extremely weak investments at the moment. Although resale value should not be a major consideration when choosing which system to purchase, business owners should know that choosing a VOIP-capable system from a major manufacturer will virtually guarantee reasonable future resale value. As always, we suggest that you speak with your local telecommunications professional to help you choose the right system for you.