October 06, 2005
Justifications for investing in IP communications – part 1
Enterprises and SMBs are moving toward deploying IP communications as a means of achieving a cost-effective convergence of voice and data communication, which enhances employee mobility and reduces expenditures related to network maintenance and administration. According to a study by Phillips InfoTech, around 85 percent of the organizations have implemented IP communications at some level. Of the companies that have implemented IP communications networks, two-thirds of these feel that IP telephony has delivered the desired results in terms of increased productivity and savings in time and money.
Implementing IP telephony is an IT investment that requires business and financial justification. This is because increasingly IT implementations are being aligned with achieving particular business objectives and not just for a general accomplishment of business goals.
Reduced cost of network ownership and improved communications due to easy and quick deployment of applications are the two prime justifications for opting for IP telephony. Seven out of ten IP deployments yield a positive ROI in 16-18 months. The cost of network ownership is reduced as infrastructural requirements are simplified and voice and data networks are converged.
Network administration, carrier costs, and equipment maintenance contribute 44%, 22%, and 34%, respectively to the company savings.
• A converged network leads to reduced equipment costs because the company does not have to purchase dedicated PBXs and maintain separate ISDN connections.
• Centralized call processing enables a company to reduce the amount of equipment required in remote offices. The wiring work can be reduced by around 50% per user. The same Ethernet port can be used for running a PC and an IP phone, which results in significant dollar savings.
• By switching to an IP-based network, the hardware connection costs are reduced to one-tenth with a 100-fold increase in performance. With the existing systems, a T1 line having 1.5 MB of bandwidth supporting 24 users is required to connect a voice mail server to a PBX. This costs around $6000. With a 100 MB Ethernet that runs an IP-based network having a unified messaging solution, a single server can host an equivalent number of sessions for a cost of $600.
• Network management costs are reduced as productivity increases and management is simplified.
• Improved internal productivity leads to a reduction in requirements to be outsourced, which allows companies to control the management to a greater extent and deliver results faster to their users.
• A converged network also enables a company to manage a far greater number of users than before.
• The expenses involved with moving and shifting of equipment and staff is an ongoing cost. A single move can cost a company up to $ 135. The extended mobility that IP telephony offers can help to bring down this cost significantly.
• IP telephony leads to reduced network costs because of a reduction in the number of voice circuits and reduced PSTN tariffs levied for toll-bypass, which results in major savings in making international calls.
Business communications benefit from the deployment of an IP-based network, which provides a basis for the deployment of a range of applications. The applications and services can be used to deliver better mobility, streamlining of operations, improved functionality, etc. In a networked environment, a person can communicate more effectively through the multiple communication channels, such as voice, email, fax, video, etc.
--
Did you enjoy this post?
« VoIP architecture | Main | Justifications for investing in IP communications – part 2 »
