BY MARK BERNIER

As inexpensive IP-based networks become ubiquitous and capable of handling 20 to 30 times the traffic load of conventional analog phone systems, MIS managers cannot afford to delay the potential savings of switching corporate telephony traffic onto packet networks. The challenge is figuring out how to squeeze the most from legacy equipment, while making sure that any new equipment purchased to facilitate the migration will still work once your voice and data networks are fully converged.

Most businesses will plot a staged migration rather than a potentially disruptive "forklift" upgrade. Both strategies, however, must maximize the use of existing equipment while minimizing the costs of migration and work habit changes employees are faced with in learning new systems. New universal port architectures can efficiently deal with the confluence of voice/data convergence and remote access, while voice gateways between the IP network and conventional PBX equipment can preserve user familiarity at the desktop.

The Potential Of Universal Port Architecture
By connecting to an external voice gateway device, a corporate PBX can perform IP telephony functions without changing the familiar terminals on workers' desks. This means the features of the office telephone system remain undisturbed, while the ability to route a portion of calls over parts of the corporate data network is added. Essentially, the change in network is transparent to the user.

Eliminating equipment changes at every desktop also allows for preservation of workplace familiarity, which should limit new equipment costs, re-training and support costs, and mitigate short-term productivity lapses. Still, some businesses may decide to simply replace their PBX systems and conventional telephones with PC-based or stand-alone Internet phones linked directly to the IP network. Alternatively, the gateway functionality can be incorporated into certain PBXs to create a direct tie to the IP network.

Whichever path to voice over IP is taken, highly-integrated modules which are available now can significantly ease the way by eliminating the need for PBX or gateway vendors to develop codec, network-delay compensation, or voice and fax packetization technology on their own. The corporate enterprise now expects that networking products will be appropriate for both voice and data. These ideal data network access devices can service ISDN, data, fax, and voice calls on every dial-in port, each of which is scalable to accommodate for traffic growth and evolving needs (for example, the changing percentage of voice versus data traffic).

Further, devices built on a high-density, universal access port architecture can lower systems costs for vendors, OEMs, VARs, and integrators because they are software-upgradable and are therefore able to readily accommodate enhancements like new modulation or QoS standards. And because they quadruple the number of ports per slot while using roughly half the power of standard data-only ports, universal ports increase functionality while lowering cooling and power requirements.

There are additional arguments for a universal port architecture. This design scheme makes for a future-proof investment in that it can already see, hear, translate, and transfer each and every dial-up "voice" in existence today (including analog, digital, ISDN, VoIP, etc.). It can also be upgraded with software downloads to handle emerging technologies and standards. Previously known as simple modems, these next-generation dial-up ports will accommodate any transmission protocol on any port in a network access server, and will be able to make sense of an otherwise incomprehensible digital torrent of incompatible protocols and conflicting technologies.

Setting The Stage For Total Convergence
Fully-converged networks will lay the ground for new applications we've only imagined. As convergence spreads through both private and public LANs and WANs, new revenue-generating business models will be created by entrepreneurs that will fuel the spread of total convergence.

Meantime, however, businesses looking to preserve the value of their existing network equipment should do some homework before launching resources toward a convergence target.

First, they should make themselves aware of what works today in the realm of IP technology, as opposed to what technologies are still in a nascent stage. For example, translating analog voice data into IP packets is commonplace, with industry-accepted standards. But the practice of sending real-time data like packetized voice over the public networks such as the Internet still faces the problems of erratic delivery and quality.

Next, corporations should have a thorough understanding up front of their private network's operational capabilities: how it behaves, what it's designed to do, and what it actually can and cannot do. They should know exactly how much head room is built-in to accommodate growth in capacity. Answers will vary depending on company size and the general philosophy of those running the IT department (some will be content to just throw bandwidth at problems, while others may design sophisticated custom solutions).

Meantime, a parallel assessment should determine how able the workforce is to handle change at the desktop level, and how much support and training may be needed to make a transition. Aside from the labor costs and equipment expense of a full-blown desktop upgrade, another good reason for the staged approach is it creates less drastic changes for users, so their learning of any new systems can be gradual.

Depending upon the nature and level of corporate IT resources available and the dynamics of internal corporate politics, integrators, VARs, and OEMs could be heroes by helping businesses sort through such questions. In fact, they have a long-term responsibility to help customers ease the passage -- regardless of which route is taken to the approaching multimedia era of fully converged networking.

Mark Bernier is director, product marketing for Mapletree Networks. Mapletree designs and manufactures voice, data, and fax dial-up access technology for OEMs based on its UniPorte Architecture. For more information, visit their Web site at www.mapletreenetworks.com.