How to Get Faster ROI and Better Performance from Your VoIP Implementation

By Patrick Barnard, Senior Web Editor, TMCnet

OK so you’re small to medium-sized business and you’re ready to make the jump from traditional phone service to VoIP. Next, your new network is tested for readiness, your new VoIP phone system is installed, and now all there is to do is sit back and reap the benefits a converged network brings – such as lower communications costs and increased employee productivity through advanced feature sets – right?

Well, not exactly. You see, even though most VoIP phone system installations usually start off wonderfully, the voice data eventually ends up competing with the other data riding on the company LAN or WAN for bandwidth, as network use increases or changes. Keeping VoIP communications running smoothly on any area network requires continuous monitoring and “tuning,” because the demands on the network are continuously changing as your business evolves. As a result, many VoIP implementations end up taxing the company IT department, which in turn requires investment in additional IT resources on the payroll.

This, in turn, reduces or even completely offsets any return on investment that might have been realized. So, while some analysts say the payback for a VoIP deployment typically ranges from 4 to 19 months, that’s probably just wishful thinking.

And even if you do create an extra IT position, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your team won’t be able to prevent voice quality issues, or worse yet a complete outage, as result of constantly fluctuating network demands.

This is why many companies now outsource their network monitoring and troubleshooting to third parties. This way they can hold down IT support costs, by having a service that is dedicated to detecting and preventing problems before they occur.

Tone Software Corporation, for example, offers a fully automated, remote 24/7 network monitoring and management solution for converged telecommunications and IT infrastructures. Its ReliaTel and Streamline solutions provide managed service providers, value added resellers (VARs) and enterprises with a unified approach for managing and monitoring their entire converged voice communications infrastructure, supporting the industry’s leading devices, networks and environments from multiple vendors on multiple platforms.

 To help company execs learn more about how to cut VoIP operational support costs and equip their voice support teams with the critical expertise needed to successfully deliver quality VoIP services, Tone Software (News - Alert) recently presented a webinar titled “Five Steps to Cut VoIP Operational Support Costs and Boost VoIP ROI.”

The webinar, which was held July 27, included presentations from Amit Kapoor, Director of Strategic Technology Advancement, and Paul Wiggins, Convergence (News - Alert) Technology Manager, Tone Software Corporation.

Together they explained how to integrate operational methodologies across your voice, data, and IP network domains; how to cut the operational costs of deploying and supporting VoIP and converged voice services; keys to ensure your VoIP call quality and service levels won’t disappoint your corporate stakeholders; and how to equip your existing staff to handle the increasingly complex VoIP network support load. They also covered steps to ensure your voice operations can drive the desired VoIP ROI in your target timeframe.

To access the archived version of this informative webinar, click here.

(source: http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/voice-management/articles/96089-how-get-faster-roi-better-performance-from-voip.htm)