As the waves of the crashing economy continue to pound
the shores of our industry, it's reassuring to find that
at least one segment of the Internet telephony market is
enjoying some positive news. Populated by traditional
PBX vendors, as well as smaller, more nimble startups,
the IP-PBX market is enjoying a meaningful measure of
acceptance these days. In fact, according to a recent
report issued by market researchers Cahners
In-Stat, "LAN telephony is set to slowly cannibalize
the PBX."
Senior analyst for Voice Applications at In-Stat,
Brian Strachman, tells us that, "In the beginning of
2000, most vendors were only beginning to ramp up their
sales, and there was little actual revenue to speak of.
Now half way into 2001 the LAN telephony market has
proven itself. There are real revenues, which is rather
unusual in today's market, and a growing installed base."
In my June
2001 Publisher's Outlook, I suggested that investors
approach our market with cautious optimism, and reports
such as the one from In-Stat just serve to prove my
point. In a market downturn, companies are forced to
take a good hard look at issues such as return on
investment, productivity, efficiency, etc... And let's
face it, companies still have to deploy communications
technology. And with the focus on next-generation
solutions changing from technology hype to stories of
deployment, it is becoming painfully obvious to everyone
but the most stubborn PBX vendors that LAN telephony has
a very bright future indeed.
How bright? Well, the In-Stat report predicts that by
2005, sales in the LAN telephony market (including
handsets, servers, and applications) will approach the
three-billion-dollar mark. That's pretty bright! Leading
the pack are several vendors whose solutions together
comprise 94 percent of the market according to In-Stat.
These vendors are 3Com,
Alcatel, Avaya,
Cisco, Shoreline,
and Siemens.
3Com
Boston-based Berkeley Enterprise Partners fits the mold
of many successful consultancies these days. A fast
growing eCRM and professional services firm that serves
the Fortune 1000, Berkeley needed a communications
system that could:
- Offer enhanced voice communications;
- Allow them to offer better customer service to
their clients;
- Increase operational efficiency; and
- Do all this at a reduced cost.
The company selected 3Com's NBX 100 communications
system to deliver applications such as voice mail,
automated attendant, computer telephony applications,
and more. While the firm required the features of a
sophisticated full-featured enterprise system, cost
remained a key consideration. It also demanded dial tone
and Internet access from the first moment upon
relocating to a new office space.
According to Jay Gauthier, executive vice president
of Berkeley, the 3Com NBX 100 fit the bill. "With the
NBX 100 system, we have access to the advanced features
of a larger, more expensive telephone system at a price
we can afford. We now have a superb, cutting-edge
communications system that allows us to run our business
smoothly and efficiently. This is a tremendous business
advantage."
Alcatel
Alcatel recently scored a contract for the biggest-ever
installed base of IP phones in the Balkan region. The
deal, with Cyprus-based financial concern Laiki Group,
entails linking over 180 sites within Cyprus over a
single IP network for converged voice and data. The
Cyprus Popular Bank network will comprise 50 Alcatel
OmniPCX 4400 IP-based communication servers. Installed
at Laiki Group's main locations, these communications
servers can be managed from a single central platform,
allowing network administrators to easily deliver
low-cost access to the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400's features,
which include call servers, voice mail, unified
messaging, and call center services.
Of the 2,000 people who will be connected to this
network, 700 will use Alcatel's IP Reflexes terminals in
their daily communications. This is the largest
deployment of IP phones in the Balkan region to date.
Avaya
Aware of the fact that many IP telephony implementations
are add-ons to existing infrastructure as opposed to "start-from-scratch"
greenfield operations, Avaya's ECLIPS portfolio allows
companies the flexibility to either deploy pure IP
solutions or to enhance their existing Avaya PBX with IP
telephony.
Empire
Technologies is a provider of networked
communications on a national scale. Their product
selection philosophy extends back into their own
network, for what better way to experience a product
that you'll be selling to other enterprises than by
installing it in-house. Empire saw the IP telephony
evolution coming, and after several years of watching
and waiting for the right moment, decided it was time to
get on board. They quickly whittled the prospective
vendor list down to four. With further testing it became
clear that the solution that fit their needs best was
Avaya's IP600 Internet Protocol Communications Server,
part of Avaya's ECLIPS portfolio.
I spoke briefly with Rich Manhire, vice president and
co-founder of Empire, who told me that the firm is
indeed satisfied with the Avaya solution. Among the
reasons he gave was that with 60 to 65 employees using
the system, many of whom work remotely, either as
outside sales reps or virtual technicians, there is a
tremendous cost savings benefit. Likewise, the ability
to set up an office phone on someone's desk at a remote
site, and have them appear as if they were in the office
helps maintain a unified presence to the outside world.
Cisco
Cisco continues to leverage their worldwide lead in
networking to include more and more implementations of
VoIP infrastructure. For example, the Swiss ski resort
Glacier 3000 - Les Diablerets has implemented a Cisco
VoIP solution for a rather compelling need. According to
Pierre Mathey, Executive Manager of the resort, "It's
important that my staff is able to communicate with each
other very quickly and clearly in case of a strong storm
or a rider problem. We have to make emergency decisions
fast, so we need solid communications."
Improving on the resort's "legacy equipment"
(walkie-talkies, poor quality cellular phones...) was
not the difficult part. But Glacier 3000 - Les
Diablerets wanted a solution that could grow to
accommodate an expected increase of visitors as well as
to offer a solid base for future telecom plans at the
resort. The network comprises a Cisco 3600 series router
at the base headquarters, which acts as a gateway to the
PSTN. There are 13 Cisco IP phones installed at various
outposts on the mountain. Likewise, the resort chose to
include several Cisco 2600 series routers to connect
old-world analog phones to the VoIP network. According
to Mathey, "Cisco technology gives us one system for
voice, video, and data rather than three systems. Our
Cisco solution offers us lots of application choices and
excellent technical support."
Shoreline
Experio Solutions, a technology consultant to some of
the Fortune 1000 compared a number of legacy PBX,
centrex, and IP-PBX solutions before selecting Shoreline's
IP voice communications system for a 16-site nationwide
deployment. Mike Shishko, CEO of Experio, mentioned
several criteria that had to be met before selecting a
solution; these included reliability, flexibility, and
total cost of ownership. "We were looking for the best
solution for our business needs, regardless of
technology," said Shishko. "When you can reduce your
voice management costs and enjoy a seamless voice
network across multiple sites, it's easy to understand
our decision."
Shoreline's newest solution (Shoreline3) is based on
Distributed Internet Voice Architecture, or DIVA. The
distributed architecture links multiple locations and
applications into a single, IP voice network. Shoreline
3 has a distributed call control software architecture
and multiple built-in redundancies designed to safeguard
network availability. Likewise, Shoreline3 links all
locations, users, and applications into one IP voice
network, thus delivering a single view of the entire
communications network and simplified administration
through a single-point management interface.
Siemens
German automaker BMW decided to upgrade the
communications system at its production facility in
Oxford, UK, and wanted to integrate the new system at
the plant into the worldwide BMW corporate
telecommunications network. The new infrastructure at
BMW is based on two Siemens Hicom 300H platforms
designed to handle the communications workload of
approximately 2,500 people. Employees at the Oxford
plant will also benefit from using Siemens' HiPath 450
unified messaging application -- the same as their
corporate cousins in Bavaria.
The HiPath solution is Siemens enterprise convergence
architecture. Designed to help companies take advantage
of newer, IP-based technologies in voice and data, the
solution still allows enterprises to maximize investment
protection in existing infrastructure. The complete
HiPath family includes over 20 different products
including switches, gateways, and endpoints, such as
multimedia PC clients and IP telephones.
CONCLUSION
Each of the companies mentioned above have many
customers -- certainly too many to list here. But the
examples above should help to illustrate the fact that
companies of all shapes and sizes are turning to
next-generation technology to help them achieve and
maintain a competitive edge in their respective
marketplaces. While early purchasers of IP-PBXs and
LAN-telephony solutions often cite cost as one of the
motivating factors for taking a chance on a new
technology, they all agree that the promise of untold
IP-based applications that might help them drive their
business forward and further maintain a lead over their
competition is yet another reason to deploy the latest
gear. When you factor in the disaster that has been the
stock market lately, it's very impressive to note that
these companies, in large part due to the success of
their LAN telephony solutions are weathering the storm
fairly well. If you have a LAN telephony success story,
I invite you to let me know. Drop me a line at rtehrani@tmcnet.com.
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Another Year,
Another Reason To Attend!
I just wanted to remind everyone that time is running
out to register for Internet
Telephony Conference & EXPO, which is taking
place next month at the world-renowned Hotel Del
Coronado in San Diego. The event, (October 3-5) marks
the third installment of the popular and well-regarded
conference and EXPO at one of Southern California's
landmark locations.
NEW! IT EXPO Financing Summit
There are a great many reasons to attend this year's
show, the details of which can be found on page 46 in
the show preview and here.
Still, I'd like to underscore a brand-new-feature that
we're proud to unveil at this October's event: the IT
EXPO Financing Summit! If you are an IP
telephony product or services company in need of
financing, you could be selected to come give your best
elevator pitch to leading venture capitalists and
investment bankers looking for attractive investment
opportunities at the first-ever IT EXPO Financing
Summit.
Applications are being accepted now. Please send a
one-page proposal detailing why your company should be
selected to give a presentation to firms with the money
you need. For more information, or to submit proposals,
please contact Marc
Robins via e-mail.
Can't-Miss Conferences!
Likewise, if you are charged with managing your company's
communications network, then you absolutely must come
and participate in the conference program at Internet
Telephony Conference & EXPO. With three full days of
courses designed to help you select and implement the
best solutions for your needs, it's truly a can't-miss
opportunity. Because, let's face it, in today's economy
you need to keep your wits about you if you're to
implement cutting-edge, efficiency-enhancing technology
while fulfilling the mandate for keeping costs down.
Internet telephony is the perfect technology for today's
economy. In fact, you can justify the purchase and
deployment of a VoIP strategy at your enterprise by
using a simple ROI model. Want proof? Check out the
article The
TCO Value Proposition, by Gayle Moss, in the January
2001 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY Magazine.
Register Now!
The conference program at INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference
& EXPO offers the best IP telephony education
around. And, online registration for the conference
program -- as well as for the Exhibit Hall -- is open
right now! Just point your browser here
and you'll find a world of choices at your fingertips.
You can also register by phone at 800-243-6002.
Representatives are standing by, so don't wait! Call
today. And while you're registering for the show,
remember, the show hotel has sold out every time we've
held this event at the Del. So don't wait any longer!
You can find information regarding travel and
accommodations online at www.tmcnet.com/itexpo/.
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Extending
The Enterprise
I'd also like to remind everyone that we're launching
a new show this December. Planet
PDA, The Global Summit on Handheld Productivity
Solutions, is a new conference and exhibition
focused on educating the enterprise about the
productivity increase they can realize by implementing a
handheld computing strategy in their organization.
Planet PDA
is the event for educating businesses about the
productivity increase they can realize by implementing a
handheld computing strategy in their organization. While
you may not realize it, the next explosion in
communications technology is taking place right now in
the form of handheld computing. Corporate executives and
MIS management need a focused forum to learn about and
compare new products -- and to gather research to make
intelligent decisions about incorporating handheld
devices into their computing infrastructure.
The conference sessions have been designed to educate
corporate executives and MIS management on how to
increase productivity by utilizing handheld devices for
managing staff, field force automation, and generally
increasing employee productivity. Attendees will
discover how to integrate applications, maintain
security, develop wireless connectivity solutions, and
hear case studies of how companies have successfully
implemented handheld devices into their enterprise.
The event will take place December 4-6 in Las Vegas,
NV at the amazing Venetian
Resort, which is connected to the Sands Expo &
Convention Center. At The Venetian, every room is a
suite. Planet PDA has secured a special $149 rate for
show participants. Note the deadline for this special
rate is November 3, 2001, so reserve now. Contact the
Venetian today, at 1-877-857-1861 and ask for the Planet
PDA rate and avoid the inconvenience of commuting to
this event from a distant hotel
For complete conference information, please call Hilary
Inman at 203-852-6800, ext. 146. Or, if you're
interested in speaking opportunities at Planet PDA
please contact John
Gatens at 203-852-6800 ext. 271. For more
information visit our Web
site. I look forward to seeing you in Vegas this
December.
[ Return
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