IP-PBX Shootout Gets Panel Fired Up At INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo Miami 2004

It ended up a battle of the hosted IP-PBX/IP Centrex service providers versus the customer premises-based solution providers at the fourth IP-PBX Shootout at INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo 2004. While both sides agreed on many points, including the large amount of services and cost savings obtained from IP-PBXs versus traditional PBX and Centrex solutions -- the similarities ended there.

Frank Shaffer, Director of Global Voice Services for British Telecom, defended hosted solutions by commenting that skill sets in the marketplace are pretty thin. "It's one thing to deploy the thing, it's another to keep it working," he said of on-premises solutions. He added that most companies don't have the skill and expertise to support on-premises solutions.

Peggy Gritt, Senior Director of Product Marketing for Interactive Intelligence, disagreed, remarking that most companies have their own staffs already maintaining a network, firewalls and data equipment. Adding voice packets to these existing solutions should not present a major challenge for experienced network people, she said, they only have to understand how to preserve voice quality.

Charlie Henderson, Director of Product Management at EADS Telecom, added that many customers are already using on premises Centrex equipment for cost reasons, and that upgrading to IP Centrex wouldn't change their decision to keep equipment in-house. Kevin Gavin, Chief Marketing Officer for GoBeam, concurred that large enterprises already have the infrastructure in place to support on-premises equipment, but added that small- to medium-sized enterprises do not have those resources.

"The enterprise is where it all comes together," said Gene Weber, Director of Success IP Telephony Engineering for Nortel Networks. He added that many customers also want to maintain control over their own security.

According to Frank Petkovich, Director of Product Marketing for Sylantro Systems, interfaces and protocols in the IP-PBX world are still pretty proprietary. Most solution providers really don't support SIP, even if they say they do, he added. He argued that with a hosted solution, customers are not bound only to a service provider's application offerings, they can integrate their own applications as well -- something they would have to pay for with a premises-based solution.

Pete Davis, Director of Business Development for AltiGen, argued that with premises-based solutions, "What you set is the flexibility to make actions in real time." He said even small companies can easily integrate these solutions with IVRs, ACDs and other applications, and added, "The only way to manage that process is to do it on site."

"All applications have moved to the network. One can argue that voice is an enterprise, software-based application," said Scott Wharton, VP Marketing for BroadSoft. He added that for companies deciding if they want hosted or premises-based solutions, the decision comes down to where they want to manage their voice transport.

Service management isn't always guaranteed with a hosted solution, added Konstantin Nikashov, VP of Development for MERA Networks. "The service is not equipment for rent," he said. Even if you sign with a service provider, you still have a lot of work to due in terms of network management.

The discussion was followed by a lively round of audience questions. For more information on the companies involved in the IP-PBX Shootout, visit the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo Web site.