VoIP Vendors See the Light

IN THE EARLY DAYS OF ENTERPRISE

VoIP, salespeople would arrive on the doorsteps of businesses like evangelists mounting the pulpit. VoIP, they preached, would be the salvation of every business owner, miraculously saving them money and outfitting them with business communication systems for the 21st century.

Thanks, but no thanks, said many business owners, after learning they would need to throw out their PBXs and teach their staffs new systems.

In their fervor, the proponents of VoIP had forgotten a few basics: Businesses, especially small businesses, are loath to spend extra money on new equipment when they already have something that works. And they know what features they use and like; they dont know what unified messaging is, and theyre not even sure they would want it.

Happily, a new breed of enterprise VoIP equipment has appeared: appliancelike PBXs that replicate the feature packages typical of key systems and smaller PBXs, but at prices that appeal to even the stingiest small business owner.

Some might suppose that, with the appearance of hosted VoIP services and economical IP Centrex, businesses would abandon their key systems and small PBXs for hosted services, letting someone else manage the phone system. However, just as with traditional systems, only about 15 percent to 20 percent of those migrating to VoIP so far are choosing hosted services. People want to own their own, says analyst Norm Bogen, director of networking at In-Stat, explaining the preference.

FAMILIAR FEATURES

One reason why hosted services still are battling for market share with these new-breed appliances may be their lack of familiar features, such as paging, intercom and music-on-hold.

ADTRAN Inc., traditionally a provider of IADs and Ethernet switches, has included popular key system features in NetVanta, such as multiple-line appearances, music-on-hold and paging. It even offers a port for a door relay that can control access to a door plus provide a phone at the door, a feature sought by small businesses that need to control access. Aimed at businesses with 10-to-24 stations, the system is capable of growing to 50 lines.

Taking a somewhat different approach is Whalebacks Crystal Blue Voice, which combines a server on premises with a VoIP platform that replicates much of the functionality of a key system, such as shared-line appearances, intercom and group paging, as well as the ability for one person, such as an executive assistant, to manage a group of lines.

Crystal Blue is unusual in that it is sold as a monthly service for $49.95 per seat, per month, including phones. The system is designed to be managed remotely by Whaleback and its resellers, so small businesses do not have to acquire skills to manage their new VoIP systems.

Because it is premises-based and all services are on site, they can get features that SMBs have been using for years but cant get from other hosted services, says Ken Stess, vice president of corporate and business development at Whaleback Systems.

ALL-IN-ONE BOX

An important factor in making it easier for a small business to migrate to VoIP is managing the overall performance of the data network. Several new products combine IP PBX functions with data-networking products in one box. Including the data capabilities, such as firewall, produces products that can be priced much lower than if they were separate units.

We find … a new product category: the business gateway, which combines routers, PBX and firewall, says analyst Bogen. Even D-Link (Systems Inc.) has added a PBX. All these guys with switching and routing equipment are adding IP PBX software that is targeting smaller business.

Some low-cost vendors make the mistake of assuming that [small businesses] have good data networks, says Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst at Infonetics Research. That is a big barrier. We find that, even at large organizations, companies have to swap out a lot of equipment and have to make upgrades just to support voice over IP.

Machinowski says vendors, such as Linksys or ADTRAN, have taken things a step further and offer an Ethernet router, VPN and PBX all in one box. That includes the data network, too, so they know it is going to work, he says, adding that functionality is definitely attractive to small business, because they do not have in-house expertise to configure this IP system.

ADTRAN is using its data networking roots in the NetVanta products, which are built on an existing 24-port Ethernet switch with an access firewall, VPN software and power-over- Ethernet for backup in power outages. The IP PBX functions are included as software running on the platforms.

SAVING MONEY

A key feature of these new VoIP migration systems is low cost. Vendors are taking advantage of the fact that a VoIP system can be simply software. That software can run on an off-the-shelf computer or even just on the phones themselves.

Such phone systems on a computer are becoming more and more standard in VoIP systems as a cost-reduction strategy as vendors abandon proprietary hardware, which can be more expensive than a standard computer. Also, the flexibility of a software system means vendors can offer a wide range of features, as well as provide automatic remote updates of the system as they add features.

The Whaleback system, for example, is software installed on standard PC computers by DecisionOne Corp., a nationwide reseller and integrator of data and voice systems, and Whalebacks integration partner. The resulting server is shipped to customers with IP phones. Customers plug the server into a LAN with a broadband data connection, and it downloads its configuration from the Whaleback network operations center. Customers then plug in the phones to RJ- 45 jacks on the LAN, and can begin making phone calls. Its about 45 minutes per server, says Stess.

Sphere Communications Inc.s Sphericall system is a software PBX that runs on standard servers across existing data networks and interoperates with many third-party phones. The Sphericall IP PBX scales to 30,000 ports across multiple locations, but at just $199 per user license, provides an economical solution for small businesses.

The Sphericall system provides tools for data and voice integrators to create custom applications that can run alongside existing voice systems to add features, such as integration with existing business software.

Avaya has entered the small-platform game, following its acquisitions of Nimcat, a developer of technology for so-called peer-to-peer phone systems. All the software for the IP PBX is contained in the phones themselves. The Nimcat technology also is used in the CVX phone system by Aastra Technologies Ltd. that has been on the market for a couple of years, but the entry of Avaya into this market greatly expands the potential reach of peer-to-peer technology for small IP PBXs.

In the Avaya Quick Edition, each phone costs $485 to $585. The phones are plugged into the existing LAN, and they discover each other and configure the system. Customers use a Web interface to assign specifics, such as extension numbers.

Sizing systems truly for the small market also is important in keeping the cost low. Systems, such as Avayas, which focus on 25 or fewer phones, are perfect for the distributed work force, for that really small distributed office or if they have two or three offices and five people in each, says Infonetics Machinowski. It is expensive to put a key system in each office. Even key-system cost is high per user with just five users, but with peer-to-peer, you dont have that issue. It is cost effective for a location of one.

ADD-ONS NOT FORK LIFTS

Many new VoIP migration systems are designed to work alongside existing traditional voice systems, augmenting and enriching their features without disrupting basic functions that are familiar and easy to use.

Allworx, a division of InSciTek Microsystems Inc., has introduced the Allworx 6x, housed in hardware about the size of a laptop computer. It can be deployed alongside an existing phone system, and can be used to provide VoIP features, such as calling to remote offices over a data network. At a remote location, Allworx phones can be plugged into a broadband connection and will register automatically with the home system.

The product supports both VoIP and analog phones, so the system can be migrated gradually to VoIP. The 6x also is a full replacement for a traditional PBX, so when customers are ready to retire the existing system, the Allworx system can take over.

TalkSwitch Inc. also deals with the cost challenges of migrating phones to VoIP by supporting existing analog phones in addition to IP phones. The TalkSwitch system is configured for setup by the customer, and includes voice mail, autoattendant, call-management interfaces and support for remote IP phones and mobile phones.