Digital Phone Service : Service Migration

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Q: What steps should an enterprise take to prepare for a Digital Voice Deployment? A: Enterprises should be certain to complete several steps before beginning a Digital Voice deployment. These include developing a business case, specifying detailed requirements, testing the network, managing the vendor selection process, and launching a pilot project.

Q: What constitutes a compelling Digital Voice business case? A: One of the larger risks associated with Digital Voice is that it’s very much a bandwagon technology and everyone is jumping on. Every enterprise should make sure it has established a substantive business case for a Digital Voice migration. Cost savings are often important to the business justification (in terms of both toll bypass savings and management/infrastructure savings), but understanding required features and lifecycle requirements can offer a more compelling justification. For example, it may be critical that the company’s salesforce have integrated messaging that allows them to check voicemail via email. Companies should also understand when they can end of life their existing telephony infrastructure, particularly their PBX.

Q: What requirements should an enterprise specify in advance of a Digital Voice Deployment? A: Companies should specify quite a few requirements that generally fall into three categories. First, traffic and service level related requirements are critical. These include metrics such as average and maximum number of simultaneous calls to run over network. Second, feature requirements that will drive usage by business units is essential to justifying the project at the executive level. For example, the customer service organization may require click to call capabilities because it reduces per call response times by 25 seconds. Third, specify the IT requirements necessary to support the aforementioned business objectives. This is critical to rationalizing procurement decisions that will be made later in the process. Q: How should an enterprise test its network to prepare for Digital Voice? A: Many buyers believe that Digital Voice is just another application running on the network. Not so. Digital Voice will tax and strain the network in ways that no enterprise can foresee. As a result, it is important to test the network in anticipation of a Digital Voice deployment. Numerous vendors now offer Digital Voice specific testing tools that can anticipate Digital Voice specific issues such as packet loss and latency, but IT departments must allocate time and brainpower to this effort. Understanding bandwidth, memory, and CPU requirements is critical to a successful deployment. Q: How should a company manage the vendor selection?
A: Adequate vendor selection depends on evaluating multiple vendors. It takes more time, but makes for a much better end result. Multiple vendor analysis can either be conducted through a formal RFP process or through less formal information collection techniques. Either way, score each vendor against a common set of criteria. Form here, shortlist two to three vendors and begin negotiations. Key areas of negotiation include pricing, service levels, implementation schedules, and custom development.

Q: Should enterprises engage in a Digital Voice pilot project? A: Yes. Digital Voice deployments can and should be staged. Carving out a segment of users or specific office often allows IT
groups to uncover pitfalls. Be sure to compare the pilot results against baseline results compiled from the legacy telephony solution. Examine network usage patterns and bottlenecks. Companies should also conduct user satisfaction to understand areas for improvement.
E-mail: Digital Voice Information