Phone systems brisbane the 9 most important things

The 9 Most Important Things To
Consider
When Purchasing a
Phone System
What is Beyond the Desk Phone?
By Greg Eicke

Phone Systems Brisbane | 1300 851 411
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Publishing details
© Greg Eicke, 2015

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Contents
LEGAL NOTICE.............................iv
Chapter 1: Introduction................... 1
Chapter 2: The 9 Most Important
Things to Consider When
Upgrading Your Phone System...... 4
Chapter 3: What is beyond the desk
phone?.......................................... 89
Chapter 4: Do I really need a Digital
Key Telephone System or a more
comprehensive Unified
Communications (UC) solution?... 11
Chapter 5: How can I leverage the
flexibility of mobile smart phones
and tablets?.................................. 18
Chapter 6: Can I extend the value of
my other business investments? 223
Chapter 7: Have I considered all
available options?......................... 27

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Chapter 8: If it doesn’t fit don’t force
it.................................................... 36
Chapter 9: Cost Verses Total Cost of
Ownership .................................... 38
Chapter 10: Have I put myself in my
customers shoes? ........................ 38
Chapter 11: Bonus questions to ask
vendors......................................... 38
Chapter 12: Success Stories........ 40
Chapter 13: Concluding Remarks
.................................................... 457
Chapter 14: Bonus Chapter Don’t
buy a VoIP Telephone System
Before Reading This Chapter..... 458

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LEGAL NOTICE
The Publisher has strived to be as
accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this report,
notwithstanding the fact that he does
not warrant or represent at any time
that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of
the Industry.
While all attempts have been made to
verify information provided in this
publication, the Publisher assumes
no responsibility for errors,
omissions, or contrary interpretation
of the subject matter herein. Any
perceived slights of specific persons,
peoples, or organisations are
unintentional.
In practical advice books, like
anything else in life, there are no

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guarantees of savings made.
Readers are cautioned to rely on their
own judgment about their individual
circumstances to act accordingly.
This book is not intended for use as a
source of legal, business, accounting
or financial advice. All readers are
advised to seek services of
competent professionals in legal,
business, accounting and finance
fields.

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Chapter 1: Introduction
Greg Eicke has been working at the
leading edge of voice
communications for the past 29
years. In that time we’ve found that
most companies are interested in two
things when it comes to their phone
technology. Firstly, how to increase
their productivity with better voice
and data communication and
secondly, how to reduce the phone
bill. We bring great news for the
business owner who is looking for
impressive productivity increases
and equally enjoyable cost savings.
Another key frustration for
businesses is the sheer complexity of
many phone and data solutions. The
good news is that communications

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complexity ends with Phone Systems
Brisbane ! As do all of its painful
implications. Almost three decades in
this industry has enabled us to
develop what we call ‘brilliantly
simple’ phone solutions. These
solutions will make communications
and collaboration second nature for
your workforce. And of course they
save you big dollars in ongoing
phone costs… another reason why
they are brilliant!
Now onto the ’9 Most Important
Things to Consider when Upgrading
Your Phone System…’ We put this
document together to help people
become aware of where the pitfalls
are when purchasing new phone
solutions and what options you have
available to you. We’ve been able to
piece all of this together because for

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the better part of our career’s we’ve
installed, maintained and sold
Telephone Systems. This has also
allowed us to provide sound advice
from ‘Feet on the Street and Hands
on Technical Experience’ so that our
clients get the best solution and value
for money

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Chapter 2: The 9 Most
Important Things to Consider
When Upgrading Your Phone
System
Upgrading your phone system can
be a mine field of confusion and
techno babble. It is so important to
get this purchase right since
communication is the life blood of
any modern organisation.
Are you confused by any of the
following?...
? Do I need a digital telephone
system or a comprehensive

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Unified Communications / VoIP
phone system
? What is beyond the desk phone
? VoIP, Unified Communications,
Web conferencing and
Collaboration
? How can I leverage off mobile
phones
? How can I extend the value of
my existing business
investments
If you are, then you’re not alone.
This guide was developed by Greg
Eicke who has 29 years of ‘feet on

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the street’ experience helping
organisations implement the best
and most cost effective
telecommunication system for their
individual needs.
The nine most important questions
you need to ask before you
purchase a phone system. They
are
1. What is beyond the desk phone?
2. Digital or UC?
3. How can I leverage the flexibility
of smart phones and tablets?
4. Can I extend the value of my
other business investments?
5. Have I considered all available
options?

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6. Have I put myself in my
customers’ shoes?
7. What is my cost verses cost of
Ownership?
8. If it doesn’t fit don’t force it.
9. Questions to ask vendors.
Each of the remaining chapters
takes a more in depth look at each
of these nine important
considerations.

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Chapter 3: What is beyond
the desk phone?
We communicate in a bewildering
array of ways every day, but we give
little thought to the potential profit
and efficiency increases of modern
communications integrated into
business processes. In most cases
these technologies are almost
always isolated Silo based, which
means little or no integration and the
true potential of the device or
application is not realised. Here are
some ideas you may not have
considered.
? PC based applications –
Softphones, Instant Messaging,
Chat, VoIP.
? Smart Mobile Phones

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? Tablets such as the iPad,
Samsung Galaxy, BlackBerry
Playbook.
? Screen Sharing where others can
see your desk top
? Conferencing
? Voice Mail to email
? Video
? Fax to the desk top and smart
phone
? Instant Messaging and chat
? Integrated Unified
Communications Platforms, not
Silo based system used in
isolation.
Some considerations about your
business processes
? Do all employees work in the
office or not?

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? How do employees connect when
they work remotely or travel
? Can I adopt IP telephony with my
existing system?
Is the sales person trying to baffle
you with techno babble and sell you
on features that you don’t really
need, offer no business
improvement and may rarely use? A
true professional telco expert will
expand your knowledge and reveal
ideas where you can gain significant
financial advantage from smart
telephony features.

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Chapter 4: Do I really need a
Digital Key Telephone
System or a comprehensive
Unified Communications (UC)
solution?
Look beyond the phone system
and Telco bills. It’s easy to stay put
and stick with the status quo,
however the world around us is
changing very fast. The last big
change was from Analog to Digital
in the late 90’s. The development
of digital has long since ceased
making way for IP Telephony and
unified communications.
The impact of smart phones places
every user in easy reach with
instant email, chat, Instant

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Message, presence, voice mail to
email …
Just stop for a moment and think of
when you didn’t have a mobile
phone, let alone a smart phone.
“How did I cope” I hear you say,
well let’s look at telephone systems
is the same light.
If you need some of these
features … you need a DIGITAL
system
 Low hardware costs.
 Ease of maintenance.
 Basic call handling.
 Low IT literacy of Staff.
 Analog equipment like basic
cordless phones and fax
machines.
 Traditional PSTN & ISDN lines.

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 Simple Voice Mail.
You need to purchase a Digital
Key Telephone System
If you need some of these
features ….
 Multiple Branch Offices – so
your customers can easily
communicate with you.
 Roaming staff between branch
offices – simply log into your
phone just like you do for your
PC.
 Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) Software
Integration / click to dial / fast
accurate access to contacts
/email / voice mail.

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 Access to key staff regardless of
location – Teleworking – you
don’t have to go to work to be at
work.
 Desktop Telephony Software for
Feature Rich telephony –
Visual Voice Mail / Presence /
Instant Message / Conferencing /
Collaboration/
 Increased staff efficiencies /
productivity / Business
Processes – Many small
improvements make quite a
difference overall result.
 In house administration which
means lower cost of
ownership.
 Rich User Presence Information
– know whether a person is
busy before you call.
 Advanced Call Management

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 Conference calls so you can
avoid the hefty cost incurred by
carrier supplied conference
bridges.
 Central Telephone Operator /
Reception means you can
potentially save thousands on
staff wages.
 Desktop Fax – Means you can
send direct from your desk top
and receive direct to your inbox.
Perfect for sales orders, support
requests and personal fax’s.
 Instant Message across your
enterprise. The perfect way to
communicate discretely.
 Video conferencing – So users
can easily take advantage of the
power of video, perfect for
support sessions and when you
need a face to face meeting with

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a colleague in another state or
city.
 Staff Mobility – So you be sure
customers can reach staff with a
single call no matter where they
are and be able to work from
anywhere.
 Web Collaborative
Conferencing – so you can
easily create conference calls
and share your desk top screen
saving thousands on travel
expenses.
 Call Recording – So you can
maintain best practices and
enhance customer service.
You need to purchase a Unified
Communications or IP
Telephony solution

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What is Unified
Communications? Unified
communications bridges the gap
between IP Telephony and other
computer related communication
technologies.
Unified Communications is not a
single product, but a set of
products that provides a consistent
unified user interface and user
experience across multiple devices
and media types.
What is IP Telephony? IP
(Internet protocol) telephony is a
technology that supports telephone
calls on your computer network. In
the office you will see that your
telephone can now plug into the
same cable as your computer
bringing both devices and their full
potential closer together.

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Chapter 5: How can I
leverage the flexibility of
mobile smart phones and
tablets?
It takes more than a laptop and
mobile phone to keep remote
employees connected today. Being
connected means instant access no
matter where and when. Many
telephony manufacturers have
developed applications for smart
phones and tablets so users can
instantly access the same

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information on their mobile devices
just like they would on their desk top
in the office.
Did you know?
 60% of employees say they don’t
need to be in an office
 32% of employees globally now
rely on more than one mobile
device
 38% of employees are most
productive at home
Cisco Systems Mobility Survey, 2012
… The daily commute to work is
stressing out Australian workers
more than ever and technology is
badly needed to improve things,
according to a new study…
technological solutions include

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introducing greater flexibility to
work from home (35%)…
The smart phone has
revoultionised our world, here are
some ideas for you to consider.
– Empower mobile smart phones
and tablets with Telephony
applications so users can be
productive no matter where they
are.
– Before you call, instantly know if a
person is busy or unavailable no
matter where you are.
– One number contact features for
key employees like “Find Me”,
“Follow Me” and “Mobile
Twinning”.

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– Leverage flexibility with dynamic
call routing like
 Have your mobile ring at the
same time as your desk phone
 Have your mobile or desk
phone ring based on the
location of your mobile phone
using GPS coordinates.

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Chapter 6: Can I extend the
value of my other business
investments?
You can potentially re harvest the
initial investment in many other
business applications enhancing
business processes and employee
efficiency. A small improvement in
each business process amplified
over each employee is a tangible
and significant financial gain.
Seamlessly integrating
communication and collaboration
tools is essential for businesses
wanting to remain ahead of the
competition. Mobile employees,
geographically diverse customers
and demanding shareholders
require access to communication

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tools that are flexible and easy to
use.
By centralising and managing
these capabilities provides your
business with a transparent and
scalable solution. Accelerated
business processes and decision-
making are key benefits that our
customers experience because
they have immediate access to
people, data and applications:
anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Imagine beginning an email or
instant message to a colleague then
realising that person is on line.
Instead, you decide to connect with
them via video from your desktop to
discuss the content of your original

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message ... instantly. That is the
power of unified communications.
 Customer Relationship
Management software (CRM)
integration so you can click to
dial, know who’s calling before
you answer, easily logs calls
from customers.
 Voice Mail to email integration so
you never miss an important
message again.
 Fax integration which means you
can receive fax no matter where
and when.
 Multi party conference,
collaborate with other staff easy
and very cost effectively.
 Desk Top Screen sharing takes
conferencing to the next level.

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Identify where integration can have
a big impact. A tiny gain for each
phone call or business process
cannot be ignored.
– What are employees asking for?
– How can you help improve
productivity?
– Cloud offerings increase
flexibility and capability.
– Look beyond the phone system.
Communications Enabled
Business Processes is where you’ll
see Unified Communications on
steroids. You can build on your
telephony solution investment
gaining in many other areas of your
business.
– Very Efficient.

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– Very Productive.
– Improved investment value.
– Enhanced strategic value.
– Server and Cloud based Sales
Force.com, Netsuite and
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
– Microsoft Outlook

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Chapter 7: Have I considered
all available options?
What are the latest innovations?
? Cloud based solutions – Proven,
Flexible and very capable
? What’s going on beyond the desk
phone
? Mobility – Smart Phones and
Tablets
? SIP trunking for lower call costs
? Unified Communications
? Presence – Beyond conventional
telephony
– Instant Message
– Chat
– Text
– Video
– Availability
– Make only one call

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– No Telephone Tag
– More Efficient
– Excellent Strategic Value
? Desk top Video – Beyond
conference rooms, collaborate
with staff and customers.
? Live video presentations and web
seminars.
? High Definition Audio and Video –
lots more value
Changing, upgrading or modifying
one communication component can
potentially impact your other
communication means.
– So have you considered all
aspects and potential
implications?
– Will your Telephone System keep
up with the changing world?

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– Is your telephone system capable
and flexible?
If you are buying a complex
solution like we were, you need to
understand what you’re getting.
Greg was the one who made sure
we understood which gave us the
confidence to move ahead.

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Chapter 8: If it doesn’t fit
don’t force it
It’s not just a telephone, it as a
part of a powerful suite of
business tools.
 Build mobility into you planning
 Allow you to take your business to
the next level
 Telephone System should work
with you, not against you
 Don’t stay with limited features
 Staying connected should be easy
 Unified Communications
– Presence
– Instant Message
– Text
– Voice Mail
– What works for you?
 Must be easy to deploy

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 Must work the way you want to
 Enjoys the latest applications and
capabilities
 Potential telco cost reductions
 Scale up and down according to
your needs
 Support remote workers
 Business Continuity and recovery
 Redundancy
 Cost certainty – Total cost of
ownership
“As a large medical clinic, we
are used to spending a lot on
telephone accounts, however
we are saving between 50 to
60 percent off our monthly bill
…. It is good to know that the

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system should pay for itself
within two-and-a-half years.
Scalable - Don’t under estimate
and overestimate growth.
Your customer needs may change
over time and new competitors with
better technology will certainly
come your way. Don’t get stuck
with massive hardware
investments. Long term contracts
should be avoided and don’t get
cornered into an expensive “forklift”
upgrade. Due diligence is key here.

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Chapter 9: Cost verses Total
Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Your phone system is not a
commodity –
Telephones are critical to the
success of any business; don’t
base your decision on price.
Telephone calls may be a
commodity, don’t get caught in the
fatal trap of bundling your calls with
the purchase of your phone
system. The rule of thumb is
“bundle and beware”, this is where
telcos are only interested in your
monthly spend not how to improve
your business.
Good telephone systems cannot be
purchased anywhere; it must be
specifically designed and

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engineered for your business
needs. A correctly well designed
telephony system will return your
investment faster through more
efficient business processes so you
can lead your competition and gain
more market share.
 It’s not just about the phone
calls.
 Understand the value the right
system can provide.
 Empower your business with
advanced features like “Follow
me” and “Find Me” and remote
working.
 Make sure it supports every part
of your business.
 Leverage its capabilities with
other business processes.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

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Beware of hidden costs. The
phone bill is only part of the real
cost. Here are some things to
consider.
 Upfront Investment for hardware
and phones
 Installation and cabling
 Ongoing administration and
maintenance
 Upgrades and enhancements
 Remote access and diagnostics
 Adds moves and changes
 IT personnel involvement during
deployment
 Eco friendly
 Training

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Chapter 10: Have I Put
Myself In My Customers’
Shoes?
Put yourself in your customer
shoes; understand exactly how
your customer calls are handled.
Monitor this regularly; don’t wait
for a customer complaint.
 Test the calls.
 How did the system handle your
call?
 Was it easy to navigate?
 Call during and after hours so
you know for sure how your
customers perceive your
company.
 Have a clear idea on what will
happen for each incoming call.

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 Know where the call has been
before you answer with history
notes and call traces.
 Think about implications of a
negative customer experience.
 Think about the impact of adding
intelligence to your calls with
integration with CRM software.
This is often overlooked or
treated as a toy.

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Chapter 11: Bonus questions
to ask vendors
? Were the available voice
technologies explained in “layman
terms” to make an informed
decision?
? Did they offer tangible and proven
cost reduction strategies?
? Do they sell and support
recognised brands – Certified by
manufacturer?
? Does the offer include “long term”
Telco contracts for your loyalty? –
Bundle and beware.
? Ask for testimonials - how recent
are the testimonials?
? What is their depth of experience
in my industry or specific business
needs?

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? What technical and training
support is available?
? Can I access support and training
outside of normal business hours?
? My business is Australia wide –
can I be supported?
? Ask for an example of how a
difficult / extraordinary customer
service issue was resolved –
Provide a testimonial

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Chapter 12: Success Stories
Here’s what a few people have said
about the way I have helped them to
easily solve common communication
problems in their businesses…
“The combination of Direct Dial
numbers, personal voice to email
messaging and ability to reroute
calls from the field to the office (and
visa versa) has meant that our
customers are now receiving
enhanced levels of service at no
additional cost to FITEC”
Tim Isaacs, General Manager.
FITEC

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Normally a sales person will tell you
anything to make a sale… he
delivered on his promises. Greg is
good at keeping an eye out for ways
to reduce costs… we have saved
about $900 a month since the new
phone system was installed.”
Ross Tait, CEO. Ballina Toyota
“…we have virtually halved the
monthly cost of calls to mobile
phones… His advice proved to be
financially sound, and we are very
happy with Greg’s thorough attention
to detail”
Darryl Dickson, Chief Financial
Officer. Huebner Toyota

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As I write this, we are in the middle
of flu season and we have had
nowhere near the number of
complaints from patients saying they
could not get through to the clinic…
We were losing more than 1,000
calls a month with our old system.”
Cathy Sawyers, Practice Manager.
Wellers Hill Medical Centre.

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“ It was clear that Greg’s primary
objective was to make sure that I
was fully informed of the details and
comfortable with the decision I was
making. The other suppliers
seemed to be mainly focused on
closing the deal.
Marcie Richardson, CEO Lincoln
Brokerage.

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I was impressed with the effort that
Phone Systems Brisbane went to in
understanding and analysing our
needs. Greg recommended a terrific
IP Telephone system and then
provided some wonderful
recommendations on how to reduce
our phone bill by up to 48%.
Kate Casey, Manager Mitchell
Ogilvie Menswear.

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“I have dealt with Greg Eicke for
many years and he always takes
the time to understand our needs
and concerns. Greg is easy to talk
to, especially when it comes to
explaining in layman’s terms how
the telephone system will
operate”.
Laurice Woods, CEO. Janitor
Supplies

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Chapter 13: Concluding
Remarks
Another key frustration for
businesses is the sheer complexity
of many phone and data solutions.
The good news is that
communications complexity ends
with Greg Eicke! As do all of its
painful implications. Almost three
decades in this industry has enabled
me to develop what I call ‘brilliantly
simple’ phone solutions. These
solutions will make communications
and collaboration second nature for
your workforce. And of course they
save you big dollars in ongoing
phone costs… another reason why
they are brilliant!

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BONUS CHAPTER
Chapter 14: Don’t buy a VoIP
Telephone System Until You
Have Read this Chapter.
Introduction
This chapter is structured in a way
that answers some of the more
commonly asked questions. If some
of the concepts are new to you, don’t
worry. The language used in this
chapter is deliberately ‘plain English’
and should help dispel some of the
common myths and misconceptions
around VoIP.
If on the other hand you are an IT
professional, it may be
advantageous to chat further over a
coffee. After 29 years in the industry
we have a keen understanding of

Page | 48
the intricacies of telephones and
computers sharing a common
platform. From our considerable
experience the best results come
from collaboration between
telephone vendor and IT team. The
overriding goal is to complete the
project, not to compete.
VoIP 101
What is it VoIP?
VoIP means Voice over Internet
Protocol, not Voice over the Internet.
The key words here are “Internet
Protocol” which in lay man’s terms
mean a converts voice calls to
‘packets’ of data that travel over data
networks. The most common
preconception is that all VoIP calls
travel via the Internet. This is not

Page | 49
the case and in fact those that do
are often of the poorest quality. The
best quality VoIP calls come via
private IP data connections that
don’t touch the public Internet at all.
Why are some VoIP calls poor in
quality?
VoIP calls that traverse the public
Internet can be of very poor quality.
This is simply because there is no
Quality of Service (QoS) Guarantee
with the internet. This is because
the public Internet is not a quality
controlled service.
So how do you make VoIP calls
without using the internet?

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Easy! With a business grade data
connection that has guaranteed
QoS.
What’s the difference between VoIP,
IP Telephony & Unified
Communications?
These things can all be part of the
same telephone solution. Look at it
this way…
VoIP best describes “voice over a
data network” whereas IP Telephony
is the hardware (handsets, servers,
switching equipment). Unified
Communications refers to a set of
features available with IP Telephony
solutions.
Unified communications bridges the
gap between IP Telephony and
other computer related
communication technologies.

Page | 51
IP (Internet protocol) telephony is a
Telephone System that supports
telephone calls on your computer
network. In the office you will see
that your telephone can now plug
into the same cable as your
computer bringing both devices and
their full potential closer together.
UC is not a single product, but a set
of products that provides a
consistent unified user interface and
user experience across multiple
devices and media types.
Some of the features include…
 Instant Messaging

Page | 52
 Real time presence
information
 Video Conferencing
 Complex Call control
 Web Conferencing
 Speech recognition
 Unified messaging
 Voice mail
 Email Integration
 SMS
 Desktop Fax Integration
 Mobility.
 Remote Workers
 Multi-Site organisations
 Software Integration
 Web Collaboration
How does VoIP work?
VoIP converts voice calls to data
packets that travel over networks
using the same Internet Protocol that

Page | 53
facilitates the exchange of data.
Most VoIP calls are made using IP
phones.
Calls from site A to site B within the
same data network
Some VoIP calls can be made
entirely over IP computer networks.
This is where the ‘cheap calls’ come
in. This solution is best suited to
multisite enterprises that have a
robust business grade data network
provider (like Telstra, Optus, iSeek,
etc.) in place for their business.
Calls from company A to company B
not on the same data network
One way to do this is to route VoIP
calls via the public Internet, however
the call quality is very poor.

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To ensure high quality VoIP calls
must be routed via traditional phone
networks. VoIP calls that circumvent
phone networks incur no long
distance charges. VoIP systems
frequently include conference call
support at no additional cost.
Since VoIP uses the same network
and protocol as other Internet
services, integrating telephones
with, for example, e-mail becomes
far simpler. A message might
automatically play over an IP
phone’s speaker, and the text of the
message might then show on the
phone’s screen. These systems can
be integrated with text messaging
and other notification avenues to

Page | 55
provide reliable, effective
communication.
Where is it all going?
As data networks become
increasingly more reliable and high
speed networks approach ubiquity,
the move toward VoIP will continue.
More and more institutions are
finding that the switch makes sense,
economically and technologically.
VoIP will likely see greater
integration with online services.
VoIP is part of a larger trend toward
converged communications, which
promises expanded feature sets and
increased reliability and
effectiveness of enterprise
communications. Phones will

Page | 56
incorporate presence data (where
are you now), allowing for highly
relevant and targeted
communications.
What are the implications for
business?
VoIP technology is a game changer!
Unfortunately many businesses
have been burnt by it. This is not
because the technology is bad but
because it has been purchased for
the wrong reasons and or badly
implemented.

Page | 57
Many companies have implemented
robust computer networks that host
a growing number of enterprise
platforms. They understand the need
to continually maintain and upgrade
this infrastructure. At the same time,
many enterprise phone systems are
old and costly to maintain. IP
Telephony or Unified
Communications provides an
opportunity to operate fully featured
phone service on the existing
network infrastructure. Along with
efficiency and productivity savings,
companies can benefit from
additional features and integrated
systems.
Who’s using VoIP now?
The PBX (Private Branch Exchange)
technology that underlies traditional

Page | 58
phone systems has reached its end-
of-life stage. VoIP is a way to
leverage IP technology for lower
infrastructure costs, improved
network efficiency, converged
communications, productivity
improvements and improved end-
user features.
Unified communications is certainly
moving to the front burner at most
companies. According to the 2010
Nemertes benchmark, "Building the
Virtual Workplace," 79 of 100
enterprises interviewed were
planning to deploy unified
communications over the next two
years.
Most of the building blocks of a
unified - communications
architecture are already in use at
most companies. Ninety-six percent

Page | 59
of benchmark participants report the
use of at least one tool, such as
audio, video, web conferencing,
instant messaging or a presence
application.
The challenge for many IT
executives is to make the business
case for unified communications.
This can be tricky, because
purported productivity benefits can
be hard to quantify. However,
business cases do exist. Companies
see unified communications as a
way to improve internal
communications and increase
productivity. There also is the
potential for cost savings.
"Even the bottom line is feeling a
positive impact: one business
reported a 15 per cent increase in
revenues as a result of unifying their

Page | 60
communications. It's no wonder that
the majority of IT managers we
talked to see it as crucial to growth."
Mike Robinson, converged
communications director at
Dimension Data
What are the downsides?
Perhaps the biggest drawback of
VoIP is that it is subject to the same
limitations as other data network
activity—the data network can be
slow or overloaded, and this can
degrade the quality of VoIP calls.
When the quality and reliability of
phone call are vital, the network
infrastructure must be first rate.

Page | 61
In addition, regular upgrades and
network maintenance will likely
result in some amount of downtime
for VoIP solutions. This can be a
sticking point for businesses
accustomed to virtually uninterrupted
phone service.
Setting and managing expectations
is an important part of a successful
VoIP deployment. Any institution
considering migrating to VoIP must
carefully evaluate the many options
to determine the point at which the
benefits of VoIP outweigh the
limitations. However, a highly
decentralised IT environment would
pose another layer of complexity for
a VoIP line implementation.

Page | 62
Imagine you’ve just bought a brand
new 50” Flat screen TV, digital, high
definition - it’s the latest technology.
In the shop the picture looked crystal
clear. You get it home, take it out of
that huge cardboard box and then
connect it up. You start to get
frustrated because the picture is
fuzzy and breaking up – nothing like
it was at the shop. After carefully
reading the instruction manual you
realise the problem is that 25-year-
old rusty antenna on your roof. It’s
good enough for the old TV but it
just doesn’t cut it for digital.
What’s this got to do with VoIP?
Glad you asked! Just like using a
rusty old antenna with a brand new
digital TV, many companies have
tried to use the Internet for their

Page | 63
VoIP. And just like that rusty old
antenna, the Internet simply doesn’t
cut it when it comes to VoIP for
business use.
That’s where I come in. VoIP needs
to be delivered properly. It’s like
hooking up cable TV directly into
your brand new 50” flat screen TV.
You get perfect quality and a heap
more features!

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