Free-Reprint Article Written by: Nermine Shaker See Terms of Reprint Below.
***************************************************************** * * This email is being delivered directly to members of the group: * * [email protected] * ***************************************************************** We have moved our TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article. Be certain to read our TERMS OF REPRINT and honor our TERMS OF REPRINT when you use this article. Thank you. This article has been distributed by: http://Article-Distribution.com Helpful Link: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- Article Title: ============== Managing Your VoIP Rollout Article Description: ==================== For mid-size to large companies, implementing VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for their telephone service can be a tremendous benefit. You know that using VoIP can potentially save your company money, especially if you make many domestic long distance calls or international calls. And, while it all sounds exciting, your business depends on your telephone service and it's more than a little nerve wracking to actually make the switch. Introducing your new telephone system is not something you can do in a day. It's important to get it right and you can lay the groundwork for a smooth transition with these following suggestions. Additional Article Information: =============================== 931 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line Distribution Date and Time: 2009-07-22 11:48:00 Written By: Nermine Shaker Copyright: 2009 Contact Email: mailto:[email protected] For more free-reprint articles by Nermine Shaker, please visit: http://www.thePhantomWriters.com/recent/author/nermine-shaker.html ============================================= Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters: ============================================= If you use this article on your website or in your ezine, We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let us know where you have used this article, and we will include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com: http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=6812&p=load HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of Article Are Available at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/s/voip-rollout-tips.shtml#get_code --------------------------------------------------------------------- Managing Your VoIP Rollout Copyright (c) 2009 Nermine Shaker The Sygnal Group http://www.SygnalGroup.com For mid-size to large companies, implementing VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for their telephone service can be a tremendous benefit. You know that using VoIP can potentially save your company money, especially if you make many domestic long distance calls or international calls. And, while it all sounds exciting, your business depends on your telephone service and it's more than a little nerve wracking to actually make the switch. Introducing your new telephone system is not something you can do in a day. It's important to get it right and you can lay the groundwork for a smooth transition with these following suggestions. Who's in Charge? The initial step in planning the rollout is to decide who will be in charge of each phase. In most midsize to large companies, the telephone system is managed by one department and the IT structure is maintained by another group. In moving to a Voice over Internet Protocol environment, your telephone system becomes part of the IT structure. However, IT personnel may be unfamiliar with the special requirements of telephony applications while the telephone personnel might not be familiar with the Internet. It is important to ensure that you have people in charge who understand the intricacies of VoIP. You may need to integrate the two departments or bring in a Telecom Management Professional to facilitate the process. Bit by Bit It is very risky to switch over all your phones to VoIP at once. A better way would be to set up an initial test with one department or a small group. This rolling out in phases will allow you to pinpoint, diagnose and fix any problems that might occur within a more manageable group. You can then increase your VoIP footprint as you get more comfortable. Get Your Network Right A proper Local Area Network (LAN) is paramount in supporting your VoIP system. It is the backbone for the system to operate and ensuring the integrity of your network connection will ensure quality of service (QoS). Voice over Internet Protocol only works over broadband connections. Businesses want to save money by making the switch to VoIP, but may forget to increase the bandwidth from their Internet Service Provider (ISP). As a result, you can have delays, static, echoes and even lost connections. You should do a complete assessment of your network to make sure that all switches, cabling, and any other components are of sufficient grade and speed for your system's needs. An Internet speed test can simulate VoIP phone calls to let you know what you can expect from using your existing connection with a hosted VoIP PBX (Private Branch eXchange). Catching problems early in this area will save countless headaches later. At this time you should also make sure your server's security is up to date. Also update all operating systems on all networked devices, including mobile phones. Quality, Security, New Hardware, and Compliance Issues We are all used to the very high quality of our traditional telephone network (PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network) and expect the same from any new service. However, voice transmissions are in real-time and thus less forgiving than regular IP transmissions, such as email. Quality of Service (QoS) will depend on making sure your network has sufficient bandwidth and speed so your calls don't have jitter, echoes or degradation of voice quality. VoIP calls are sent over the Internet. Because of this, those voice packets are subject to the same threats as your data. There are many ways that your VoIP network can be compromised and you will need to treat your phone network just like you do your data - with firewalls, encryption and virus protection. Security should be carefully thought out and addressed at the beginning, not as an afterthought. It's important to choose the proper phone for your business. Make sure you comparison shop and check such items as screen resolution, HD voice technology, backlit LCD and the many other options that can be used. If you're in a regulated industry like healthcare or finance, your data network is subject to government compliance requirements. The same will be true for your new VoIP network. Privacy of client data must be protected. Another important issue that must be addressed is 911 services. Because of the portability of the equipment, emergency centers don't always know the address information from your VoIP phone. In most instances now, using a 911 tool, you can verify your emergency service coverage. Get Out Your Crystal Ball While you are planning your VoIP needs, take into consideration your possible future needs. Plan for growth in capacity and possible new applications, such as video conferencing. Sometimes it's easier and more cost effective to upgrade infrastructure now to address future concerns than it would be to have to do the whole process again. Backup Plans for Network and Power Unlike your regular phone lines, your VoIP service is dependent on your Internet connection. And, unlike your regular phone that will continue to operate during most power failures, your VoIP service will not. Redundant connections will prevent loss of your phone service if one ISP should go down. Likewise, backup power supplies or backup generators will be needed in the event of a power outage. You must always monitor and test the network to ensure continuous success. You must also install any code revisions and security updates that your vendor provides. Just as in data networks, a little common sense will go a long way and keeping these guidelines in mind will smooth the way in making the switch to VoIP. --------------------------------------------------------------------- With more than twenty-five years of experience in planning, implementing, managing and consulting on telecommunications projects, Nermine Shaker has generated tens of millions of dollars worth of savings for her clients. She is a Partner at The Sygnal Group, a Telecommunications Management Company that offers unbiased reporting, analysis and implementation of telecom strategies to businesses of all sizes. http://www.SygnalGroup.com Nermine Shaker has generated tens of millions of dollars worth of savings for her clients. She is a Partner at THE SYGNAL GROUP, a Telecoms Management Company that offers unbiased reporting, analysis and implementation of telecom strategies to businesses of all sizes. http://www.SygnalGroup.com --- END ARTICLE --- Get HTML or TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of This Article at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/s/voip-rollout-tips.shtml#get_code ..................................... TERMS OF REPRINT - Publication Rules (Last Updated: May 11, 2006) Our TERMS OF REPRINT are fully enforcable under the terms of: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281.ENR: ..................................... *** Digital Reprint Rights *** * If you publish this article in a website/forum/blog, You Must Set All URL's or Mailto Addresses in the body of the article AND in the Author's Resource Box as Hyperlinks (clickable links). * Links must remain in the form that we published them. Clean links should point to the Author's links without redirects having been inserted into the copy. * You are not allowed to Change or Delete any Words or Links in the Article or Resource Box. Paragraph breaks must be retained with articles. You can change where the paragraph breaks fall, but you cannot eliminate all paragraph breaks as some have chosen to do. * Email Distribution of this article Must be done through Opt-in Email Only. No Unsolicited Commercial Email. * You Are Allowed to format the layout of the article for proper display of the article in your website or in your ezine, so long as you can maintain the author's interests within the article. * You may not use sentences from this article as an input for any software that steals sentences from others in order to build an article with software. The copyright on this article applies to the "WHOLE" article. *** Author Notification *** We ask that you notify the author of publication of his or her work. Nermine Shaker can be reached at: [email protected] *** Print Publication Reprint Rights *** If you desire to publish this article in a PRINT publication, you must contact the author directly for Print Permission at: mailto:[email protected] ..................................... If you need help converting this text article for proper hyperlinked placement in your webpage, please use this free tool: http://thephantomwriters.com/link-builder.pl ===================================================================== ABOUT THIS ARTICLE SUBMISSION http://thePhantomWriters.com is a paid article distribution service. thePhantomWriters.com and Article-Distribution.com are owned and operated by Bill Platt of Stillwater, Oklahoma USA. Learn more about our article distribution services by visiting: http://thephantomwriters.com/x.pl/tpw/info/article-distribution/index.html The content of this article is solely the property and opinion of its author, Nermine Shaker http://www.SygnalGroup.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ---------------------------------------------------------------------
