“For example, sometimes people forget that VoIP is an application which sits on the network and as such its performance is very heavily reliant on the network it uses. When there is so little to choose between new PBX technology, the network very quickly becomes the limiting factor in performance.
It is clear that there is still a huge amount of price pressure, particularly in the public sector. The important thing is to add definite value for customers, and we have found that post-implementation training and support are important ways to do this in the current economic climate where great pressure on prices is coupled with high customer expectations.
Whilst resellers are understandably keen to promote rip and replace solutions, at the moment our customers seem to be more interested in doing more with their existing infrastructure. For this strategy to work well it is essential to check that the existing network can handle the stresses placed on it by new applications like VoIP.
Implementing the PBX correctly is the best way to prevent problems and teething troubles, and this should be covered in the planning and pre-implementation stages. It is crucial to ensure that the network can handle the rigours of voice traffic on top of the existing data load before installing a new solution. We have seen firms which specialise in voice solutions implement top-of-the-range applications only to find out afterwards that the network hasn’t got sufficient capacity and so performance is nowhere near the desired level. It is best practice to use a services provider which specialises in both voice and data to ensure that the implementation is right first time.”