John Linton I read this with some interest earlier this morning:
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23997/53/
not because I have any particular regard for Skype but because it's another indication of how business users will have to make more effort to understand the advantages (operational as well as cost) of ditching their ancient PSTN/ISDN technology telephone services for the really much more useful, and so, so much lower cost VoIP services.
Skype (and I have to say it's a service I've never used) has become very successful with its no cost telephone call offerings and like the recent announcement by Microsoft and Google (I referenced in a previous musing) has a well known 'brand' and quite considerable credibility when it comes to offering business services. I was particularly interested in the article because of our upcoming office move and the nightmares associated with moving a 16 hour a day/7 days a week telephone service used by Exetel's many tens of thousands of users.
We have used a Mitel VoIP system for around three years now and have been exceptionally happy with it - apart from saving us tens of thousands of dollars in call charges each year it integrates with our data base via an Asterisk interface to provide a lot of our automated customer contacts (order confirmation and progress, fault fixing confirmation and progress etc). It also provides us with an Australia wide and international single point 'office extension PBX' which has simplified the integration of our Sri Lankan office at virtualy no cost.
But now we have to move it 150 meters 'up the road'.
So, we have been working on dispensing with our Mitel (or indeed any other proprietory telco manufactured 'box') and moving all of our PABX functions to a full Asterisk based solution which, despite the Mitel's many excellent features simply doesn't have the ease of integration with our data base that we believe we will need in the future and also costs money to maintain and more money to buy the proprietory handsets.
My preferred solution is to finish the testing of the Asterisk development over the next few weeks and install the in house developed Asterisx box at the new premises with only a 1300 interface that we terminate on our Quintum switches and link to the Asterisk PBX via ethernet/VoIP. This would allow us to have two telephone solutions in place during the move and we only need de-commission the Mitel box once the move is complete. (Of course, if it's all a complete or partial disaster we will then have to admit defeat and quickly re-locate the Mitel to the new premises).
This has the appeal of redundancy and also the fact that we could eliminate 50 ISDN lines we currently pay for as the 1300 numbers already carry much of our customer traffic and it would be, relatively, simple to discontinue the 02 number ranges - and also save a lot of money. Slam dunk decision. Well it would be except for our conservatism and 'mistrust' of the reliability of a server based telephone system versus 'purpose built hardware'. However that is a really infantile 'fear of the unknown' because our total business is run using a server driven data base and it would be pointless taking a customer call if the data base was 'down' because we couldn't do anything about the customer's call without reference to the data base.
But, there you have it - a decision maker of a 'bleeding edge' technology company having reservations about the development skills of the people who have built every process used by the company over five years and the reliability of the hardware that has worked faultlessly for the same period. Pathetic - but an indication of why so many businesses still use PSTN/ISDN telephone systems when VoIP has been a proven business 'performer' for over three years by my observation and quite probably longer than that. Also why Skype, like Microsoft and Google, may find the task of 'selling' server based telephony more difficult than it should be.
On the other hand it probaly explains Nortel's collapse into bankruptcy and the sad state of all of the other 'conventional' PBX manufacturer who have tried to ignore VoIP and the enormous cost savings over 'conventional' telephony charges..
I think we will, after a lot more agonising and "we'll all be rooned" conversations and cautions, go with the Asterisk solution; if not fully during the move scenario then not long afterwards. The cost advantage is overwhelmingly compelling and the operational advantages (although the programmers have done an excellent job to date) are equally attractive. It does demonstrate that even people familiar with the technology have irrational fears about moving away from tradition or, perhaps more likely, I am just getting too old and its my ever growing conservative attitudes that are holding Exetel back.
There is no doubt that VoIP is more than reliable enough for us to have used it for over three years in our core business proceses and saved ourselves (and therefore our customers) a lot of money over that period. There is equally no doubt that Asterisk has continued to develop a UNIX based PBX capability to the point where it is as reliable and far lower cost than ANY other telephone service solution - even not taking into account its interoperability advantages.
I guess, yet another, brave decision is called for.