IP Telephony Unveiled

Description

Understand how IP telephony can change your business

This book explains four key points to help you successfully implement your IP telephony strategy:

• IP telephony works today. This is not new, unproven technology. Thousands of customers have implemented IP telephony successfully. So can you.
• Expect to save money. IP telephony may well cost your organization money-initially. But the business impact and post-installation process improvements give you a significant and rapid return on your investment.
• It's more than voice over IP. You'll understand the difference between voice over IP (VoIP) and IP telephony and what that means for your business. This is critical. They are not the same. It's more than a dial tone. There are potential business-impacting applications within your own organization. IP Telephony Unveiled helps you recognize these applications.

The emerging IP telephony market is fraught with misunderstandings and misinformation. IP telephony can impact a company's business model in tremendous ways. It can open new revenue streams, enhance profitability, drive new levels of customer and employee satisfaction, and be a key enabler in a company's strategy to differentiate itself competitively-but only if you're aware of these benefits.

IP Telephony Unveiled is written for all those responsible for corporate strategies for revenue generation, cost containment, and customer satisfaction. IP Telephony Unveiled uncovers the value behind this technology, which helps you see past what might appear to be only a new telephone system, to understand the strategic enabler laying dormant in many companies' networks. Through this book, you will understand the real benefits of an IP telephony strategy and get assistance in developing this strategy inside your organization.

This volume is in the Network Business Series offered by Cisco Press. Books in this series provide IT executives, decision makers, and networking professionals with pertinent information on today's most important technologies and business strategies.

Back Cover

Understand how IP telephony can change your business

This book explains four key points to help you successfully implement your IP telephony strategy:

• IP telephony works today. This is not new, unproven technology. Thousands of customers have implemented IP telephony successfully. So can you.
• Expect to save money. IP telephony may well cost your organization money-initially. But the business impact and post-installation process improvements give you a significant and rapid return on your investment.
• It's more than voice over IP. You'll understand the difference between voice over IP (VoIP) and IP telephony and what that means for your business. This is critical. They are not the same. It's more than a dial tone. There are potential business-impacting applications within your own organization. IP Telephony Unveiled helps you recognize these applications.

The emerging IP telephony market is fraught with misunderstandings and misinformation. IP telephony can impact a company's business model in tremendous ways. It can open new revenue streams, enhance profitability, drive new levels of customer and employee satisfaction, and be a key enabler in a company's strategy to differentiate itself competitively-but only if you're aware of these benefits.

IP Telephony Unveiled is written for all those responsible for corporate strategies for revenue generation, cost containment, and customer satisfaction. IP Telephony Unveiled uncovers the value behind this technology, which helps you see past what might appear to be only a new telephone system, to understand the strategic enabler laying dormant in many companies' networks. Through this book, you will understand the real benefits of an IP telephony strategy and get assistance in developing this strategy inside your organization.

This volume is in the Network Business Series offered by Cisco Press. Books in this series provide IT executives, decision makers, and networking professionals with pertinent information on today's most important technologies and business strategies.

Contents


Introduction.


1. Haven't We Been Here Before?
The PBX as a Convergence Platform. The IPT Difference. Convergence: The Business Case for IPT. Issues to Ponder.

2. Wait a Minute… My Phone System Works Just Fine…
The PBX Environment. The IPT Environment. An Efficient Infrastructure. Bringing New Capabilities to Your Network. Realizing the Potential of IPT.

3. But What About All of My PBX Features?
Assessing the Requirements. An Enhanced Feature Set. An Improved Training Process.

4. If This Isn't a PBX, What Is It?
The IPT Architecture. Customized, Focused Applications. The Power of Convergence. Seeing Beyond the PBX.

5. Focusing on the Few.
Understanding the Value Proposition. Sample Business Cases. Right Around the Corner…

6. A Different View of ROI.
A Different Approach to ROI. Network Costs. Administration Costs. Maintenance Costs. Achieving ROI: Examples of Real-World Deployments. ROI Conclusions.

7. Watch That First Step.
Understanding the Impact of Voice Traffic. Timing Is Everything: Identify Problems Before They Occur. Planning an IP Telephony Pilot. Common Misconceptions. Seven Steps to a Successful IP Telephony Experience.

8. Looking Ahead.
Clients. Applications. Managing Convergence. Session Initiation Protocol. An Evolving Market/An Emerging Market/Increased Acceptance. Final Thoughts.

Author

Kevin Brown is currently vice president, Convergence Development Group, for Norstan, Inc. Kevin has more than 20 years of experience in the voice and data telecommunications industry and has held positions with technology pioneers such as IBM, ROLM, VMX, and Xerox. Kevin was vice president, sales and marketing for Selsius Systems at the time of the acquisition of Selsius Systems by Cisco Systems. He spent three and a half years in the Enterprise Voice Video Business Unit at Cisco Systems prior to accepting his current position at Norstan. Today, he leads a team of applications developers and channel managers who design, develop, and deploy convergence applications for medium-size and enterprise clients.