I was at a conference several months ago and sat in on a roundtable discussion relating to what some large enterprises were looking for when it came to their VoIP migration plans. Of the four people involved three represented end users; one a large university, one an NGO and the other a Government Department. It was a fascinating discussion and ended all too soon.
As it progressed, a colleague leaned over to me and said that we at Citel should be in touch with each of those entities. I am sure a lot of other people felt the same way and I am sure many of them felt they had something to offer with those entities’ migration. However, as discussions continued, the one factor that stood out was that with a geographically dispersed and diversified work force involved each participant wanted simplicity when it came to their migration plans. They might want all of the benefits of VoIP but the conversion has to be easy and, as much as possible, seamless. As one of the speakers stated a forklift migration was not an option. Groups planning VoIP migration face a lot of pushback on VoIP migration and the need for all of the unified communications services being offered from their end users within their organizations. However it was felt that once in place, those services would soon be adopted as the benefits became more and more obvious.
So the question remains how to simplify the migration process and make it as seamless as possible. Again as always it is to best to avoid the rip and replace scenario as much as possible. Avoid deploying IP phones where cabling and technology is readily available and the work force is readily adaptable. Of course if the workforce is adaptable you might want to escape the IP phone generation in its entirety and move immediately to soft phones. However how many are ready for that? This is where Citel’s Portico™ TVA™ fits in. Deploying Citel’s VoIP Migration device to replace the existing PBX while retaining the rest of the legacy infrastructure including the handsets everyone is so comfortable with simplifies the process. In this way you can make the transition simple for the end users who so much more to do with their time than spending it learning to use yet another new device. Once the backbone of your system is changed then you can start to introduce those new and revenue generating UC services everyone is promoting these days. Now that makes sense!