Derisking IP convergence – ten tips for success

When even the supermarket giants such as Tesco start to launch Internet phone services, we can be certain that IP telephony has reached a critical mass. However, Adam Faulkner, Founding Director of contact centre services and solutions specialists, Sabio, argues that while it’s OK to market a consumer service based on its simplicity and value, serious enterprise telephony applications such as contact centres still require a far more measured approach if they are to take advantage of IP telephony within their operations.

By implementing a converged voice and data infrastructure to IP-enable their contact centre, organisations can achieve significant bottom-line benefits, optimising communications, managing call centre resources more effectively, and opening up the potential for an entirely new range of IP-enabled services. Converging voice and data can unlock additional value, however short-term economies shouldn’t necessarily be the sole driver. Voice over IP has enormous potential in the contact centre market, but in every convergence project there are always lots of opportunities to get it wrong.

To avoid some of these pitfalls and based on our practical experience in implementing converged voice and data solutions for public and private sector organisations across the UK, we’ve produced a checklist of issues that you should ask your communications technology partner before rolling out IP across your contact centre.

IP convergence concerns include key issues such as operating system platforms, vendor suitability, open standards, forward-looking solutions roadmaps, licensing, virtualisation and increasingly vital security requirements.

10 recommendations to help get your IP projects off on the right track:

1. Check your vendor’s market share – stay clear of niche players or any major vendors whose core business is not IP telephony

2. Check their track record in the contact centre market – they may have strong IP expertise, but contact centres demand deep voice and applications capabilities – your vendor needs to demonstrate both

3. Make sure you’re using the right OS platform – you need to think carefully about your core IP platform and its operating system. Is it open? Will you be forced to upgrade at any stage? Will you be fully protected against viruses or hack attacks? Your choice of platform can impact the answers here

4. Look for a modular solutions approach – it’s best to have an approach that allows you to add in extra functionality when you actually need it, rather than have to invest in an over-specified offering from day one. A modular approach should also let you deploy your converged IP solution organisation-wide while still being able to manage it as a single solution

5. Demand a clear forward roadmap – IP is still an evolving technology, so you need to find out where your vendor stands on open protocols such as SIP – remember the future of its solution can have a significant impact on the development of your business

6. Look for expertise in virtualisation – IP isn’t just about technology, it can have a fundamental impact on how your organisation operates, effectively allowing you to virtualise or pool resources across your business whether they are contact centre agents, branch workers, back-office staff or home workers. You need to make sure your IP technology partner is able to help you take advantage of this major enterprise shift

7. Think about different software licensing possibilities – don’t just go for a licensing agreement based on your total number of users – it may be possible to buy your software based on the number of concurrent users at one time rather than a standard one license per user basis

8. Insist on customer references – this sounds obvious, but just because your vendor has implemented Voice over IP for a bank doesn’t mean they’re going to do a good job for your contact centre – insist on at least three directly-relevant reference sites and look at both the technical solution and the overall quality of service

9. Security – as critical for voice as for data – security should be a paramount requirement and not impacted in any way by the nature of your IP platform. Establish your corporate security policy first, and then make sure your contact centre applications work within this framework

10. Quality of Service (QoS) – Voice over IP is capable of delivering high quality performance, but you need to QoS-enable your network in order to achieve consistent performance. There is more risk associated with operating IP telephony, and you will almost certainly need consultancy and support to ensure that you implement and manage your quality procedures effectively