IP Communications

Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) approach their business decisions differently than large enterprises. They base their decisions more on cost issues than features and technology, and understandably so. However, in the long run, the most successful companies are those who incorporate all three factors into their solution.

 

SMBs evaluate their cost issues by estimating capital requirements for new equipment such as IADs or IP PBXs and effective use of their employee pool. During their analysis phase, they must determine which of two factors will prevail when determining cost: return on investment or productivity. ROI is difficult to calculate accurately due to the number of variables involved. When calculating ROI, the size of the company, number of employees, legacy CPE, whether it is IP-enabled and the physical location of the business all play a significant role. Productivity becomes another parameter when you take into account that with the features enabled by SIP Trunking employees can work smarter and more efficiently, thus cutting labor costs. Even with the features that become available with SIP Trunking, SMBs also consider whether business will continue uninterrupted during the transition. Both ROI and productivity should be included when the decision is made to utilize SIP Trunking because real cost savings will be achieved by both factors.

 

Telephone users seldom attempt to use advanced telephony features, so they are usually oversold and underused. However, SMBs do see value in other features such as load balancing between data and voice to minimize bandwidth requirements, quality of service that mimics that of TDM networks and finally a Service Level Agreement (SLA) which brings assurance to the SMB buyer that their purchase is not the end of a newly developed business relationship. The most successful transitions to SIP Trunking are those that introduce the SMB to the features and functions that can immediately enhance business operations without disrupting business processes and then later coming back to show the more advanced user-based features. This approach has a twofold benefit; it solves an immediate need for the SMB and opens the door for future enhancements and growth. SMBs can deploy SIP Trunking quickly and then gradually add the features that will provide the most benefit.

 

Technology is the final factor to be considered by SMBs. SMBs are seldom early adopters, anxious to test new technology, but they want equipment and connectivity that offers them the opportunity to take advantage of converged services, improved bandwidth, and pending technology advances. Their approach is more conservative, looking to enterprises to provide direction on making decisions about choosing products offering evolution and scalability, thus providing an added level of protection for their investment. The fact that SIP Trunking has been in use now for several years gives SMBs the assurance it is stable, secure and here to stay, thus addressing any concerns they may have about reliability or longevity.