Your organization, like most others, is probably searching for ways to improve the capability of its telephone system or replace it altogether. And given the number and variety of telephony options, organizations that fail to research their choices risk investing in a system that fails to meet their needs. However, bad IP telephony isn’t inevitable. Read this white paper to read success stories and best practices to keep your company on the right track.
Presented by:
TMVendor Guru
Taming Telephony:
Avoiding Common Mistakes
in Choosing a Vendor
by Bob EmbreyTable of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 3
Avoiding Six Common Pitfalls in Telephony Solutions.................................................................... 4 1. Failure to plan your implementation........................................................................................... 42. Overlooking vendor experience................................................................................................... 4 3. Choosing a business phone system that restricts communication.......................................... 5 4. Not having a disaster recovery plan........................................................................................... 5 5. Deploying a telephony system that is difficult to grow.............................................................. 5 6. Choosing a business phone system without enough features................................................. 5
Benefits of Effective Telephony Deployment.................................................................................. 5
Guidelines for Selecting a Good Telephony Provider..................................................................... 61. Plan your implementation carefully, gain stakeholder buy-in................................................... 7 2. Choose a trusted provider who has a track record of service.................................................. 7 3. Choose a phone system with flexibility and functionality.......................................................... 7 4. Recognize the importance of disaster recovery......................................................................... 7 5. Choose a scalable or on-demand phone system...................................................................... 76. Choose a phone system with enough features for your growth................................................ 8
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................ 8
About the Author.............................................................................................................................. 8
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................... 9
2Executive SummaryYour organization, like most others, is probably searching for ways to improve the capability of its telephone system or replace it altogether. The advent of IP telephony provides some interesting choices in the marketplace that go far beyond multi-line phones with slick voice mail systems. Now you can pick from a rich set of features, including, but definitely not limited to: .Full call center capability .Wireless equipment .Interactive voice response (IVR) .State-of-the art messaging and call routing .Web-based applications such as click-to-dial .Data integration .Backup and recovery
These are just a few of the features you'll find available as you evaluate different phone systems.
Given the number and variety of telephony options, organizations that fail to research their choices risk investing in a system that fails to meet their needs. Expensive and inappropriate telephony purchases usually stem from-- .Failure in pre-planning and needs assessment .Choosing an inexperienced vendor to cut initial costs .Choosing a system that restricts rather than facilitates customer contact .Not having a back-up recovery plan .Choosing a system that doesn't grow along with the organization .Cutting corners on important features
However, bad IP telephony isn't inevitable, as illustrated by the four case studies of successful implementation included in this report. Each winning business strategy follows the best practices presented in this paper.
Clearly articulating and documenting your organization's telephony goals before you begin the process can save time. Input from your employees can help determine what's best for the organi... [download for more]
