Dialing for fewer dollars
You keep your company running by keeping tabs on a finely tuned array of high-tech equipment, but tucked away in an obscure closet is the one piece you may depend on most and probably know the least about: your phone system.
For most savvy managers, whipping together a sophisticated computer network is a piece of cake. But the mere mention of PBX (private branch exchange) can make all that skill and knowledge melt away. It used to be easy to ignore the PBX, but with communications playing an ever-growing role in computer operations, more IT managers are inheriting PBX responsibilities.
At one time, choosing a proprietary standalone PBX phone system was like Russian roulette--make a poor choice, and you could be locked into escalating technical support costs, poor migration paths, and complex system management. But now, with telephone and computer operations converging on the corporate network, creating and maintaining a telephone system can be a simpler and more cost-effective process.
These new systems use standard Ethernet connections and deliver more functionality, such as universal messaging. And while many network-based PBX systems cost about the same as traditional PBXs on a per-seat basis, prices are plummeting by as much as 20 percent annually. Network PBX systems may even be more affordable when you also consider the potential system management cost savings, easy integration of remote offices, and reduced long distance charges.
Hailey Lynne McKeefry is a freelance technical writer based in Belmont, California, who contributes regularly to ZDNet Tech Update..
Early in their development, LAN-based PBXs had a couple of key limitations, such as the number of users the combined network could support. But today's PBX products can support thousands of users, with the promise of nearly unlimited numbers of users in the next generations of products. For example, Sphere Communications' Sphericall, a product announced this past February, supports up to 15,000 telephone users.
Corporate users also had concerns about quality of service (QOS) and reliability issues related to network PBXs. System vendors and users report, however, that the reliability of newer systems is excellent, often reaching the "five nines" level of 99.999 percent uptime. Many vendors recommend running their PBX systems on separate servers, rather than sharing a server with other networked applications. This practice dramatically decreases the potential clash of data and communication systems. Vendors also often provide recommendations for hardware based on their compatibility and reliability testing.
In addition, network PBXs now generally support standard analog telephones, rather than requiring specialized digital units. This can represent a significant cost savings, as digital handsets can run hundreds of dollars, compared to $20 for a standard analog handset and up to about $100 for a full-featured, dual-line model.
Most traditional PBXs were built on proprietary technology, but network PBX solutions take an open-systems approach. At one time, some network systems required specialized cards or handsets, but now network PBX vendors that have fully adopted the IP protocol are actively supporting other industrywide standards. For example, the H.323 standard, which was developed to standardize videoconferencing operations, is now common fare for IP telephony. Many products also support Primary Rate ISDN (PRI), which is priced more attractively than other ISDN services, as well as one or both of the standard computer-based telephony interfaces, TAPI and TSAPI.
The newest capability of these systems, either inherent in the software or as an add-on, is call center functionality. The systems promise to augment CRM efforts by allowing a company to handle more calls without increasing staff.
Computer-based PBX systems also tend to support a variety of third-party applications that integrate with the system. Some of these third-party software developers target the needs of particular vertical markets (insurance, health care, and so forth) with add-on applications that can do things such as automatically pop up a customer-information or order screen when a call comes in. Other systems are adding support for standard contact management applications such as ACT or GoldMine or for e-mail and groupware systems such as Microsoft Outlook.
Network PBX technology can be divided roughly into four parts:
- A trunk interface that connects the system to the telephone service provider
- A station interface that telephone handsets plug into
- The switching fabric that connects the trunk to the outside line
- A call control database that handles all the normal features such as call forwarding, do-not-disturb functions, and other call control rules
Network PBX systems, which are most often sold and installed by systems integrators, consist of a server connected to telephone handsets and incoming telephone trunk lines through a specialized interface device. Calls are managed at the desktop level, typically using a Windows application. These systems, which cost approximately $30,000 to $60,000, are intended for medium and large business applications with hundreds or thousands of users.
A second category of products, often billed as un-PBX or PC PBX, are less expensive systems for small-office environments. These systems generally cost a few thousand dollars and add cards and software to an existing server. They typically lack scalability and are best for single-site installations such as branch offices with a couple of dozen to a hundred users. However, they still offer the same advantages of the larger systems and are easy to manage and maintain.
Although network PBX systems support all the same functions of traditional PBXs, such as voicemail, call forwarding, and caller ID, these systems also add a number of features that leverage network capabilities.
Unified messaging, for example, lets users view all of their communications--voicemail messages, e-mail, and faxes--through a single application, such as Microsoft Outlook. Consolidating all forms of messaging into a single interface lets users visually review all messages and respond to the high-priority items first. Some systems provide specialized call handling based on caller ID. For example, certain callers may be forwarded to a cellular phone or a pager, while other calls are routed to voicemail.
As more companies take an e-business approach, these IP-based PBXs will allow them to add click-and-call functionality to their Web sites. Site visitors could click a button to be immediately connected to customer service, tech support, or other service personnel.
Network PBX systems also provide comprehensive reporting capabilities to closely track usage and costs--far more timely and detailed than traditional PBX or telco reports.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of these systems is ease of installation and maintenance. Industry watchers estimate that maintenance costs can be cut by as much as 50 to 70 percent. With conventional PBX equipment, adds, moves, and changes are time-consuming and costly, from between $70 and $100 per change, according to a Cisco report. But with network-based PBXs, a few clicks from a management console or a Web browser gets the job done.
Because the systems are standards based and use familiar hardware, many companies handle installation themselves and let their IT groups take care of maintenance. Shoreline Communications estimates that its Shoreline3 system requires one support person per thousand users, compared to one for every hundred employees for a traditional PBX. Network PBX vendors say that about three-quarters of their customers use in-house personnel for installation and maintenance.
Additional savings can be realized with network PBX systems that offer voice-over IP capabilities (VOIP). VOIP routes calls over the Internet or any IP network. Placing long distance calls over the Internet can be far less expensive than using traditional long distance dialing, and VOIP may also let a company use extension-based dialing (three or four digits) among geographically diverse offices.
Today's network PBX products provide equivalent or greater functionality than traditional PBX systems--for a lower cost. And the products are still developing, with vendors working to improve availability by adding failover capabilities and to extend the scalability of the systems.
CTI: Computer telephony integration. Integrating computers with telephone and switch systems to make, receive, and manage telephone calls.
H.323: The Internet is a packet network; H.323 is the specification that defines packet standards for terminals, equipment, and services for multimedia communications over packet networks.
IP telephony: Using the Internet to send, receive, or manage voice messages or real-time voice conversations.
ISDN: Integrated services digital network. A standard for telephone line data transmission.
PBX: Private branch exchange. A private telephone switching system located at a customer's site that switches incoming calls to extensions at the site.
T1: A North American standard for digital transmission, also used in Hong Kong and Japan; this high-speed (1.5mbps) phone line can carry 24 simultaneous analog phone calls for a fraction of the cost of 24 single-channel lines.
TAPI: Telephony application programming interface. A standard developed in 1993 by Microsoft and Intel. Basic TAPI calls include line configuration, device status, and call initiation and termination; TAPI 2.0 adds support for media stream routing and control, tone monitoring, and standard switch functions such as call transfers and multiline conferencing.
TSAPI: Telephone services API. An alternative to TAPI that was jointly developed by Novell and AT&T. TSAPI was designed from the ground up for a client-server environment, with separate interfaces for the client, PC PBX server, and NetWare server.
Unified messaging: Convergence of voice, e-mail, and fax into a central repository.