Few business people make a conscious, planned decision to converge their networks into an all-IP environment, yet more and more businesses are finding themselves moving in this direction – often with disastrous results.
So says Roman Hogh, head of Technology Strategy at MWeb Business who predicts that trend towards “everything IP” is likely to accelerate in 2015 as improvements in connectivity, including the declining cost of broadband and the increasingly availability of fibre continues.
“We have already seen growing demand for VoIP solutions – and this is usually the start of the move to a converged IP environment,” he says.
According to Hogh, businesses invest in an IP PBX because of the advantages this technology offers including, for example, free calls between branches or a single telephone number for all locations and devices.
“They then move on from there, often in a rather ad hoc fashion,” he says.
He warns that because of the complexities involved in bring two disparate technologies together, moving from a VoIP to an “everything IP” environment can be extremely disruptive for any organisation.
“The key to easing the pain is planning, planning and more planning – and working with an IT partner like MWeb Business that has expertise in and understanding of both data and voice networks and can thus assist in making the transition,” Hogh concludes.
