Transitioning to VoIP - The challenges and possibilities

These technologies have resulted in a reduction of operational cost and increased levels of efficiency. One technology being widely used the world over is VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) or IP telephony (IPT) as it is commonly known. It is a method of taking analog audio signals, like the one you hear when you talk on the telephone, and turning them into digital data that can be transmitted over the Internet.

VoIP has recently been one of the most debated topics in the region after Etisalat; UAE's telecommunication company banned all VoIP providers in the UAE. Has it stopped IP telephony? Not necessarily as companies operating on a closed network and paying their internet fees can continue to take advantage of VoIP. On the other hand, providers collecting fees for this service or conducting business are currently banned in UAE and some other Middle East markets.

Why are companies so interested in VoIP? Most users site reduction in operating costs and increased service levels for this demand. Global corporations planning to embrace IP telephony are looking at technologies which can leverage their current investment by updating their existing infrastructure resulting in huge cost savings.

CA's eHealth for Voice helps corporations enhance their existing IT infrastructure while migrating to newer technologies. This is achieved by providing a unified view of the multi-technology, multi vendor and multi voice application network. In short it ensures voice network performance and availability before, during and after migration to VoIP.

Commenting on the challenges of transitioning to VoIP Luke Kabamba, the Dubai-based ESM business unit head for CA's EMEA Eastern markets said,

"The Middle East market has witnessed a huge surge in the last couple of years and many companies today have plans of investing in VoIP which not only helps increase customer satisfaction and staff efficiency but also simplifies and reduces the cost of managing voice communication systems. While some voice network management software packages help companies collect and analyze data traffic, until now there has not been a comprehensive tool that can also monitor and manage both the traditional voice (i.e., TDM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) networks. eHealth for Voice is designed to fill that need."

Companies already have existing data networks. The migration from a traditional (now more commonly referred to as legacy) voice network to IPT, where voice becomes an application in its own right, means that utilising the same network infrastructure as a transport mechanism for VoIP is another way to maximise an investment that has already been made. CA's eHealth for Voice solution helps simplify this transitioning process. The proactive management of this area helps eliminate down time and is achieved by detecting degradations before they impact users.

Today's turbulent economic environment in the Middle East has made it imperative for companies to ensure that any investment made delivers value as well as providing a competitive edge over rival companies. This is one reason why CA's eHealth for voice is a multi-vendor, multi-system (PBX and messaging) and multi-technology (TDM and IP) performance management solution that simplifies management of voice networks. It eliminates the manual collection of data and the labour-intensive effort of report compilation and grade of service determination, which translates into improved voice system performance and availability, delivered at a much lower cost.

Kabamba added, "By integrating video, voice and data networks into a single IP-based network, companies can lower its operating cost by reducing expenditures on expensive equipment, maintenance of various networks and sky rocketing carrier charges. Moreover, with VoIP companies don't have to run separate infrastructures for automatic call distribution, interactive voice response and predictive dialling, because each application can run on network-based services."