On Choosing a VOIP System Design

Like all other technologies, phone systems have also been through different stages from time to time. Every time there was some advancement in the older technology, the competition became a reason to bring more advancement in this technology and today, there is a huge choice of voice systems on the market. Every manufacturer will try to show their product achieves all of the main criteria and ‘ticks all the boxes', however these systems vary considerably, so ensuring that a chosen product fits in with your organisation's specific requirements is invaluable.
When considering a new VoIP or IP Telephony system, it is important to consider how solutions are specified; this is typically done in one of two ways.  One is via a ‘features and benefits' analysis, i.e. how well do the features available on the proposed system align with the business needs. Manufacturers often develop ‘killer' apps, i.e. applications that you feel you must have when you see them, to hook organisations looking from this direction. There is a danger in this method in that the actual technology and its connection method through the network is ignored, which can have disastrous consequences for future deployment.
The alternative is to look at the technology and how well it fits the business in terms of its LAN/WAN (local area/wide area network) and the overall business requirements.
For some organisations there may be compelling factors that push them the ‘technology and how well it fits' route even though there may be no ‘must have' applications identified in the pre-specification stage. Examples of this may be advanced WAN topography with multiple linked sites, and those organisations who may have a chance of significant change at some stage during the lifecycle of the system.
With regards to feature requirements, most products will offer at minimum the following:

• Automated attendant
• CLI (Calling Line Identity)
• DDI (Direct dial inwards)
• Hunt groups
• Voicemail
• Viewpoint of other extensions department wide

Other features which are often options that organisations may wish to consider are:
Call recording – for training purposes would be highly useful, however if archived, evidence could also be considered for resolving disputes etc.
Centralised reception – could either take all inbound calls or overflow of non answered calls through the organisation.
Centralised applications – many applications are duplicated. Centralisation would reduce administration and potentially overall implementation/roll out costs.
Centralised directory- a single directory (split into departments).
Computer Telephone Integration (CTI) - Automated link to databases.
Disaster Recovery – either to remote sites or co-locations.
Management information – this can greatly enhance the overall ability to manage costs, resolve disputes etc.
Mobile extensions – mobile as extensions can bring external employees closer into the organisation and enable them for example to hold and transfer calls to other extensions on the network.
Remote sites as extensions off the main site – This can enhance communications, and bring these persons closer into the network. In addition it will give ‘free' calls to these sites and voice will travel over the existing data links.
Video conferencing - Quality is important however, as poor quality options tend to be utilised initially and then dropped as they do not give sufficient interaction to all parties.
The most reliable route to the proper selection of a VoIP Phone System or IP Telephony system is to specify the most appropriate system using both methodologies, but absolutely in the correct order.  First, pre-specify the system by short-listing and prioritising the products that satisfy the ‘technology and how well it fits' criteria.  Then rank the systems based on their ‘must have' applications.  It is far easier to add applications than it is to go back and look to customise (if actually possible) the underlying network technology.