|
| April 2008 |
|
Out Front VoiceCon and VoIP – After attending VoiceCon in March and observing our customers over the last seven years, I am convinced that “Convergence” is in full swing. Enterprise buyers across almost all industries are testing, trialing or procuring VoIP systems to replace “end of life” traditional telephone systems or “converging” voice as application on the network to provide new functionality to their users. Technology developers are creating new capabilities faster than the services can be deployed. After walking the exhibit hall at VoiceCon in And the landscape for the technology developers has changed. Not long ago, in the 1990s, Nortel was one of the leading telecommunications equipment suppliers to enterprises and service providers around the world. Voice over Internet Protocol was a toy for “free” long distance from PC-based soft-phone providers. Today, VoIP is the core technology that modern communications systems embrace and utilize for a wide range of new features and capabilities, and Cisco is the leading provider of VoIP call managers. The delivery model for these systems has also changed. Today’s VoIP technology developers often require the buyer to make two vendor decisions when selecting a new platform. One -- the buyer must select the technology developer and two – the buyer must select the partner (typically a local VAR or Systems Integrator) that will deliver the solution, system configuration, installation and support. Most buyers focus on the technology developer, and leave the decision of partner to a recommendation of the technology developer. We recommend that buyers apply significant time and consideration to the selection of the partner as the partner will be responsible for making sure the technology solution works and providing on-going support! Buyers also have another option: Hosted IP Telephony service offerings. What is “Hosted IP Telephony?” “Hosted” refers to a service provider who retains title to and operates the IP Telephony system and sells a packaged telephony service to the buyer or end-user. Proclaimed benefits include a monthly cost versus a one-time capital cost for the buyer, and less operational support personnel and headaches required of the buyer – because the Hosted IP Telephony service provider is operating and maintaining the IP Telephony system. Some hosted IP telephony service providers also advertise built-in disaster recovery benefits as the “telephone system” is running outside the domain of the enterprise and not directly effected by operational issues that may effect other applications and servers run in the customer’s enterprise network. For example, Cypress Communications is offering a new Hosted IP Telephony family of services based on Nortel’s IP telephony platform. Buyers must also be aware of new issues that VoIP presents for the IT Manager. Now that Voice is an application on the enterprise LAN and WAN, IT Managers must make plans to secure the “voice” application. In previous generation TDM PBXs, voice was physically segregated from the IP world and security breaches were rare and required physical system intrusions. In the IP world, hackers can steal packets and with a coordinated effort can obtain voice-mails, IP addresses of IP phones, intercept calls and obtain other proprietary information that traverses the IP telephony system. IT managers cannot assume that their IP telephony system is safe just because they have installed a firewall. Like all new technology and the benefits it brings, buyers should plan carefully before diving in! Scott Fogle, |
 In This Issue
A Simpler, More Economical Contact Center — Just Imagine!
“Our corporate clients want more economical operations, but they wonder how to make it happen without compromising customer service,” says Advocate Networks co-president Tim Wise. “We advise them to think about moving critical applications and infrastructure to a hosted strategy like Qwest® Contact Center Solutions. It can be a more effective way to manage inbound and outbound activity.” Read more about Quest® Contact Center Solutions Private Equity and Telecom: Walt Sapronov The much discussed convergence of telecommunications and Internet protocol (IP) technologies is changing the way corporate enterprises buy voice, data, and other services. When multiple enterprises are part of a private equity portfolio, this convergence presents significant cost savings opportunities–albeit not without its complications. To realize these opportunities, the private equity (PE) firm must address certain unique contract issues and complications.
Telecommunications (telecom) purchases are an area ripe for PE firm involvement, typically representing a sizable out-of-pocket expense for each enterprise within the portfolio. Cutting this expense increases the value of the PE firm’s investment and can make one or more portfolio companies that much more attractive for future sale. There are a number of ways to achieve this savings during the telecom contract renegotiation process, a bi-annual ritual for most enterprises. Read more about Managing Enterprise Contracts Tech Community Involvement Marco Kuysten attended the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) VoiceCon conference in With more than 28,400 attendees and 900 exhibitors, this was a record-breaking year for the Healthcare Information and Management conference. The theme of the conference was “Innovation with a shared vision”. The highlights of the conference are outlined below. Read more about the Healthcare Information and Management conference VoIP Security: The Ugly Stepchild in your IS Security Plan
Information Security implementations dedicate substantial resources toward protecting the network, systems, and data that serve the enterprise. Organizations have traditionally created protection against breaches by creating security barriers such as access controls, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), firewalls, and cryptography. It is alarmingly common, however, for the voice communications systems to be omitted from the security plan. Beyond the core components of the PBX and Voice Mail platforms, modems and fax lines often serve as bastions of fraud and abuse (costs) as well as back-door access to the data network. While much can be said about adequate inclusion of voice systems in the overall security policy, the increasing proliferation of VoIP deployments and IP Telephony in general, tend to amplify the risk to the overall security posture. Self Regional Healthcare Uses VoIP Many things in life improve with age, but old PBXs aren't one of them. "Our Rolm system was 20 years old and no longer supported by the vendor," says Chuck McDevitt, Director of Information Technology for Self Regional Healthcare in But completely updating the healthcare center's telecommunications system would require a considerable outlay of scarce capital resources. To help articulate the business case for this complex investment, McDevitt asked Advocate Networks to work with Self's staff to identify requirements and how they could be addressed through implementation of a new, VoIP-based infrastructure. Read more about Self Regional Healthcare
|
||
|
This publication of “Out Front” is provided monthly by Advocate Networks. If you wish toUNSUBSCRIBE, please reply to Out Front with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. © Advocate Networks, LLC 2002-2008 |
|||
|
Advocate Networks 6525 The Corners Parkway Suite 310 Norcross, GA 30092 Phone: (678) 987-5900 Fax: (678) 987-5999 |
© 2008. Advocate Networks. All Rights Reserved. |
It may be hard to envision, but a contact center – even one that uses web chat, email, and self-help to communicate with customers – can be a lot easier to manage and more affordable to operate than you might think.
With increasing frequency, PE firms are reshaping the corporate landscape by taking ever-increasing stakes in once public companies. Although chiefly financial buyers, PE firms may also exercise varying degrees of management control over their portfolio investments, typically for purposes of cost control, sale preparation, or both. 
Most of the enterprises that we encounter through the service of our practice have top-notch Information Security teams. The basic existence of a security team in the organization is evidence that the CIO recognizes and appreciates the enormous risk exposure and potential loss to the business that can result from information security breaches, and has committed to managing it. Indeed, because of the nature of security professionals in general, having such a team at all typically brings seriousness and diligence to this area of governance in the firm. We have further seen that Information Security teams of the Clients that we’ve served are typically very well funded. This again, reflects recognition of the importance of a strong security posture for good corporate governance, and a commitment on the part of executive management to invest in Information Security.