My first thoughts during this pursuit related to the convergence of voice and data communications facilitated through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Whatever Internet access we acquire, it has to accommodate both voice and data connectivity. The features and prices of VoIP-based services available to businesses blows away the dedicated, expensive, feature poor, solutions available the last time I dealt with business phone systems (quite a while ago). There are surely other economies and benefits realized in going this route too, so I just accepted this and ran with it.
My first actions were to contact VoIP providers or resellers, and learn more about business VoIP services by asking questions and comparing the features and options being offered. Several things became clear to me right away. Not the least of which is that VoIP has got to be killing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). It was also apparent that all of the actual VoIP service features (unified messaging, follow-me, multi-ring, etc., etc., etc.) would be quite similar regardless of who we went with. I needed another way to categorize the various vendors of VoIP, and I decided to capture the pros and cons related to the ways in which VoIP services would be provided. General to all of delivery methods is the use of a T-1 (1.54 Mbps, symmetrical) for connectivity to the Internet and/or VoIP provider, as well as the costs of the calling plan. The four categories I came up with are hosted, managed, do it yourself (DIY), Internet-based.
| VoIP Delivery Method | Pro | Con |
| Hosted |
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| Managed |
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| DIY |
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| Internet-based (e.g. Skype, Packet8, Vonage-like) |
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In an attempt to cut to the chase, I don’t believe our company wants to deal with running our own switch (DIY) and the difference in price between managed and hosted is not so great that we should take on the additional burden to pocket the savings. In fact having an hourly employee or the vendor spend a half-day per month on the phone system would wipe out that savings ($100 - $150/hr).
The interesting thing to me is the difference in monthly savings when comparing an Internet-based solution to the hosted solution. Particularly if your company does not rely on the business phone system as their primary means of contact or a revenue generator. For instance, the use of Skype numbers coupled with a product like CallButler (http://www.callbutler.com/Default.aspx) to provide “store font” features could provide saving of several hundreds of dollars per month when compared to hosted services. Skype also provides a free “Business Control Panel” to centrally manage Skype accounts within the company. The recent introduction of WiFi Skype phones overcomes one of my initial concerns as well; being tethered to the computer for phone calls.
I will attempt to calculate the savings of using Skype versus a price we’ve been quoted for hosted business phone services:
- SkypeOut - $30 per year * 35 accounts = $1050 – All calls within the U.S. and Canada with calls outside the U.S. and Canada typically $.02 per minute
- SkypeIn (with voicemail) - $38 per year * 35 accounts = $1330
- Skype Business Control Panel - Free – Centrally manage Skype accounts within the company
- CallButler Unlimited for Skype - Currently in Beta, but expect to cost around $300 (one-time fee)
Estimated yearly cost to the company for telephony using a Skype-based solution would be around $2500. The estimated cost of using a hosted business phone service would be about $6000. The $3500 would go a long way towards the bar tab at the Christmas party, or perhaps we should spend on additional bandwidth.
I will write again once I’ve done a bit more research on the Skype-based solution. I’ve downloaded CallButler Unlimited for Skype (CBU4S) BETA.
