VoIP for Retail --Spring 2008

In most cases, retailers with a T-1 line or higher are good to
go. A typical digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem connection,
meanwhile, normally can handle three to four phone
lines, says Paterno, and still leave enough room for Internet usage,
assuming Internet usage at a location is not too heavy, such
as multiple users on the Web surfing simultaneously and heavy
downloading/uploading of video and graphic files.
In terms of bandwidth allocation, “when it comes to voice
over data, it doesn’t really matter whether you have three or
four phone numbers or how many phone lines or how many
people are at a location. What matters is how many people are
talking or using the Internet at the same time,” says Paterno.
In other cases, some IP-based providers
will require that customers purchase
Internet connectivity from them in order
to get the IP communications solution,
or purchase the data connection from a
partner provider. This approach allows
the service provider to control the last
mile connection to better guarantee the
quality and reliability of the service. It
may or may not save the customer money
over their current voice and Internet
services spending.
Since the voice and data networking
requirements of most specialty retailers
are relatively simple, either option
should be viable in most instances. But
quality and reliability, as well as security,
are important considerations, and so far
have been the primary drawback of VoIP
services. Where the old public switched
telephone network (PSTN) provided
99.999 percent reliability, IP-based voice
networks tend to hover around the mid-
90s in terms of service reliability, particular
those services that utilize the “bring
your own broadband” approach.
On the other hand, performance assurance
continually improves, with service
level agreements now being offered
by select IP telephony distributors.
After all, VoIP still may be a novel concept
to the greater population, but the platform
is actually somewhat mature, widely
deployed for several years across telecom
carrier and enterprise networks. One big
reason why most people are not yet familiar
with VoIP is because the large incumbent
phone companies (Verizon, AT&T, Qwest)
have been given little incentive so far to
cannibalize their existing revenue streams
by offering customers a cheaper way to do
the same thing: make phone calls.
The shift is coming, however, as global
networks migrate fully to IP and the old
circuit-switched, copper networks, which
are more complex and costly to manage, manipulate and upgrade,
are eventually retired. Already, investment in the old networks
has all but ceased.
That’s not to say you will wake up one day and your
legacy-based services will be turned off. The point, rather,
is that a time is coming when the lower cost structures and
higher levels of functionality and innovation made available
through IP networks will be the norm, so the bar will be
raised in terms of how a company communicates internally
and with its customers and partners. And it’s always best
to be somewhat informed and prepared for when the time
comes to make the switch.
Spring 2008 | InsideOutdoor | 23