At a Florida conference on Wednesday, Gartner analysts advised that you should not convert to an IP telephony environment in your business simply for the sake of IP.
"Organisations have stopped asking why they should implement IP telephony and are now focusing on when to implement," said Jeff Snyder, research vice president for Gartner.
He added:
"When considering when to implement IP telephony, enterprises should look for tangible benefits beyond simple cost savings by understanding the needs of the business units, and identifying how improved communications can benefit overall business operations. Once those business benefits become measurable, though, there is no reason not to begin a migration to IP."
Historically, the business case for most new IP telephony systems focused on cost savings or the end-of-life of current systems.
As a result, most enterprises implementing IP telephony have already performed one-for-one replacements, from equipment and functional perspectives. However, IP telephony systems have far greater capabilities and can dramatically change the way business communications take place.
When determining when to purchase the basic infrastructure, Gartner analysts advise that enterprises should purchase the basic infrastructure when it fits into infrastructure plans, but not let that timing dictate the actual conversion to IP telephony.
"Only after an organization is prepared to make the change, for solid business reasons, should it begin the conversion process," said Snyder. "Because it may be difficult to anticipate exactly when budgets or processes will call for conversion, enterprises should not invest in any new products or architectures that cannot support upgrade to IP."