This whitepaper discusses the many elements required to successfully deploy VoIP in an enterprise network, and discusses how changing any one of these can create vulnerabilities in a number of other areas. “Just as you can’t walk far with a stone in your shoe, even just one minor setback can seriously impact the entire deployment,” said Chuck Rutledge, Vice President of Marketing for Quintum.

VoIP has gained a large toehold in network deployments, often deployed in phases so as not to disrupt the organization and everyday operations. However, these heterogeneous networks that have evolved over time often develop a new set of problems, and how these are addressed can affect the entire VoIP migration. Some pain points can be as basic as how to manage legacy telephony like analog phones or fax machines, or the survivability of remote office telephony should the main IP PBX server fail. Others can be more complicated, such as how to deal with applications that now run on the same networks as VoIP, or how to assure that SIP in one network is interoperable with SIP in others.

“These kinds of problems are the stones in your shoe that can add complexities to any VoIP deployment. This paper addresses how to remove those stones,” said Rutledge. One example solution is the Unified Communications Proxy, which offers ‘any to any’ connectivity for intelligent TDM and/or SIP switching. This simplifies the deployment of new VoIP applications and makes for easy integration with existing voice network elements, including legacy TDM PBXs, IP-PBXs, analog phones, SIP endpoints, and the PSTN. Also, the Tenor comes in a broad range of port sizes and configurations, providing a solution for enterprises both large and small.

Another example is remote survivability. Quintum Tenor products offer the ability to keep the branch office telephony network operational when the connection with the central IP telephony server is lost. PSTN connectivity provides an ‘off ramp’ for communication if the IP connection fails.

These sorts of solutions can help enterprises minimize total cost of ownership, lessen the risks associated with deploying new technologies in established networks, and ensure that service levels are not compromised.

“This white paper addresses challenges faced by enterprise IT departments when deploying VoIP as a phased approach in existing voice networks,” states Rutledge. “Quintum published this whitepaper to help clarify and simplify these issues, and to provide answers on how to keep a VoIP migration project moving forward and accomplish the project’s objectives without maxing out critical resources.”