It isn't easy to calculate the savings for moving from a conventional PBX phone system to a VOIP setup. Here's why.
Calculating the savings for moving from a conventional PBX phone system to a VOIP (voice over IP) setup is anything but easy.
Why? Telephone usage varies, making it difficult to calculate savings. A company that makes many international phone calls may save more with a VOIP phone system than a company or department that mainly deals with customers and suppliers in its city or state.
An office building's age and the robustness of existing data network hardware are other factors.
Another factor: the workforce's mobility. Do they work off-site with clients, cluster in project-based workgroups, or stay in one office for years?
A wide range of alternatives offered by vendors complicates the process. Options include full-blown Internet Protocol systems, hybrid systems that use the "old" PBX but add an IP-based software client to the desktop, and hosted services.
Not surprisingly, prices vary. Organizers of the VoiceCon 2005 conference issued a request for proposals for a hypothetical VOIP installation and obtained bids from five vendors: Aastra Intecom, Alcatel, Avaya, Cisco and 3Com.
The technologies offered by the vendors varied greatly, and so did their prices.
The total cost of the systems bid ranged from an undiscounted low of $1.9 million (3Com) to a high of $3.3 million (Avaya).
The moral of the story? When soliciting bids, be diligent and ask a lot of questions.
Thus, this worksheet should be taken as a rough guide. Make no mistake, your mileage will vary.
Story Guide:
Talking Points: After years as an also-ran, VOIP is in the front ranks of business tech.
Leap to IP Is Still a Tough Call Despite advantages in cost and maintenance, it still takes a leap of faith to migrate, and a lot of determination to sell the idea to decision makers.
No Killer App, But Lots of Small Enticements Smallish efficiencies and the increasing number of apps aimed at particular businesses build up to make a good case for VOIP.
Boeing's Jumbo Phone-System Overhaul: Boeing moves 125 phone switches to IP, in what may be the largest corporate migration to date.
Non-Trivial Migration: 35,000 Users, 125 PBXs, Clusters, Servers…
Cutting Costs; Admirable ROI: 49 percent over seven years.
Unsupportable Optimism? Some analysts say Boeing and other companies may be ignoring potential downsides.
Cost Analysis: Functionality aside, do the costs justify a migration to VOIP?
Tools: Calculators 
