24 JUly 2007

IP telephony deployments are failing to deliver
the savings and benefits expected prior to rollout, according to
customers attending a VoIP panel discussion held this week in Sydney
and attended by about 50 delegates.

Very few customers could raise their hand and say they expect any real cost savings from their deployments.

Sean Barkley, the regional manager for
advanced voice solutions at Verizon Business said this is because staff
are using IP phones just for voice, ignoring features like remote
office or the Web interface which can set any line as the office phone.

Barkley said staff training is critical and was one reason why IP deployments failed to meet ROIs.

He said the other problem is a lack of network auditing.