From the Field

Andrew Roth

Verizon Senior Product Manager
Business VoIP Services

If you subscribe to a traditional central exchange (Centrex) service or own a legacy private branch exchange (PBX) system, your current technology platform is likely several years old. If so, you may want to start thinking about which technology will provide the best migration path for your business.

Hosted IP Centrex is a logical migration path for time- division multiplexing (TDM)-based Centrex customers looking to upgrade to the latest generation of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology. A hosted solution offers rich, fully managed features without the expense of purchasing and maintaining a new premise-based phone system. You can count on Hosted IP Centrex to increase the productivity and collaboration of your employees while delivering cost-effective VoIP services to all of your business locations.

Migration Strategies

Two common migration strategies are total replacement and coexistence. The total replacement strategy aims at a complete migration to VoIP services whereas the coexistence strategy aims at a partial, graduated shift.

Total replacement is typically implemented by small- and medium-sized businesses since it allows all users to begin benefiting from new VoIP services at the same time. It's the ideal choice for customers looking to avoid interoperability issues between an older TDM-based phone system and VoIP.

The coexistence strategy involves implementing a hybrid VoIP / TDM solution and commonly appeals to larger businesses because it allows them to upgrade in stages. With this strategy, customers can migrate key locations to Hosted IP Centrex while completing their contractual Centrex commitments or fully amortizing their ongoing investment in PBX systems.

Conclusion

VoIP continues to gain buzz and market acceptance. Businesses are turning to IP networks so they can enjoy the advantages of converged voice and Internet services. Hosted IP Centrex enables customers to realize all of the benefits of IP telephony without the upfront and operational expenses of a new IP PBX phone system. The fact that rich capabilities are available across the enterprise without regard to geography or location type makes Hosted IP Centrex a revolutionary approach to service delivery.