A visit was arranged to the regional office of an enterprise software company, Cincom Systems. This company operates in seventeen nations and has over 800 employees, and is considered by many to have one of the most comprehensive Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) configurations in the enterprise software market. Visiting their regional office and speaking with the IT Director who has responsibility for this area of the country, the extent of VoIP customization completed by Cincom was explored in addition to the future of this technology area. The role of VoIP has progressed from cost control to performance improvements in call fidelity, security and mobility access (Cannon, 479, 480). The costing aspects set the foundation for a realistic Return on Investment (ROI) and also fuel more economical Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) which are in turning driving greater innovation throughout the industry (Juan, Plückebaum, 70). The Regional IT Director for Cincom said that these economic factors of VoIP will make it even more cost-affordable and drive greater multichannel support on a global scale. Skype, he said, was just the beginning and today there are entire Web Conferencing Systems running on VoIP for example (Heron, Warren, 158, 159).
VoIP Systems in Action: A Visit to Cincom Systems
Description of the Event
A visit was arranged to the regional office of an enterprise software company, Cincom Systems. This company operates in seventeen nations and has over 800 employees, and is considered by many to have one of the most comprehensive Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) configurations in the enterprise software market. Visiting their regional office and speaking with the it Director who has responsibility for this area of the country, the extent of VoIP customization completed by Cincom was explored in addition to the future of this technology area. The role of VoIP has progressed from cost control to performance improvements in call fidelity, security and mobility access (Cannon, 479, 480). The costing aspects set the foundation for a realistic Return on Investment (ROI) and also fuel more economical Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) which are in turning driving greater innovation throughout the industry (Juan, Pluckebaum, 70). The Regional it Director for Cincom said that these economic factors of VoIP will make it even more cost-affordable and drive greater multichannel support on a global scale. Skype, he said, was just the beginning and today there are entire Web Conferencing Systems running on VoIP for example (Heron, Warren, 158, 159).
Why This Visit Was Arranged
In an attempt to learn more about how VoIP is actually used in an enterprise, the visit to the regional Cincom office was arranged. Cincom has a global outsourcing business throughout India, in addition to having development centers through the Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Their extensive use of VoIP forms the backbone of their it strategy to have a "follow the sun" development strategy as the regional it Director called it. This is a strategy of deliberately keeping software development running in the Ukraine, Europe, Asia including India and throughout the United States. In addition to these efforts the company is continually developing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications to drive the next generation of manufacturing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. All of these heavy requirements are driving Cincom to partner with at&T globally for their VoIP needs. Cincom is using their Managing IP Telephony and LAN Service and the Voice DNA services for hsoted VoIP platform support, in addition Cincom is using the advanced IP Audio Web and Video Conferencing Services globally. The regional it Director stated that these services can all be intermingled in customized workflows to support their development strategies and programming requirements. Cincom also had to transition off of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) by first integrating it into a VoIP framework; a very challenging task according to the regional it Director. This was essential for creating an effective platform for growth that would also capitalize on the deregulation occurring in the telecommunications market (Cannon, 484, 485). The following section shown a representation of the schematic that is comparable to how Cincom dealt with this challenging issue .
What Was Learned
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