PBX : Simplifying Mass Communication

Communication is an integral part of business process and the communications
industry is undergoing a paradigm shift. PBX is now just a concept almost at a
stage of extinction and taking on a new avatar-unified communications.

UC has moved toward pure IP, and there is convergence of multi-service
communications systems. Communications systems used in hotels, hospitals, banks
and financial institutions, automotive, retail and IT industry have a unique set
of business communications requirements. For example, in hotels the EPABX system
needs to be connected to the front office system. Customer relationship
management is treated as an important business strategy. Hence all applications
relating to effective call distribution and CRM are being deployed by many
businesses. The converged systems give capability to provide legacy connectivity
like PCM-TDM and IP.

The visible growth in the market has compelled companies to follow a common
standard as interoperability is a must for all equipment providers. Deployment
of IP communications leads to security concerns for enterprises. Applications
like mobility and presence are the drivers for next generation communication
systems.

The TDM based traditional PBX market in the country is stagnating because
customers in India are rapidly embracing IP telephony. There is a strong growth
in IP PBX and pure-play IP telephony. Almost all organizations are moving toward
IP based intelligent communications. Another trend is integration of mobile
phones in communications system at enterprises.

Unlike traditional TDM based technology, IP telephony offers intelligent
communication. Hybrid and IP PBX systems are also gaining ground. By using these
systems, businesses can make use of their converged IP networks to transport
voice along with data and video.

Migration to IP telephony is viewed as part of an integrated IT strategy
including migration to MPLS based WAN, and QOS based LAN. Although IP telephony
does save a lot for organizations, hybrid systems remain an option for SMEs.

PBX Architecture

The advancement in PBX technology has led companies to develop IP PBX from
microprocessor based EPABX solutions. The visible development from EPABX to IP
PBX can be seen in the development of IP phones from digital phones.

Experts panel

Minhaj Zia, national sales manager, unified communications, Cisco, India & Saarc V Praveen Kumar, head, enterprise voice & teleconferencing, Avaya GlobalConnect Rahul Kulkarni, senior manager, marketing, Siemens Enterprise Communications

At present IP PBX systems can run on a variety of Linux based and Windows
Media servers. Over time companies have realized the need for an easy to use
communications system. Information/communications managers provide centralized
call control for a resilient, distributed network of media gateways and a wide
range of analog, digital, H.323 and SIP-based communications devices. IP PBX
systems have advanced applications in-built, including mobility applications,
call center features, advanced conference calling, and emergency capabilities on
the same platform without any need of additional servers to provide this
capability.

IP PBX companies are taking care of industry-standard communications
protocols over a variety of different networks so that the system provides
centralized voice mail, attendant operations, and call centers across multiple
locations.

The development in enterprise telephony driven by customer demand has led to
the emergence of unified communications. UC is a means of connecting people
through voice, video, message, and presence irrespective of the device-phone,
laptop, video device, Wi-Fi phone, Web or even on a mobile phone. Collaboration
technologies allow business users to discuss, share data, and review business
affairs from any location.

Regulations Impact

In August 2008, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) introduced the
concept of work-from-home agents in India. The concept has been introduced for
companies registered under OSPs, including some call centers, network operation
centers, tele-marketing, tele-education, tele-medicine and tele-trading.
Allowing home-agents on IP will also spur IP telephony growth.

There was always a demand from multi-location enterprise customers to
legalize IP telephony deployments. The government has not completely opened up
IP telephony, but in-between 'logical partitioning' solution is allowed. With
this customers can deploy one single system and one single subscriber device on
his desk and can access both PSTN and CUG networks. This relaxation has fueled
IP telephony deployment in the Indian market. Going further, if the government
completely removes this restriction of logical partitioning, a sudden jump in
deployment would be seen.

The Green Edge

The PBX is no longer limited to just the telephony needs of an enterprise but is
helping them meet the green cause. The enterprise communication system with the
development of technology has given way to a number of green applications like
tele-worker, collaboration, home agent, video telephony, audio and
videoconferencing solutions, WFM and many others. These solutions have a
positive impact on the environment, profits as well as on employee productivity,
which eventually leads to reduction in operating costs substantially.

Companies in the market are coming up with intelligent technologies in
enterprise telephony systems like auto-shut off of IP phones after office hours
or after shifts.

Like other markets worldwide, India is also embracing IP telephony rapidly
due to the inherent benefits of this technology. The fact that the cost of the
PBX system has come down in the recent past is one of the biggest factors
contributing to its adoption by the enterprise market. The growth of IP
telephony is spurred by enterprise thrust on converged communication and fall in
prices of telecom bandwidth.

As per the latest Frost & Sullivan estimates, the India IP telephony market
showed an explosive growth in 2007. It contributed to 60.4% of the overall
enterprise telephony market of $346 mn in 2007. Sources estimate that it may
contribute 68% and 73% in 2008 and 2009, respectively of the overall enterprise
telephony market. In Apac too, IP telephony is expected to contribute 59.2% and
64% respectively to the overall enterprise telephony market.

Using IP telephony, it is easy for companies to up operations in a very short
time span, bring in changes to their communications infrastructure at a much
quicker pace, help enterprises reduce administrative expenses, boost
productivity and extract measurable returns on their infrastructure investments
and provide full fledged unified communications. This is something that has
always been missing with traditional telephony. Today mid-sized organizations
are also seriously evaluating this technology.

Prasoon Srivastava

prasoons@cybermedia.co.in