become less expensive since this is where so many manufacturers are putting engineering effort…and IP PBX is essentially a server with software installed. There isn’t a switch port for every phone, which results savings in hardware and even in the chassis itself. There are also open-source versions of IP PBX software that are becoming more widely accepted and are putting downward pressure on the cost of all IP PBX code sources.”
Bill Miller, VP of Product Management and Marketing for the Asterisk company Digium ( www.digium.com), sees good old open source as the critical determinant, allowing the PBX industry to generate “continuous savings due to lower cost to acquire the technology and growing critical mass of applications being delivered on open source Asterisk.” This affords vendors flexibility and cost savings themselves, both in terms of the development tools they use, and the ecosystem they rely upon for feature and service enhancement. Vendors get “rapid prototyping and delivery of features and extremely flexible and customizable software. By utilizing Digium’s certified partners, [CTOs get] guaranteed interoperability and testing of these applications, rapid development of features, and a complete, fully supported core solution using Asterisk Business Edition,” Miller concludes.
The savings/flexibility equation is further linked up for the CTO through applications, explains ADTRAN’s Lamy. “Operational savings will come from added efficiency in accomplishing certain tasks. This goes from the ease of installing a fully functional office at any location that can be reached via a broadband connection to achieving efficiencies from features such as unified messaging. I would expect the efficiency gains from applications will only
grow for the same reason. This is where engineering minds are applying innovation in order to gain a market advantage.”
This quest for market advantage is driving vendors to cater to specific applications that their clients need. “We’re seeing a growing interest in both presence management and collaboration applications, particularly among companies that rely upon geographically disparate workforces and locations and mobile workers,” says Inter-Tel’s Ford. “The presence capabilities benefit users by allowing them to prioritize and route incoming calls to specified locations as well as share their status with others. Collaboration tools have been well received by mobile workers and their employers who can initiate and participate in conference calls, share documents, and conduct presentations from any location with an Internet connection.”
The competitive PBX vendor today builds this ability to run new applications into its business model quickly. “The software-driven path of the industry is having an impact on the interconnection players because software-based solutions give users options,” opines Ron Bregman, President and CEO of Port Washington, N.Y.-based Tadiran ( www.TadiranAmerica.com), a privately held vendor of IP-based PBXs, call centers, and other solutions. This is why in approaching the PBX market, Bregman says, “We knew we had to think like a software company, in releases,” to be able to push new and evolving features and applications into the market. This required new development capabilities but also an appreciation of the past. “We knew [when
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