Project Guide: Is It Time for VOIP
Today's Internet-protocol telephony systems have grown into dependable workhorses, though many enterprises still use the technology sparingly.Two years ago, pulte mortgage, the Englewood, Colo.-based lending subsidiary of homebuilder Pulte Homes, found two sound reasons to move to Internet-protocol telephony. First, its previous phone system was failing under heavy loads at peak weekday calling periods—a big problem for Pulte Mortgage, which processed 35,232 loans worth $6.7 billion last year. "Obviously, the business can't have the phone system go down," says Sean Kelly, the unit's director of infrastructure, architecture and engineering. Second, Pulte Mortgage was then in the process of opening a new loan processing center in nearby Centennial, Colo. Kelly's team had already decided to install new Cisco Systems Catalyst 6500 data switches, which have the necessary features to support IP phones. Those switches provided power over Ethernet wiring—so phone sets don't need separate power supplies—and a feature called quality of service, which guarantees voice traffic will get priority over data so phone conversations aren't affected by activity on the data network. After an evaluation period, the company decided to adopt Cisco's CallManager and related software to distribute calls to 800 service agents, as well as 300 other administrative staff and executives. An IP telephony system breaks up a call into "packets," which it sends over a data network, and then reassembles them at the other end of the line. By contrast, a traditional phone system establishes a dedicated physical circuit for every call. Expectations at Pulte Mortgage were low, Kelly recalls: "All the business side wanted was a reliable dial tone." more >>>