I saw an interesting post on VoIP Articles this morning.

    "According to Michael Rouleau, Time Warner Telecom’s Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, the number one reason is “to save a buck,” which is accomplished in several ways. Infrastructure costs are reduced by as much as 50% by having to run only one wire to each desktop; site-to-site communications via the IP network can greatly reduce toll charges; portability and telecommuting possibilities can increase productivity as well as reduce infrastructure costs; and IP solutions can also help address disaster recovery and business continuity — something that is on the minds of all enterprises today."

Clearly Time Warner has a stake in the VoIP game, and like all service providers, their interest and efforts have been growing. And I'll concede that saving a buck is a huge motivator, but I disagree that cost savings is the driver behind VoIP integration for everyone.

I see the cost savings as a catalyst rather than the primary change agent in far too many VoIP implementations. Cost savings is a catalyst often tied to other issues. For example, many organizations have been long-time Centrex customers. (Aside - The fact that Centrex is a cash cow that telcos have worked to keep alive as long as possible is indisputable, but another discussion). As contracts begin to expire, and many Centrex contracts were multi-year monsters, large organizations use the cost factor as one catalyst for change.

The same applies for many organizations who've invested large sums of money in a PBX infrastructure using legacy time devision multiplexing (TDM) technologies. The cost of upgrading, maintaining, and carrying legacy technology into the present and future doesn't make good sense.

So cost is indeed a catalyst. But it isn't the only catalyst. Companies that explore new technologies are often quick to identify the scalability and integration values of converging voice and data. CTI applications, especially those that integrate with web technologies, allow many companies to leapfrog competition. And that's a real driver for change.

If you can leapfrog your biggest competitor and leave them in the dust, enticing their customers away because you've got a new service model that integrates voice and data in a new business model, the decision to adopt convergence as a business strategy is easily a no-brainer.