Customer churn indicates VoIP static
Published: 17 Sep 2003 17:20 BST
Overall, Cisco claims some 70 former Avaya customers among its VoIP converts. In a rare bit of trash talk for Cisco, Lambert said one of its recent VoIP wins includes insurance provider Australia Group Ltd. -- a former Avaya customer that's decided to upgrade to a pure IP system using Cisco equipment.
"The legacy providers are just trying to defend their turf, and losing to Cisco," Lambert said.
Although the incumbents are clearly on the defensive for now, analysts said they can count on some insulation from pure VoIP system vendors such as Cisco over the next few years. That's partly because corporate buyers remain cautious about deploying pure VoIP solutions, with many for now preferring to maintain some traditional voice elements.
For instance, the University of South Florida (USF) announced last Tuesday a decision to use an Avaya hybrid VoIP system because the setup will allow the university to reuse its existing network equipment and add 16,000 new VoIP phones, according to Avaya.
"The beauty of our upgrade from Avaya is that we did not have to forklift our existing configuration," Kate Nidasio, director of USF's Telecommunications and Customer Service unit, said in a statement.
Citing statistics from InfoTech and Synergy Research Group, Avaya says that in the first three months of 2003 it shipped equipment amounting to more total VoIP telephone lines than Cisco, the first time a company other than Cisco has led the category since 2000. Those statistics count hybrid lines capable of supporting both switched and IP voice.
Hybrid installations from companies including Avaya and Nortel Networks made up more than half of all new corporate phone lines in the second quarter, up 14 percent from the same period a year ago, while total hybrid lines outpaced pure VoIP lines by nearly three to one, Canalysis reported.
The numbers indicate there could be a lot more strength in hybrid systems than newcomers offering pure IP systems have so far expected.
A Cisco representative countered that the company decided to devote nearly its entire VoIP lineup to pure IP because hybrid systems require companies to support separate telephone and computer networks. With pure VoIP, a company doesn't need to install any traditional phone equipment, a cost-cutting move that's among the pure approach's major attractions.
"If you're moving away from (traditional telephony), it makes sense to move completely away," the representative said.
Problem? What problem?
Complaints from former Cisco customers could signal further complications for the company as it goes head-to-head with hybrid systems, as well as pure VoIP solutions from Shoreline, Veraz and others.
Some companies said they ditched Cisco gear because the company's VoIP phones have had the same bugs for years, which Cisco was either slow to fix or never solved. These people, who asked not to be identified, added that Cisco also has trouble with deployments above 500 lines -- a potentially significant problem given that larger companies are expected to be among the first in line when it comes to VoIP switch-overs.
Other criticisms focused on alleged problems with Cisco systems connecting offices that are separated by long distances, something that's supposed to be one of VoIP's key features.
Cisco's Lambert flatly denied the company has a problem with large-scale deployments, pointing out that its largest VoIP installation, in Cisco's own headquarters, tops out at 55,000 phones.
"I don't think there's any problems with deployment," Lambert said.
He added, however, that the company's average IP phone deployment is about 175 lines.
Lambert said that concerns over Cisco's quality are contradicted by overall installations of new VoIP lines, which are moving at a breakneck pace regardless of customer wins and losses in specific instances.
Cisco VoIP gear now replaces about 5,000 traditional phone lines every day, about twice the pace of 2002, a sign of VoIP's growing acceptance among Cisco's 10,000 customers, Lambert said. He added that Cisco has managed to slightly increase its own share of the IP phone market between the second and third quarters.
But Lambert refused, as is Cisco's policy, to talk about failed Cisco VoIP installments like those at Merrill, Muzak, Odell Architects, Transcom and about a half dozen other examples.
"We're clearly No. 1, and improving our position," Lambert said.
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