Nowadays, Julius Caesar would not be announcing veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) to the Senate via written message but instead would use converging technologies like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), calling long distance to Rome to tell about his victory over King Pharnaces.

We have witnessed the explosive growth of the Internet and the exciting IP (Internet Protocol)-based applications that have changed the way people and organizations communicate. There has been an unrelenting need for easier, faster access to the global network in the past decade, and voice and data convergence are right in the middle of it. In the meantime, the worlds of both traditional and new media providers are colliding as they continue to report record levels of network traffic.

VoIP is a next-generation technology architecture that utilizes standard TCP/IP packets to convert analog voice signals into data packets, pass them in real-time over the Internet instead of over traditional phone lines, and reassemble the packets into audio signals at their destination to complete the call.

Some of the challenges that hampered the early adoption of VoIP in the SMB market were Quality of Service (QoS) and performance issues, the level of support and administration skills required, and concerns about proprietary or open systems interoperability.

There are many flavors of VoIP. The simplest choice is VoIP service. This is a subscription-based service that routes your outgoing calls over the Internet before transferring it back to the existing telephone network. This allows a VoIP call to connect with any regular phone anywhere in the world. Currently, the bulk of VoIP service is consumer-based using dedicated VoIP providers like Skype and Vonage instead of home telephone service.

SMBs chose to use VoIP Phone systems, where equipment installed at the business routes internal calls over the computer network, uniting multiple offices on a single phone system. This does not replace the existing phone service to the outside world, and the internal VoIP network will still need a connection to the public telephone network. This is a huge money saver for businesses spending a lot on toll calls between branch offices or remote locations. They are prime candidates for VoIP because it can immediately eliminate long-distance calling charges. Even employees working from home can still access all the features of the corporate system.

Hosted VoIP has matured as a viable business solution. QoS is improving, and standards are being settled. Hosted VoIP provides all the PBX features, such as auto-attendant, conference bridges, forwarding, and extension dialing without requiring a PBX purchase. This is an excellent solution for SMBs, and the ability to get these features without the hardware cost of a traditional phone system combined with the free or low-cost long distance fees explains the rise in IP telephony equipment sales.

According to the Infonetics Research's quarterly market share and forecast service, service provider Next Gen Voice Equipment (www.infonetics.com), directing analyst Kevin Mitchel says, "We're starting to see strong equipment sales translated into tangible services. For instance, there were 1.1 million residential/SOHO voice over IP subscribers in North America in 2004—with almost half coming directly from MSOs (multiple service operators)—and we expect that number to soar to 17.4 million by 2008." As we Mitchel continues "As we move deeper into the 21st century, it becomes more apparent that IP networks are the next-gen networks for all forms of communication. It's hard to find a carrier not modernizing their network with VoIP or planning to do so."

You would think that telcos and broadband providers would have jumped to service this market, but they have been slow in adapting this new technology.

This opened up the field for equipment vendors, service providers/ISPs, and systems integrators to partner and bring VoIP to the market. In order to have a successful deployment of IP-based services, there has to be the knowledge of networking and telecommunications combined. One of the most overlooked points is whether existing customer bandwidth and networks can accommodate converging voice, data, and video traffic. With the convergence of technologies comes the need for skilled implementers who have the combined knowledge.

Do you have a background in cabling, telecommunications, or electronics? Do you have experience installing network systems? Any of these skills are essentials, and it's time to realize that converging networks that enable data, voice, and video are the future, not to mention wireless.

Want to get a jump on the market but only have networking skills? Partner with a supplier. Kevin Royalty, CCO of Solution Net, Inc. (www.solution-net.com), a full service consulting firm in Cincinnati, OH, found it very easy to implement his first VoIP solution. Having an extensive background in implementing infrastructure solutions for SMBs, he didn't shy away when Telesavers, (www.telesavers.com) approached him and offered to install an Avaya VoIP solution for a new company in town. Telesavers went ahead and pre-configured the equipment, then shipped it to Solution Net, which installed the network infrastructure and added the VoIP equipment. "There was very little configuration on my part," says Royalty, "and it was easy to implement."

Having a turnkey solution is allowing companies like Solution Net to capitalize in the lucrative VoIP SMB market.

Another point of view on VoIP implementations comes from Fred Johnson, President and CIO of Ross-Tek, (www.rosstek.com). Ross-Tek has been implementing VoIP over the past three years using 3Com and Cisco equipment.

"One of the biggest things people miss when it comes to VoIP," says Fred, "is still having a POTS (plain old telephone service) line for a backup dialtone in case the broadband goes down. Another mistake is not having the infrastructure really support VoIP, besides having broadband you need to truly have a managed switch for the VoIP line. If you have 25 desktops and 30 phones, all connections for the phone go into their own managed Cisco switch so the voice packet can take precedence over the data package."

Fred also explains that "we see a lot that vendors install an all-in-one switch, and then there is degradation in voice quality. We've come into situations where customers had a VoIP installation, and they said that it was not what they thought it would be. When we researched the issue, we found out that it was not the product that was the problem but the way it was implemented."

Fred would not recommend just anyone to get into the market. He has an RCDD (Registered Communications Distribution Designer) and a structured cabling team with telecommunications background and a certified electrician on staff. "We didn't just go out on our own to get started, we partnered with another company first that had several installations under their belt and approached this in a very methodological way."

Ross-Tek also doesn't push VoIP sales since most customers have already made an investment into traditional PBXs. There needs to be a solid business case with quantifiable costs and benefits.

Long thought of as an enterprise level technology, VoIP is inevitably making its headway into the SMB communications market. Once considered an experiment, VoIP has evolved into a highly practical communications application, and the underserved SMB market has been a long overlooked segment. Most SMBs lack the IT infrastructure or IT resources to make the switch, making this a challenging segment for growth. Companies that offer implementation analysis and architecture, provisioning, and customer service help SMBs achieve substantial savings, which include IT costs. The immediate ROI (return on investment) on operational efficiency, productivity, and overall cost reduction is easy to demonstrate.

Some of the benefits of VoIP for SMBs include being able to avoid service and support contracts of existing PBX hardware and the need for on-going Centrex services and charges. There are also reduced expansion costs for MAC (moves, adds and changes) and lower user hardware costs as well as reduced costs for separate voice messaging systems.

Then there are the cool features that come with VoIP, turning it into an instant productivity tool. For instance, you can have your Outlook contacts imported into a personal phone book and then configure it to pop up the Outlook contact when the incoming phone number is recognized, instantly supplying all the information about the person on the other end. You can also listen to your phone messages in the email client or forward voice messages as email attachments.

With VoIP, companies are able to integrate phone, printing, and faxing on one network with centralized management.

The word has gotten out, and there is no stopping VoIP now. According to the Yankee Group, a research firm, IP telephony hardware and software sales growth will overtake traditional circuit-based telephony equipment sales growth by 2006.

Previous concerns and indecisions on signaling protocols like H.323, Megaco H.248, MGCP, SIP, SGCP, RVP over IP, SAPv2, and Skinny can soon be laid aside. There is an indication that the industry now has an emerging standard, SIP (session initiation protocol), which will bring interoperability among IP telephony hardware and software and is very important to the multivendor environment. Microsoft and Intel have committed to create scripting languages and processors that are SIP-compliant, which is another significant indicator of SIP becoming a standard in IP telephony.

With the amount of suppliers of IP telephony equipment and services, choosing who to partner and get certified with it is not easy. Currently, there are no vendor-neutral certifications on the market. CompTIA just recently announced that it will be offering a VoIP skills certification which will be "foundational" rather than entry level and aimed at professionals with two to three years of installing network systems.

"The certification will be complementary to our existing network certifications [Network+, Server+, and A+] and will most likely be a separate certification," says Brian McCarthy, COO at CompTIA.

CompTIA created the Convergence Group, which is composed of enterprising convergent technologies solution providers who take an active role in shaping the CT (convergent technologies) industry, integrating telecommunications, and computer technology. The group will determine the skill levels required to successfully install a VoIP network. The certification will most likely be available in six to nine months.

In the current absence of vendor-neutral certifications, you may want to consider getting a vendor-specific certification from Huawei-3Com, Sonus, Cisco, or Nortel. Huawai Technologies leads the media gateway market (24.2%) followed by Sonus (16.6%), Cisco (12%), and Nortel Networks (9%), according to Dittberner's Worldwide NGN Research Program in Q2 2004.

Huawei-3Com is currently developing the HCVCS (Huawai Certified Voice Technology Specialist), but the certificate is not available at the moment. So keep checking back periodically at http://www.en.huawei-3com.com and click on the Training and Certification link.

Cisco has offered the CCVP (Cisco Certified Voice Professional) since January 2005. The CCVP certification requires a CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) as a prerequisite. The CCVP exam focuses on Cisco CallManager call processing systems, QoS, gateways, gatekeepers, IP phones, and voice applications and utilities on Cisco routers and switches. The CCVP certification is targeted toward field engineers, network engineers, systems engineers, telecommunications equipment installers, and others who currently install, configure, and support IP telephony solutions, private branch exchanges (PBXs), and voice-mail systems. There are five required exams to attain this credential, which are 642-642 QoS, 642-432 CVOICE (Cisco Voice Over IP), 642-425 IPTT (IP Telephony Troubleshooting, 642-444 CIPT (Cisco IP Telephony) which are available now, and 642-452 GWGK (Implementing Cisco Voice Gateways and Gatekeepers) which will be available in May 2005.

There are training courses offered by different training providers for the CCVP, including 12-day boot camps starting at $6,500.00—a small price to pay for the career this will launch and the job security you will have.

I should also mention Avaya, which offers the ACA, ACS and ACE certifications (Avaya Certified Associate, Specialist, and Expert) at http://learning2.avaya.com.

Also be careful when partnering with vendors not to be tied to very restrictive partner agreements which allows you to only sell their proprietary VoIP solutions.

If you are looking to partner fast and have no prior telephony experience, take a look at www.vonexus.com which developed an IP PBX solution exclusively for the SMB space based on SIP. There are many turn-key programs out there from suppliers like Vonexus.

In order to make the right choice, I recommend learning more about the VoIP industry in general and watching market trends in the SMB space. This will be the next big paradigm shift in the way businesses communicate, and it is just starting to gain momentum. You have time to research and decide on your certification choice, since most of the certifications are just in the making. Keep a close eye on the emerging standards and FCC rulings, which will have a major impact on this market. But even if progress is slowed by FCC rulings or security concerns, VoIP is here to stay.

Whether you will pursue a VoIP career as an individual or pursue market share as a VoIP VAR, getting into the market now will still put you ahead of the curve at this point, even though the cat is out of the bag. It may be difficult at first to make sense out of the VoIP bubble, but whatever you do, do not miss the boat.

On a side note, be ready for wireless VoIP. Wide-scale testing is currently underway in Australia and wireless VoIP could eventually supersede cell phones. The combination of VoIP phones and growing wireless networks could soon provide new options for inexpensive, portable voice communications.

If Caesar were still here, he'd say, "Veni, vidi, VoIP."