CHICAGO--

The question of how to sell voice-over-IP services to the lucrative enterprise market was the subject of “Down to Business: VoIP in the Enterprise,” a panel presented Monday as part of Telephony’s daylong “VoIP: Service Provider Strategies” conference. “We’re here to break down the distinctions between the consumer and business [VoIP] markets,” said panel moderator Jason Meyers, editorial director of Telephony and Wireless Review.

In terms of current enterprise interest in and acceptance of VoIP, panelist Richard Polishak, voice services manager and CTO of Telus Communications, said it’s essential that service providers make the service’s security and reliability their major selling points. “That’s the lifeline of businesses,” Polishak said.

Simon McIver, director of enterprise VoIP for Net2Phone, echoed a sentiment common throughout the conference’s speeches and panels: Cost savings is the key to early enterprise adoption. “People want basic business trunking because it will save them substantial dollars,” McIver said. “People are looking for ways to save money.”

While enterprise VoIP adoption remains in its nascent stages, the panel also discussed the potential for increased spending by early adopters. “The initial requirements are to meet a predetermined ROI,” said Steven Toteda, senior manager of Cisco Systems’ IP communications business unit. “Once [customers] have that level of comfort and realize they made a sound investment, then it moves to the next phase. That’s the phase we’re in now--working to leverage the investment.”

The panel agreed that reductions in enterprise IT resources could also drive VoIP adoption. “This is the greatest opportunity in history for the service provider,” said Neal Shact, president and CEO of CommuniTech and chairman of the International VoIP Council. “Companies have gone through a nuclear winter and they’re dealing with the people they have left, so you have to contract these things out. If the economy keeps rolling, where are those bodies going to come from? Labor shortages means service providers.”