IP Message Systems By: Michelle Gromala BMA 373 February 20, 2002

IP Message System Definition: Allows users to access: Fax Voice messages Conference Calls Call forwarding by using one universal system

Market and Subscribers Market Segment $167.4 million in 2000 More than $2 billion by 2005 Number of Subscribers 18.5 million in million by 2004

Advantages Combined Services No Phone Fees Avoid Busy Cellular and Phone Networks

Combined Services Service Voice Mail Service Fax Mail Service Personal Information Management System Wireless UMS Conference Call Short Message Service

Phone Fees Can ride the local or wide area network to bypass phone company fees Companies are saving $1000 to $2000 per month

Avoid Busy Cellular and Phone Networks Avoid congested cellular networks by use of Internet Useful during the events of September 11 th

Disadvantages Network Failure Price Not Useful For Everyone

Network Failure Executives are not willing to risk shifting to failure-prone networks If system goes down, it is impossible to use , voice mail, fax services Downtime Recovery

Cost Requires Voice aware gear: Switches Routers Gateways Need for more storage and bandwidth Not be able to justify expensive upgrades to recently acquired network hardware and software

Not Useful For Everyone Mobile and remote workers can benefit greatly Employees who work out of a single location, IP message systems do not effect Only 20% of employees are out of the office and do not have access to fax and

Conclusion Today most of IP growth is concentrated to smaller organizations, but it is expected to grow from enterprises with more than 500 employees in the future. The list of potential benefits for using IP message systems is long, but companies are still slow to adopt this technology