City sues provider over improper VoIP implementation

Many companies are turning to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions to save money and improve communication. A new report from Visiongain, shows that the VoIP market will see a revenue of $2.5 billion worldwide. Implementing the growing technology, however, is more difficult than just plug-and-play. Without a proper deployment, major problems can occur.

Driven by smartphone usage, budget focus and the growing general technology knowledge of employees, VoIP solutions are gaining traction in the corporate world. Designed to promote increased connectivity and more efficient communication strategies, VoIP has a number of benefits for businesses. However, as a new technology that goes hand-in-hand with networking, data and cabling solutions, any number of outside factors can affect the success of the internet-based phone system.

A city in Texas is learning this lesson the hard way. Round Rock began implementing a VoIP system back in 2010 and completed installation in the summer of 2011. The system, however, did not offer the benefits the city was expecting and, instead, caused a number of problems. The issues have been drastic enough for the city to sue the provider. City officials are claiming lack of knowledge led to an improper deployment.

“These problems included consistent and extensive hardware and software issues, dropped calls, voicemail issues, syncing failures, dysfunctional software integration and software crashes, among other issues,” according to the official complaint.

The city is insisting that technicians implementing the system were not properly trained to install the system completely. This accusation has been confirmed by the provider.

The result of the lawsuit is yet to be determined, but it shows the importance of partnering with an experienced telecommunication provider – like CTI Technology – when deploying a VoIP system.