Investing 300 million dollars over 10 years, the Social Security Administration now leads the US Government in telephony technology – simply switching to Voice over Internet (VoIP). The contract was awarded to Nortel. At first, the figure 300 million boggled us. Then, using the complex mathematical equation of 300 million dollars divided by 10 years, we determined an average cost of 30 million dollars a year.

Before you flip out and say to yourself, “My goodness (we’re keeping it G-Rated), 30 million dollars a year on phones??? What is our government thinking?”

Shocking as it may seem, we at Voip Tech Chat applaud the Social Security Administration’s decision. Sure, as huge (again easy with the fat jokes please) fans of Benjamin Franklin, Patrick and Fred often are publicly vocal and critical of decisions made by the US Government. Yet, when a good decision is made, we try to be equally supportive.

Let’s look at this more closely… 

The SSA will replace phones in more than 1,600 offices. The physical cost alone for installing VoIP servers, phones, and systems in a project like this astounds us. This simply is a huge undertaking.

The SSA currently uses a standard PBX (private branch exchange – typically corporate phone systems) “nearing the end of it’s life cycle.” This translates to a replacement cost even if VoIP is not implemented. Here’s where VoIP starts to make sense.

A PBX system generally utilizes separate wiring from your data network and provides minimal (if any) portability. For example, John Q Public uses an office on the 2nd floor and because of a leaky window needs to move to a new office. With a PBX system, a physical update is generally needed to give John a phone. Wether this is re-wiring, updating the physical PBX system, or in most cases doing both, there are often many people needed to simply allow John to get calls. And when John moves back to the 2nd Floor, the process starts all over again. You’re most likely looking at 4 hours labor per move and the use of 2 - 3 employees. Compare this with a VoIP system – step one, John moves phone to new location. That’s it. No more steps. It’s done.

Since the SSA uses a private network across their locations, John could even move to a new location and still use the same phone with little or most-like no interaction with tech personnel.

When creating new SSA offices, there will be no reason to run analog phone lines (except to the main phone switch as the SSA will be using local POTS lines for 911 service). Supports calls will be handled remotely and the phone system will be managed primarily from a centralized location.

In the long run, savings generated from the initial investment will benefit all of us who pay taxes. Although the initial investment’s price tag seems high, realizing the future savings as well as the minimal difference between a new VoIP system compared to a new PBX system. Not only can the SSA benefit from new features, dynamic call routing, and lower cost of service, additional costs will also be lower due to the very nature of VoIP (speaking of nature, we will plan a Nature episode of Voip Tech Chat where Fred and Patrick hunt VoIP devices in the wild). VoIP upgrades are generally software related, allowing hardware to be reused with new systems or newer versions of existing platforms; eliminating the need for such extensive upgrades in the future. 

We applaud the decision to upgrade to VoIP and look forward to more federal agencies making the switch.

Related Links:

• FedTech Magazine, “Voip Lessons Learned From SSA” (Great Article)
• Nortel’s SSA Blog Post
• Nortel’s Press Release

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