Outsource or Purchase a Conference Bridge?

Here we look at the merits of buying a conference bridge versus outsourcing to a conference provider.

The motivation to investigate buying a conferencing bridge is normally to:

1. Maintain high levels of security
2. Reduce costs

Security

For national governments the only way to guarantee 100% secure communications is to own a bridge which is on a private network where communications can be encrypted.

Virtually every other type of organisation confidently utilises the outsourced services in the knowledge that security will not be compromised.

Using a conference bridge to reduce costs

Growing conferencing usage results in greater efficiencies and reduced travel expense. Its use therefore should be encouraged. 

The I.T. department , in turn, is forced to review costs and question whether it can be done in house.  It is possible to buy a conferencing bridge fairly inexpensively but the point to remember is that the end users need a service not a bridge. 

Since the mid 1980’s large corporations have fallen foul of buying a conferencing bridge to save money then experiencing the difficulty and expense or managing it.

The cost of outsourcing used to be high, so the cost differentials could appear very attractive.  In the more mature conferencing markets, the cost of outsourcing is now so low that buying a bridge would be of questionable benefit.

Looking at the details:

Commitment

If you use a service provider, you can always change your mind.  Buying a conferencing bridge would normally be a commitment of three to five years to justify the outlay.

Ease of use

A service provider's incentive is to increase your usage and hence your benefit from the service.  A bridge vendor is typically not equipped to assist in this.

Capacity and ease of use

In house conferencing bridges do not normally have enough lines to cope with peak usage.  This is because the purchase cost of the bridge and rental of the additional lines would make it uneconomic. The result is that users must reserve capacity on the conferencing bridge to guarantee availability. This method requires some kind of database or internal reservations system. Since users often don't know how many lines they will need an "E-1" (group of 30 lines) could be blocked out by three or four reservations.  To get around this some users have a second account with a CSP if the conferencing bridge is full.

Frequent users soon learn that it is easier to use the service provider.  On-demand conferences allow a moderator to have a conference at any time without needing to make a reservation.

Out of hours support

Who will support users if they have a problem out of hours? It is rarely cost effective to train the helpdesk team to support this.

Private networks

Some companies see putting the bridge on an internal network as a way to save on call costs.  This does, however, mean that the PABX must be expanded and so must the network.  The economics of private networks require them to be full for as much of the time as possible.  Large conference call traffic peaks mean large increases in capacity are required

Alternatively, if the network is setup to allow break-out, then a user can make the long distance call on the private network and only pay for a local call to join the bridge. 

Troubleshooting

When there is a problem on an internal network then the problem is yours. If it is outsourced you can expect your CSP to resolve it and and have resilience so that the show can go on!

What are the real costs in providing an in-house service?

1. Bridge
2. Telephony
3. Upgrading a PABX if the conferencing bridge is to be installed behind it
4. Annual maintenance charges
5. Project management to select, install, train staff and establish procedures and support
6. Availability of trained support staff often out of hours
7. Impact on productivity in asking users to reserve conferences

 

Conclusion

There was once an argument for in-house bridges but the price point for outsourcing has now fallen so low that for most organisations it does not make sense.

If you mention to your service provider that you are looking at buying a bridge they will normally offer you much better rates.

 

» Read how people in your industry or in similar jobs use teleconferencing