asterisk users - Jul 2005 - OT (kinda): Justification for adding Asterisk to the business plan

Greetings all,

I'm trying to build a justification case to get the firm I work for to start
working with Asterisk more.  How could I build this case?

The argument I'm raising is that people need phones.  PBX systems are too
expensive for fewer options and less expansion capabilities.  Leveraging
Asterisk in the business plan would allow for more consulting revenue and
resale opportunities.  As their business grows or reconfigures, the call
back to reconfigure mail boxes and install additional IVR into the system
would allow for better work flow and more interactive customer service.

Problem is, they simply cannot see how Asterisk can fit into a normal IT
consulting business plan as it's a Telephone thing and not a IT thing.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Don

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On Fri, 2005-07-15 at 04:17 -0700, /dev/null wrote:
> I'm trying to build a justification case to get the firm I work for to
> start working with Asterisk more.  How could I build this case?
> 
> The argument I'm raising is that people need phones.  PBX systems are
> too expensive for fewer options and less expansion capabilities.
> Leveraging Asterisk in the business plan would allow for more
> consulting revenue and resale opportunities.  As their business grows
> or reconfigures, the call back to reconfigure mail boxes and install
> additional IVR into the system would allow for better work flow and
> more interactive customer service.
> 
> Problem is, they simply cannot see how Asterisk can fit into a normal
> IT consulting business plan as it's a Telephone thing and not a IT
> thing.
Features I'd not ignore....

IVR units for PABX's - usually very limited and expensive, with
Asterisk's ability to have multi-level IVR - This can be used as a front
end to a customer ticketing system.

Voice Recording - usually prohibitively expensive (or junk, ie a Tape
Recorder with phone Mic) - ideal to recall what was actually said
between Support staff and Customer

Caller-ID - most analogue phones don't do this, with Asterisk - its
almost a given - which helps identify the customer and give Support an
edge. Can be extended to sent non-paying customers straight to Accounts.

The fact that Asterisk is "soft" and you're trying to sell to an
IT
Company..

(Even) Installing Asterisk@Home gives the ability to do most of the
above - the Customer should have no issues with IVR Setup, Adding
extensions - etc.

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