In the months that followed, the vice-president of IT for Gold's Gym, based in Dallas, learned some valuable lessons about not only VoIP, but any major network project that involves upgrades to numerous, far-flung sites. Badugu shared his insights in a presentation at the recent Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Dallas. He said the lessons include using a phased implementation process; establishing clear SLAs (service-level agreements), including penalties; and conducting a thorough technology assessment to identify potential problems.

When the rollout began in June, it was scheduled to take eight weeks. As of mid-November, the data portion of the rollout is complete, but only about 20 percent of the voice lines have been ported to the VoIP network. Badugu remains bullish, expects benefits including 35 to 40 percent savings in voice and data service costs, and already is saving $6,000 to $10,000 on his conference calling. But if he had it to do again, he'd do more than a few things differently.

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