The one big hurdle I have seen from the data community is the level of support they expect to give and have be acceptable.
I sold an asterisk system for a client because it seemed like the best thing for them as far as bells and whistles for the money. That is, if it works and is put in correctly.
The guys doing the work were newbies, and we all paid the price with an unhappy customer while they "cut their teeth" on the new technology.
What I have found maddening is their idea of "quick response". In the legacy telephone world, if a client is down, I'M ON IT! NOW!
In the IT world, 4-8 hours is acceptable to them, if they are not too busy. That doesn't fly too well in the voice world, so they will have to adjust their thinking from data to voice. I don't care to denigrate them as some do here, but they need to take on some additional "voice" skills, just as us telecom guys need to take on some "data" skills.
It is my feeling that the companies that will succeed in the future will be the ones that will have expertise in both. Our company just recently hired some data gurus to compliment our services. Best move we ever made.
Sounds like that move won't be required for several years in smaller markets though from what I see here.
