Resnick wasn’t very happy about being assigned to a third-party integrator, but he trusted that SBC knew what it was doing. He got a quote of about $135,000 for the system and its implementation.

Things started to go wrong quickly. For starters, the third-party integrator seemed unfamiliar with the system, spending a good deal of time reading documentation. Worse, the system SBC had recommended didn’t actually have all the features Resnick wanted. Those it did have didn’t necessarily work. For example, the receptionist’s console was built around software from yet another third party, and it crashed constantly. Suddenly, Resnick found his two-month implementation limping into month seven.

As an added insult, he couldn’t even call someone at SBC to yell at them. SBC was in the process of merging with AT&T, and the people he knew had been reorganized into different jobs and in some cases had left the company entirely.

Resnick might have washed his hands of VoIP, but the pilot did do one important job right: It let the company transfer calls over the data network, which almost immediately led to savings on the phone bill. Costs fell from $5,000 to slightly more than $1,000 per month. But he was still paying SBC money for features he’d been promised but hadn’t received. So he went looking for a different VoIP system.

The key now: He had learned how to probe vendor answers. For instance, he knew to ask if fax integration meant his users could print faxes from their desktops. He knew to ask whether a feature was built-in or came from a third-party company. And he knew to get documentation proving functionality.

The pilot meant he had laid the foundation for VoIP. He’d assigned all his extensions and direct-dial-in numbers, and had installed a PRI (primary rate interface) line, which accommodates voice and data and allows both caller ID and direct-dial-in functionality on one T1 line, functionality you can’t get on a regular T1 line. He had also trained users on VoIP concepts.

That meant that in February 2005, when he brought in a system from Shoretel, a VoIP startup, things went smoothly. His new system was up and running in less than a month, with almost all the features he had wanted. Better yet, it cost him less than SBC’s approach: about $105,000. And he was able to ditch the SBC system.

Resnick declines to point fingers at SBC, saying he was too quick to accept it when SBC told him VoIP is a "piece of cake." Second time through, he made sure to communicate what he needed and make sure he understood the limitations of the system.