"Nothing can substitute for the end-user experience," says Alan Clark, CEO of Telchemy, a provider of network management software to telecom vendors. "There are 12 different router interfaces between here and India, but only one end point."

Sticker Shock

Financial constraints are still an obstacle for many IT departments, according to Forrester Research, but users are finding ways to justify expenditures through significant ROI. (Hardware and solutions can range from $10,000 to $100,000.)

According to Erlanger's Haltom, "Our fit is a pure 'cost avoidance' model where we utilize new construction and renovation in all areas and campuses to rip out existing voice and data networks and consolidate it all into one single network, thus avoiding the expense of [things like] the second line, patch panel ports, other materials, and the best part -- managing one network infrastructure instead of two."

Those who have gone the distance say the cost is worth it. Hank Lambert, director of product marketing, voice technology group, at Cisco emphasizes the importance of an initial network audit, saying that it will save the company money in the long run.