Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Voice Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Voice Manager is a pivotal leadership role responsible for the strategic direction, operational integrity, and financial management of the organization's entire voice communications infrastructure. This individual serves as the primary custodian of all voice-related platforms, including VoIP systems, unified communications (UC) applications, contact center technologies, and carrier services. They lead a team of engineers and analysts to design, implement, and maintain a highly available, secure, and cost-effective communications ecosystem that enables seamless business operations and collaboration on a global scale. More than just a technical leader, the Voice Manager bridges the gap between technology and business needs, translating strategic goals into actionable voice technology roadmaps.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Voice Engineer / Lead UC Engineer
Network Manager with a strong voice focus
Senior Telecommunications Analyst

Advancement To:

Director of Unified Communications / Collaboration
Head of IT Infrastructure
Senior Manager, Global Network Services

Lateral Moves:

Collaboration Architect
Network Operations Manager
IT Vendor and Contracts Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Strategic Roadmap & Architecture: Develop, maintain, and execute the long-term strategic roadmap for the enterprise voice and unified communications environment, ensuring alignment with overall business and IT objectives.
Team Leadership & Mentorship: Lead, manage, and mentor a team of voice engineers, administrators, and analysts, fostering a culture of technical excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Lifecycle Management: Oversee the complete lifecycle of all voice infrastructure components, including hardware (gateways, phones, SBCs) and software (CUCM, Unity, contact center platforms), from procurement and deployment to decommissioning.
Vendor & Carrier Management: Act as the primary point of contact for telecommunications carriers, hardware/software vendors, and managed service providers; lead contract negotiations, manage service level agreements (SLAs), and oversee performance.
Financial Oversight & Budgeting: Develop and manage the annual operational (OpEx) and capital (CapEx) budgets for all voice-related services, projects, and contracts, actively seeking cost-optimization opportunities.
Operational Excellence & Availability: Ensure the 24/7/365 availability, reliability, and performance of all critical voice services, including dial tone, call routing, voicemail, and contact center functions.
System Design & Implementation: Lead the design, engineering, and implementation of new voice solutions, system expansions, and technology migrations, such as moving from on-premise PBX to cloud-based UCaaS or integrating Microsoft Teams Voice.
Contact Center Infrastructure Oversight: Manage the technical infrastructure supporting the organization's contact center(s), including IVR, ACD, call recording, and workforce management (WFM) systems, ensuring they meet business requirements for customer engagement.
Security & Compliance: Collaborate with the cybersecurity team to implement and maintain robust security controls for the voice network, protecting against threats like toll fraud and ensuring compliance with regulations like E911 and CALEA.
Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity: Design, document, and regularly test disaster recovery and business continuity plans for all critical voice systems to ensure service resilience in the event of an outage.
Performance Monitoring & Capacity Planning: Implement comprehensive monitoring and reporting solutions to track system health, call quality (MOS), and resource utilization; perform proactive capacity planning to accommodate future growth.
Global Dial Plan Management: Own and govern the enterprise's global dial plan, ensuring logical, scalable, and efficient call routing across all sites and platforms.
Escalation Point: Serve as the final tier (Tier 3/4) of technical escalation for complex, high-impact voice-related incidents and problems that require expert-level analysis and resolution.
Project Leadership: Act as the project manager or technical lead for all major voice-related initiatives, coordinating resources, managing timelines, and communicating status to stakeholders.
Policy & Standards Development: Define, document, and enforce enterprise-wide policies, standards, and best practices for voice communications and endpoint device usage.
Technology Evaluation: Continuously research and evaluate emerging voice, UC, and collaboration technologies to identify opportunities for innovation, service improvement, and cost reduction.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with leaders from Networking, Security, Applications, and business units to ensure seamless integration and support for voice services across the IT landscape.
SBC & SIP Trunk Management: Oversee the configuration, maintenance, and security of Session Border Controllers (SBCs) and manage the capacity and performance of all SIP trunking services.
User Adoption & Training: Drive the adoption of new unified communications features and develop training materials and programs for end-users and service desk personnel.
M&A Integration: Lead the technical due diligence and integration planning for voice and UC systems during mergers and acquisitions, ensuring a smooth transition for new employees and locations.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis related to call detail records (CDRs) and system performance.
Contribute to the organization's broader IT infrastructure strategy and technology roadmap discussions.
Collaborate with business units to translate evolving communication needs into concrete technical requirements for the voice engineering team.
Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile ceremonies if the team operates within an Agile framework.
Author and maintain comprehensive system documentation, network diagrams, and operational runbooks for the voice environment.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Expertise in Cisco Unified Communications: Deep, hands-on knowledge of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM), Unity Connection (CUC), IM & Presence, and Cisco endpoints.
Contact Center Technologies: Proficiency with contact center platforms such as Cisco UCCX/UCCE, Genesys, or Five9, including scripting and reporting.
VoIP Protocols & Codecs: Mastery of core VoIP signaling and transport protocols, including SIP, H.323, MGCP, and RTP, as well as common audio codecs (G.711, G.729, Opus).
Session Border Controllers (SBCs): Experience configuring and managing SBCs from vendors like Oracle, Ribbon, or AudioCodes for security and carrier interop.
Cloud Voice Platforms: Strong understanding of UCaaS/CCaaS solutions, particularly Microsoft Teams Voice with Direct Routing or Operator Connect.
Network Quality of Service (QoS): In-depth knowledge of QoS principles and the ability to design and validate QoS policies for voice and video across WAN/LAN infrastructure.
Legacy Telephony: Familiarity with traditional TDM technologies, including PRIs, T1/E1 circuits, and analog gateways, for migration and integration purposes.
Network Troubleshooting Tools: Proficiency with packet capture and analysis tools like Wireshark for diagnosing complex call flow and media quality issues.
Scripting & Automation: Basic to intermediate scripting skills (e.g., PowerShell, Python) for automating administrative tasks and API integrations.
Carrier Services: Strong knowledge of telecommunications carrier services, including SIP trunking, toll-free services, DID management, and number porting processes.

Soft Skills

Leadership & Team Management: Proven ability to lead, inspire, and develop a technical team.
Strategic Thinking: Capacity to see the big picture, anticipate future needs, and create a long-term technology vision.
Project Management: Strong organizational skills to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously, from inception to completion.
Vendor and Contract Negotiation: Skill in managing vendor relationships and negotiating favorable terms for contracts and services.
Financial Acumen: Experience with budget creation, financial planning, and cost management within an IT context.
Exceptional Communication: Ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Problem-Solving & Critical Thinking: A methodical and analytical approach to troubleshooting and resolving high-stakes technical issues.
Stakeholder Management: Adept at building relationships and influencing decision-makers across different departments and levels of seniority.
Resilience & Composure: The ability to remain calm and lead effectively during high-pressure situations and major service outages.
Customer-Centric Mindset: A strong focus on delivering high-quality, reliable services that meet and exceed business user expectations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience.

Preferred Education:

Master’s Degree in a relevant field.
Industry-leading certifications such as CCNP Collaboration, CCIE Collaboration, or equivalent.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Computer Science
Information Technology / Information Systems
Telecommunications Engineering
Electrical Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8-12 years of progressive experience in voice engineering and/or unified communications, with at least 3-5 years in a leadership, management, or senior architectural capacity.

Preferred: Experience managing a large-scale (10,000+ users), multi-site, global enterprise voice environment. Demonstrable experience leading a major technology migration project (e.g., TDM to IP, on-premise to cloud).