How To Plan For Installing VoIP In A Single Or Mulitple Location Company
The first step is deciding when/if it might be beneficial to move from a traditional voice network to a converged network. Each company is different, but two key indicators are intra-site call charges and the need for a more agile telephony system geographically (eg. distributed call centres). For many companies the cost of converting is too high to balance the cost savings. Simply changing your voice supplier might be easier and generate better cost savings.
At the moment the whip hand is with PABX manufacturers moving into the IP market, rather than the IP hardware vendors moving into voice – but the hardware market is far from dominated by any single player. IP-enabling an existing PABX infrastructure is often the way forward in conjunction with planning your WAN carefully. This would suggest going for a PABX specialist for this element. If Cisco (et al) is your bag, then look for IPT accreditation and keep an eye on references and proof.
Be cautious about accepting too pat technical information from sales people. QoS is not strictly necessary to carry voice and can carry quite a cost premium. Neither are uncontended DSL services strictly necessary. We have people running 3-4 voice channels concurrently between sites on strandard contended ADSL (20:1) with simple packet prioritisation at the edge to protect the voice from e-mails and printing traffic.
There’s no single solution. Find a solution provider that you can work with, with track record. Carefully consider the costs of change against the cost benefits as they are often not clear. Ensure you consider UPS protection for IP equipment essential for voice delivery – or have a back up analogue telephone option.
Before simply installing VOIP… take a step back and look at the larger communications picture in your single or multiple location company. You will see a number of Horizontal Communications paths:
ACCESS / BANDWIDTH
MAIL & GROUPWARE/FTP
IMS to provide
- CHAT (IM/Online Presence)
- Voice+ (SDP/SIP/etc.)
Presence… the users “online reachability”… is the empirical parameter.
Companies often DIY their email/IM/Voice systems & protection schema’s, but these exist as industry standard solutions today… Why not outsource that effort to an Industry leading Service Solution provider & then just focus on the business?
Your biggest challenge is actually to find a Hosted Service Provider who is already on the Convergence Path (there are VERY few)… A Service provider who offers “Presence” (user log on/reachability status) similar to the MSN/ICQ/AIM/YIM/Skype. A service provider who offers this, can
1) bill you appropriately for “online reachability” rather than the call-by-call (or monthly subscription) basis…
2) offer not just secured VOIP, but also IM/Mail/Video/Collaboration/etc. via SIP on an IMS infrastructure.
If you have day to day responsibility for the opertion of a multi-location VoIP network – there are some issues to be aware of.
1) It’s not as cheap as vendors want you to believe
2) Legacy equipment manufacturers do not have the best products and may not be the best solution. Remember the old adage about IBM from the 60’s…. “no one was ever fired for buying IBM”. Now it seems to be buying Cisco or Nortel kit is the “safe” option.
3) There is a support cost that older management types will not get or possibly understand. That the LAN just became extremely important in the overall comunication infrastructure. It isn’t just for e-mail anymore.
No matter your final decision….keep in mind that everyday is an adventure. Be careful – be wary and test, test and test again.
Is A VOIP Phone System the Right Choice for Your Business?
It’s important for business owners to fully comprehend their current phone system before making a decision regarding VOIP. Many businesses still using older phone system technology don’t realize how much they are actually spending on phone company charges and long distance charges. VOIP and VOIP hybrid PBX systems have been big news in recent years, but is this the right solution for your business?
Advantages of VOIP
With VOIP, telephone services are not dependent on the phone company’s copper wire network. Using a VOIP phone system, a company’s monthly long distance charges are significantly decreased. Not only are call charges reduced, but network management costs are also virtually eliminated. VOIP provides advanced calling features and allows company employees the opportunity to access the phone system while they are out of the office. Also, voicemail can be received by telephone or by a computer.
Disadvantages of VOIP
The largest concern for business owners with a pure VOIP system is instability. If the internet connection goes down or ‘hiccups,’ the phone system is also unavailable. Because the phone is the lifeline to most businesses, this sort of instability can be disastrous.
Advantages of a VOIP Hybrid PBX
VOIP hybrid PBX systems have emerged as the most popular choice among small, midsized, and large businesses. With a VOIP hybrid PBX, a company can utilize the IP network and avoid paying toll charges for voice communications with people all over the world.
However, unlike with pure VOIP systems, VOIP hybrid PBX systems allow businesses to utilize either the copper phone lines or the high speed internet to make and receive calls. Therefore, if the internet does become unavailable, phones are still operational.
Because of the mixed capabilities with VOIP hybrid PBX systems, companies save money on long distance charges and can set up remote employees with direct access to the company’s main phone systems as they would with a pure VOIP solution, while still enjoing the stability of the copper line system.
Access with VOIP Hybrid PBX
As with a VOIP system, the VOIP hybrid PBX permits employees to access the phone system with softphones. This allows employees access to telephone calls through the PBX system when they are out of the office. Outsourced remote employees or traveling employees can use softphones to listen to their voice mail and make calls through the internet and save money by avoiding analog based calls.
VOIP hybrid PBX systems utilize the internet for voice communications and therefore results in substantial costs savings inherent of a pure VOIP system. VOIP hybrid PBX phone systems offer the extra features of VOIP with the stability of copper.
Vonage Gets Rave Reviews
The clear pioneer of VoIP phone service is Vonage. When it started out VoIP was still a technology limited to technophiles and geeks. Not surprisingly, the first reviews Vonage received were less than flattering, to say the least. The initial subscribers complained that VoIP phones were lacking in voice quality. It was not long before Vonage phones improved and came to be accepted, helping the company to gather up one million subscribers.
For most Vonage subscribers the Vonage phones are found to be easy to install. All that is needed is to plug a phone cable and the broadband connection into the adapter box. Once this has been done and the adapter has connected to Vonage’s servers, the phone is ready to use. This user-friendly feature was integral to Vonage’s ability to convert many conventional phone users to their service.
Another issue is the price. Vonage phone users were initially happy with the low prices offered by Vonage, which compared quite favorably with the prices being charged by conventional telecom companies. In fact, simply moving from landline phones to VoIP-based Vonage phones slashed the phone bills of several subscribers in half.
However, Vonage’s prices do not compare quite so favorably with the prices of the newer entrants to the VoIP phone service market. While Vonage is still a market leader, it is beginning to feel younger, hungrier dogs nipping at its heels. Vonage’s subscribers want it to maintain the price advantage they’ve come to expect, but due to Vonage’s large subscriber base and rising overhead costs it is becoming increasingly it difficult to do so.
Vonage’s wisely counters this with the argument that it is providing better services than the smaller, newer entrants are. Wile its subscribers may feel that they will be better served if Vonage cuts its prices below the market level, they also accept the merit of this argument.
Vonage subscribers do not, however, any longer have complaints about the voice quality. Through innovation in the industry it is now comparable to the quality of conventional phones. Subscribers are also delighted with the added features Vonage offers such as caller id, call-waiting, call waiting disable function, distinctive ringing, repeat dialing, international call forwarding, return dial and three-way calling.
Vonage has won additional favorable reviews for including features like call blocking, call filtering, sequential ringing, secondary virtual phone numbers, additional service lines, toll-free numbers and Web-based management. Particularly welcomed is its number portability service. Thanks to this feature, users are able to retain their phone numbers even when they changed cities.
As a result of all these combined factors, the Vonage family continues to grow and grow.
