Originally posted by dw:
It is funny to hear techs talk so bad about Voip, either they haven't dealt with it, they don't want to learn it or they don't understand it or they just don't know how to do it.
I really don't understand why this becomes such a hot button issue. Why do some people think you're old & stupid if you don't see how great VoIP is?
I'm 36 years old and and started my own interconnect when I turned 21. I have a degree in General Electronics and a degree in Computer Engineering Technology. Telecommunications is my business but I can hang fairly well with the computer guys.
I have tried VoIP, experimented with it and implemented it. It is good for some things such as connecting remote offices through a private network.
But, I think what me and the rest of the old farts have a problem with are:
1) More than likely you have to upgrade your network infrastructure to begin with. Cabling, Routers, POE Switches $$$
2) Reliability. All of your eggs are in one basket. If the network dies, so do your phones.
3) Quality. After years of working on TDM, you develop a ear for call quailty. All of the VoIP products I have seen have a slight echo and sometimes a really bad sound due to compression or limited bandwidth. It can be lived with but, when you're use to better quailty sound, it is hard to go backward.
4) Lack of Certain Features. A different server for MOH? Paging?
5) Most of all, no one has ever told me of the advantage of VoIP. Several have tried, but I don't see the real value to spending 2-3 times more on a VoIP system.
I understand the economics of sending calls over an IP pipe between offices. But, I do not understand why it would be better to spend the money to upgrade your cabling, then your routers, then your switches just to get READY for a VoIP system. Especially, when I have TDM switches that have been running for 15 years.
Please don't tell Ed I borrowed his soapbox without asking.
