atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Is VoIP an attempt to steal phone tech work?

I have used * for a number of years. I have seen its issues with vm problems, tx/rx issues and other oddities. In the begginging I was excited to have the idea of selling this or anything voip but again the system needs to be nearly 100% reliable to keep my reputation. I have yet to upgrade to a newer version or the telephony cards. Now I dont think traditionally telephony systems will just disapear. We still have alot in customers installing just the telephone lines only and rarely see voip except perhaps avaya. I think both can coixist and both have there purpous.

I have my own * box and have done my share of voip telecommuting to my box and called out my telus line. It was cool that I did not have to deal with long distance roaming charges but still voip with wifi is extreemly restricted and impossible to use when constantly traveling. Both have there place and I dont think traditional pbxs will disapear.

One thing I keep seeing in these posts about VoIP is the reliability of traditional phone service, which isn't there with VoIP. Now I don't have experience with VoIP, so I can't speak to that directly in any manner. I do have experience with our local phone service, which is anything but 100% reliable. And I certainly can complain about the call quality, which, with the recurring static and hum on our lines, is a real issue.

I'll grant you that a significant portion of our problems are related to the crappy old infrastructure in my area, but its not like the LEC will actually address these issues in any meaningful way. I've had countless vendor meets, meetings with the area cable supervisor, and some interesting conversations with Verizon's customer advocacy group.

The point of all this is this question:

Given the relative lack of call quality and number of service issues I've encountered with my traditional phone service, will I really see that much of a drop if we were using VoIP service? I mean, at this point I'm asking myself if it can really get worse than it is now. Assuming a solid network infrastructure (I can make that happen), what kinds of issues would I face in a VoIP implementation?

I am asking as I will be making a decision to replace our current phone equipment (ROLM 9751 Mod 10) and service in the upcoming months. And, yes, I do realize that the right installer is key to making any system installation successful or not. It is worth mentioning that I (network admin) will be required to do the MAC work on any system we install and will be trained to do as much.

Sorry if I'm drifting from the original topic. Bill if you want to move this to the VoIP forum or elsewhere, put it wherever you see fit.

Can't move just a post, but I think it fits with the quality issue. The infrastructure is beyond your control. My understanding of the reliability comments are the system itself as far as up time goes. Like you I'm not experienced in VOIP so if my thoughts are wrong someone will correct me.

Steve:

You have very valid points. A phone system is only as good as the infrastructure that serves it. Regardless of whether it's traditional copper, T1/PRI or variations of IP, if the infrastructure that delivers these services is unreliable, then no amount of equipment is going to correct it.

Sure, you can buy a car that will go 0-120 in ten seconds, but if you have nowhere you can (legally) drive it, then what's the point in having it?

VOIP has its place in today's telecommunications marketplace. There's no doubt about that point. The issue of placing the proverbial "eggs in one basket" is where the real thinking must come into play. Everyone hears "our servers are down" with regard to computers. They also hear "I have a bad cell signal where I am right now". People have become somewhat tolerant of these issues.

At the same time, these very same issues that are very commonplace with IP systems are starting to become accepted as the norm. That's just not right. I don't care what kind of operation any business is, their phones are and always will be their lifeline. The phones being down periodically and unexplicably, or monthly software patches and updates isn't acceptable in this day and age. Telephone companies strived for decades to maintain 99.999% uptime and that's the way that it should be.

Talk about drifting off-topic!

Steve,
The best answer is that you're probably in line for a solution that can give you the best of both worlds, a hybrid application. TDM is not going to go away because it makes too much sense for the majority of users today. In house, digital sets, utilizing your existing voice cabling. Why abandon that investment? If you have multiple sites, VOIP can be a great way to tie them together for easy dialing access and to save toll charges. To me it's foolish to allow the remote sites to rely completely on VOIP because of the countless issues that can render it unusable, so I recommend building them to stand alone, but enhance it with VOIP. For remote workers, VOIP can be a great application, with analog lines or cell phones as a ready fail over solution. As I stated way back towards the beginning of this thread, we have to see where ALL new technology fits in with what we do and what our client is trying to accomplish. It's our job to determine what works and what doesn't and advise accordingly.
As for the telco infrastructure issues, now is a good time to start evaluating carriers to see who has the best service, reputation, etc. And if Verizon has crappy facilities in your area, get the PUC involved.

Thanks guys. We are planning an office move to a relatively new area, so I'm looking forward to better facilities at that point. Fortunately we'll be consolidating the two offices that are in older areas where we've had the worst service issues. I will say that in the areas where we have new infrastructure we haven't experienced nearly the number of issues that we've seen in our older locations.

Kevhawk, that's just the approach I am considering for our new service. We have 14 locations on a private WAN (full mesh) that I was hoping to use for the interoffice communications via VoIP. I would continue the local service as PRI's or individual lines (for the smaller offices) via the LEC or CLEC. Voicemail would be centralized at the new hub location. Smaller versions of whatever phone system we select would be used at the remote sites and possibly VoIP access for home users.

When we reach implentation I'll start a new thread describing our experiences and what I've learned from the process. Right now I'm in the process of developing requirements for an RFP for the new system.

Telephone companies strived for decades to maintain 99.999% uptime and that's the way that it should be.

Remember that old Sprint (I think) TV commercial with the pin dropping. "Voice clarity so clear you can hear a pin drop". What happened? With VoIP and cell phones you are lucky to hear the other person. Looks like striving for the best quality and marketing it has been replaced by who can provide some kind of service at the cheapest price.

Like Ed said, it just ain't right.

-Hal

Hal, they've been replaced by the guy in the Verizon Wireless commercials who asks "Can you hear me now?".

point made to me by someone while discussing VoIP (heatedly)

"In an office, phones go out, folks can still work on their computers. Computers go out, they can still do business with telephones, using paper and pencil. If the computers ARE the phone switch, both go out, folks are in suspense, and everybody looks to go home early."

Sooooooo, Steve. Shall I be expecting your call in the near future? :dance: