atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Why NOT to buy an IP system

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This was moved from a Private category to be shared with all who may be interested. Please try to keep your comments to the product and not bash the technical ability of those who work in either environment.
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Mr. prospective IP phone system buyer, how often do you have to reboot your Computer Based Network? What makes you think that your IP (Computer Based Network) phone system will be any different. How often must you upgrade your computer/network software? Again, what makes you think the IP (Computer Based Network) phone system will be any different?

Now, how many can come up with other 'like' negative questions?

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Due to the recession and resultant economic slowdown, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off until further notice.

While your comments are overall true, there really can be no denying now that VoIP is the future for our industry. Digital technology will be around for a long time still, but it will become what analog systems became 5-10 years ago.

Steve

I have pulled out at least 3 IP systems in the past two months, reasons,,, I had no idea it was going to cost us so much to stay on top of it not to mention the pipe I had to pay out the nose to run it. I shouldn't have listened to the IT manager.

Another reason was ,,,when my IT guy suggested we go VOIP he neglected to tell me we had to upgrade to a POE server and by the time it came to my attention he had already ordered and received the IP system.

I think the biggest problem here is not digital or IP ,it's the fact that they don't bring in a tel tech to get there opinion. As we all know the best system is one that will run digital and IP but these CEO's listen to the IT guy and often end up putting in total IP which can cost a fortune and be a nightmare when they have no idea what they are getting into before hand and the IT guy is way in over his head by then.

Here's one:

When the lights go out, so do the phones.

With analog, you always have a phone up;
With digital and PFT, you always have a phone up.

With IP, you are sitting in the dark trying to get a cell signal.

Here's another:

IP phone guys (i.e. phone guys who have trained on IP) are usually better at troubleshooting a TCP/IP network than the in-house IT guy.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to argue with an IT guy that his network was stopping an IP system from working. Either they close the UDP ports (call goes through and "nails up", but no talk path), or their routers are set to close ports when traffic goes above a preset point (i.e. when the NEC IPS DMR tries to do the second/verify download of its database from the main PBX) (see also "packetstorm"), or they've got a physical layer that stretches through the most remote building, bounces off of a radio link, and then comes back through a dozen choke-points...

FCGs....

Correct Telephoneguy; you nailed it.

IT guys can hardly handle basic port forwarding. Half of them have never heard of it, but most kids with a Xbox know how to do it.

25% of the so-called IT professionals at jobs we do installations at don't know a router from a switch and no, I am not kidding.

At one site at couple weeks ago we had a six-figure salary, every plaque on the wall, very proud IT gal decide to remove their Cisco router and stick their PCs directly on a public switch because she thought the router was 'causing problems.'

I actually had to explain to her what DHCP internal address were and what a router does, why she couldn't just removed it without replacing it with another router.

Management at this company thinks she is the most important person there. Not kidding.

We did a complex voice mail restoration there, billed them, and the vice president asked if there were paying for 'learning time' - did we really know what we were doing, it took a long time, etc. Hard pills to swallow.

We are getting kicked out because she told them to buy a ShoreTel system.

No hard feelings, but I mentioned all their wiring and network infrastructure is from the 80s and they will have issues and lots of unexpected costs. Her response - "we bought it because this system is IP and we need IP for SIP trunks". (Their current system handles SIP).

"IT Professionals" - the most over-hyped, over-paid bunch of wind bags out there. Yes, of course, many IT guys/gals know their stuff, but MOST do not. At least lowly phone guys typically have the knowledge necessary for their trade.

Unfortunately, the perception from the managers that make the decisions is that they are all knowing Gods and we are just the 'Phone guy." The guy that knows what color goes where but that is about it. Anyone can learn our trade in a week or two. Hell, in fact just give them the manual and they can do this kindergarten stuff themselves.

Well said noisycow!!

Dean, Dean, Dean...... I owe you a bunch of beerz.

Lots of people say they like IP phones because the user can unplug one and move it to another location and it still works the same. That is great when you need to move desks that usually requires help to move everything else anyways. When a phone breaks you can't borrow another one without reprogramming. A new phone out of box will require programming before it is usable. Another gripe of mine is you need expensive Cat 5 backbone with QOS, POE switches just to run a phone. Analog and digital are both capable of running on a single twisted pair.

A good, reliable vendor of a digital system will tend to point out options that you DON'T need, thus saving you $$$$, whereas CG's, IT's, etc will do the opposite. Or worse, NOT tell you what you're bound to need to get it working. In the meantime, you're either "SOL" without working phones or getting a huge unexpected invoice in the near future.