atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Where to go from here?

I haven't put in a key system for ten years or more.

Basically now I install: Voice, Data, Intercom, Nurse Call, Fire Alarm, Security, Paging, Audio/Visual, Controls.

Things like: Data Centers (Google/Amazon, et cetera), IT Rooms, Distributed Antenna Systems, HVAC controls, REX, Door Mags, Sound Masking, Intel D1X, Installing AP's Public Schools...

All those things need cabling.

At 62 I need to keep up with the new kids... or I should say the new kids have to keep up with me!

One good solar flare that takes out all microprocessors and we'll be back to using 1A2 and driving antique cars.

Are you thinking EMP Merritt?

In that case string and two tin cans for a call... or string and three cans for a conference call.

Given enough string and tin cans and we can re-create the World-Wide Web. -minus the pop-up ads. (I hope)

OP: Keep up your IT certifications while expanding. Once it's earned, it's a shame to lose.

I'm going to chime in with my own experience. In the Washington, DC market, key and PBX system sales are still strong. Hosted IP is practically non-existent except on the very small end. I'm guessing that this is largely due to the federal government presence here and they wouldn't dare commit to anything like that.

I also work in the Virginia Beach metro area, which is a completely different business demographic. I will say that the hosted IP market is bigger there, but we also spend a lot of time taking hosted out and replacing it with a key system. I'm doing another one this Thursday.

What I'm seeing is that customers fall for marketing buzzwords with regard to communications. If it's something that they've never seen or heard of, then they figure that they must have it. Hey, this happened in the 70s when AT&T started a new version of 1A2 called ComKey. Same product, same basic operation, but that magic woodgrain faceplate and amber flash/recall button had everyone hooked. The local telcos made zillions for a bunch of nothing. Once everyone else came up with woodgrain faceplates and amber flash buttons, the thrill was gone and the competition resumed to a normal state. Then something else came along, again, and again, and again.

Just like when everyone had to have a 4X4 SUV when they became affordable. Or when everyone had to have a satellite dish. Or when everyone had to buy a hybrid car. Or an iPhone. Let's not forget the H2 Hummer. Or whatever...

Huge operations are continuing to plug along with their own IP networks and that's appropriate. Nobody can deny that they have the flexibility to allow even the dumbest of the dumb to administer them. It's all point and click, so anyone can do it, right? No, I'm serious. Once an IP voice network is built, it doesn't take much in the intelligence department to run it.

Most small businesses (60% of the market) don't need VoIP and can't justify the long-term costs and commitments of hosted. Those who do fall for the hosted show soon realize that this isn't the right fit for them. Fortunately, most hosted providers in Virginia offer an exit clause. I'm guessing that this is a 30-day legal thing. I'm seeing more customers take the out. Simple things like hold buttons and intercom are staples that the small operations need. I'm also encountering new system sales opportunities where the customer implicitly states that they do NOT want a proposal for VoIP.

Since I'm seeing so much business going both ways lately, I'm giving it a few more years. As others have suggested, my advice is that you keep one foot in both doors and let the industry's never-ending vulnerability guide you. The technician who is proficient on both sides of the fence is going to become quite invaluable as the older technicians retire. People may think that traditional telecom is gone, but that's not the case in the near future. Thankfully, nothing happens overnight.

In the Boston metropolitan area, the situation is different from what Ed sees in DC/VA. Boston & Cambridge are home to many colleges and large national & international corporations, thus, VoIP has a commanding presence here. Towards the end of my time @ Global Crossing/Level(3), we were installing far more Gig-E along with routers than T1s & DS3s.

Over 30 years of key and PBX undr my belt. The 81c and 61c that I maintained for a dozen years are gone. I now maintain 3 SBCs and 500 ports of analog to SIP gateways. We are in the process of phasing out our ISDN\PRIs in favor of SIP trunks. Once you understand the mechanism of how registrars work and the nomenclature used by each vendor to describe their related functions it becomes pretty easy. The data geeks that I work with are terrified of anything to do with dialtone or transcoding and forget installing an analog port on campus. For that they call out "Gandalf the Grey" (me). They are more concerned with packets not their contents. There are niches out there and I will second EV607797s opinion that more than a few SMBs are moving back to IP enabled TDM key hybrids. A Net+ or similar certification coupled with an Alta3 SIP certification will take you futher than the stack of TIE\Toshiba\Comdial\Nortel\Etc.... certifications that are yellowing in my attic.

Well, I've thought over the input form everyone here. I've also done some observing here in St. Louis on my own. I am seeing very small hosted systems in very small companies with a small handful of employees. But I am also seeing just as many, if not more, new IP enabled traditional systems. NEC, Toshiba, Mitel, and Vertical in particular seem to be popping up all over (and ShoreTel too). I've also noticed a few companies that had gone to new, all IP systems dumping them in favor of equipment from traditional vendors. A local grocery store chain that dumped their NEC and Tie equipment for Cisco a decade ago is back to using Avaya systems (maybe that's a bad example given the latest with Avaya). It's a changing market, but not done. I also realize that as these traditional systems start to incorporate IP phones and trunks, my IT knowledge won't go to waste. I think it's worth making a go of it.

All that said, I found out the university I went to retired its Fujitsu 9600 for a hosted system. Kind of surprised me that a hosted solution replaced such a large system. Either way, I think I can find my place in a telecom career.

Well the F9600 has been orphaned for years with no upgrades and limited service opportunities, so I'm not surprised that they changed. That they went hosted....well it's like going CO Centrex, isn't it?


Sam

It's just like Centrex.....until you have Internet problems. And that happened all the time.....granted, that was 10 years ago.

And again that's a bad example. I think there is definitely still a market and hopefully room for me in it.

Here, in Western PA, all the IT weenies are pushing VoIP and Cloud.
Of course, SIP is making inroads as well. The problem is that most of these companies DO NOT need VOIP, Cloud and SIP. A traditional digital system, either Key or PBX often, provides more features and is a magnitude greater in reliability than the LAN based systems. The main reason is people in Western PA are extremely provincial. They will purchase this "Whizz Bang" VoIP, Cloud, SIP abortion and NOT upgrade their LAN wiring or switches. Many times we walk in and find a few hundred POE power supplies connected to VoIP phones instead of the POE coming from the switches.

We, on average, remove VoIP, Cloud, SIP systems at a rate of 2 a month. In 2016 we removed 30 and replaced them with traditional digital systems WITH the option to go VoIP if they ever want to do that. Our ESI systems come as VoIP ready, so we, occasionally, will install a system and find that a few areas have network but no phone cabling. In those instances, we will use VoIP.

As I have stated before, I would be cautious about Cloud and SIP only because no one knows what is going to happen with Net Neutrality. If the government gets into the taxing of data usage, the advantage of VoIP, Cloud and SIP may vanish or become less attractive. Beside that issue, I have not, as yet, seen a VoIP, Cloud, SIP system with more features and reliability than that of a traditional digital system.

As far as SIP is concerned, the most ratty and poorest quality voice is on SIP. Sorry, but that is THE main reason people call us and want their "High Tech VoIP, SIP" system yanked and replaced with something that they can "Hear The Caller Clearly."

Rcaman