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IP telephony, VoIP, SIP

Should I install VoIP

This page is dedicated to IP Telephony , VoIP and SIP - we should really re-name it VoIP explained.

Many small business owners now ask themselves the question, should I install VoIP? What can IP telephony do for me? Am I being sold it rather than understanding the whole thing and buying into the real benefits of VoIP?

We visit many small to medium sized businesses (5 to 150 users) and we are constantly amazed about how many business owners tell us that they want an IP system or they want IP or VoIP. Some say, we want the latest technology - we can understand this as today's technology gets overtaken at the most alarming rates and business owners are normally torn between being sensible and keeping up to date. Quite often the customer has been visited by a telephone system salesman or even an IT salesman who is 100 times more interested in the order, his sales figures, and what his sales manager or peers might think about him at the end of the month than the customer's best interests.

However, from our point of view, there are several  things to consider.

VoIP considerations

The first thing is that , in terms of critical voice applications such as telephone systems the more it has to do with IT or technology, the more support will be required and the more prone it is to technical problems and frailties. This is due to the small business being so reliant on IT and often not spending enough on IT and IT support, sometimes, the fewer critical parts of their business that are connected to the IT systems the better (it all works OK in the Lab or until something goes wrong doesn't it?)  Plus, how regularly do businesses have to update  parts of their IT systems  to keep other parts working?

This is not to say that an IP telephone system connected using IP is bad - this is not the case as we have proved on many ocassions with our customers. However, the point here is that most businesses do not fully understand their options and if they go the IP Telephony route, they are often misguided, misinformed and prone to making an ill-informed decision.

The second thing is this - most businesses already have their office voice and data cabling, eg Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, in place. Therefore the argument for having IP phones everywhere so you only need one socket per desk is often ridiculous (unless a customer is moving into large offices and they can save 40% on cabling costs by having 40% less outlets - sockets to you and me).

For everyone else, the argument for IP Telephony could be a complete waste of time and money. which is being fuelled by the media, the marketplace, manufacturers, sales people - this list is endless.

IP Phones

If businesses deploy IP phones in their offices, they need to know the reality:
 
1. they may need local power supplies - dreadful for the environment and their office electricity bill. and potentially a big drain on their office consumer unit - do they have enough mains sockets???
 
2. If they dont use local power, they will need POE switches. For those of you not up on this, with 'normal digital or analogue telephones', they dont  need power as a very small amount of power is driven down the wire  (cable) to the phone extension from the telephone system.  With IP phones, this does not happen. Therefore, a computer hub (actually we call them network LAN switches these days) has to have the ability to drive each port with electricity  - Power over Ethernet - POE. This can be expensive to provide these switches and even more so if the business has upgraded to Gb or Gigabit Ethernet, meaning their network runs at 1000Mb rather than just 100Mb, as the business will need to buy switches that satisy both POE and Gb (expensive stuff).

Note also if they have a busy network, there may need to be switch configuration so that certain parameters are put in place (VLan/ Qsig/PPP) - note anyone installing separate switches for voice and data due to this has completely misunderstood the idea of IP Telephony and may as well have installed digital telephones (some people may argue with this point)!!

When to install VoIP

Anyone needing phones in locations where it is costly (or impossible) to run cables, then IP Telephony is an excellent option - ie warehouses, schools, home or remote workers.

Furthermore, using VoIP to link offices that are distant to one another is of course a naturally obvious thing to do. This will enable free calls between offices.

Also, there is an argument that having only one network to manage (ie just data using IP, not voice and data) will be cheaper and that any potential links from the telephone system to the computer database for dialling from PC's and screen popping may not be required - this remains to be seen in each individual case.

Also, we have not covered VoIP on the 'lines' side - this is another topic all together and we urge our customers and potential customers to take advice on new telephone systems before making a decision!!

SIP

SIP is an emerging technology and uses Voice over IP technology. A few businesses have had SIP installed that we know of. The majority of them have had major problems.

The most important two factors with SIP are connectivity and manufacturer testing and approval.

SIP will work well if you have the correct broadband connectivity installed with the correct router and also if the SIP provider you have selected has had testing and approval from the manufacturer of the telephone system you have connected. If either of these two factors are ignored, you will be disappointed.

Is SIP or VoIP cheaper?

Despite common myths or common approaches from sales people, SIP may not save you money. If you are installing SIP as you think it is cheaper than ISDN, you are probably mistaken. It may be cheaper at first glance. But once you ensure you have the correct internet connection and router, SIP may not be cheaper. This is probably also the case with hosted solutions or Hosted PBX's.

SIP is an excellent disaster recovery solution and if you are moving telephone exchanges and you have to keep your telephone number, SIP is a very good option. Or if you want 'out of area telephone numbers' or even International numbers to ring on your telephone system, SIP is definitely worth considering if installed correctly.

SIP may replace ISDN in the fullness of time and the rolling out of BT's faster 21CN network may help.

We suggest you talk to us!

Hosted IP Telephony or Hosted PBX's

Hosted telephone systems are slowly becoming more popular. However, a hosted system is not right for everyone.

Instead of traditional ISDN telephone lines, the service is delivered through an internet connection. For small businesses broadband can be used or sometime multiple broadband connections. For larger businesses SDSL may be used or a leased line. the 'telephone system' that controls everything is based back in the internet 'cloud'.

For large retail companies or large enterprises, hosted can work out very well. Also, businesses that may only require a system for a short period or where their requirements increase and decrease frequently, hosted systems can be advantageous as they are more felxible as you can increase and decrease your requirements quite easily.

If a business is considering a hosted PBX, they should get references from satisfied customers.

Note also that, despite claims, you can normally tell a hosted system from a more traditional system from the sound quality. Whilst quality may be acceptable, in our experience (we have hosted customers), the quality is not comparable.

We have been involved with a company called Inclarity recently. Inclarity were one of the first Hosted Telephony suppliers to enter the market. Indeed, Inclarity now claim they are the first Hosted Provider to turn profitable!! This is as of March 2009.

If you are interested in Hosted IP Telephony and want to know more about it, please speak to us or fill in our enquiry form - or e-mail us of course!

VoIP Explained

Hopefuly you feel as if you have had VoIP explained a little. If you would like some further impartial advice on new telephone systems, please get in touch - visit@connectwork.co.uk.