Is VoIP Suitable For Your Business?

Loss of internet connectivity or power failure resulting in a loss of phones is the only downside of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).Call quality is not - if you've got poor call quality or experience call quality issues your system has been poorly configured and you should get an expert in to configure it properly. There are no excuses for poor quality and no reason it needs to exist.Call quality over a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) line should be identical to a PSTN line if you're using G711 codecs as this is the identical codec in other words used in the TDM world. If you're using a wideband codec just as G722 you'll experience call quality that's vastly superior to a regular landline call.

The fixed phone will be replaced

I'm afraid VoIP will never be popular enough previously the fixed phone will be replaced by mobile phones. The innovation is there and it depends on each country's carriers how it will happen. Telco sector is known for hanging on old revenue models forever.No configuration, no wires, no power outage issues, goes wherever you want to go.Here even the call pricing is more favourable to the mobile phones. So there's no reason why mobile calls couldn't be cheaper than fixed calls.

Been Using VOIP at my company exclusively for telephones for over 3 years nevertheless. I am using an asterisk server, and Grandstream handsets, plenty of QOS in the system and a decent ISP.I can honestly say since we got over the initial hiccups it has been a flawless service. And lets not forget the cost savings......

The issue - as a research it's the way forward

VoIP is not the issue - as a research it's the way forward. As users demand a more feature-rich environment and integration, traditional voice access methods will falter. The issue is the way that it is being delivered by the majority of suppliers: in the form of SIP trunks. Most SIP trunk service providers will sell you voice channels which your phone system can access via an internet connection, which in many cases has no QoS guarantees, so you're going to experience service issues from place to place. Regardless of the codec you might use to ship the data, VoIP is predominantly latency sensitive, and when you hit the public network, you can kiss your ping goodbye.. This as well means you're potentially going through two service providers should the contingency arise to a PABX, meaning everyone can point the finger at everyone else when it breaks. Moreover, once the call hits the SIP provider, it's being handed over to the PSTN networks all the same, so all the most powerful features of SIP to SIP calls become redundant. That said, "true" SIP trunks will become the norm as time goes by, providing an IP native, dedicated circuit, from the CPE to the service providers core network, excluding the public internet completely. I know one service provider is publicly marketing it, and another which will sell it to you if you ask nicely. The issue here is, this isn't what many SME operators are looking to buy.. Most people I speak with want "Skype" or something very similar. They want free calling, and international DDI's. It's probably never going to happen, not in the way they want it to anyhow.. It's a conundrum: Telco's and Clients have very different perceptions of what VoIP is, and no-one's as a matter of fact talking about it...........I don't have a solution for that I'm afraid...When all is said and done, VoIP is suitable for business use, and provides the same or better quality as legacy access methods. It's feature-rich, scalable and cost effective, and even lowers the cost of deploying a new PABX, but - Caveat Emptor.. Know what you're buying, and if it requires you to install or use an internet connection, think twice.. Nuff said previously I get called a fanboy.=P

if your VoIP call quality is dropping occasionally at once there are evidently some issues you need to look into. If it is because you are downloading files at that time then you actually need to look at some QOS settings to prioritise VoIP so you don't get the drop in call quality.

@victim"To boot, once the call hits the SIP provider, it's being handed over to the PSTN networks in any case, so all the most powerful features of SIP to SIP calls become redundant. "This is not in every way true any longer.During a large majority of traffic from your VoIP provider to other calls will have to transverse the PSTN, IP peering/interconnects between VoIP provider is something that is however reality, both here in NZ, and overseas.This means that calls that originate and terminate on VoIP equipment on these interconnected networks will never transverse the PSTN, and offers full support for a wide variety of codecs that are negotiated by the endpoints, whether they be G.711, wideband G.722 or video codecs just as H.264

The world of VoIP is very interesting

The world of VoIP is very interesting. For a business you have to approach it the same way you world for a traditional phone system.You have to take into account power, access circuits and quality.Your VoIP system should be on a UPS just like your Analogue/ISDN system. A power cut will take both systems down.Your access circuit needs to be controlled and provisioned to handle the calls required. This could be a set of ISDN channels or a internet connection and SIP lines.The quality of the lines is very important. That can be one of the bigger sellers for VoIP as when it is setup correctly it is often better quality at the time a Analogue system and using G.722 can be much better next even an ISDN.The most often let down I have seen with VoIP systems is substandard hardware. People who go out and buy a $80 phone and at that time blame the VoIP service when it sounds crap.As with any PABX/Voice system I suggest that you do some testing and use some sample phones previously you take the plunge.It is people who jump in half-cocked with untested systems on standard DSL connections shared with the whole office that have problems.A VoIP system will not always save you money, and if in other words your only aim so then you will end up with a substandard system in some way or another.

Is VoIP Suitable For Your Business?The short answer to that question is Yes. As well I would expand on the question as to what do you specifically mean when you refer to VOIP. There are many many forms of VOIP systems eg a basic broadband connection just as naked DSL with an analogue phone line or to something like a 1000+ users on a Cisco IPtel nationwide solution. The Telco company i work for we deliver those types of products as then as everything inbetween. I am currently involved with many VOIP systems including SIP connect trunks where we are about to deliver 120 voice channels over a single sip connect. In the TDM world many of you would understand that if we were talking Primary rates this would be the same as delivering 4 x 30 channel Primary Rates. Most of our VOIP we deliver uses the SIP protocol for the simple reasons a lot more hardware around the world is SIP ready, there are a lot more applications that will accept SIP.The problem with PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange)'s regardless of whether they are TDM based or VOIP capable is the limitations you have on voice channels. A 30 channel PRI will be much the same as a 30 channel SIP Connect, only 30 calls can be made at any one time.But when you start talking about an IP Centrex type product, there is no PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange) required, virtually no limitations on channels or calls being made, each user has their own individual VOIP phone. Our company has such a product with a web GUI interface where you can log onto from anywhere in the world and have your phone answer calls to wherever you like. You can click on an option and have your calls ringing on your home phone, your mobile, your work phone, virtually anywhere you like. A VOIP system like this can start with 2 users up to as many as you like.The problem i find with VOIP is the products are evolving at a great rate of knots and its difficult to keep up, what is very disappointing from my point of view is that we have limited resources to fix a problem in the " IP Cloud ", its is so much more difficult to locate and especially to have the experienced people with the necessary skills to deal with it.