VoIP Telephones or Digital?

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Chick

This question comes up in virtually every conversation with prospective customers. Some people seem to think that VoIP (IP) telephones must be the way to go because they are the hot new item. Our view is that the choice of IP sets or digital depends on the specific set of requirements a potential customer has and the communications issues that need to be addressed with the implementation of a new communications system.

Great applications for IP phones include integrating employees who frequently work from a home to the office system. Giving remote employees an IP phone makes them an extension off of the office phone system - making it easier for co workers and customers to reach them and eliminating the need for a home “business” line from the phone company. This often also leads to a reduction in cell phone charges. IP phones are also well suited for people who are highly mobile. The Samsung OfficeServ systems offer apps that include softphones, which is simply software that transforms a PC into an IP phone; and pocket size wireless IP handsets. The nice thing about both these devices is they can work off a WIFI connection – providing the flexibility to be an extension off the office phone from virtually anywhere.

There is one other application to discuss, and this absolutely requires an IP phone. In environments such as real estate offices and car dealership, multiple people often share the same physical telephone. IP phones support a feature referred to as either hotelling or hot desking. This feature gives multiple users the ability to log into a phone by entering a unique code, and make that shared phone their personal extension number for as long as they will be occupying that workstation.This feature is also very useful in offices where people move around frequently – the extension number remains the same no matter where somebody sits and the move was made without having to pay for a phone technician.

If your specific communications requirements don’t need the VoIP applications presented, then digital telephone sets would be our strong recommendation. In my view, there is simply no compelling reason to purchase IP telephones for the office where the phone system is to be installed. IP phones cost more, offer no additional benefits relative to digital sets and are in no way required for enhanced applications such as unified messaging or computer telephony integration (CTI). Implementation of digital sets also allows the reuse of existing telephone wiring, which can represent a huge cost savings. IP sets require computer wiring and need to run over either the existing network or a new network cabling infrastructure for voice. The first of these two alternatives will require an assessment to determine if the existing network will handle the additional load of voice traffic and the installation of managed switches (in most cases) to prioritize the voice packets, while the second means dealing with the expense of rewiring.

We have been helping people determine the right way to deploy IP sets for over seven years. The approach we continue to take is to make recommendations based upon the specific set of requirements which need to be addressed. We never want to put our customers in the position of making hi tech, why tech.

SIP Trunking

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Chick

In our last posting, we discussed a non profit organization that deployed SIP trunks as an inexpensive means of utiliizing D.I.D. SIP was a perfect solution in this case - the end user got big company capability without resorting to the expense of a T1/PRI circuit. But what about the business case for SIP trunking in general as a replacement for either analog phone lines or T1/PRI circuits?

The answer is: it depends. In my view, the key criteria for even considering SIP trunking as an alternative is the availability of a broad band connection such as Comcast or Verizon FIOS at your office. I would not even consider it if the only options for internet access are a data T1 (for cost reasons) or a DSL line (just a poor medium for any VoIP application). An internet connection is just one component of what is required to implement SIP trunking – the other is the monthly service cost from an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP), commonly referred to as a SIP phone company. ITSP’s are companies that put voice over internet connections, and they typically charge about $12.00 per month per SIP trunk for unlimited local calling and approxiamtely $30.00 per month per line for unlimited local and long distance calling. So much for the common misconception that SIP trunking is free because it’s over the internet.

Let’s do some simple math for an office needing 10 phones lines – $120-300.00 per month for the SIP service plus $300.00 per month for a data T1 as the internet connection. SIP in this scenario will cost between $420.00 and $600.00 per month. A PRI line for voice communications is a much better deal in this example, and the relative value of a PRI will increase as the number of phones lines increase. PRI’s from quality service providers such as Paetec or Comcast typically average about $500.00 per month for 23 lines.

Now, the value dynamics of SIP trunking change dramatically if either FIOS or Comcast is available. The monthly cost for a high speed internet connection for SIP trunks from either of these companies is well less than $100.00, and can make SIP trunking worth considering from a cost perspective. It is important to note; however, that for offices of 10 lines or less, full featured analog phone lines with unlimited calling are available for about $25.00 per month.

SIP trunking does offer a couple of functional benefit besides the potential for reducing monthly telephone bills. The first is that SIP is the most viable option for a small office that needs only a limited number of D.I.D. lines, such as the non profit we discussed in our first posting. The other big benefit is that SIP trunking allows you to have a phone number from any area code or exchange ring into your office, and can do so with any remote call forwarding or foreign exchange charges. This is a perfect application for organizations that wish to provide a multi location presence from a marketing perspective, but in fact have only one physical location.

Power 3 Communications serves as an ongoing resource for our customers by providing this type of information and analysis on an ongoing basis. The Samsung OfficeServ 7000 series converged communications system we distribute provide the flexibilty necessary to allow any office to select the type of phone line - SIP, PRI or analog – that best addresses their specific requirements.

Chick Chickering

Direct Inward Dialing (DID)

Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin

One of the features requested by many small to medium size organizations is Direct Inward Dialing, or DID as it is commonly referred to. DID allows everyone in the office to have a dedicated phone number that rings directly to their extension without having to have individual phone lines. The traditional means of acquiring this feature was to have a T1 line (which supports up to 24 phone lines) from a phone company and a T1 card for the phone system. T1 lines are not generally a good choice for a small office as the monthly fee is quite expensive.

Case Study

A small non-profit on the North Shore wanted a new telephone system that included DID numbers for eight staff numbers so they could be directly accessible to the people they serve. They needed 12 phones in total and could not justify the monthly expense for a T1 line. The solution we provided was to install a Samsung OfficeServ 7100 converged communications platform equipped with just four SIP trunks for the DID application. SIP trunking is a Voice over IP application that gives Internet Telephony Solutions Providers the ability to offer access to the public telephone network over a broadband internet connection such as Comcast or FIOS – no T1 line needed! We coupled these four SIP trunks with four basic analog phone lines for calls to their main number – resulting in a fully integrated and cost effective solution for our customer.