VOIP... Do you like it or not at all

[fearless13]

I am the network admin at my workplace (you know, employed as a programmer but maintain the network and just get paid in insults).

I have just been informed that we will be getting VOIP in the next 6 weeks (Like it will happen in that timeframe). And I was wondering if anyone else out there has had any experiance with it (wether managing or end user).

[scathing]

I've only had end-user experience with Cisco IP phones, and since not all the features were fully implemented I didn't see the big deal over your standard PBX. I used to think it was cool because of the newness, but now I'm hard pressed to think of a persuasive reason to replace existing infrastructure with it. If you're setting up a new site then it might "future proof", since everything is going IP, but I can't see a reason for ripping out something that's already there and working for it.

If you're going to do the full integration with your data infrastructure (with Exchange etc) then I suppose its got some funky features. Otherwise, its a phone.

I suppose it means that, on the lower levels, you've got less to worry about. Finding people who know TCP/IP is far easier than the various telephone protocols, so finding people to set up and administer is a bit easier. I've worked for large companies who haven't been able to "internal dial" across different sites, but their data network has been VPN'ed etc.

[Drakin]

It's a fucking nightmare!

Remember to install tin cans and string as back up!

[fearless13]

Main reason for the switch is cost. Seems we will halve our expenditure on net and phone access.

Tin cans aren't really needed (small office, usually we don't use the phones to talk to someone in the office, we just yell).

I am guessing we will be able to setup voice mail boxes etc (we could do that with out current system if we had more than the 38 page quick reference guide). But I am expecting this to be not so much a nightmare (as I won't be able to sleep) but more of a s**t fight.

[wolfpac181]

Working on a project for work using a VPOP for innoculating voice T1's for ISP's.

looks promising. just having a snag on getting a huntgroup # to bind to a class C. gotta find more info.

[astro]

I've worked on a number of VOIP sites as a PABX engineer. VOIP is fantastic from the point of view that it gets managers and bean-counters hard in the pants region because it sounds cool and new and whatever. There are a number of cool features that VOIP allows, for example: one of my old customers had a main site where their phone system was located, and 7 satellite sites with around 10 IP phones in each, and they fed via VOIP back to the main switch. They only needed one phone system instead of eight, which helped them keep their costs down.

Unfortunately, as an ex-data type person, I find the whole thing pretty dangerous. With a dedicated phone system, Quality of service is quite easy to guarantee as there are dedicated cables for each phone, etc. When you start bringing VOIP into the equation, you may save a crapload of money on the phone system, but you'll end up spending more than the difference on new routers and fatter connections so that you can guarantee a level of service for your users. Most of the sites that i've worked at suffered from massive network congestion after implementing VOIP solutions.

Best sort of thing that i've seen is where the system is half and half. Anything inside the building is run with a dedicated phone system, and VOIP only comes into play when someone wants to VPN in from home and make calls as if they were on site (Remote teleworkers).

So, in essence, Good luck - working with VOIP can be a bastard.

p.s. - Just out of curiosity, who's the company that's putting this in for you?

[fearless13]

The company we are looking at is requestbusiness.

We only have 6 or so people in the office (sortof fluctuates) and we will have a 1.5mb net connection (which will be cheaper through these guys than our last isp) so I don't think network conjestion will be an issue.

Along these lines though when we make a phone call if the internet is conjested between our end and the other end (ie not between us and our isp but between the isp and the other end) does this effect our quality. What if say the pipe between Australia and the US is packed, does that mean our international calls just won't work???

[brotherkrusty]

I work for an outsourcer and we have implemented both Cisco and Nortel VoIP system at different sites in Australia.

The only real advantage I have seen with VoIP is long distance call savings. Sydney to Melbourne across one of our big pipes is great, no more STD calls. The Global address book within the phone is cool too.

I am worried about outbreaks of slammer like worms targeting VoIP ports. Could seriously effect business if no one can understand a single thing anyone says.

Softphones using a laptop and headsets from home are pretty crap. An experiment we did with one had a 10 second delay. Thats the major drawback if the network is slow. Don't even think of trying to get VoIP to work through a firewall

[scathing]

I've tried to use the "softphone" functionality in ICQ and MSN Messenger.

If both people are behind routers, don't bother. It won't connect (like most direct connections). As long as your call receiver has a real-world IP, it'll work, though.

However, Yahoo! Messenger managed to do it properly with both people behind routers.


Anyway, my point is that when I gave these soft phones a go (and I was using them OS, with video functionality) it was good quality. After the connection delays, the actual usage wasn't the "interview via satellite" lag you see on current affairs shows. People were always audible and any incomprehensibility came from their content, not from the sound. :D

The video would go choppy occasionally, but that's about it.

Mind you, I am on a cable connection and the recipient is on a DSL link, and we were both the only users at the time. If you had to share the bandwidth, I don't know how bad it'd be. I assume that voice only would be fine, though.

[DrDivad]

proper port forwarding typically solves the router problem

[KrisEz]

or even Windows Port Forwarding, nestled away with all the other USEFUL features of this accursed XP


(go to ctrl panel, add remove programs, windows components, IIS) blah blah blah I SAID FULL INSTALL SMACKTARD

[aLby]

Now I am not a technical person, but as a user of VOIP I would have to say it is shit!
We are a Brisbane based office with VOIP running for Syndey and Melbourne callers. We are continually getting complaints from customers that is sounds like our hold music has not be tuned in properly - it sounds all scratchy.
Drop outs are common - expecially when they start to play with the network and dont tell us!