Finance Q&A

Questions about VoIP and VoIP-PBX ?

Q. A good VoIP PBX (or Key System) will always cost more. It can be stable but this is highly dependent on implementation. If the seller does not have many years in both voice and data expect trouble. What's you network like? Do you have a QoS capable switch? Think about what you want it to do. Voice mail-yes Unified messaging-? Conference calls-yes IP trunks-? PSTN trunks-probably Fax routing (in and out)-?

A. ACD (Automated Call Distribution)-probably A good system (sticking to major names) that can do all this and both VoIP and legacy is the Nortel BCM. I might be biases because we sell them, but we did look into many others when we were choosing a small/medium business VoIP system. Even got completely certified on the Cisco and had a 3Com on-site for over a month (what a piece of garbage). Number one thing, don't go VoIP just because it is the in thing. given that you have 15 users, you could just install a separate ethernet switch for the IP Telephony system. Just because it is VoIP based doesnt mean you have to mix the voice and data traffic - although there are some good things you can do that may be worthwhile if you do. Most of the advantages of converging voice and data are about integration on PCs, in call centres and so on, or mixing the 2 traffic types across expensive links, such as a WAN. BCM is a Norstar PBX on a blade in a specialised PC (appliance) - good reliable kit, and mature stable software from the PBX side. I might be biases because we sell them, but we There are lots of other systems - 1 suggestion is to look at the PBX style systems that also support Voip - that way you can mix and match to some extent - Mitel seems popular. We've done that as well, only drawback is that you end up needing a router between the LANs if you want the advanced integration. Since IP phones need power, and using a brick is a pain (expecially if the power goes out), you end up with a in-line power unit for the ethernet or a PoE switch. PoE switches always support QoS. In the end it's just plain easier to get the PoE/QoS switch. Yup, and with WAN links you need to make sure you are using G729a otherwise it tend to use too much bandwidth. And now you need QoS routers (no an issue for me, I use Cisco and they all have it)