In the past, other posts have touched on the different preparation points if you plan to migrate to VOIP.  The structured cabling team at ITN was recently given an opportunity to design and quote an emergency structured cabling solution for a client.  Most folks don’t re-wire their office on an emergency basis so you might wonder what the rush was all about.  It turns out that another vendor sold this client a ShoreTel VOIP telephone system.  While the ShoreTel VOIP system isn’t as strong as the AVAYA IP Office solution, no VOIP system should be installed onto a Category 3 infrastructure with subpar Ethernet switching.  Sadly the ShoreTel vendor may have seemed eager to “make a sale” and either never had the best interest of the client in mind or simply did not possess the basic knowledge concerning VOIP and Ethernet switching on a Category 3 cable infrastructure.  ITN was asked to provide pricing on replacing the 15 year old Category 3 infrastructure with Cat 5e so that the new ShoreTel phone system would work properly.  There is a great deal more preparation that goes into providing VOIP for business clients than just “selling a box and some phones”.

Some people think that having a VOIP telephone system will eliminate their long distance charges.  The short answer is that a new AVAYA IP Office with VOIP will eliminate only some of your long distance charges (remote users, office to office calls, etc..) but the details of that story should be covered in another post. 

Let’s talk long distance ONLY and how $ 400/month or more can be vastly reduced.  A powerful solution from VoSky (www.vosky.com) leverages Skype technology to bring you outbound calls placed from your current phone system out over the internet.  The VoSky box is installed (logically) in between your current phone system and your incoming internet connection.  A few ports of your phone system are programmed for all outbound long distance calls which routes them into the Vosky box and out over the internet.  For a small monthly fee for your Skype membership, you receive significantly reduced long distance charges.  One ITN client reduced their monthly long distance bill from $ 5,000 to $ 800 per month!   The VoSky system can be installed and work with any phone system and will be a powerful technology to reduce costs.

VOIP has been “all the buzz” the last year or two and touted as the next big tool for business, but is it really a good fit for you?  If new Ethernet switches are considered in the budget, then the overall cost of VOIP is usually higher than Digital.  Digital would never require re-wiring the office where VOIP might.  Having VOIP requires the separation of voice traffic and data traffic, or the execution of a network assessment to see how well the “network” will handle the addition of voice if voice (VOIP) and data traffic were converged. 

We take a different approach because the built-in features of the latest generation of VOIP systems are also available on the AVAYA IP Office in the digital configuration too!  Remote workers, quick phone moves, and “hotel-ing” are the primary benefits to VOIP.  The AVAYA IP Office has the ability to have VOIP, Digital, and Analog devices ALL working off of the same phone system therefore we can configure your office to be “all digital” while having your remote users on VOIP!  ITN can program the ability to do “hotel-ing” on any group of phones allowing for random access for transient workers.  When you look at the big picture, VOIP is not the answer for every business.  Maybe our competitors tout VOIP because their systems won’t do digital? 

We’ve already had a chance to chat about how MERU wireless allows you to transition from a cell call to VOIP call on the WLAN using a “Dual Mode” cellular phone.  This technology brings up another future opportunity worth discussing.  Imagine a future where your dual mode cellular phone is your ONLY phone!  No more “desk phone”, no more “checking voicemail at the office”.  Software applications downloaded to your dual mode phone will tie to the AVAYA IP Office allowing your mobile phone to take on much of the same features and functionality that you are used to in a desk phone.  Wouldn’t it be great to have the mobility found of your mobile phone but with the functionality of your desk phone?  Conference calling, call routing, hunt groups, tiered voicemail options, call center integration, etc.. are all things that could be combined with the mobility of your dual mode phone.  The power of your only phone being your mobile phone is possible now using AVAYA IP Office and MERU Wireless Networks.

Sure, some of your cell phones out there have a “data plan” where you have internet access when you need it.  Mobile phone manufacturers have phones on the market today that we described as “dual mode” cell phones.  These Dual Mode phones can automatically connect to your office’s wireless LAN when you walk into the building eliminating the use of your cell phone minutes!  You could be in the middle of a conversation leaving your car and walking into the building when your dual mode phone will automatically switch your call from “cellular” call using a tower connection to a “VOIP call over the WLAN without interruption!  Now this transition from Cellular to WLAN is only possible if your wireless LAN is truly rated for QOS (Quality of Service).  MERU’s Air Traffic Control system and QOS rated WLAN makes this happen.  Imagine 100’s of staff not using minutes but still taking advantage of true mobility!  MERU’s WLAN also clears the way for the elimination of the “desk phone” as your cell phone can become your only phone.      

What is QOS?  QOS is “Quality of Service” and is a hugely important when considering the move to an all wireless VOIP solution.  Without QOS rated wireless, a company’s voice communications will be unsatisfactory.  In a nutshell, QOS is a function of your wireless LAN’s ability to “prioritize voice” transmissions on the network in order to maintain the appropriate performance levels.  These performance levels can be measured with a “MOS score” to measure “Toll Quality Voice”.  MERU’s Virtual Cell technology and Air Traffic Control show powerful results in independent testing.  In the testing procedures, the evaluation group compared MERU and two other big names in a multiple testing format of combined VOIP and laptop users with the largest single test being a combined 48 data users and 24 simultaneous VOIP users.  In this last scenario testing with 15 APs, MERU and another competitor tied for MOS scores of 4.5 while both maintaining data throughput of over 33 mbps  using 802.11g gear.  When the AP count was reduced from 15 to 10 with the same number of clients trying to connect to the network (48 laptops, 24 VOIP phones), MERU’s throughput stayed above 33mpbs and its MOS score only dropped to 4.0, the bar for “toll quality voice”.  The other guys’ both came in below 5mpbs in throughput and MOS scores of 3 and 1.4, well below the standard for toll quality voice.  This testing showed us that MERU’s WLAN is very scalable, requires less infrastructure to perform at the same or better levels to support voice and data, more easily managed without the need for costly RF planning, and outperforms its’ closest competitors in the market place at nearly every level.

This technology has been around for a few years but only now is the small business starting to take advantage of the benefits.  There are different ways to leverage VOIP in your business;  1) install a single VOIP phone at home on a Comcast connection to allow key employees to “telecommute”,  2)  connect a Seattle office with a Portland office over the internet eliminating interoffice long distance, enabling 4 digit dialing, and sharing resources from one site such as “networked voicemail”,  3) enable a mobile sales person to always be on the move yet outbound calls from a “soft phone” installed on a laptop no matter where the rep is in the world.  ITN is currently working with an ITN AVAYA IP Office phone system client who is expanding into an adjacent building next door.  Rather than trench the parking lot and install a 900’ fiber/copper backbone, ITN can use their robust internet connections at each site, QOS rated firewalls, and two separate AVAYA IP Office systems tied together over VOIP!