VoIP Telephony

KTS Network Solutions | Authorized Reseller for ShoreTel and Toshiba

So what is VoIP Telephony?

IP data communications is already the global standard. The transition to a pure IP environment will obviously have important implications for IT organizations.

There are many reasons to implement an IP-based voice communication system: reduced long-distance telephony charges; lower capital costs; lower management and administrative costs; reduced complexity; improved integration of distributed business entities; and a greater ease with which voice applications may be combined with other business systems.

But for many decision makers, the key driver is the opportunity to gain competitive advantage by deploying these applications. For example, with the promise of improving the quality and value of integrated voice and data communications, businesses will more effectively leverage internal business processes, leading to more effectively managed external customer relationships.

To define a coherent strategy, business decision makers, IT managers, and communications professionals will need a firm grasp of both voice and data communications. They will need to understand how such technologies and standards support emerging applications with the end result of delivering a converged enterprise communications platform.

Reliability

For both a legacy PBX and a next generation ShoreTel IP or Toshiba IP voice communications system, the issue of reliability is dependent on the system’s ability to ensure access to dial tone, voicemail, administrative functions, and value-added applications.

Some of the most important considerations will be:

Where is dial tone and call processing done?
What operating system does this device use
(Windows NT or embedded real-time)?
What is the cost of protecting this device from failure?
If I lose the WAN can I still make phone calls and will the system failover automatically to the PSTN?
If the device providing call control to the IP phones fails, is the overall system intelligent enough for the IP phones to fail over to another call control device somewhere on the network?
Can deploying MPLS improve the Quality of Service (QoS)?

Note: Embedded operating systems for real-time devices are used in mission-critical applications, like vehicle breaking systems, control systems for airplanes and pace-makers. They are designed and tested to run without interruption for years. Be aware of which operating systems are used to deliver dial tone. Clearly the answers to these questions will indicate the architectural robustness of each system being reviewed. Beware that for some vendors reliability comes at additional cost–a cost that will be incurred as soon as senior management find they are unable to make phone calls because of an operating system virus for example. It is clearly worth getting it right from the start, so spend time looking carefully at each architecture and base your decision on which architecture offers cost-effective and reliable call control.