Why Do Businesses Pass on VoIP?

The Hosted VoIP Blog ^ | 11/14/08 | Dan Roberts

[DanRoberts]

Research has shown that many companies, both large and small are uncertain about the benefits to their organization that a VoIP telephone system offers. 55 percent of North American and European companies reported that they did not understand the value that a unified communications solution can deliver to their organization.

[thackney]

I’ve been happy with mine, but personal not business.

[housedeep]

i have it in my biz..
its solid..but does have that echo chamber thing happening every once and awhile...which can be embarrassing with a client.

[Knitebane]

55 percent of North American and European companies reported that they did not understand the value that a unified communications solution can deliver to their organization.

And they DID understand the value of having your voice network separate from your data network so that a single failure won't kill both of them.

Nothing sucks harder than to have a switch fail and then not be able to call anyone to do something about it.

Also, VOIP is just another network protocol and it runs over TCP/IP alongside your web and email traffic. And if you get hacked it will be running alongside someone else's worm and torrent traffic.

Unless your network is set up perfectly with traffic shaping, network congestion will affect your phone system and then you will not be able to call anyone to do something about it.

For providing remote phone setups for virtual office employes, VOIP is fine. But unless your office is completely wireless, you've already got wires running to your desks. Running your phones over your data lines when you don't have to is asking for trouble.

[thackney]

and then you will not be able to call anyone

When was the last time you were in an office where no one had a cell phone? 1995?

[LetsRok]

We use VOip at Fannie Mae. It works great.

[KoRn]

"Unless your network is set up perfectly with traffic shaping, network congestion will affect your phone system and then you will not be able to call anyone to do something about it."

Exactly. VLANs, QOS, and network segmentation are key. For a smaller site, where possible, I would even recommend running some cables and putting the VOIP on an entirely separate physical network. Doing so would cost a little more up front, but in the long run, there will be less opportunity for headaches from all kinds of possible issues that could arrise.

[Redleg Duke]

I think it is great. I was at a new facility that had it, and now I am back in my old facility, where it costs bucks to move phones and takes a lot of time. I have recommended that they do it, but I am not hopeful.

If it was good enough for Grandpa, it is good enough for us!

[LeoOshkosh]

Unless you have a business with several offices that requires a lot of interoffice communication, it really has little value. That is where the savings comes in.

Otherwise, VOIP doesn’t make a lot of business sense. We keep looking at it and keep reaching the same conclusion.

[AFreeBird]

Agree totally with what you said. Here at home, even though I have cable IP, I still use a good old POTS line for phone service.

Last spring, severe storms knocked out power in my home for a week. Phone line still worked. Had to recharge the cellphone in the car which was forwarded to the home #.

[printhead]

I’ve serviced office complexes and got to experience first hand when the switch dies, the phones and the workstations die too. Now you have a whole office not working. That’s when the office manager jumps in. Then there’s the finger pointing. I don’t thrive on stress.

[AFreeBird]

...Then there’s the finger pointing. I don’t thrive on stress.

LOL, you're in the wrong business then.

[DanRoberts]

I agree with you when you say savings is minimal unless you have several offices, but the real value comes from the functionality of a VoIP system.

Until VoIP, only the largest companies could afford a telecommunications system that provides the features and functions that VoIP can provide.

Most companies start research VoIP because they have heard that VoIP can save money, but the real benefit is the ability to easily and inexpensively customize your telecommunications system. AvadTechnologies.com

[DanRoberts]

Anybody over the age of 25 knows what it is like to experience network problems. The agrument that Pots lines will continue to function is correct. The question is, what does an office full of people do with no computers and a working phone system do? The answer is just about anything but work.

A company could function more easily when the office phone system goes down as compared to the computer system going down.

Most people still have cell phones, and if the company is using a Hosted VoIP system calls can be easily routed to any US/Canada number. With a Hosted VoIP system, each employee could literally pick their VoIP phone and bring it to another office location, even a home office. All they would have to do is to plug that phone into a high speed internet connect. They will have the exact same functionality as they has when the phone was plugged in at the office.

Companies with more that 30 users should have a dedicated T1 for their VoIP needs and a separate network for data. Having a separate network for VoIP reduces certain problems. For just such situations, we offer a router that can fail over to run on the data connection until the VoIP issues is resolved.

Finally, most serious VoIP providers have redundancy built into their systems.

If you have any questions you can speak with or send an e-mail to Neal Gilbert (see contact info at the end of this post).

or visit AVAD’s website.

www.AvadTechnologies.com has a lot of information about Hosted Voice over IP phone service.

Neal Gilbert
Business VoIP Specialist
AVAD Technologies
Toll Free: (800) 733-4136 x4064
Direct: (212) 245-4064
neal.gilbert@avadtechnologies.net

[Knitebane]

When was the last time you were in an office where no one had a cell phone? 1995?

I have often found myself in a large datacenter that had no cell signal inside.

We had a cordless phone connected to a POTS line in order to contact customers when the VOIP system was unavailable.

Also, unless you are willing to publish your cell phone number and all of your employees cell phone numbers, you might be able to call out, but no one will be calling in.

[thackney]

I have often found myself in a large datacenter that had no cell signal inside.

Interesting. My cell phones have usually worked even on the Alaskan North Slope and Offshore Gulf Platforms.

[Knitebane]

Last spring, severe storms knocked out power in my home for a week.

That's another problem with VOIP, even if you have your phones on a separate network.

I saw this happen too. Customer set up a separate switch to run VOIP. Put it on a UPS but because the network was separate, didn't monitor the UPS.

The batteries went bad, there was a power outage and guess what? No phones.

The amount of infrastructure that you have to invest to make VOIP as resilient as POTS is a hidden cost. Yes, you can make VOIP failure-resistant but it's an additional cost.

POTS is self-powered. No additional hardware to install, maintain or monitor.

There are some technologies that have tried to get around this, like Power over Ethernet. Mostly, they only work up to a certain point.

[Knitebane]

Interesting. My cell phones have usually worked even on the Alaskan North Slope and Offshore Gulf Platforms.

Working outside is considerably different than sitting in a big metal grounded box with lots of RF interference.

And you still won't be receiving calls unless all of your customers all know your cell phone number.