Voice Over IP

Almost every system buyer in the last 3 years has had some level of interest in voice over IP.
What does VOIP mean, and how is it best used?

Voice Over IP uses networking packets to 'chop up' the continuous flow of speech communications and let those little pieces ride in small data packets to their destination. At the far end, those packets must be reassembled into an audio stream which once again sounds like human speech.

VOIP has tremendous promise - and also comes with many strings attached. For example:

• Your data network must be 100% switched, with no hubs.
• It must support Quality of Service (where voice and video packets get to elbow past data packets when there is traffic congestion) at both the router and switch levels.
  
• There must be relatively low latency
• Significant packet loss by routers or ISP transport is not acceptable

And these conditions apply to every inch of your network on which voice traffic might travel!

VOIP will introduce latency into your phone calls - just as you notice on cellular phone calls. A call from a cell phone to a VOIP phone will have additive latency. Latency causes people to 'step on each other's toes' by not waiting quite long enough before switching from listening to speaking mode.

VOIP may also introduce subtle tonal distortion (due to the extra conversions between audio and digitized audio, and the reconstruction of continuous speech from sliced smaples). This may be significant if you are serving a population who may not speak English as a a primary language, or the elderly or hearing-impaired.

VOIP often has the greatest value to an organization when its employed to:

• Network multiple facilities (over T1, wireless, frame relay, or other WAN links)
• Provide service to road warrior or work-from-home employees
• Connect distant (offshore) service facilities with domestic customers

Synertel is a leader in successful VOIP implementation. Prior to recommending a VOIP installation, we do careful network assessments (and offer actual network stress testing with actual VOIP traffic) to ensure that your network will support the added demands. If network improvements are necessary - we can help too!

Please contact us for a thoughtful discussion on whether VOIP is appropriate for your business.

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