Comments on: VoIP Phone Systems - Asterisk http://www.techienation.com/voip-phone-systems-asterisk/ "If all the worlds a stage, then the TECHIE must be god" Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:29:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: VoIP Phone Systems - Asterisk « IP Solutions http://www.techienation.com/voip-phone-systems-asterisk/#comment-24 VoIP Phone Systems - Asterisk « IP Solutions Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:12:13 +0000 http://digitalmind.servehttp.com/techienation/?p=27#comment-24 [...] Phone Systems - Asterisk This entry was written by DigitalMind. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.Content related [...] [...] Phone Systems - Asterisk This entry was written by DigitalMind. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.Content related [...]

]]> By: DigitalMind http://www.techienation.com/voip-phone-systems-asterisk/#comment-17 DigitalMind Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:13:52 +0000 http://digitalmind.servehttp.com/techienation/?p=27#comment-17 I agree that using a combination of Voip Trunks and regular telco Trunks is a great combo. Use the voip trunks for Long distance calls, and the telco for incoming calls. (Although it can also be used to outgoing) I agree that using a combination of Voip Trunks and regular telco Trunks is a great combo. Use the voip trunks for Long distance calls, and the telco for incoming calls. (Although it can also be used to outgoing)

]]> By: Jody http://www.techienation.com/voip-phone-systems-asterisk/#comment-14 Jody Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:23:04 +0000 http://digitalmind.servehttp.com/techienation/?p=27#comment-14 I think all the points about staying with analog lines are valid, and have been since voip started to become mainstream, however where there's a will there's a way. The early adopters have needed to over come the limitations of voip lines in several ways. If the internet connection is used heavily, then call quality will suffer, to overcome this Quality of Service (QoS) switches can be used to prioritize traffic so that a page may take a second longer to load but the call continues as expected. There are also several codecs to choose from that will minimize the necessary bandwidth for the phone system such as G.729 For power outages, any system that is expected to run 24/7 should be on an uninterrupted power supply (UPS), this will both "clean" the power going to your Asterisk PBX as well as let your phones work during an outage (if they are Power over Ethernet phones). Also there are two other issues which are associated with VoIP, echo and 911 availability. Echo cancelling hardware and software has come along way since voip started and can now be configured to eliminate echo completely, the hardware cards from Sangoma are second to none. The same software they use is also available by the name of Octasis for ~$10 per channel making it very affordable. 911 availability is still an issue, a regular phone line is terminated at your location so when you call for help the operator knows where you are. With the internet this is no longer the case, I can have a local Montreal number and be sitting on the beach in Australia. With creative Dial plans it is possible to have 911 dial a particular police or fire station, but this is not ideal. Therefore if I was to have to choose between voip and analog lines for a business set up I'd choose analog. The beauty of Asterisk is I don't have to choose... I want the best of both worlds, and asterisk allows that. I can have a system that accepts multiple DID (Direct inward Dialing) numbers from all over the world, allow me to call using BOTH analog and VOIP trunks and take advantage of the strengths of each kind. If the voip trunk fails I can have automatic fail over to the regular analog lines, instead of paying Bell for 4 lines, I can pay for only 1 or 2 and take advantage of the cheaper voip offerings. The configuration options are endless, which is why everyone thinking of running an on premise PBX should have Asterisk. Then there's hosted PBX solutions as well.... but that's a different story :-) Jody.. I think all the points about staying with analog lines are valid, and have been since voip started to become mainstream, however where there’s a will there’s a way. The early adopters have needed to over come the limitations of voip lines in several ways.

If the internet connection is used heavily, then call quality will suffer, to overcome this Quality of Service (QoS) switches can be used to prioritize traffic so that a page may take a second longer to load but the call continues as expected. There are also several codecs to choose from that will minimize the necessary bandwidth for the phone system such as G.729

For power outages, any system that is expected to run 24/7 should be on an uninterrupted power supply (UPS), this will both “clean” the power going to your Asterisk PBX as well as let your phones work during an outage (if they are Power over Ethernet phones).

Also there are two other issues which are associated with VoIP, echo and 911 availability.

Echo cancelling hardware and software has come along way since voip started and can now be configured to eliminate echo completely, the hardware cards from Sangoma are second to none. The same software they use is also available by the name of Octasis for ~$10 per channel making it very affordable.

911 availability is still an issue, a regular phone line is terminated at your location so when you call for help the operator knows where you are. With the internet this is no longer the case, I can have a local Montreal number and be sitting on the beach in Australia. With creative Dial plans it is possible to have 911 dial a particular police or fire station, but this is not ideal.

Therefore if I was to have to choose between voip and analog lines for a business set up I’d choose analog. The beauty of Asterisk is I don’t have to choose… I want the best of both worlds, and asterisk allows that. I can have a system that accepts multiple DID (Direct inward Dialing) numbers from all over the world, allow me to call using BOTH analog and VOIP trunks and take advantage of the strengths of each kind. If the voip trunk fails I can have automatic fail over to the regular analog lines, instead of paying Bell for 4 lines, I can pay for only 1 or 2 and take advantage of the cheaper voip offerings. The configuration options are endless, which is why everyone thinking of running an on premise PBX should have Asterisk.

Then there’s hosted PBX solutions as well…. but that’s a different story :-)

Jody..

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