VoIP vs Internet Telecoms -
Who said they were the same?

Since 1999 people have raved about VoIP as the next telecoms technology, and that means getting free phone calls using the internet, or does it?

What is VoIP?

VoIP has been with us for more than 10 years, and if you've waded through the hype and gobbledygook, you'll discover it's really just a better way of plumbing in telephones. VoIP allows the phones to share the same cabling and network infrastructure as the office computers, making them easier and cheaper to install and manage.

The good thing about connecting telephones to computer networks is that a new generation of software applications and multi-media communications can be delivered to the desk handset, and if you can afford to pay upwards of £500 a time, you can check the motorway cameras, see who's at the front door, hold a video conference, check your facebook wall, order lunch, and do it all from the phone on your desk. Sound expensive? After all, you can do most of it already with your computer.

So unless you've got money to burn, when buying a VoIP phone system your common option would be to install "standard" handsets; identical in look, feel and operation to traditional digital business phones. So what's the advantage of VoIP then? See above. It's just plumbing.

A number of business telephone systems are now 100% VoIP offerings, although this doesn't help businesses who neither need nor want VoIP yet. Many firms still prefer to keep the phones and computers separate, and plenty of phone makers offer traditional digital and analogue phones. The smarter businesses opt for new phone systems supporting digital, analogue and VoIP phones simultaneously, keeping options open, costs down and allowing migration to VoIP over time if it's required.

If you're thinking of using VoIP for the first time, think yourself lucky. VoIP hasn't been plain sailing, particularly back in the early days. Computers sending big files to each other disrupted phone calls trying to use the same network. Tinkering IT managers didn't understand telephony, often switching off telecoms for whole businesses because they forgot the phones were also connected. Phone system engineers scratched heads over thousands of fault calls from angry customers, and all because the IT manager had been making some network changes or put in new equipment that took down the phones.

VoIP in Business

VoIP has grown and matured very nicely over the years, to become a fully accepted way of operating a business telecoms set-up. IT managers know what they're doing, even the cheapest networking equipment now supports VoIP, and computers and phones co-exist in harmony on the same secure and managed computer network without cutting each other off. Even those usually-grumpy telecoms engineers seem to be happy with it.

The big thing to bear in mind is that a computer network within a business is hermetically sealed, managed and secure. Everything is set up, locked down, shipshape and Bristol fashion. Data comes in and out via gateways, protocols, ports, proxies and passwords. All items are labelled (provided you can put up with some wierd server names), predicatable and in thier proper place and if anyone or anything steps out of line, the IT manager knows within a millisecond and swoops on the culprit before the admin department manage to say "is your email working?" to each other. That's why computer networks cost so much to keep running.

The NEC SV8100 VoIP hybrid system is the UK's most flexible and advanced business phone system with complete VoIP, SIP and TDM hybrid technology blending.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe...
To Get Back On The Phone

The Internet. That's a computer network too, isn't it? Of course it is, so It seems plausable that VoIP phones would work, as long as the office phone system was connected and all devices could "see" each other across the global network. All it would need is a little magic from the IT manager to make sure all connects properly, and we can all go home early.

Plus, the calls are free because they don't go via the normal land-line route, and less office space will be needed as staff wouldn't need to come into the office to use computers, software or telephones. That's a lot of us then.

So staff rushed home, each with a PC under one arm and a VoIP phone tucked under the other, plugging them into thier home broadband connections and hey presto! Digital business phones were connected straight to the office together with computer and email, and staff could spend the day in thier pajamas. No-one would ever know, except for the MD and an ever-so-smug IT manager. But there was a problem.

The internet, far from being a safe, secure and mature business computer network, is an irresponsible and irratic teenager in comparison. There is no management, no prioritization and no hope of getting a business-quality phone call to stay connected for more than a few minutes.

Home workers suddenly found that calls were constantly getting cut off and even when connected the call sounded like it was being made underwater. Customers were soon fed up, and staff soon got dressed and dragged themselves back to the office.

The internet has some growing up to do before it becomes a viable alternative to phone lines and particularly ISDN, the standard-bearer for business call quality. It will happen, but for the time being internet calls are generally made between freinds and family when quality can be compromised in the name of getting a freebie.

And finally...
Nothing is free. Not even internet calls.

Ever called someone on a mobile phone?

Mobile phones are still behind the biggest chunk of phone bill costs for UK businesses. If you're using internet phone lines (known as SIP Trunks), calls to mobiles have to "break out" to the public network, attracting a call cost as much as 5 times higher than normal calls made on ISDN lines. Oh, and don't forget the call quality may not be what you're hoping for.

And you'll probably have to spend out on an upgrade to your broadband connection, or install a dedicated one for voice, as almost all older broadband lines suffer from a shared arrangement known as Contention. If the internet doesn't cut your call off, your old broadband will.

So in order to get free internet calls, you have to pay over the odds for the majority of your normal phone calls, increase your monthly broadband costs and be prepared for a drop in call quality. Shame that the only time a call on the internet is actually free is when you connect to another internet phone user, and there just aren't enough of those around right now.