ActivSupport provides VoIP consulting services to organizations located in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego. ActivSupport provide a range of comprehensive and cost-effective VoIP based phone systems solutions including Cisco VoIP, along with the appropriate connectivity and ongoing one-stop voice and network support plans taylored to small business needs. While VoIP can revolutionize the way you do business, in order for the technology to work well, there are a number of requirements which should be addressed. Our engineering department has come up with a VoIP requirements list for your convenience:
1. Internal Network Infrastructure: Unlike typical data packets, voice packets are very sensitive to timing and in order to work well, the network on which VoIP runs should be able to support technologies which ensure that voice traffic gets the bandwidth and priority required. The network infrastructure should support such features as QoS (quality of service) and VLANs. PoE or power over ethernet is a method of delivering the power for the telephone over the same wire as the data packets.
2. Power: Without PoE, each telephone would require it’s own power brick or transformer to be plugged in locally or a device which would inject power into the wiring. It’s important to consider how the system would function if there was a power failure. PoE switches can be put on a UPS system to provide backup power.
3. External Networks : If using external VoIP trunking, connecting multiple sites or remote users the bandwidth used by voice calls and the type of network connectivity need to be taken into consideration. For site to site connections and remote users where feasible, the use of MPLS (multi protocol label switching) is recommended. This technology will enable the control and prioritization of the voice packets across the WAN. Otherwise at the least remote users should have sufficient bandwidth for both voice and data traffic and their should be some understanding or expectation that when there are users without MPLS or QoS across the entire segment voice quality cannot be quaranteed.
4. Security: Without sufficient security measure in place, VoIP traffic is just as vulnerable as other non secured data traffic. Authentication, Encryption, and VPN technologies should be employed to secure the voice traffic.
5. Backup and Disaster Recovery: Disaster or outage scenarios should be taken into consideration and planned for. What if the power goes out for an extended period of time or a VoIP trunking provider has an extended outage. Consider putting in some type of power failure transfer capability to switch calls to dedicated PFT jacks. Ensure that there is a backup and restore procedure in place and that a disaster or extended outage can be recovered from in a reasonable amount of time.
In the end, how well VoIP works is really dependant on the planning and quality of the implementation. ActivSupport can help ensure your system is well planned, best practices are followed and the system is set up to work for you. ActivSupport delivers small business phone systems consulting and outsourcing services to small businesses all over the U.S. For a free consultation about your project, call ActivSupport at 1-877-ACTIVNET (1-877-228-4863) or use our online contact form.
