One thing I keep seeing in these posts about VoIP is the reliability of traditional phone service, which isn't there with VoIP. Now I don't have experience with VoIP, so I can't speak to that directly in any manner. I do have experience with our local phone service, which is anything but 100% reliable. And I certainly can complain about the call quality, which, with the recurring static and hum on our lines, is a real issue.
I'll grant you that a significant portion of our problems are related to the crappy old infrastructure in my area, but its not like the LEC will actually address these issues in any meaningful way. I've had countless vendor meets, meetings with the area cable supervisor, and some interesting conversations with Verizon's customer advocacy group.
The point of all this is this question:
Given the relative lack of call quality and number of service issues I've encountered with my traditional phone service, will I really see that much of a drop if we were using VoIP service? I mean, at this point I'm asking myself if it can really get worse than it is now. Assuming a solid network infrastructure (I can make that happen), what kinds of issues would I face in a VoIP implementation?
I am asking as I will be making a decision to replace our current phone equipment (ROLM 9751 Mod 10) and service in the upcoming months. And, yes, I do realize that the right installer is key to making any system installation successful or not. It is worth mentioning that I (network admin) will be required to do the MAC work on any system we install and will be trained to do as much.
Sorry if I'm drifting from the original topic. Bill if you want to move this to the VoIP forum or elsewhere, put it wherever you see fit.
