atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Two-wire vs. One-Wire

The organization that I work for purchased a VOIP system. For the most part it works fine. The features available are comparable to a traditional system. It has a few extra features but it is also missing a few features that traditional systems have. My gut feeling is that a traditional system would have been a lot less expensive. Based on this and on the location that you described, the traditional system would be my choice hands down.

From what I can glean in this forum and others, it seems that;

1. Mixing voice and data on one wire is an invitation to voice quality problems (dropouts, garbling, etc.). Voice traffic isn't so likely to interfere with data traffic in a noticeable way, but data traffic can affect voice packet delivery. A lot of posts seem to indicate that "the new XX VoIP system works fine, except for network issues."

2. The overall volume of data traffic is not so likely to cause problems in voice delivery as the data packet traffic travelling in unpredictable bursts.

3. For an internal VoIP system, it is best to have separate cable and switch infrastructure to handle the voice traffic rather than relying on a single wire.

4. The best justification for pure VoIP is multiple office sites or off-site workers, but hybrid systems can do the same job by including a point-to-point IP or VPN connection.

Are these fair restatements?

For an internal VoIP system, it is best to have separate cable and switch infrastructure to handle the voice traffic rather than relying on a single wire.

Right, but that is kind of silly considering it will need switches and CAT 5 cable not to mention the additional cost of the IP system itself.

A traditional or hybrid system only needs wire and cheaper CAT3 at that which may even be existing.

-Hal

VoIP has it's applications, but generally a traditional system will be more cost-effective and reliable. Get one that you can add VoIP to later if you decide you have a need for it.

I disagree with all of you gents, VoIP is here to stay. You can find IP PBX's that actually cost less than legacy systems.

For the most part you can run your voice and data on a single wire system there are always variables but unless you are moving massive files accross your network it can be accomplished quite easily, we actually have deployed WiFi voice and data networks which has much less bandwidth than a cable network.

"Looking for opinions, articles, previous posts, and/or snide remarks."

I've invented a new wheel, it's more round then the traditional wheel and less costly to use, well, usually. It does not have 99.999% up time, it sometimes loses air for no reason, we believe this added downtime will enhance it's life expectancy by years. Buy now while the government is not taxing it's use. We also offer a hybrid which continues to work when the hi tech wheel doesn't, well, usually. The sooner we all upgrade to the new wheel, the sooner the government can tax it's use.

I agree that now that the general person has gotten used to "cell phone quality" voice transmission that VOIP will continue to spread.
Yes, you can create a VOIP system that, in theory, is as reliable and works as well as a traditional phone system. The trouble is that I have never heard a fully voip system in place that did not suffer from frequent transmit quality issues. Nor have I heard of any network that does not require a full reboot every couple of weeks.
I do know of many large traditional phone systems that have been up 24/7 for years with no down time at all.
While I agree that, because of the propoganda from companies like Cisco, Avaya, and Microsoft, we will continue to see VOIP spread, I simply see it as being to the detriment of the people who actually use their telephones to conduct business.

As my record on this board indicates I am a proponent of VOIP. That said, I will be the first to admit that voip pbx system mfg's have some ways to go in terms of adding features and functions to be able to play with the big boys.

But, this is surely is a joke!?

QUOTE]The trouble is that I have never heard a fully voip system in place that did not suffer from frequent transmit quality issues. Nor have I heard of any network that does not require a full reboot every couple of weeks.
[/QB][/QUOTE]
:rofl: Again I KNOW that voip has problems and it is WAY over sold, but really the straw-men being thrown around on this board about voip sometimes is just crazy.

OK, Flame away

I was in a Bank Of America branch today doing business. Noticed they had a new Cisco IP system instead of the old familiar Norstar system. While sitting there I had my banker try to call someone in California. She picked up her handset and somehow picked up an incoming call. She's not the receptionist. Says it happens all the time. I talked to a rep in California. The popping and clicking on the call was incredible. Says it's been that way since the install. We put the call on hold and promptly lost it. Everyone in the office hates the system. I can give you the contact info for two former Cisco resellers that had to reset their systems EVERY night. Again I have sold them and I have pulled them out. I like VoIP as transport between sites and teleworkers but inside to the desktop still sucks. We pulled another hosted IP system as the sellers could never make it work.

From a carrier point of view...

I see a lot more companies going to a least some form of a VOIP solution. I also see a LOT more trouble tickets coming in from customers using VOIP. 90 % of the time the out come is CPE, the resolution is "Customer rebooted their router, and gateway and switch" Or Customers router was misconfigured.

I do not have an issue with VOIP, I have an issue with under qualified people who have never seen a phone room and take a two week certification class and are now so called techs installing systems, and IT managers who have no Idea of how a PRI works or even the basics of telecom for that matter who will argue with you for hours over something they have absolutely no understanding of.

I think if all the IT guys out their with the “I know everything” complex would swallow their pride and listen to some of us dumb old phone guys they may actually learn something. Incidentally from the IT guys I have come in contact with, the ones who seem to be able to get their VOIP system to work properly all started off as phone guys