atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Is VoIP an attempt to steal phone tech work?

Fair enough. Like I said, the One-X isn't quite a suitable replacement, YET. It will expand to close the same capacity and since it uses phones that are compatible with larger systems, it gives people an upgrade path. Anyone using a Partner with more than 20-30 extensions should be using a larger system anyway.

but since this is straying off topic, I'll shut up now too.

To keep everything on topic.... Is voip an attempt to steal phone tech work? My answer is NO. It's just another option for us to use to help the customer. If you don't have it in your "arsenal" of options for your customers, then you are GIVING your work away.

So, either the phone guys jump on-board with VoIP or give away your work to someone that will? I tried that line with my first wife, she said find someone new.

Maybe, in 10-20 years, VoIP and VoIP compatible telephone systems will have matured enough to be reliable and worthy of trust.

Maybe it is me, but, I refuse to buy version 1.0 of anything!

Work is there. People are paying to get VoIP installed. You do not sell VoIP. What is it that you are infact doing if not giving up work? If you choose to make that decision then more power to you. To each his own.

I don't have the luxury of voluntarily giving up work therefore I will try to provide the best service I can to a customer. If what the customer wants it not the best fit I will dutifully try to explain to them why it is not a good solution and stress that it might not work. If they still refuse to listen to reason then let them know you will install it at their own peril. You dont guarantee it to function correctly and all call-backs are billable (within reason).

We are paid to consult the customer and install what they want. We inform them of their options and let them decide on their course of action. If you tell a customer that if you install something they will be hit in the head everyday with a 2x4 with protruding nail, and stress that fact, and they still pay you to install it, then install the damn thing. You cant fix people's stupidity or stubbornness.

VoIP is not stealing work it is another option. Granted it's an option that is new and you will have to learn. 25 years of TDM phone systems wont prepare you much for VoIP if you've never looked at the computer network side of things.

Great to hear the stories out there on this. Does anyone here focus on hosted IP PBX? I have not had any clients with positive experiences so far unless all locations were connected MPLS via fiber.

I personally tried a hosted web based service for awhile, but the quality just wasn't there. They seem to pop up everywhere, but can't imagine why I'd ever recommend a solution like that until they can prove they'll be around for awhile....

Telephone Guru, Your question might end up needing it's own topic started but there is only one scenario that I would even possibly consider a hosted PBX solution.

That being a very small start up company that wants to give the impression of being larger than they really are and where they have 2-5 people working from their home with no real office yet. This would allow them to have some of the functions a real PBX offers without the larger investment in equipment until they are ready for such a purchase or lease.

Frank,
Kumba summed it up pretty well. If you have a customer or potential customer that actually NEEDS a VOIP solution (which IS rare I admit) and you are not able to offer them what they need, then yes your are giving away work to someone who can offer what that customer needs.

Every other situation where customers think they WANT voip in some form or the other, you have 3 choices. Give them what they think they want, show them a different solution that may or may not involve voip, or walk away.

How many of you spent thousands to buy an 80's model cell phone? Spent another few hundred for labor to have it moved between vehicles? Replaced it every few years as new technology, retail discounts, and programmed obsolecense(sp) took control of your technology budget?

Twenty plus years after the initial cellular calls were made in the USA, the technology is still evolving, and we replace our toys at regular intervals. Telephone, the wired kind, have been a constant for a good part of recent history. That stability is what made AT&T the giant it could grow in to. The capacity to control the market, and the equipment to be used for interconnection.

We could still be beating on rocks with sticks, sending smoke signals, pulling a string tight between two tin cans, etc, but, Mr Bell received a patent for a technology that has metamorphisized, but remained constant. Wired telephone is near the end of its life span, that is a given. As technology moves on, yes, in much the way we went from 2 pair key systems into the digital single pair systems, the wires will no longer be required.

Switching methods will advance, transmission means will progress, wireless has more practicality than wired comm over VoIP.

I cannot see wireless succeeding in replacing wired systems any more that I can see VOIP systems replacing TDM systems. The free frequency space just isn't there! And I would expect the TDM system manufacturers to reach common ground on basic platforms like PC manufacturers have, although I hope that is NOT because of a Microsoft style monopoly. And I agree regarding the never buy release 1.0 of anything. Look at VISTA, NT BCM 50, and on and on. John C. (Not Garand)

Great topic! My 2 cents goes something like this. I dont see alot of companies large or small needing any VoIP solution especially with the versatility of the PBX systems of today. Its not me that brings up VoIP in meetings with prospected customers, it is the customer themselves. In the last few years, Ive been installing more and more "hybrid" systems and from what I see, bring it on. How much does a company benefit by having their receptionist working from home when their child is sick? Inter-office dialing over VoIP networked pbx's has saved thousands of dollars for some of my customers. Business trips are way more "business" with a soft phone on your laptop. Although the need for improvement is there, the benefits are already out-weighing the downfalls. If your customer base hasn't pushed you towards VoIP already, its only a matter of time.