Let me tell you about the "cutting edge" VOIP phone system where I work (a community college). They had an old analog switched, connect to POTS lines phone system. The phone room was very tidy, but jammed with literally hundreds of pairs coming into the plant. The desk phones cost about $80.00 to replace, but never needed replacing unless the user threw them against the wall (it happened several times). The individual lines went from the switch to the distant closets over old 1A2 25 pair cable, and the remaining 'dead' 25 pair cable had been removed.
On the other hand, the IP system was (and is) a disaster. The IP closets are a rats nest. There are boxes sitting on boxes on the floor, and everything over heats and shuts down. E-mail and internet access is horrible.
Then, along comes a VOIP salesman. Oh, this will save you MILLIONS! Yes, and cost us millions. The desk units cost hunedreds of dollars and routinely break. The service is horrible. Reliability stinks. Calls drop, and often are garbled.
This is exactly what happened when they went from a centrally managed, analog security system and went to an IP system. Doors open at 2 AM and let homeless folk in from the park. Several times, I have arrived at 6:30AM to teach a class, and found several snoozing in the lobby. The campus police tell me that they cannot seem to get through to the decision makers what is happening.
Back to the phones. It has become so terrible, that other decision makers realized that the VOIP system was causing a potentially dangerous situation. So... those of us who are in high traffic areas, low traffic areas, the business office, the police department, and us faculty that request them... guess what? Next to our shiny new VOIP phones, we have a red Cortellco analog phone connected to a POTS line that we actually use! It was supposed to be used for 'emergency only', but now the Cisco VOIP phone set is under the desk, and all is well with the world.
Joe
