Thanks for your reply. Here's the situation:
We have a point to point T1 connecting a branch office to HQ. The T1 is expensive and very unreliable -- VZ has had us down for days at a time. (4 outages in 2006 thus far). While we have the T backed up with ISDN, the 128Kbps is almost not worth mentioning.
The T carries both voice and Data traffic, but its main role is for data connectivity. The voice lines (we use 6 channels on the T for voice) are used primarily for intercom use on our NEC Elite 192s and on rare occasion when we need to transfer a call b/c someone called the wrong office. Also, users are supposed to remember to enter a code to dial area codes that are local in each office (kind of a manual least cost routing scheme), but no one ever does.
On the data side we use the T1 for access to the HQ LAN and internet access. We have an inhouse instant messaging app, and we also have a Win2k3 Distributed File System that is synchronized over the T1.
The new communications proposal will put us on a 10Mbps MAN link, gives us flat rate local, regional and long distance. We save about 15 - 17% per year on communications services with this package. The fiber link is IP only. No equipment upgrades are required on the NECs for connection to the PSTN.
The RAD and Blackbox gear is not technically VoIP. It's a pseudowire solution that emulates the T1 and thus our legacy Elite 192 will still function as if connected to a channelized T1. The cost of the TDMoIP solution is about half the cost of the required NEC upgrades. We have been quoted significantly higher prices (almost double the cost of the TDMoIP equip) to upgrade the NECs with IPK CPUs and VoIP cards.
Since the whole solution is geared towards drivng down costs, I am tempted to go with the TDMoIP equipment to realize a bigger and faster ROI.
While the TDMoIP sounds all well and good, I have yet to come across anyone who has deployed it, so I wanted to get some real world reactions from anyone with experience with it. For a quick overview of TDMoIP you can check out the wiki here:
TDMoIP Background Again, thanks for your response. This board is great!