Medium Sized Company Scenario

Currently, we have an Avaya IP Office (406 at the main location and 403 at the backup location). We have 20 SoHos (growing very rapidly)and have severe QoS issues at the home locations. Avaya has stated that the issues can't be resolved. So, we are looking at other options. The Avaya CM3 has been offered as a replacment, but we are looking at other vendors as well. No one has stated that they can solve the IP phone quality issues. Avaya and Shoretel offer integration of a PSTN line in the homes into the corporate phone system. Mitel does not but states that they have no one with QoS issues using the public internet for calls. Does anyone out there have the same type of issue or could anyone provide feedback on the VoIP quality with these or other vendors?

We use a Mitel 3300 at one of our sites that supports about 20 home users with 5220 IP sets . We have a Mitel Teleworker server on the public side of the firewall . The home users have a mixture of cable modems and dsl spread about 50/50 . We have no voice quality issue complaints from any of the home users . I know for a fact that if they did we would hear about like in 5 minutes .

Do you have any idea as to why you are not having any issues? What is the utilization at the home? We have nurses working from the homes performing medical case management tasks. They are on calls for 4-6 hours a day. The Mitel business partner did not know how their switch handles VoIP traffic any differently from Avaya.

The only difference I can think of is the way the Teleworker server interfaces with the firewall . We do have softphone users that complain once in a while about voice quality when off site . They do not utilize the Teleworker server with the softphone application . Some of our home users are Medical Transcriptionist . Who are on long phone calls and are heavy phone users .

So, you have to be on a hard-teleworker phone to utilize the teleworker server?

Not a teleworker phone . We use the standard Mitel 5220 IP set for office and home . The "home only" user is set up differnt in the 3300 and and has a profile in the Teleworker server . The softphone application works via your laptop to take and place calls .

Are you noticing a marked difference in the softphone versus the hardphone? Can you have a person on a laptop with a softphone as a teleworker?

The only softphone complaints we get are when people travel about the country/world . We had a softphone user that had to go to Italy . They complained about the voice quality "echo" . We have had complaints from people going to Utah and Nevada using the data ports in their hotel room with "clipping and echo". We never hear from the "home user " about voice quality issues . Just beverage spills on the sets and bad power supplys for the 5220 sets . That's a good guestion if a softphone can have a Teleworker profile . I don't think so .

You never did say what the bandwith was coming into your sites with the 406&403 . Or if voice compression is being used .

The quality is not an issue site to site. We have a managed T using G.711 from MD to TN. Our only issue is the home users who have maybe 8 calls running simultaneously on the DSL (1.1 up/down).