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Is VoIP the Way to Go?
Howpostsgetratedsuck asks: "My cable operator now offers VoIP local and long distance for one flat rate. Does anyone have any experience with or use a VoIP service provider? What are the pros and cons? What do you give up? Do they provide more than one number for my dedicated fax line? Is it better to just use wireless services for everything and dump the landline pots service altogether? Should I stay "status quo" for a while longer? I use the telephone in my business office for about 90% of my telco anyway."
I use Vonage, and it rocks. It has nothing to do with your computer - you just plug it into your gateway and go. No one will ever know that you're using VoIP if you don't tell them. They have business plans that include a fax line. I haven't had POTS for a long time.
This is really true. I don't know much more about this than your average Joe. But my cable-company specifically tells you, that if you need reliable access to emergency numbers, etc, you should have an alternative to VoIp, such as mobile phone or fixed lines.
I think that should tell you either that the cable-company is afraid of getting sued (which is quite unlikely here in Norway), or the reliability is really bad (which is much more likely, although I think it's been over a year since my IP connection used to break down regularly, and I would notice it myself).
I have been using Vonage now for the past 3 months, and let me tell you this, the only problem with it is that when you are downloading, or uploading something, the phone cuts out a bit. You never lose the call, it just sounds less like a phone.
That being said, I haven't found any other problem with it. If I decide to take it with me to work, I can (although i wonder if it'll work ? ) I can just unplug the ATA and goto town. Its an awesome piece of hardware, and i wouldn't be caught dead using a POTS line now. It just doesn't make any sense. Vonage also has a feature to forward calls after a certain period of No Answer. i can forward to voicemail or to a cell phone, or whatever.
I'm all for VoIP, and at $35US, its worth it!
harryk
think before you write, it'll save me moderator points.
With all due respect to the author, the question (as it stands) is not worded particularly well, and there is very little chance that a reliable answer will emerge.
One extremely important detail that you are leaving out is who is offering the service. You also fail to mention the specifics of their operation. IP telephony and VoIP are very different, and there's no way to be sure which one you're talking about. (You clearly indicate VoIP, but the term is so misused that I'm taking your usage of the term with a grain of salt. Pardon me if I have done so erroneously).
Because your cable operator maintains control over your lines, they are able to offer service guarantees that other services (like Vonage) cannot. I cannot say whether or not your operator does take advantage of this, however. Think of it this way: Typically, when you choose an IP telephony solution, you're getting a leased line to your IP telephony provider's data center. They control everything along the way -- and can use routing protocols like QoS and ToS reliably, ensuring that your packets make it to where they need to go, when they need to get there. With a VoIP solution (again, like Vonage), your service is running over public Internet lines. The VoIP provider has no way of guarantying that the packets will get to them in a timely fashion. In the short time I've spent hacking around my Vonage service, I've found some ToS packets -- but since Vonage has no control over this, your ISP (or any other router along the way) can just ignore these ToS (and/or QoS) packets. In short, your packets get there when they get there. Sometimes it will work great, others it just doesn't work at all.
If you can provide a link to some technical information about the service, I'm sure that some of the more saavy folks here can disseminate that information and tell you whether or not the technology should work. It's up you your cable operator to actually follow through with the reliability (again, you left out the detail of who your provider is). This is the first I've heard of cable operators offering such a service (although I have a bit of experience with a number of different types of VoIP and IP telephony services).
However, if you're in the US, I'd suggest that you try it out. I've switched to Vonage. My primary motivation was my unwillingness to do business with Verizon...and even with deregulation, if I use POTS, I'm paying my local monopoly. So I gave up on it. Just remember that YMMV, so don't sign any long-term service contracts.
-Turkey
Not just cable uptime but you have to take into consideration power outages. Regular landlines are generally not affected during power outages. But with VoIP, you're basically SOL if the power goes out.
It's better to burn out than to fade away
Second, Depending on the codec that the provider's using, it might not allow faxing. Vonage I believe allows it up to 9600 bps but most of the others do not. Similarly, voice quality will vary.
Finally, reliability is definately an issue. I wouldn't cancel your normal line. I use packet8 which is very cheap but I'd say it's dead for outgoing or incoming calls for about 5 hours every week. There are times when your calls will drop midconversation as well. My ISP is usually rock solid but there are enough points of failure (ISP, VOIP gateway, local phone number provider) that it's not great for reliability.
Unless of course if you have an network capable alarm system - but would you trust your ISP to handle the alert message? Or go with an alarm system that has a cell-phone capability (which depends on coverage and availability in your area).
If the call quality isn't pristine, chances are you've got network issues.
Your Network/IP Telephony guys ought to be looking at Layer-2 QoS settings (Maybe Layer-3 if your Voice traffic is traversing subnets), VAD (Voice Activity Detection), and Echo-cancellation settings.
If the equipment in your network infrastructure is up to snuff, and it's configured properly, you should never be aware that you're using VoIP.
For those that would die defending it, Freedom
has a sweet taste that the protected will never know.
I don't know if your setup requires having new VOIP phones or not, but when I got my new VOIP phone, I needed to also get a new corded headset since my old one doesn't work with the Cisco phone.
d set/index_e.html
There are two types of headset pinouts: headset and handset. Sounds like you had a handset pinout. You can easily chop the end off, repin it out and recrimp it.
Here's a URL to help:
http://www.rvs.uni-hannover.de/people/einhorn/hea
No need for an amplifier since the Cisco 7960/7940 will do that for you.
Good luck.
...VOIP is still in its infancy of practical adoption. It is nowhere near as reliable as "legacy" PBX phone switches and the sound quality is certainly poorer. There are very many technical factors which can undermine its operations over a given set of network hardware and links too. On the bright side there are a bazillion possibilities for features that you'd never dream of in the legacy phone system world, but I fear the vendors will ultimately slap the systems together in half-assed, slipshod fashion just to hurry up and prematurely ship new features out the door before they're really completed, tested and debugged.... just like so much of what we're used to getting in the IT world anymore. Nobody build system to last anymore, just to make a fast buck and lock you into an endless treadmill of forklift upgrades to keep their corporate appetites satisfied.
I have been using Vonage for 2 months now and have gotten rid of Verizon. Sound quality is excellent, and it works with FAX and even though Vonage says it won't, with my TiVo's modem. Only thing I miss is that the caller ID doesn't have name info. I am using it with a Panasonic KX-TD308 key system. The Vonage ATA box connects right into a CO line interface on the Pana system and it works perfectly.
You still need to be aware that power failures will knock you out, because even if you put the cable modem and the ATA box on a UPS, the cable company's distribution network gets power from the same power distribution network that you do. So unless a power failure is VERY localized, the odds are that the cable signal will go too.
As a backup I have installed a WHP Cellsocket, a neat device that makes a cell phone look like a telco CO line. Since I have a family plan, the additional line costs me only $10 a month. The Cellsocket also plugs into the Panasonic key system, and everything is powered by a UPS, so if the power goes off, the cell phone still works. And, the cellphone has the added advantage of free long distance and free nights and weekends.
That being said, I don't really mind the problems with packet8, my phone bill is $20.55/month every month. The thing works good most of the time, and my calling needs are generally flexible. My wife and I both have cell phones for 911/emergencies and other calling. For me, the VoiP phone is more of a security blanket for the wife. We don't need a home phone in my opinion, and she's resistant to change.
BTW, from everything I've heard & read on places like dsl reports VoiP forums Vonage is MUCH higher quality than packet8. Packet8 uses like 8k/sec (I am not sure if it's kbits or kbytes, but I suspect bytes), and Vonage can use well over 40k/sec.
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