How to make good use of VoIP: Some things implemented through VoIP

Too many VoIP service providers want to sell you their "full solution", from the phone number on your desk, from different sites to the WAN and public exchange Telephone Network (PSTN).

However, as I have seen, Unless users and suppliers have full experience and thoroughly checked every detail, the so-called "full set of VoIP systems" will certainly make some mistakes.

Enterprises that have trouble with VoIP must have had this situation, because they jumped onto a carriage and jumped to the cutting edge of technology, rather than learning to ride a horse on their own.

It is very easy to upgrade to VoIP technology, especially for large companies. Small enterprises and family enterprises, because the traditional simple old-fashioned telephone service (POTS) has limited coverage, it is more like a change in belief. However, for advanced telephone services, I always consider a backup plan.

Basic connection

Many enterprises use dedicated group switches located in telephone companies or similar centralized user switches. No matter which type of phone number is used, it has the internal dialing function instead of pulling out the complete phone number. There are also more powerful functions, such as call transfer. Some dedicated group switches-and all centralized user switches-the system can actually call external phones just like an internal phone call. Enterprises with many branch offices in different places usually have direct connections established through dedicated group switches, such as connections to public telephone exchange networks.

To reduce the cost of these different connections, you need to know what you have now. If you want to know what you have, you need to know some telephone communication terms. I would normally say a three-letter acronym, TLA. The fact is that the words that make up the telecom term TLA are old. Do you know since Alexander? Graham? It has been a century since Bell wanted to create a pizza and wanted to invent a telephone.

The first part of your analysis is the detailed local telephone bill. Find out from a detailed bill how much you have paid for the three different interface types in table 1. You may need to listen to your accountant's explanation, because telecom service providers often use unique market terms to describe lines and interfaces, rather than using standard terms.

Table 1: What connections do I have? What is their overhead?

Multiple connections

When you have more voice and data transfer lines on small and medium-sized sites, telecom service providers are very smart to bind them into a multi-channel connection, includes a bound network connection, DS1 (also known as T1, with a transfer rate of 1.544 Mb/s) signal mode. T1 is actually a precise Wired System, and service providers may provide DS1 signals in other ways. On each site, you or a telecom company will have a "filter" (such as Adtran Atlas or Total Access) called an integrated Access device or an Integrated Service Router according to Cisco's terms. These devices have some DS1 interfaces and use the rest for data applications. Integrated access devices are generally limited in speed and supported interfaces.

The risk of replacing the Integrated access device is very small. The same is true for replacing a single DS1 connection that provides both voice and data interfaces. If you have an integrated access device, make sure it can be upgraded to a full-featured router with new software before changing it. The "VoIP" that appears here is only the data-based voice data between the external connections of the PBX.

For enterprises with more than one site, a good start is to replace the current direct connection telephone line with VoIP between different sites. In this step, you do not need to replace the PBX itself. You can set up a secure virtual private network on the SOHO router to connect to the phone. The router should have the FXS external exchange station interface that can connect the phone.

If you use a centralized user switch and use enhanced VoIP, the details will be discussed in the next article.

Table 2: POTS device replacement list

Hotline

In business applications, telephones are widely used. They do not provide the dialing function. Instead, you can pick up the receiver from the rack and automatically connect to a preset phone number. This is used in emergency situations, such as calling rescue personnel in hospitals. It is usually used to call a taxi to take you out of a car repair shop. In the telephone industry, this is called the dedicated Line Automatic Return Bell (PLAR), which is often used in VoIP.

To implement these services, you specify what is an effective automatic callback for the vro on both ends.

One warning: Please be careful and proceed with this function if it is used in a vital place. In this case, it is very valuable to use VoIP properly. For example, many hospitals have a line to connect to the wiring switchboard in a critical place, and the other is not. To prevent the failure of the PBX. One VoIP Phone is connected through a data connection (such as a wired cable), and the other is connected to a simple old-fashioned telephone service or VoIP PBX to more effectively protect against accidents.

Summary

In this article, we will introduce VoIP by presenting a different method. In the next article, we will discuss other feasibility, such as using a network Fax (FoIP), and reduce the fax fees that sometimes result in huge and unexpected charges. We will explore how to replace the PBX or Centrex service. The recent emergence of the virtual PBX will be able to intelligently retain the compatibility features of the associated PBX, such as voice mail when VoIP was introduced early.