Questions about hosted VoIP solutions

[ahobday]

Hi there! We're a small company looking to set up a support desk, with 6 people manning the phones. It seems like phone systems are all VoIP these days, for businesses, so we're looking to go with a hosted VoIP system to provide the 6 people with phone access.

However, we're new to this, so I had some questions about the whole shebang. Hopefully there's someone here who works with similar hosted systems and can help me out!

1) With a phone system supporting 6 people, for 8 hours a day, taking calls, what sort of uptime can we reasonably expect? Is it unreasonable to expect a VoIP system to be up for 100% of the time?

2) As a further question to the above, what steps can we take to guarantee that we have the most reliable system? What we’re trying to avoid is a situation where we cannot take calls, or one where the calls are not of a high quality.

3) It seems many of the hosted VoIP providers here in England have their own private networks. That is, they provide you with a direct connection between your offices and their data centre, bypassing the public broadband networks. Could you explain how this system works in a little more detail? Will every VoIP supplier have their own private network, or is that a feature we should be looking for when making comparisons?

I'm sure I'll think of some more questions before long, but thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer!

 

[ServWise]

How reliable is your internet connection?

If your internet is reliable then that is a long way to having reliable VOIP services.

With up to 6 calls at once you would likely want some good level of bandwidth, most standard ADSL services offer reasonable download bandwidth but really bad upload bandwidth and this is where your bottleneck will likely be especially if you are also using it for web browsing / email etc. You could get a dedicated DSL line just for the phones and you could get a plan with higher upload bandwidth or even a much more expensive SDSL line which has equal up and down bandwidth.

I don't know of VOIP providers who offer direct connects to their networks, seems like that would be extremely expensive..

I do know that my VOIP provider www.voipfone.co.uk is pretty reliable (at least as much as my ADSL is reliable) and they have some cool services you might find interesting and the price is quite reasonable.

 

[ahobday]

You say you don't know of VoIP providers who offer direct connects to their network, but voipfone.co.uk says they do exactly that. Here's an excerpt from their website:

Voipfone’s broadband service is capable of providing speeds of up to 24mb down and1.3mb up and is designed to work with our voice service – if you use our telephony service you will get the best out of it by using our broadband too.

Because you connect directly into our telephone network (we are privately peered), you get the best possible voice quality – you are not using the public internet to make your telephone calls.​

I'm guessing you didn't opt to use their private broadband service, but instead use your VoIP system over your existing broadband connection?

Really I'm looking for some assurance that going with a service such as this will mean we never experience any downtime or low quality issues.

 

[ServWise]

You say you don't know of VoIP providers who offer direct connects to their network, but voipfone.co.uk says they do exactly that. Here's an excerpt from their website:

Voipfone’s broadband service is capable of providing speeds of up to 24mb down and1.3mb up and is designed to work with our voice service – if you use our telephony service you will get the best out of it by using our broadband too.

Because you connect directly into our telephone network (we are privately peered), you get the best possible voice quality – you are not using the public internet to make your telephone calls.​

I'm guessing you didn't opt to use their private broadband service, but instead use your VoIP system over your existing broadband connection?
.

I live in Italy and so their ADSL service would not be applicable for me, also when joining them they did not offer an ADSL service. Having said that I take calls here in Italy on a basic ADSL line which can handle 2 or 3 calls at once without problems.

I don't see them offering ADSL as exactly offering a "Direct connection", it is still just an ADSL line and so the wire from your office to the local exchange and the exchange to their network are effected by the same things that all ADSL / LAN lines are effected by (this part is not owned by the VOIP provider but by the likes of BT and Level3 etc) although it will give you a MORE direct connection into their network so is of value if you want the best connection and better reliability.

 

[it-comms]

You might want to go with a provider (Like the service we provide) that offers a fail over service. in the event of your internet connection going down which would result in the VoIP Account showing offline. that all inbound calls are automatically forward onto a PSTN or mobile number of your choice. one step further on this is that the redirection service could also be applied at our network carrier level which means even if the VoIP Network is down, inbound calls would still route to you.

 

[Quest Cloud Solutions Ltd]

1) With a phone system supporting 6 people, for 8 hours a day, taking calls, what sort of uptime can we reasonably expect? Is it unreasonable to expect a VoIP system to be up for 100% of the time?

100% is reasonable for working hours. Systems do have hiccups sometimes but most providers has resiliency built in to stop it being a problem.

2) As a further question to the above, what steps can we take to guarantee that we have the most reliable system? What we’re trying to avoid is a situation where we cannot take calls, or one where the calls are not of a high quality.

The reliability of the system itself isn't something you have much control over - that's why we'd recommend going for a quality provider who ensures the system is supported and maintenance-free 24/7.

What you do have control over is your Internet connection. Given the amount of use, we'd recommend getting an additional broadband line into the office and using it purely for voice; that way, data spikes (such as staff jumping onto YouTube at lunch time) can't affect the call quality.

3) It seems many of the hosted VoIP providers here in England have their own private networks. That is, they provide you with a direct connection between your offices and their data centre, bypassing the public broadband networks. Could you explain how this system works in a little more detail? Will every VoIP supplier have their own private network, or is that a feature we should be looking for when making comparisons?

Ultimately any system you go for will hit BT's core network at some point in each call, but decent providers have their own kit in datacentres which is where the system is hosted from. Your VoIP handset connects directly to the hosted VoIP system over the Internet, and from there the call is routed to the intended recipient. If you go for a quality provider (like Gamma Telecom, our telecoms provider), they have loads of connections into other datacentres around the country, meaning your calls stay "on net" (i.e. away from the public Internet) for as long as possible.


Now for our plug... we provide a hosted VoIP system called Horizon in partnership with Gamma Telecom, and it's fast becoming our most popular product thanks to how feature-rich and easy-to-use it is, and it's low call rates.

Happy to send you pricing if you'd like? Or to perform a bill analysis if you have existing bills you'd like comparing against?

Cheers,

Ryan

 

[Kabir Ahmed]

I agree with ServeWise:

"it is still just an ADSL line and so the wire from your office to the local exchange and the exchange to their network are effected by the same things that all ADSL / LAN lines are effected by"

You can go with the "best" VoIP provider, but your uptime and voice quality will ultimately depend on your broadband connection. Be warned however, most providers just want to sell you the broadband connection to go with the Hosted VoIP, its an up-sell.

If it is piece of mind you need, I would go with a dedicated ADSL line just for the voice from any reliable ISP (not here to endorse anyone in particular) this is probably the most cost effective option and you would be giving yourself the best chance of 99.99% uptime and voice quality. "Going it alone" in this regard would give you greater flexibility when negotiating contracts with suppliers too.

Ultimately you will need multiple PSTN/Mobile fail over as an absolute must if your telecoms is critical to you.

Don't be put off by any scaremongering, Id be happy to discuss Voice over IP with you in detail just pm me.

 

[VoIP2Go]

When you read VoIP Provider web sites on the subject of redundancy, you'd think there was no way their service would ever be down. When you visit VoIP forums, the reality is that the vast majority of them suffer regular outages.

If incoming calls are critical, make sure you keep at least one phone line that is not VoIP. If outgoing calls are critical, then make sure you fully understand the VoIP provider network and how their failover works. Find out where their DNS is hosted and if they use Secondary DNS. Find out if they use DNS SRV records for smooth failover. Find out how many servers they have and where they are located.

 

[David Griffiths]

It's also possible to consider having two separate internet connections. We've had a Virgin cable broadband as our main service for some time. When we moved the phones to a voip system we still needed an exchange line for the alarm, so we've tacked on an ADSL broadband onto the back of that.

If the cable service goes down, we can switch over to the adsl. It's even possible to plus some phones into one service and some into the other .

Compared with what we were paying for telephony pre voip the cost of the second broadband service is peanuts if you have a cable connect available

 

[cjd]

No telephone service is 100%. The standard BT landline is regarded as five nines - 99.999%. The state of art for IP based networks is currently 99.99%. It can be much less if you pick a new or small service provider so the first thing to look for is an established company that got a decent customer base - they will have worked their way through the bigger issues.

You should then take yourself off to the industry association's website and look at business providers with a quality mark and pick from that list. That gives you the confidence that you're dealing with a basically competent company that conforms to all UK regulation and also industry best practice.

www.itspa.org.uk

On the direct connection front, there is no need to use a private circuit but it's advisable to have a dedicated broadband connection just for your phones and a second for your normal internet use. This also gives you a failover if you lose one. Someone suggested using both adsl and cable as this gives more failover as the two networks are independent.

It's a good idea too, to take the broadband that the telco offers as there is then no public internet between your phone and their network. (If the company is any good, this isn't much of a problem anyway as they will have good private peering between the major ISPs anyway - but it does cut out a few links.

If you're still looking, give us a call tomorrow - 020 7043 5555 - and chat it through.

 

[astraqomuk]

As someone mentioned above there is no such thing as guaranteed 100% service...but there are ways to cover the other 0.01% of times when the service does go down.

You can either get a Hybrid PBX solution that combines both VoIP and PSTN lines. If the VoIP line goes down the PBX automatically switches to the PSTN lines so you never have downtime unless your power goes down.

A second and more inexpensive solution is to look for providers with internet failover. The failover feature detects when the user's phones are not registered and automatically forwards calls to a different number.

The redundancy of each telecom provider is reliant on the quality of their equipment and the number of data centres that they have.

We have equipment and data centres in 12 countries and in the unlikely event that our local data centre goes down, phones will automatically register with the other servers so you will have 0 to 25 seconds of downtime while your devices switch from one server to another.

If you want to discuss some more, give us a call at 0800.048.8003.

Best regards

 

[Dalycom]

As people have mentioned above - providing your internet connection is the correct one you should not experience any problems with a hosted system. To ensure voice is prioritised over data for clarity of calls we always offer an assured broadband service and also efm (if you need more bandwidth/same upload and download speeds - this is more expensive)

If the system ever did go down then the hosted system makes it very east to reroute calls to mobiles or any other telephone number without the customer knowing.

Feel free to get in touch so we can discuss further

 

[Evercom]

Hi

1) With a phone system supporting 6 people, for 8 hours a day, taking calls, what sort of uptime can we reasonably expect? Is it unreasonable to expect a VoIP system to be up for 100% of the time?


Even the largest service providers do not usually guarantee 100% uptime due to the rare possibilities of cable theft or natural disaster etc..They generally limit to 99.9% which you can definitely rely on for business purposes.

This is due to providers having their own fail safes and multiple data centres to switch to if there is connection down in one area. However nothing can be 100% guaranteed in principle.

Just to note however these guarantees do not necessarily mean that they will not go down, just means you will get a rebate if you do and this will need to be looked at in your terms and conditions. Also check SLA and fix times.

Steps to take below for the most reliable service and fail safes.


2) As a further question to the above, what steps can we take to guarantee that we have the most reliable system? What we’re trying to avoid is a situation where we cannot take calls, or one where the calls are not of a high quality.


Just to confirm ; Connection and Call quality can be thoroughly tested before full implementation


The most reliable service for connection if you are using VOIP or hosted systems is FTTP (Fibre to the premises). This is more secure than a standard ADSL connection.

---Fail-safes---

Mobile Broadband - Have a 3G/4G Dongle on hand to plug into your router so you can connect through that. Make sure you have enough credit on the dongle. This is a temporary solution until the provider clears a fault.

Divert - Providers can offer divert to mobile or to an analogy landline you have on the premises.

Another emergency internet connection?.... unfortunately having two connections to the building may not always work as if one is down it's likely to be coming from the same source and both will be down. Even if you are paying two separate providers they are very likely to be coming from the same problem area.


3) It seems many of the hosted VoIP providers here in England have their own private networks. That is, they provide you with a direct connection between your offices and their data centre, bypassing the public broadband networks. Could you explain how this system works in a little more detail? Will every VoIP supplier have their own private network, or is that a feature we should be looking for when making comparisons?



That Private Connection is what is called a VPN (Virtual Private network) .

Yes this does add further protection to your business as you bypass the public broadband channel.

We have provided this option for our Law and Financial clients who may require it due to regulations and use of hyper sensitive data.


However the alternative to this and using the standard ADSL way you will have sufficient protection by using firewalls, secure passwords and certificate authentication. Just to note we are yet to have intrusions on either solution.


Also note that the Private solution(VPN) only adds that protection when using VOIP in the main office(s). If you are travelling or using a hotel connection etc...then the VPN is no longer using a direct network.

Hope this helps you. If you want more information you can call on 01707 620 240

Thanks

 

[ssh]

Set your own VoIP box and run support over SIP.

 

[Richard_CSTEM]

Hi Ahobday

You are getting alot of techincal advice from people on here and alot of sound technical knowledge on the working of VoIP and reliability, yet in my opinion no one is really asking YOU the right questions, simply answering yours. I consult, design and manage delivery of many new and legacy systems both hosted, on premise, hybrid etc and each client is different. So my question to you would be what are the business objectives associated witrh your enquiry. It's from there, your journey will take you to the CORRECT choice of solution and eventually product vendor selection as it won't be a case of does it does this? but more will it deliver these business objectives and mitigate these risks as these are the consequences financially and operational to my business if it doesn't.

In todays technology markets both in the UK and globally, most vendor products and services do very similar things.However, ALL business are on a treadmill towards convergence, some further than others and some starting out, but none the less, all are on that journey and to address a single element of a converged environment such as telecom as an autonomous service has been proven to hinder development and have a much higher TCO in the long run and nuch higher ongoing costs. Feel free to message me should you wish to discuss in further detail and I would be happy to assist you in making a well informed decision

 

[senses]

If you want any hosted solution which is critical your FIRST thing you must do is sort
Your redundancy out.

It's pretty damn simple and every SME (and enterprise) should do this (and most do)

Get a draytek router. Eg. 2820, 2920 etc. Then get a payg 3G broadband dongle (around £30 for the uk I would recommend the three network on the 321 plan)

Setup the router with one or two adsl connections (first part of your redundancy) so they are both used, and if one fails it detects it and routes all traffic through the working one.

Then setup your 3G dongle in the router. This is a fall back line. If both your adsls go down this will kick in. You thus bypass most of the core bt network by using the mobile operators. Speeds will be around 7mb (depending on area)

Anyone who has any critical hosted services and does not have this (or comparable) is a fool waiting for disaster. The same can be said (but worse) for those who use crummy routers and do not have the original free router spare on site for emergencies.

It doesn't matter how good the VoIP service is if it fails your end!!!!

 

[ITExpert]

1) When looking for a VoIP provider you should look for an uptime of minimum 99.9%.

2) Getting an IT assessment is a good thing to do in order to assess the capabilities of your current setup. An IT Assessment will make sure that your future solutions avoid situations in which you cannot take calls, or one where the calls are not of a high quality.

VoIP providers such as Backbone use reliable private networks.