VoIP is Here To Stay Let Us Help You Prepare

Posted by Dave P. on June 4, 2014 12:23 pm

If you're like me, and have been doing Telco for more years than I want to admit - (I know a lot of you are) - then this series is for you!

I may not like change, but it's coming whether I like it or not, we are being taken full throttle into the age of VoIP. Over the next 5 to 8 years, most of your customers will move over to SIP Trunks, and copper lines will become a thing of the past.

• FACT: More and more of your customers will want to network multiple office locations
• FACT: More and more of your customers will want to add an offsite VoIP phone(s)
• FACT: In areas hit by natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, etc., where copper lines were destroyed, Telco carriers are installing fiber, not copper, replacements, and all new Telco construction is fiber. (Fiber = VoIP)
• FACT: Yes, VoIP fiber can still be converted to analog (POTS) lines, however, when your customer hears all the benefits of DID's with SIP Trunks over that fiber they won't want the plain old analog lines anymore

Fiber will give the Telcos the ability to compete with cable carriers for high speed internet, TV, and SIP Trunks. Punching in the phone lines will be replaced by plugging in an Ethernet cable instead.

We here understand that a lot of you are not VoIP savvy IT/Network guys. For those of you like me that fall into this category we can help you. Please take the time to read the rest of this.

What To Expect:

VoIP installs, today, remind me of the early days of the T1 installs. I'd say to myself: "Where are the phone lines? What the #%*! is a channel?! Where are the lines that I can touch, see and feel?" I was afraid of T1 cutovers. Some T1 cuts would take a couple of hours, others took 6 to 8 hours or longer, and then there were the few that just did not happen at all. The latter scenario was the exception, most went fairly well. The good news is a T1 cutover today is easy. The carriers have the switching down, and the NEC products don't need a lot of programming to get them up and running. I also remember not being paid while I sat on site for hours or days while the T1 learning process took place. The learning curve is no different for VoIP, so prepare yourself and set the expectations with your customers in advance.

Setting Customer Expectations:

Setting customer expectations is the key to a successful VoIP install. Setting and knowing the expectations and reasonability of each party will take some of the pressure off of you. Below are SL1100 notes that will appear on all our written quotes and all over our website on the SL VoIP product pages. Please use them to learn what to expect from us, what we expect from you, and then decide what will be expected from your customer.

Important Notes About Remote VoIP Phone Applications

Setting Expectations with your Customer:

• Your client or you may need IT network techs at each site during installation process.
• Be prepared to either have the ability to perform Wireshark captures or coordinate with their IT professional in the event of a connectivity or voice problem. These Wireshark captures will need to be done simultaneously at each site to troubleshoot network problems correctly.
• They need proper bandwidth on each site to support the network and VoIP traffic.
• All IP Phones must be set up & tested on the LAN before deploying them at the remote site. This way we know the equipment works before setting them up on the remote side.
• We highly recommend VPN tunnels for network communication when using any off-premise VoIP.

Network Requirements:

• Each Router/Firewall should have a static IP Address at each location for VPN
• Each Router/Firewall must provide QOS for management
• Each Router/Firewall must have the ability to disable any SIP ALG features
• ISP (Internet Source Provider) must have the ability to disable SIP ALG on the modem
• May need to put the ISP Modem into Bridge mode
• Each Router requires a VPN, MPLS, or Point to Point T1 capability
• One-way delay must not exceed 150ms
• Round trip delay must not exceed 300ms
• Packet loss must not exceed 1%
• Data Switches MUST be manageable
• Helpful if the Router/Firewalls are of the same manufacturer and similar in model

Remote IP Phone Support Policy:

• We will help you with all of the SL1100 KSU and IP phone programming
• We will make network recommendations, however we will NOT help you program any routers, firewalls, switches, or modems
• If you run into connection problems based on network issues, we will forward your issues along with Wireshark captures to NEC Engineering for support if issues are sent to us in writing
• Please check Tech Support options with your Sales Rep before quoting or buying an SL1100 with remote VoIP Phones

Important Notes About Multi-Site Applications

Setting Expectations with your Customer:

• They/you may need IT people at each site during installation
• IT people must have the capability of doing Wireshark captures to troubleshoot network problems
• They need proper bandwidth on each site to support the network and VoIP traffic
• Each site uses a unique 4 digit extension numbering plan (i.e. 1101 and up for site 1, 1201 and up for site 2 and so on)
• All SL1100's must be running the same version software
• There is a maximum of 5 sites with a 256 combined port limit on SL1100 networking

Network Requirements:

• Each SL1100 system will require two private IP Addresses
• Each Router/Firewall will need a static IP Address at each location
• Each Router/Firewall must provide QOS for management
• Each Router/Firewall must have the ability to disable any SIP ALG features
• ISP (Internet Source Provider) must have the ability to disable SIP ALG on the modem
• Each Router requires a VPN, MPLS, or point to point T1 for SL Net to work
• SL Net is not supported over NAT-Traversal, ONLY VPN
• One-way delay must not exceed 150ms
• Round trip delay must not exceed 300ms
• Packet loss must not exceed 1%
• Data Switches MUST be manageable
• Helpful if the Router/Firewalls are of the same manufacturer and similar in model

Things NOT Supported across Networked Sites:

• No all-page, you must page each site individually
• No answering door phones across sites
• Music-on-hold (MOH) must be on each site
• Manual night mode switching must be done from each site

Multi-Site Tech Support Policy:

• We will help you with all of the SL programming if you use our default databases at each site
• We will make network recommendations, however we will NOT help you program any routers, firewalls, switches, or modems
• If you run into connection problems based on network issues, we will forward your issues along with Wireshark captures to NEC Engineering for support if issues are sent to us in writing
• Please check Tech Support options with your Sales Rep before quoting or buying an SL1100 for multi-sites

** Free support is for single sites, there may be additional costs for networking more than one site, contact you sales rep for details