Voice over IP

Metro-tel provides VOIP phone system “turnkey” solutions.  Depending on your application we can offer an “in house” VOIP or a “hosted” VOIP system.  Metro-tel represents a number of dial tone/bandwidth providers of VOIP and Sip trunks/lines to be connected to your Metro-tel provided VOIP Telephone Equipment. 
Below is an explanation to help diffuse the “mystery” of Voice Over Internet Protocol, a.k.a VOIP:

The advantage of VoIP lines are:

• Lower Bills.  Usually you pay a flat monthly rate and all your calls in the USA and Canada are free.  In some cases you also get one bill for both your voice and Internet services.
• You can take your number with you.  If you move around the corner or across the country with VoIP you can keep your existing phone number even if you move to a different area code.
• Multiple area codes.  You can get phone numbers from different area codes or even overseas numbers.
• Portability.  You can move the VoIP router with you and take your service easily with you.  You can even set it up to use your laptop with a virtual soft-phone and a WiFi connections to make calls from anywhere you can get high speed internet access.
• Features.  VoIP lines come with Caller ID, Call Forwarding, and lots of other great features.

The problems with VoIP lines are:

• Quality is not quite as good as traditional phone service, but it's close and getting better all the time.
• Set up can be very challenging,especially if you are planning on using your own router or have a network.
• Depending on how fast your internet connection is, it may be possible to make several calls at the same time over the internet.  However, the more calls you make at once the slower your internet connection will be and the poorer the sound quality of your calls will be.
• Faxes, modem, and alarm systems don't work well over VoIP lines. Sometimes they won't work at all. Local fire and building codes often require traditional lines for fire alarm systems.
• If you need a lot of lines, you may need more then one high speed connection, so the cost of the high speed internet connection may outweigh the savings.
• There are some minor technical issue using VoIP lines and Automated Attendants and Voice Mail systems. 
• If your internet access goes down, all your phone lines go down too.
• VoIP lines normally don't work if the power does out, but you can set up back up batteries.
• Right now the Government does not tax VoIP service.  If that changes the price VoIP may not be as attractive anymore.
• Inbound toll free service is not included in the monthly fee, so your savings may not be as big as promised.
• Many VoIP carriers are data companies and not phone companies.  Often they are not able to fix voice problems.  This is especially relevant to cable companies.
• Cable Company VoIP lines are usually limited to 8-12 lines and don't offer DID or PRI services.
• Some VoIP carriers don't provide up to date caller ID information on incoming calls.

Business VOIP

With business class VoIP, a T1 is delivered to your office that provides both VoIP voice lines and Internet service.  This means that your VoIP provider and your ISP are the same company.   This distinction is very important once you need more then 3 or 4 outside lines.  Since your Internet connection is coming from the VoIP phone company problems such as latency, jitter, and static are greatly reduced.  Basically, your call has to travel a shorter distance.  With residential, your call goes from your ISP, to your VoIP phone company, and then to the person you’re calling.  That's 3 steps, or hops, and problems that affect sound quality can occur anywhere along the way.  Even if there are no problems, there can be slight delays in your voice transmission, similar to talking on a cell phone.  With business class VoIP, your ISP (internet service provider) and your VoIP telephone carrier are the same company.  That reduces the call to 2 hops, so things work better and you can get more calls on the same Internet connection.  Your telephone system sees VoIP lines just like traditional dial tones.  You can get VoIP lines delivered as POTS, PRI, T1, or SIP lines.  Metro-tel can help explain which type of line is best for your needs.
Business class VoIP also has the advantage of being dynamically allocated.  This means that when fewer people are on the phones, the Internet speed is faster.  Voice always gets priority, so phone lines are always available.  Packages are available from 5 to 105 lines or more and may come with unlimited calling or a large allotment of included minutes. 
Business service is far more important then residential, so it's vital that you choose the right carrier.  There are several major carriers like Logix and Beyond.  Let the experts at Metro-tel help you navigate through the maze of carriers and offers.
Connection Remote Workers or Remote Offices ....Voice over IP Stations.
This is the 2nd major use of VoIP.  You can "connect" to your office phone system from anywhere there is a high speed internet connection. Using a special VoIP MEGACO (Media Gateway Control) telephone, a Laptop "soft phone", or even a PDA soft phone, you can work from home or the road and it's just like being in your office.  You have access to all your phone system features including your intercom, internal and external paging, all outside lines, voice mail, and even your extension can ring on your VoIP phone.  Best of all, you don't lose the use of your computer. One high speed internet connection can run your VoIP phone and your PC at the same time.  There is a more basic type of VoIP phone that uses SIP technology.   SIP phones are not as full featured as MEGACO phones, but they can be less expensive and more portable.  There is even a SIP IP cordless phone that will run on your WiFi 802.11 wireless network.  Call Metro-tel and see if adding VoIP stations is right for you.
With this same technology, you can link multiple offices together into one seamless phone system.  You can even share lines or one voice mail system.  You can even run your entire phone system over your office LAN or WAN without separate voice wiring (often called Pure IP or IP Based telephone systems).
Voice over IP is very exciting and more and more people are using it everyday.  Let the experts at Metro-tel help you understand if VoIP is right for you. Voice over IP is available on the Toshiba CIX digital telephone systems.

Hosted PBX / SIP

The 3rd and latest development of VoIP is the hosted PBX solution, also called IP Centrex.  Using a technology called SIP, session initiated protocol, generic VoIP phones can connect to a virtual phone system located at your carrier’s facility.  SIP allows users to take their phone and phone number with them anywhere there is an internet connection.  The big advantage of SIP is that there is little or no hardware for you to maintain.  Everything but the phones are "hosted" off site.  That's also the biggest disadvantage.  There are no major hosted PBX companies yet.  Since you don't own the equipment you are not in total control.  Features may be more robust then you need or may end up being less customizable depending on your specific needs.  Certain other features are difficult or even impossible with a hosted system. Door phones, paging systems, even music on hold all create major problems when you don't have any hardware onsite.  Everything runs over your internet connection and through your LAN / network.  You need to be able to manage your LAN in order to make sure everything runs correctly and with the proper sound quality.  You may need to get an expensive network assessment to deal with any problems that arise after the installation.
You also lose a great deal of control over your telephone number.  Normally your phone number is connected to a physical wire of some kind in your office.  In a hosted solution, your phone line is not in your office at all.  If something happens to your hosted PBX company, like they go out of business, your phone number could be in jeopardy.  Switching your hosting carrier or going back to a traditional phone system can be very difficult since your phone line is not in your office.  Billing disputes can also leave your phone number held hostage by your hosted PBX provider.
Cost is another issue.  Usually hosted PBXs are more expensive in the long run then buying your own PBX.  You have to pay a monthly fee per hosted telephone.  If you have lots of phones that can really add up.  Conversely with your own PBX you pay a monthly fee for every outside line.  If you have a lot more telephones then outside lines, hosted PBXs will probably end up costing much more then buying your own equipment.  If you have a close number of lines and phones then a hosted solution may be a good fit for you.
SIP phones themselves are another issue.  Unlike a PBX or Key Telephone system, SIP phones are generic.  PBX/Key phones have multi-colored LED's, lots of buttons, and easy to use one touch keys.  SIP phones have very few buttons.  Most features need to be accessed either on-line or through a menu on the phone's display.  Basically, SIP phones are not as user friendly as a traditional digital telephone system.  A normal end user may find them complicated.  In most cases, you don't get a local vendor.  You're paying for a monthly service and there is no one locally to call if you have a problem, there for an in house IT staff is very important if you are going with a hosted solution.