Roadblocks to Business Grade VoIP (OS-03)

2. Roadblocks to Business Grade VoIP(OS-03) Presented by: Joe RhemPresident and CTOStar2Star Communications www.Star2Star.com January 2007

3. Summary This presentation covers the obstacles to achieving a business grade reliable, high quality and secure VoIP solution. Issues such as network reliability, bandwidth availability, Jitter, echo, failed hardware at the end user site, failed infrastructure at the network operational center and security problems will all be highlighted. Each of these obstacles has an architectural, technological or best practice that solves the problem. The audience will also go through the design of a solution that can provide high reliability, high quality, and secure Internet based VoIP service for any business (small and medium business included). Joe Rhem, President and CTO Star2Star Communications

4. The Way People Work has Changed • Companies have spread out and outsourced parts of their organization • More and more employees are working from their homes • The cell phone has become an important part of the business communications process • Broadband Internet access is now serving most small to medium businesses and has become another important part of the communications process • There is now an anytime, anywhere expectation for staying in communication whether we like it or not

5. The Only Thing That Has Not Changed Is The Phone System…

6. The Traditional Phone Companies Have Changed but for the Worse • Degrading analog lines • Customer Service unaware, uncaring, and under-staffed • Overpriced • No new features in the last 30 years

7. Lack of Features and Too Much Money • Small and medium businesses have had to either opt out of sophisticated phone systems or invest a disproportionate part of their budget to get traditional features. • Small and midsized businesses have been continuing to pay the traditional phone company twice the value for their phone service than they need to. • Taken together the lack of modern features and the incredible expense of these systems makes them a poor choice.

8. But They Will Keep Trying • Just because traditional phone systems and traditional phone service lack features and are tremendously overpriced does not stop sales people from trying to convince you that you should keep buying those solutions.

9. Not All Internet Phone Solutions Are Created Equally

10. Three Architectures that Do Not Work for Business Traditionally there have been three ways to implement VoIP for small and medium businesses. • Consumer Grade Internet Phone Solutions • VoIP PBX Manufacturer with Third Party Internet Phone Service • Hosted PBX with Internet Phone Service

11. You May Have Seen Consumer Grade Internet Phone Service Offered on the TV • VoIP, better known as Internet Phone Service, has been offered to consumers as a cut-rate service from cable companies and consumer oriented VoIP providers advertising on the television. • These consumer grade services save money but lack the feature set, quality and reliability that a business requires.

12. Avoid A Science Project Recently you could purchase a VoIP PBX from one company and tie it to Internet phone service from another company. This approach is more of a science project than a solution and lacks features as well as quality and reliability. So much so that many VoIP PBX manufacturers are recommending more expensive traditional phone service with their products. Internet Company A Turns a PC Into a PBX Company B Provides Internet Phone Service at Some Level

13. Hosted VoIP PBX Over the Internet Another option is a completely Hosted PBX with VoIP Phone Service over the Internet but this lacks quality without an expensive T1 line and actually costs more over time than traditional phone service. Internet

14. Each of These Approaches Has Certain Drawbacks • They lack Features • There are Quality issues • There are Reliability issues • You do not Save any money over regular business phone service

15. Quality Issues • Must eliminate echo • Must eliminate (almost all) jitter • Must work equally as well on any Internet connection including DSL and cable • Must use no more than 30 Kbs per call • Must not drop calls • Must manage bandwidth and data priority issues on the Internet • Must manage bandwidth and data priority issues on the local LAN • Must avoid poor phone equipment quality

16. Reliability Issues • Internet goes down at customer site for extended period • Internet connection may go up and down • Cable cuts occur • Power outages happen • ISP modem may need to be reset from time to time • A PBX is based on PC technology has a high failure rate with moving parts, hard disk, etc. • Internet may go down at SIP provider • SIP provider might go down • SIP provider might lose a component • SIP provider may not have Tier-1 data center • SIP provider may use a third party low bid SIP wholesalers • SIP provider may not use carrier grade hardware

17. Saving Requirements • PBX should start at under $400 plus $50 per port • Setup should be web based and easy enough for the phone administrators to control features themselves in real-time. A two week long consulting contract can cost $10,000. • Phones should cost between $100 and $200 depending on quality and features. The days of the $500 phone are gone. • Must be able to use DSL and Cable reliably with high quality calling or it does not save any money. • Must be able to get 33 calls across DSL or 66 on T1 or it consumes too much bandwidth per call which translates to more cost.

18. Meeting The Challenges of Delivering a True Business Grade Internet Phone Solution Requires an Single Integrated End-to-End Architecture

19. Only an End-To-End Architecture Delivers a Business Grade Solution Over the Internet

20. It Requires an End-To-End Approach to Deliver Powerful Features

21. Find-Me/Follow-Me

22. Call Routing Have the option to add as many phone numbers as you wish (not phone lines). Setup multiple companies, departments or personal numbers. Each can behave differently when people call or after business hours.

23. Your Phone System Should Integrate with Outlook and Your PC Your cell phone, PC and office phone systems should all dial from the same list of contacts in Outlook. Click and Call any contact so you do not have to dial the same phone number twice in your lifetime.

24. Voice to Email Never miss a message: Voicemail should be accessible through email as well as through the phone system.

25. 911 Support Make Sure That Your VoIP Solution Fully Supports Making 911 Calls From Your Office Phone and Remote Extensions

26. Business Grade Customer Site Components

27. You Can not Deliver Business Grade Service without an Integrated PBX on Your Premises • If you have more than 100 phones then you need a larger PBX which cost around $1500 • Support 500 Users • Support Up to 4 T1 Lines • Support VoIP 2.0 Features • 100% Solid State (no moving parts/ no PCs) • QOS, 729a Codec • Monitored 24x7x365 • Self Healing • If you have more than 4 phones you need a PBX on site (should cost $400 or less) • Support 5-100 Users • Support DSL, Cable or T1 • Support VoIP 2.0 Features • 100% Solid State (no moving parts/no PCs) • QOS, 729a Codec • Monitored 24x7x365 • Self Healing

28. The VoIP Phones Should Be Full Featured Business Phones

29. The System Must Still Support Analog Phones, Fax Machines… Even Other Phone Systems

30. Business Grade VoIP Service Over the Internet

31. Superior Quality Requires Having Control of Both Ends of the Connection

32. The Service Should be Housed in a Tier-1 Data Center The Data Center houses the core telecommunication infrastructure for a VoIP solution. It should be a Tier-1 facility and have multiple redundant fiber loops and multiple carriers POPs.

33. Business Grade Systems Require End-To-End Monitoring and Service Desk Around the Clock Online System Monitor Automatic Detection of Quality or Reliability Issues Service Tickets Should Be Created by Automatic Detection, from a Web Site or By Calling an Around the Clock Support Center

34. To Guarantee Reliability You Must Control the Data Center and Customer Site

35. Data Center Reliability Requires Total Redundancy 100% Redundant Cisco Network at Tier-1 Data Center Inergen Gas Fire Suppression System Powered by Redundant Connections Redundant Environment Control System

36. The Solution Should be Connected By a Nationwide Network of Tier-1 POPs Service should extend far beyond a provider’s core infrastructure in the Data Center. When you make a call, your vendor should be able to determine the best quality route for your call and send your call through that route to guarantee the highest possible call quality.

37. Savings

38. Only an End-To-End Solution Can Actually Cut the Typical Business Phone Bill in Half • VoIP Service with an End-To-End approach with Business Grade Service over Cable and DSL will cut the typical business phone bill in half • If you buy the system you will get a quick return on your investment • Some vendors offer financing as low as Prime +2 • When you finance the system you can usually save enough on the phone bill to completely pay for the brand new phone system and phones with little or no additional out of pocket expense

39. How to Switch To Business Grade VoIP

40. Step 1: Get Out Your Old Phone Bill • How many lines? • How many phones? • Do you want to keep your old phone number? • Will you keep at least one analog line? • Do you have a broadband internet connection?

41. Step 2: Get a Quote From a VoIP Dealer Have a Local Dealer Create a Quote

42. Step 3: Place an Order • With the help of a Local Certified Dealer some VoIP vendors offer an intuitive web wizard to determine how your system will work. • Fill out and fax the number porting document • Include a copy of a recent phone bill • Select Payment option (Lease, Purchase, Credit) • Sign the Service Contract

43. Step 4: Run a Side-by-Side Test • Run your old system (incoming calls only) and the new VoIP system (outgoing calls only) side-by-side • Most vendors offer a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee if you are not completely satisfied with the solution Side by Side Test Internet Phone Solution Old Phone System

44. Step 5: Trade-In Your Old System Many vendors will accept your old system as a trade-in. This saves you even more money.

45. Question and Answers