I saw this and had to comment, then I have to run and get some real work
done... (GRIN).

One company I work for built out their phone system using all
Voice-over-IP technology (Cisco's version) and will never have a
traditional PBX or phone system, ever.  I help maintain it.

Now the "router guys" (IP Network Engineers) take care of phone
moves/adds/changes.  Heh.  THAT's a switch!

Of course, they can all be done from his/her desk with a mouse as long
as the Ethernet-powered phone is plugged into the network somewhere and
has its assigned IP address. (The phones are powered from 48VDC that's
added to the Ethernet ports at the Cisco switch.)

Integration with the company e-mail system and voice mail is a nice
touch that comes from it... all voice mail shows up as an e-mail
attachment you can play through the PC speakers on your laptop or
desktop and when you delete that e-mail the voice mail light goes out on
the phone, as well as being able to fire up a "SoftPhone" software app
on a Windows PC and put a headset on, and anyone can call you "on your
desk phone" no matter if you're in Denver, Tijuana Mexico, San Diego,
etc.  With the addition of VPN routers, the same can be done from any
place you can find a decent "broadband" Internet connection.

The technology is new, and rolling it out to the residential market
wouldn't work, but at a small to medium-sized company just starting out,
it's great.

It's probably not cost-effective for a business that already has a large
PBX to replace their system with the Cisco stuff, but a new company just
starting up that's mid-sized would be fools not to look into it if they
have good networking folks.

We still have the occasional server crash, but Cisco's application of
the technology allows for server redundancy, so calls continue to go
through while we figure out what nasty little bug in relatively immature
software is causing the hiccup on the other server... to be expected for
newer stuff, to some extent nowadays... but generally it "just works"
and works well enough that no one would know we don't have a Lucent
Definity in the back room if they didn't look carefully at what plug the
Cisco phones are plugged into under the desk...

Nate

On Tue, 2002-08-27 at 10:34, Brendan Moran wrote:
> >     Sounds like free long-distance telephony using digitized voice
> >     over your "free" internet connection, which Bob Metcalfe once
> >     likened to the free heating you could get by stealing rolls of
> >     toilet tissue from public restrooms and burning them in your
> >     furnace.
>
> I'd say that Voice Over IP is here to stay.  Especially since you're already
> paying for the data connection.  Once it's paid for, what data you send
> where is your business.
>
> --Brendan
>
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