VoIP or Voice-over-IP has replaced telephone “land-lines” in many businesses today due to ease of use, added features, and lowered costs.  Yet many things can cause call quality to degrade that are not well understood.

First of all, VoIP requires a good quality Internet connection – an asymmetric DSL connection to a small business, which is common, is usually not enough to run multiple phone lines without having some quality issues in the slower direction.   A T1 line, symmetrical business quality DSL, or higher speed cable modem is best for overall voice quality.

Secondly, VoIP connections can suffer call quality issues if there is no QoS or “Quality of Service” priority scheme built into the networking equipment used.  If voice is not prioritized over data, someone downloading a huge file in the next room or playing YouTube videos can cause a call to become very degraded or even dropped.

When choosing an Internet service provider, be sure to tell them that you plan to operate VoIP so that they give you a service that is designed for voice – otherwise, you may have issues such as packet loss that can also create gaps in the speech that you hear.

Choosing good VoIP phones is also critical to good quality and service, as well-designed phones have many features designed to make the overall VoIP experience as close to land line quality as possible. A good phone will have a good quality echo cancellation algorithm built into the chipset used, and will have a well designed headset with additional noise reduction features.  Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, and Shoretel all have superior products used by many businesses today.  Analog telephone adapter technology has also come a long way in the past several years – which means you can have a VoIP system using your old phones by simply buying boxes from Dlink, Linksys/Cisco or any number of other vendors and simply plugging them in.

A solid infrastructure built using at least cat5 Ethernet cabling is also a prerequisite for any business-class VoIP deployment.   If your infrastructure is not solid, or cabling is not run properly, high levels of interference or packet loss can cause your calls to be spotty or even inaudible.

The right structured cabling installers will be more than happy to do a detailed analysis of your network infrastructure and make cost effective yet useful recommendations for enhancements that will help keep your new VoIP system running efficiently.  Why not call them today?

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The IT industry is rife with “buzzwords”, and one of the latest and greatest is network lifecycle management.   Although it may appear that IT managers simply want an excuse to draw still more flow charts and network diagrams, this buzzword actually makes a great deal of sense in many ways.

What is Network Lifecycle Management?  It is a new concept that simply means that a company’s network needs tender love and care from the planning phase all the way through the EOL phase when a new network is installed.   And careful lifecycle management means that the length of time before that happens will be extended.

A network lifecycle begins with the conceptual stage.  Careful planning as to the customer’s current as well as future needs must be taken into consideration, and scalability must be built in from the start.  An assessment of existing infrastructure and needed upgrades is performed at this time.

Installation is the next phase of the lifecycle – and this is followed by a thorough validation of the install to make sure no present or future “gotchas” exist.  Any latent point of failure is identified and rectified to make sure the network is robust.

During the operational phase of the network lifecycle, it makes sense to remotely monitor the network for any signs of new problems through services like Cisco’s Smart set of services or Broadsoft’s PacketSmart technology.   Proactive network management is far superior to trying to figure out what went wrong after the fact, with irate employees with no Internet, email or phone service asking what is going on.

Any issues discovered during the monitoring phase should be dealt with immediately, so that small problems never escalate into large ones.

If designed properly in the conceptual phase, a network should scale and grow to meet the needs of employees over time by simply adding new wiring and equipment.  Equipment upgrades can be performed remotely (in the case of SW upgrades), or by swapping out pieces of equipment for newer models without replacing the entire network.

When the time finally comes and an entirely new network is required to keep pace with technology – proper lifecycle management will make this task painless too!

To make sure your network is managed properly in every phase of its useful life, why not call structured wiring experts?  They will create a comprehensive plan for your network that will allow you to gain maximum value from it for the longest time frame possible, making it a cost effective and logical choice.   They will carefully assess your unique needs, as the right installer should understand that “one size does not fit all” when it comes to a network.

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One way of running a small business or home network with no new wires is by moving to a powerline networking scheme, which has been the subject of much study and interest due to its simplicity.  However appealing this simple scheme may be, it is not suitable for all networks and does have its pros and cons.

The pros of this technology are obvious – most rooms have multiple electrical outlets so there is no need to run new wires or add additional terminations; printers now no longer have to be located near computers; the newest power line technology called PowerPacket runs at 14MBps so it is quite fast compared to earlier power line networking; and kits to install this technology are inexpensive (around $50-100 is all that is needed).  Companies like Cisco and Netgear offer off-the-shelf power line networking switches and routers that are very cost-effective and easily installed.

This technology does have its cons, however, which is why it is not more popular than wireless technology today.  Although chip manufacturers claim that their chips circumvent this problem, users of the technology say that network performance varies with electrical usage.  This means you could have difficulty downloading a large file while running your dishwasher, for instance.   Quality of electrical wiring varies from home to home and business to business – and some older buildings have very poor wiring.  If you are in an older building, it is probably best to run some new cat 6 or cat 6e Ethernet cabling and call it a day.

Also, the adapter you need to plug in to run a home powerline network cannot be plugged into a surge protector, which may be inconvenient in some cases.   Plus 14Mbps is not nearly enough bandwidth to allow video streaming or a good quality VoIP phone system to run properly.

If you have a simple one or two man office that doesn’t require streaming media usage or large file downloads and want to minimize wiring changes and expense, then powerline networking may be the way to go.  It also may be a good supplement to an existing network in hard to wire zones such as warehouses or garages where the Internet is only used for data entry and to look up the number for your local pizza delivery guy.

But for most modern businesses and state-of-the-art smart homes, this technology still has some growing up to do!

If you would like a professional consultation on the suitability of powerline networking for your home or business needs, contact experienced network cabling installers. Their professionals will do a comprehensive assessment of your unique situation, and recommend the most cost-effective technology solution available.

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Sophisticated networking equipment was once only found in large companies, while small companies shared a dial-up modem to access the Internet or didn’t access the Internet at all.   File sharing between computers was performed by “sneaker-net”; walking around with discs from computer to computer.

Today’s economy demands efficiency for success, and the Internet has become a requirement for doing business at any level.   This has left many small businesses struggling to use complex equipment designed for much larger businesses –or trying to use cheap equipment with low quality standards and no service or maintenance contracts.

Many of the traditional networking companies have recognized this problem, and are now offering service packages customized to the needs of small business, or easy-to-set up and provision equipment with higher quality standards and more comprehensive installation instructions.

Cisco’s Small Business Technology Group (formerly Linksys) offers a wide variety of such products with comprehensive service packages so that small business owners have a place to turn to if or when things go wrong.   Texas based Epygi offers a small business IPPBX that accommodates legacy phones and can be installed within 30 minutes of opening the box.

No matter which path you choose – better service packages or simpler equipment – any network is only going to be as reliable as its infrastructure.  If your small business is planning to invest in some great SMB networking products – make sure they are running on the very best cable and wiring before paying big bucks for a service package!  Call a professional team of network cabling installers to review your infrastructure, and you will save yourself a lot of headaches.

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