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?

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Network Cabling website as the original source).

Now more than ever before, businesses and their overall efficiency are dependent on the quality of Internet, voice, and video service their chosen provider can supply.  This makes the choice of service provider one that can make or break a small or medium business in today’s economic climate.

Making this situation even more complex is the wide variety and number of providers available that claim to be able to support anything, anywhere!  Where is the truth to these claims?  How can they be validated?

Regional, national, and international service providers can be found that offer anything from WiMax (great for remote areas with no infrastructure), DSL (good for very small businesses with 2-5 employees), to full T1s that can service a larger facility.

If you plan to deploy an IP phone infrastructure, it is best to choose at least a cable modem 6MB minimum service or a T1. DSL is not usually able to support VoIP (voice-over-IP) telephony, which has a huge cost and service benefit for all levels and sizes for business.

It also makes sense to ask any company vying for your business for at least three references from companies that are as close as possible to your size and number of employees.

Sometimes, the constraints of your building may dictate the service provider you must choose.  In some areas of the world, building owners have made “deals” with service providers that preclude other choices.  If you are caught into one of these situations, WiMax (wireless broadband) becomes a possibility as it is usually not covered by other contracts.   If your area isn’t covered by WiMax either, then you have the unfortunate choice between moving or using the only service provider offered.

Thankfully, the issue most businesses face is too many, rather than too few choices.   Many service providers, faced with user churn because there are so many choices for their customers, offer attractive promo deals to potential customers. Be sure to look beyond the immediate benefits of the “deal” to find the best overall package for you and your company.

The best choice for your company will be the provider that offers the bandwidth PLUS SLA (service level agreement) that fits your needs.  Remember, bandwidth alone is not enough to ensure clear Internet connections, you also must be wary of oversubscription. If there are too many users of the same “pipe”, delays can result.  This may not be serious if you don’t plan to deploy VoIP (voice-over-IP), but can still cause delays in video or file downloads that can be irritating to your employees.

If you want expert advice on whom to choose, why not call network cabling installers?  Professionals will assess your unique situation and draw from a wide knowledge bank to recommend the service provider that will meet your needs most cost effectively.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Network Cabling website as the original source).

Joe Small Business Owner rushes out to buy the latest and greatest servers, printers, and wireless access points for his company – spending lots of capital in the process.  Yet when it comes to his inside wiring, he just runs another used cat 5 wire he got from eBay or Craig’s List across the floor or over a cabinet and thinks he is saving money. What’s wrong with this picture?

For starters, “rat’s nest wiring” can create many problems that get blamed on the shiny new equipment – such as poor performance and interference.   Running wires too close to fluorescent lighting can also cause interference that shows up as slow data or voice connections.   And who knows what is actually INSIDE those walls!

Wires with frayed shielding in the walls can cause increased vulnerability to interference too, and this can be an elusive problem that usually gets blamed on equipment misconfiguration.    Damaged media or wiring inside the walls can lead to intermittent dropped connections, which is very annoying when using VoIP (voice-over-IP) telephone systems as key parts of calls may be dropped.

Poor termination of Ethernet cabling or fiber optic cabling can lead to a whole host of problems that can plague your business’s mission critical activities in many ways.  And using old wiring such as cat 3 while trying to handle streaming media is another mistake made by many – it is older media and directly analogous to trying to fit an entire pitcher of lemonade into a thimble.

What’s a business owner to do?  Call experienced network cabling installers to come and do a comprehensive evaluation of not only the cabling you can see, but also what you can’t see.  Professional installers use the latest wire integrity evaluation equipment on the market to test for compromised shielding, improper termination, or damaged media that may be wreaking havoc on your business communications.  And they will only recommend that wiring be upgraded if it really needs to be – no need to worry about upgraded wiring being recommended just because someone wants a trip to Tahiti.

Business communications are critical to your very growth – and survival in this economic climate.  Running top notch “state-of-the-art” IT equipment over faulty wiring is like driving a Porsche in off road conditions; you just wouldn’t do it. Professional installers will identify any wiring issues, and also any potential interference issues and either reroute wiring or use a media type that is not susceptible to interference.

No matter what the professionals find, they will keep your needs and your budget in mind at all times throughout the process.   No nasty surprises at the end of the job, and no more compromised communications.  Why wait, call professional network cabling installers today!

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Network Cabling website as the original source).

Current industry best practices for network design for enterprise and small business clients begin with a solid understanding of the businesses’ current and future needs. Scalability must be built in from the start; otherwise the network will limit the company’s future growth.  This means using a distributed rather than centralized architecture for most installations.

Today’s networks are combined voice-video- and data networks, not just data networks like yesteryear.  This means QoS (quality of service) must be built in from the start to prioritize voice and video traffic where packet loss can create loss of business communications. Service providers chosen should offer QoS as part of an SLA (service level agreement) and internal Ethernet switches should also offer at least a ToS bit QOS scheme.  Switch ports must be configured to auto-negotiate speed/duplex levels, power levels, enable portfast, and to enable queueing on uplink ports to ensure that the Voice VLAN gets priority across the entire LAN.

Copper rather than fiber cabling is preferred for VoIP networks within a business or enterprise as fiber networks require media convertors which are viewed as another potential point of failure.  All wiring should meet requirements for 100MB Fast Ethernet, and should be certified as free of faulty shielding, improper termination, or other defects.   At least cat 5 wiring and preferably cat5e or higher wiring should be used.

PoE or Power-over-Ethernet switches are also preferred as they can be used in conjunction with a back up power source so that business communications and data sharing are continuous in the event of a power outage.   When PoE switches are used with IP phones and a back up power source, the phones will also still work in the event of a power failure.

A gateway that connects to the PSTN (public switched telephone network) is also needed to handle 911 calls or external calls in the event of WAN failure.  This functionality is included in many IPPBXs or routers available today.

Best practices design is a constantly changing concept also, based on the latest and greatest technology and findings.  It pays to hire an experienced data installation firm that keeps pace with today’s best practices and networking know-how.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Network Cabling website as the original source).

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.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Network Cabling website as the original source).

Wireless networks are fashionable for small businesses, and it is no wonder.  Having a good wireless network allows employees to work anywhere in the building without being tethered to their offices.   Customers and visitors can work in conference rooms, after being given guest access to the network.  And costly wire drops become unnecessary.

However, there are key tradeoffs to be considered – and more and more companies are opting for both a wired and a wireless network so that the benefits of both can be combined.

Wireless networks are subject to “dead” spots within any building. Although this can be minimized by careful placement of access points and the use of analysis tools such as those available from Air Magnet, dead spots are unavoidable in most structures.  The fastest bandwidth available with any wireless networking protocol today is 55 Mbps, as opposed to 100 Mbps for fast Ethernet wired networks (with Gigabit Ethernet networks offering up to 1,000 Mbps speeds).  And they are notoriously easier to hack into, although newer security protocols such as WPA-2 are being used to address this concern.

Wired networks limit freedom, but are tougher to hack into and very reliable.  Many companies provide workers the choice between the two options – if they need to work in a conference room, a wireless network is available to enable this.  If they need speed and reliability, a cable drop is available to plug into their laptops or PCs.   Added security connections can be had by using wired fiber optic Ethernet drops instead of copper Ethernet drops.

VoIP is also deployed only with wired connections today – as call quality with VoIP over 802.11 is not yet considered solid.  Enterprise VoIP desktop phones from all major manufacturers require that a copper Cat5, Cat5E or Cat6 Ethernet cable be connected.  ATAs or “analog telephone adapters” also require a hard wired connection.

When considering what to deploy for your company, if you have the resources, both a wired and wireless network is optimum.  If you have a smaller company and only want one or the other, deploying VoIP or voice-over-IP is a great cost saving step and requires the installation of static wiring to work properly.  This means a structured cabling network is your best choice.  The monthly cost savings realized from eliminating long distance toll charges and high land line charges will more than pay for the added expense of installing copper cabling over a short amount of time.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention http://www.intsysinst.com as the original source).

Although some businesses are lucky enough to be located in brand new buildings with new shiny cabling and infrastructure – most are living with cabling that was installed in the 1980’s or earlier.  Many business owners don’t associate the quality of their internal cabling with difficulties in their networks.  For the most part, network cables are hidden in the walls – out of sight, out of mind!

But upgrading your cabling NOW will pay dividends, and can help make your business more efficient now while allowing you to take advantage of new technologies that can have a great impact on your business in the future.  Eight good reasons to upgrade now include:

1)Most 1980’s cabling is cat 3 UTP cable, which is really not suitable for money saving technologies such as VoIP.  Moving to a cost effective VoIP system will more than pay for the cable upgrade within months!
2)Older cable can have insulation that is wearing off, which means shielding is also wearing off which can lead to crosstalk related network problems
3)Newer cabling is required for the installation of telepresence systems, which can cut down travel costs dramatically and improve communications between remote branch offices.
4)Older cabling is easier to “sniff”, meaning your competitors could tap into your networks and gain unauthorized knowledge about your business and products
5)When installing new cabling, you can run more cable to accommodate more computers, VoIP enabled fax machines, or phones – meaning you can streamline your switch and router locations and make your overall network more efficient.
6)You can install fiber optic cabling in areas where security is critical, and use media conversion to areas where cheaper copper cabling is adequate.  Fiber optic cabling is nearly impossible to sniff.
7)Gigabit Ethernet capable cat 6 cabling can be installed to allow use of faster download speeds in engineering areas or anywhere huge files have to be uploaded and downloaded.
8)PoE (power over Ethernet) switches can be added to your network which require newer cabling – these allow better overall power management, mean less wires to trip over for your employees, and can help save on your power bills.   You can also set up your infrastructure to run on a generator in the event of a power outage, which means productivity can continue no matter what the outside conditions are.

Your network cabling installer can help you achieve the perfect network infrastructure and cabling scenario that not only meets your present needs, but “future-proofs” your organization.  This allows you to take advantage of money-saving new technologies now and in the future.  They can assess the current state of your infrastructure, make detailed recommendations as to what needs to be done, then help you make the decision as to the best course of action for your organization in terms of budget, needs and future scalability.   Why not call one today and get started on your future IT plan?  There is no better time than now.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention http://www.intsysinst.com as the original source).

Today’s business climate is motivating most business owners and managers to find new and innovative ways to cut costs – hence VoIP or voice-over-IP is becoming very popular.  But this leads to Capex spending; and budgets are just not there unless the ROI happens in short order.

Enter SIP trunking, which is a highly popular way of getting the benefits of lowered phone bills with minimum Capex.  SIP trunks allow voice and data to be carried over the same internal network, while allowing integration into the company’s existing phone system.  A company can purchase more sophisticated SIP or IP phones, but won’t have to upgrade immediately in order to get the cost benefits provided by SIP trunking.  With SIP trunking, the call is handled as little as possible by traditional telephone wires with their associated high costs.

SIP or “session-initiation-protocol” is a protocol which specifies signaling standards for IP telephony – it is very similar to web languages so also allows greater integration of telephony with web services such as click-to-talk. It is now the preferred protocol for IP telephony used.

A wide variety of SIP trunking providers have popped up to meet this growing demand – several of which are Broadvox, Bandwidth.com, and Etherspeak.  Charges for SIP trunking are often a fraction of the cost of a PSTN (public switched telephone network) carrier!

Central to the operation of a SIP trunked system is the IPPBX, or Internet Protocol PBX system.  Some IPPBXs such as the small business versions offered by Epygi have analog connections as well as digital connections – which means businesses can use their older analog phones and don’t have to buy all ATAs (analog telephone adapters that allow old phones to be used with IP telephony) or newer SIP phones.   This allows upgrades to happen more slowly, to keep finance people happy.

IPPBXs also offer rich feature sets such as music on hold, menu-driven call routing, call screening, auto-attendants, etc at a fraction of the cost of a traditional PBX system.  A small company that moves to a SIP trunking telephone architecture with an IPPBX not only will save money, but can achieve a big company presence with small company expenditures.

Service providers offer what is known as a “hosted” option also, which simply means the IPPBX is not located at the company premise, but in a data center or facility owned by the service provider.  This type of service provider usually contracts with a SIP trunking provider to provide the trunk, and charges the end customer for the actual IPPBX service.  One example of this type of provider is Silicon Valley based Ring Carrier.

Regardless of whether you opt for a hosted or premise based IPPBX system with SIP trunking – you WILL save money in the long run.  Typical payback periods are estimated at 6 months to 1 year.

But, the quality of your infrastructure and cabling will be critical if you opt to go with a SIP trunking solution.  It pays to call an expert structured wiring installer to come in and examine your structured cabling to see if it is up to the challenge.  If they find you need upgrades, they will provide a detailed estimate of the costs, and perform the work quickly and efficiently once you accept their proposal. They know that time is money!

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention http://www.intsysinst.com as the original source).

Quality of service, also known as QoS is a way that networking equipment companies and service providers can help voice and video packet traffic have priority over less critical data traffic.  It is important to have some kind of QoS system running in your network if you have a VoIP (voice-over-IP) system or telepresence system installed.

The simplest method for QoS is 802.11 p and q TOS (type of service) bit prioritization, where bits are toggled in the actual voice packet itself to show priority level. These bits let these IP packets be prioritized over the non-essential stuff, so that your voice calls are not choppy and disjointed because of late packet arrival or packets not showing up at all.

Without QoS in place, if someone downloads a huge file in your company, a voice call that is happening on the same network may fade in and out, get very choppy, or drop altogether.  And if you have an admin in the corner playing video games or watching Hulu on his or her lunch hour, the entire phone network could be slow and unresponsive.

Quality of Service can be put to use inside a company’s structured cabling network, for specific routers and switches, or just to control specific applications.  If you want QoS to improve the voice quality for a VoIP network, it is very important to make sure that you have “end-to-end” QoS.  This means that the same QoS prioritization scheme should be used from where the call originates to where the call terminates, which means any service provider’s networks that routers hop to along the call path should feature QoS as well.

Most service providers who offer Internet services that are specified for voice do offer QoS, but it is best to check to be sure.  The part that you usually can’t control is outside callers and callees – some of them may be on VoIP and some on the PSTN (public switched telephone network).  It makes sense to read carefully any SLA  (service level agreement) your provider sends you BEFORE signing up for their service, to make sure the Internet quality you are going to get is specified as being suitable for voice services.

Some networking companies broaden the definition of QoS; expanding it to mean anything and everything that contributes to better network operation, such as having in place a sophisticated network management system.  Certainly such a system is a plus for any company network, and will help you uncover potential bottlenecks and issues before they create any mission critical problems for your business.

At the most basic level, most routers you can purchase for small businesses allow you to set QoS priorities based on types of traffic – voice, video or data.  You can prioritize by IP tags, or by MAC (media access controller) so that some phones or computers in your network can have priority over others.  This can come in handy if you want to make sure that the CEO’s phone is always clear!

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention http://www.intsysinst.com as the original source).

Packet loss happens when packets traveling across a data network fail to reach their destination.  In the simple transfer of files or emails, dropping a few packets doesn’t really affect things much.  But if you have a voice-over-IP phone system, a telepresence video system or are running video intensive games or simulations over the web – a few dropped packets can be a major issue.

What are the causes of packet loss?  Packet loss happens when routers or switches are congested, when links are faulty, or when ISPs have oversubscription in their service to you.

Fixing packet loss issues means calling out a good technician to put a “sniffer” on your network to determine where the problem is occurring. If it is in your network, you may need to upgrade your switches or routers to be sure they can handle the load you are asking them to carry. Many older networks were never upgraded when employees and new networked printers, servers, etc were added. This creates problems just waiting to happen, which is why a solid network design for scalability makes sense from the onset!

Your network cabling installers can help you determine what upgrades are needed to your network and infrastructure, and then provide you with a time and cost estimate for implementation.  Sometimes, network cabling must also be upgraded so that you have the most optimal connections between your network nodes.  Older Cat 3 cabling was not designed for the demands of a Fast Ethernet network, nor was it designed to handle sensitive VoIP or voice-over-IP call packets.

Misconfigured IPPBXs or Call Managers can also create voice quality issues that have symptoms similar to packet loss conditions.  It is best to do a packet capture using Wireshark to take a look at the actual command signals to make this determination.  If anything is misconfigured and causing some signaling problems, your network cabling installer can help by reconfiguring the offending equipment.

If the problem is determined to be with your ISP, sending them sniffer data and packet loss data along with a copy of the SLA (service level agreement) they committed to when signing you up may help motivate them to improve their service. If you are trying to run sensitive telepresence or VoIP equipment on less than a business grade DSL Internet connection, your provider will recommend a service upgrade.

A T1 is a great choice, but can be pricey.  If you are in a remote area where business grade DSL is not available due to distance from the central office, a WiMax link may be a wonderful choice and WiMax service is expanding rapidly in availability.

Cable service has really improved over the last several years as well, and in some areas, 12MB of bandwidth is available as a standard business class service.

Packet loss doesn’t have to be an ongoing problem; and it makes sense to address any issues you have immediately before they impact your business communications further.  Packet loss symptoms include choppy VoIP connections, choppy video connections, and streaming media that is no longer smooth.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention http://www.intsysinst.com as the original source).