Changeover – ISDN to VoIP

This topic is currently becoming an increasingly important point of change in both external and internal communication for many companies. In Europe, as has been known for some time, ISDN connections are now being abolished country by country. As a result, many corporations and companies, whether large, small or medium-sized, have no other option than to switch to VOICE OVER IP. For this change there are some essential facts that need to be considered in advance.

What are the advantages of switching to VOIP?

This question can be explained in more detail in several points and provides an initial insight into how the development of the IT sector is increasingly leading us to new, higher-quality technologies.

• VOIP traffic is sent over entire IP networks
• Lower costs and reduced operating expenses
• Lower hardware costs for TC systems
• No supply bottlenecks for hardware manufacturers
• SIP trunks from providers are cheaper in terms of monthly basic fee and purchase price
• Cheaper minute tariffs with providers

What about the existing telephone systems?

Is a renewal necessary here?

In short, it depends on the IP PBX system. The decisive factor here is which telephone system the company is using and whether this is already Voice over IP capable. Depending on the telephone system, a software update or hardware replacement can be carried out.

What choices do companies have for VOIP?

There are 2 possibilities:

Setting up a virtually switched SIP trunk on your existing Internet line

Data and voice are sent within an Internet line. The bandwidth capacity of the current line should be checked in advance, as approximately 100 kbit/s are required per call to guarantee excellent voice quality. As an example: For 10 employees of a company making simultaneous calls, 1 Mbit/s can be calculated in advance. A virtual SIP trunk is an inexpensive option often chosen by companies, but it is also an insecure one, as neither data nor telephony will work in the event of faults or failures. This is why there is another option:

A dedicated VOIP access that is established as an MPLS connection

Here, a separate line is set up just for telephony. This is similar to the existing ISDN connections, as the voice is used independently of the Internet connection, with the only difference being that everything is IP-based and based on a new technology. The advantage is that in the event of any problems with the data line, telephony continues to run without disruption. As there are two separate connections that are independent of each other. Many companies choose this variant as it is the more secure and better option for VOIP in terms of quality of service. These two options can also be combined. The SIP trunk is used as redundancy to the dedicated VOIP access.

Summarized

The changeover from ISDN to VOIP not only saves companies money in the long term, but is also a new technology that contributes to the progress of many large, medium and small companies. We are happy to support and advise you in implementing the right IP telephony solution for your company.