Three Articles on Unified Communications Tech

February 3, 2010 by Chris Williams · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Unified Communications, Voice over IP 

SIP Primer from SearchUnifiedCommunications
Back in November I posted a few resources for SIP trunking. Here’’s one more: a more in-depth SIP primer at Unified Communications News.

Author Elaine Hom talks about the many points in SIP where cost and time savings come about. It’’s a good introduction, and even addresses some basic concerns & caveats. Worth the read if you”re using SIP in any way.

The IP PBX: Who Needs It?
Written by Shamus McGillicuddy for his Unified Communications Nation blog, this post is a comment on the necessity of PBXs in general (IP PBXs in specific). I think the direction he’’s pointing is the right one. We”re in the middle of a big shift in communications technology.

Before, you pretty much only had the PBX option. Now, not only do you have other options for phones (VoIP, cellphones), you have options for different types of communication too (IM, video).

Zeacom Unveils a New Gateway for OCS
Two weeks ago I talked about VoIP gateway manufacturers. Here’’s a new one. Zeacom is a communications solutions company out of New Zealand (with a US office in Irvine, CA). They announced a new gateway for Microsoft OCS 2007 on February 1st.

There isn”t a lot of info on their site about it, but there’’s plenty on overall UC solutions. I”ll keep an eye out for reviews of their new gateway–might be one we can add to the Recommended list.

Any more links related to these you”d like to share? Put them up in the Comments.

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Three SIP Resources You”ll Need for VoIP

November 18, 2009 by Chris Williams · 2 Comments
Filed under: OCS 2007, Unified Communications, Voice over IP 

Considering a switch to a VoIP-based phone system? You”ll need to know about SIP Trunking.

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) allows voice traffic to travel over data networks. It connects legacy phones and the Internet. In order to do this right, you”ll need to know how SIP functions. On its own, and integrated into OCS 2007.

These resources popped up in my alerts and/or RSS recently. Two are downloads; one’’s an online guide.

1. Podcast: “Reality Check: Five Things You Should Know About SIP”

Start here if you”re unsure what SIP does/can do. Download the 8-minute podcast or listen to it on the page.
The five things are (in brief):

  • SIP is more than just telephony;
  • Trunking enables end-to-end IP (lots of applications);
  • SIP is about Presence (remember what we”ve said about Presence?);
  • The SIP Forum is available for reference;
  • Mobile SIP is out there too.

2. White Paper: “The Benefits of Using a Demarcation Device When Integrating Legacy Voice, SIP Trunks and Microsoft OCS R2″

Published by NET, this white paper makes a thorough case for switching to SIP/OCS over PBX phones. Some of its examples include better voice quality, cost savings, & more efficient use of bandwidth.

The white paper’’s about using a demarcation device (their own product) to help integrate SIP. But don”t let that sway you; the reference material is great. It even shows a lot of the inherent complexities of an OCS-based phone system. (I think they went a bit overhead with that topic; our OCS implementations don”t usually get near that complex!).

Download the white paper at the UC Strategies Blog.

3. OCSPedia’’s “Step-by-Step Mediation Server Guide” Online Resource.

One of Mediation Server’’s primary functions is to translate SIP-over-TCP to SIP-over-TLS. In other words, if you want to call out with OCS? You need a Mediation Server in place to handle SIP.

OCSPedia.com has kindly written out a series of detailed instructions on installing/configuring Mediation Server. And several posts on what it does/how to make use of it.

OCSPedia.com Step-by-Step Mediation Server Guide

These days, SIP Trunking is an essential component of any serious VoIP system. Even major telco providers have SIP Trunking available now (for approved hardware of course; we keep a list). So read up!

Anything more to add on SIP? Post it in the comments, or email me.

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Avoid “The Choking Line” — Don”t Use Consumer-Grade Broadband Lines for VoIP

November 5, 2009 by Chris Williams · Leave a Comment
Filed under: OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Voice over IP 

The main difference between Voice over IP and POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service; your typical desk phones) is the fact that Voice over IP runs all of its connections through Internet lines. NOT phone lines.

Sometimes people forget this. So we remind them during initial meetings. You”ll need a high-speed line for good-quality VoIP conversations.

When we say this, their thoughts often switch to the most immediate Internet line solution: consumer broadband connections. Like through Comcast or AT&T.

“That”ll work for VoIP phones, right?”

Sigh.

Why Consumer-Grade Broadband Chokes VoIP

Most consumer broadband packages are measured in up/down speeds. Say 3MBps down/512Kbps up, for example. That stands for 3 megabits-per-second download, half a megabit-per-second upload. This is part of the problem. Phone conversations are two-way. People talking, people listening. If both upload and download speeds aren”t at least close? The conversation breaks up all over the place.

The major reason this occurs comes from VoIP’’s underlying technology. Voice over IP works by packet-switched telephony - digitizing your voice and sending it in separate packets through the Internet. Each packet takes its own route to the destination, where they”re reassembled back into voice.

Some people consider this a detriment to VoIP use. It isn”t really; the voice speed is comparable, and you gain other advantages from VoIP. Still, the speed needed for proper packet switching in a business environment can”t be found in DSL or basic cable. If you tried it, conversations will resemble traffic at rush hour with all its stops and starts.

Leave consumer-level broadband to Skype. If you run a business, you need a business-grade Internet line to handle VoIP.

What Kind of Internet Line is Needed for Business VoIP

For your standard office of 20 people or so, you”ll want a dedicated T1 line. Go higher - a couple T1s, a T3 or OC3 - if you”re dealing with multiple office locations and lots of employees.

P.S. - Don”t forget about SIP. SIP trunking connects your VoIP phones to the main POTS telephone network. Bridging the gap between packet switching and regular phone circuits. A good explanation of SIP trunking can be found at Siptrunk.org.

Which ISPs do you use/recommend for VoIP? Drop us a comment and let us know.

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More Companies Joining the VoIP/Unified Communications Market: Is This Good for OCS Users?

September 9, 2009 by Chris Williams · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, Unified Communications, Voice over IP 

I received two interesting articles in this morning’’s Google Alerts for “Unified Communications.” (Got to stay informed!) What was interesting was that both articles discussed UC services others than Microsoft’’s. Both represent different ways to introduce the Unified Communications idea to businesses.

Both could also pose a problem to the whole Unified Communications/VoIP market.

The first article is: Skype Taps ShoreTel for Skype-to-SIP UC

Skype for SIP allows businesses to receive incoming calls from Skype users via SIP-enabled UC systems. ShoreTel customers can also make outgoing calls from their ShoreTel UC systems to other phones at Skype rates (very cheap).

The second is: Avaya Positioned in “Leader Quadrant” for Unified Communications by Gartner Inc.

Avaya’’s Aura is a UC package that interoperates with legacy communication systems like PBX. Much like OCS, it offers presence, IM, and SIP-based calling. It even works with Microsoft Office Communicator if you like.

What’’s Good About These Offerings

First off, it’’s competition in the Unified Communications market. Competition (even indirect competition) helps spur product improvement. Business users get better pricing, and more options.

Second, Skype for SIP makes for an interesting bridge between corporate Unified Communications and Skype. Skype, while mostly a consumer-level service, is popular for cheap international calls. This new offering could provide businesses a cheap-and-easy way to make those calls from now on.

What Problems These Offerings Could Cause

The UC market will get more confusing. With more and more UC services (some picking & choosing what they”ll offer) customers are left unsure of what they”ll get. That uncertainty will carry over onto other products, like OCS. When you don”t know if you”ll get what you need, you tend not to try.

Issues of security and scale crop up too. I”m sure Skype will take every precaution they can to protect business communications through their network. But the fact that Skype originated in the consumer arena (and most of its users are still consumers) will call their security effectiveness into question.

The consumer base raises questions about the very future of Skype, in fact. Will Skype make a further push into the business arena than this? Or is it just an add-on to nab business users? The latter may be true, according to comments on the topic. SkypeJournal.com actually decried the new Skype-to-SIP offering as “abandoning Skype’’s central tenets”!

So, IS This Good for OCS?

Actually, I think so. There’’s some competition (mostly from Avaya), but that can improve things for everyone. OCS 2007 also presents a very unified Unified Communications solution (if you”ll pardon my repetition there).

The best products aren”t necessarily the ones who are there first. They”re the products who are there to last. And with OCS 2010 on the horizon, this one’’s sticking around.

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Excellent Process Diagram of OCS 2007 With SIP Trunking

July 15, 2009 by Chris Williams · Leave a Comment
Filed under: OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Voice over IP 

(And I Didn”t Even Write It!)

Glub…glorp…

Yep, still drowning in this new website version. But today I have a really good article to share with you.

Joe Schurman posted an article to his Microsoft Voice and UC blog on Saturday (July 11th). The article gives an overview on replacing PBX phone systems with OCS 2007 R2 and SIP trunking.

(For anyone who doesn”t know, SIP trunking uses a dedicated digital channel through a major voice carrier like AT&T or Sprint for its communications. It’’s explained well in the article too.)

He’’s more into making a case for SIP trunking than how to go about it. It’’s a solid case though. And he’’s included those nifty system diagrams my laptop doesn”t like making.

Check out the article here:
Replace your PBX today with Microsoft OCS 2007 R2 & SIP Trunking

I agree with Joe - SIP trunking is a great way to go for office communications.  I”ll write more on it soon. (Once the new website’’s up and running, of course!)

Is there an OCS-related topic you”d like more about? Leave a comment!

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