Hosted VoIP Solutions

It is not every day that we design a small business network that plays a part in allowing a business owner to follow his personal and professional dreams, but I've been lucky enough to witness it.  This client is headquartered in the Indianapolis area and until recently only had a satellite office near the East Coast.  This past month, he opened a second office in Alaska which I know he had been planning on for some time.  He'll be moving his family up shortly to live a life long dream of being a resident of Alaska.

Okay, so you are probably asking by now how small business network design and technology played a role in moving this man to Alaska.  A couple years ago, the Interconnect Group, Inc (TINCG). designed a system that allows both local and remote workers to operate seamlessly.  Utilizing Microsoft 2008 Small Business Server, Standard 2008 Server, and a Microsoft Terminal Services, he and his employees are able to remotely access their ERP system based on Oracle along with Microsoft Office via Terminal Services.  At the time we designed and installed the system, moving to Alaska wasn't part of the plan or at least it was never discussed with us.  If it was, I would have definitely used the whole obtaining a professional and personal dream "priceless" argument to get him to buy sooner....ha! ha! ha!  I think the design has worked out much better than he initially thought.

He also utilizes a business class hosted VoIP Solution which allows him and all of his employees to have seamless communication between one another while not paying any toll charges when calling one another.  More importantly, it allowed him to move to Alaska without missing a beat.  Basically, moving his office consisted of moving his computer and Polycom desktop phone.  Well, almost as easy.  Internet was required, but we took care of that by remotely installing an Adtran NetVanta router to help secure the new data network while also allowing priority to all voice traffic.  The hosted phone system allows his company to extend their client call coverage across multiple time zones which yields greater customer service and customer orders.

TINCG is very happy to be extending support to Alaska.  We wish Norm and his family all the best and can't wait for our first on-site service call.

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The future is on it's way, and it's coming fast.

Recently I had the privilege of receiving in-depth training on one of the networking world's up and coming stars, the Unified Communications platform. After hours of learning the ins and outs of this device, I can honestly say that this is the future of Small Business Network Design.



In particular the device in question is the ADTRAN Netvanta 7100 series Unified Communications appliance. This elegant device, with its outwardly simple appearance is an incredibly robust machine, capable of performing nearly any function needed of a small business network, short of say a file server or network OS. Features include full featured Multi-service Router, SPI Firewall, 24 PoE Fast Switch, VPN Tunneling, WAP Control, QoS, Door Relay, Voicemail, Key System, and full featured IP PBX. There's support for 24 users out of the box, expandable to as many as 100.



But what does that really mean?

It means this device can do just about anything. It's powerful with a good set of defaults out of the box, but with a little fine tuning, can be fitted into any preexisting network or connection type. The device's versatility is not to be underestimated. It fits well into VoIP Network Design, due to the variety of interchangeable voice and data modules it supports. The 7100 allows incoming SIP trunks, making it ideal for those using Hosted VoIP Solutions. It can accommodate many types of data connections, from cable modems to dual T1's. It even supports IP phones and soft-phones from several 3rd party vendors.

How can you use this device to your business's advantage? Simple. Let's say you have your CFO who finds himself concerned with the sudden skyrocketing of your company's long distance charges, after opening a new branch. This is likely attributed to all the new service calls to this remote location. The Netvanta 7100 can be configured to allow the use of say, an under-utilized T1 connection (as they many times are), to send voice traffic to the branch office's 7100 or 6355. This device then forwards the call out through the branch offices local phone line, thus sparing the company any additional charges. Pretty practical, huh? Another feature I particularly like is the ability to email users when a voicemail is left on their system, even in the case of multiple accounts or groups.



While on paper the 7100 may seem like a bit of an initial investment, the return on that purchase is undeniable. Having a single device allows for the simple, easy to administrate solution that many small business owners want. Additionally, after a technician installs and configures the device to the client's needs, the day to day administrative tasks, such as adding new users and voicemail greetings may be easily maintained by existing IT staff through an easy to use GUI. The "office-in-a-box" solution also allows for the simplification of IT Networking Support, as a technician need only examine a single device. Similarly, the simplicity of Computer Network Wiring and the identification of cable faults are vastly improved.

So as you can tell I was very impressed by the device. Powerful features, adaptability, and one-box ease of deployment make this a great choice for any small business wanting to take their network to the next level. If you'd like to hear more about the Netvanta 7100, and what it can do for your business, don't hesitate to call The Interconnect Group, Inc. at 317.831.0704. Let us help you, IT Networking Support is what we do best.

If you've read any of my previous blogs, you may have noticed that I'm a very big fan of Adtran routers.  I've used them across a wide spectrum of projects and have never been dissatisfied.  If you've ever stepped into a telecom closet, you have most likely seen an Adtran router mounted on the wall being used by the local telecom carrier.  Adtran routers are very effective for VoIP Network Design and/or the standard Small Business Network Design.

One model that I really like is the Adtran Netvanta 3438 Multiservice Access Router.  It has a network interface module that will support up two T1s.  In addition to the two Ethernet ports, there is a built in 8-port, non-blocking Ethernet switch with an optional PoE add-on.  I've used the NV3448 for both hosted VoIP solutions Indiana projects and small business network solutions alike.  I prefer getting the version with the Enhanced Feature Pack (EFP) more for the Voice Quality Monitoring (VQM) feature than the VPN capabilities although the VPN feature is very robust.  The VQM comes in very handy when monitoring client's historical VoIP call quality.

Adtran offers both a good GUI and command line interface (CLI).  I commonly use the CLI for my initial configuration setup as well as those times when I'm troubleshooting a tough problem.  I use the GUI for general maintenance and monitoring tasks.  Since you can see the raw SIP messaging at the CLI level in Adtran's Operating System (AOS), additional steps of capturing SIP messaging and importing into Wire Shark isn't necessary.

I would be remiss in my blogging duties if I wrote an article about Adtran routers and didn't mention their industry leading warranty.  Adtran stands behind their products and offers a 5 year warranty on most products and a 10 year warranty on some select product lines.  Adtran offers free firmware updates for their hardware for the lifetime of that hardware.  Adtran offers free telephone support on their products which is staffed by English speaking, Engineering degreed US based staff.  This is a very key selling point to me and my small business network design clients.

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The days of being stuck with an antiquated business phone system is becoming a thing of the past.  As recent as three to five years ago, call routing options and advanced call features were only found in larger corporate phone systems.  This is not the case in today's market.  The Small to Medium sized Business (SMB) market now has plenty of options and affordable telephone system solutions, thanks largerly in part to the commercialization of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones systems.

Several Indiana Telecommunications Providers offer their own varieties of both premise based and non-premise based solutions.  Both options have their place and the following factors should be evaluated with your VoIP Specialists when looking into purchasing a new business phone system:

• Number of physical locations serving
• Quantity of users and stations per location
• Are remote worker solutions required
• Are call center features required
• Business Phone Support options

There are several affordable premise based phone systems available.  Microsoft's Unified Communication has been getting a lot of publicity, but we prefer ADTRAN's NetVanta 7100 solution for systems serving less than 50 users.  There are also some great Open Source solutions, but again it must be the right fit for your organization.

As VoIP Specialists, we've been integrating a Hosted PBX VoIP solution since 2005 which is based on the Broadsoft Softswitch platform.  Although the Hosted PBX platform lends itself very well to multiple premise companies, it also provides these key benefits:

• Lowered Total Cost of Ownership
• Feature Enriched Call Routing Options
• Superior Business Continuity Features
• Remote Web Based Administration

If your company is in the process of moving to a new location or perhaps your old phone system is working against you versus with you, then now is the perfect time for you to review the options available in today's business phone systems.  I would recommend working with a VoIP Specialist to determine the right solution for your company.

Since business phone systems are no longer separate from your IT network, I would recommend engaging your IT Department from the beginning of the process.  Significant cost reduction may be realized if the new business phone system allows for blended voice and data Internet connectivity.