Ramblings on IT

The news of an 18-month-old boy dying because their VoIP line was registered to another city (Toronto) is tragic. Unfortunately, due to the reality of the technology, and the relative ignorance of residential customers, something like this was bound to happen.

I’ve been using VoIP at home for a few years now (I enjoyed getting that $0 balance bill from Bell). When we switched to VoIP at home, 911 service was a question my wife had. Being in the business of selling, installing and maintaining IP Telephony systems for business, I’m definitely not your average VoIP consumer, and knew all the answers to give her – not that this totally satisfied her, but I’m the one who pays the bill

If you’re considering VoIP for your home, here are some issues to consider:

- Ensure your ITSP has a 911 plan that makes sense to you.

- Ensure the correct address is registered with your ITSP (this will be YOUR responsibility).

- Ensure your ITSP is NOT a fly-by-night operation – there are FCC and CRTC regulations in place, but the fact that VoIP is location agnostic (both for the service provider and for the customer), means you must adopt some diligence in choosing a good provider. In other words, DON’T go with the lowest price, just because the price tag is attractive.

- Ensure you have a reliable Internet connection. VoIP is not a done-deal for just any location. Flaky DSL and Cable modem connections are not unusual for a lot of people – being over 6km from my C.O. made my DSL unreliable, and I’ve recently switched to Rogers Cable for my Internet (as much as it pains me, but that’s another story). Huge numbers of people in Canada still don’t have access to high-speed Internet. Using satellite based Internet? Forget it. Too much latency – see the next point.

- Quality of Service (QoS). If you want your phone conversations to sound good when little Johnny fires up BitTorrent or YouTube, you’ll need to do one of the following:

  – Buy an all-in-one VoIP/Router device from your ITSP and let them tweak the voice priority settings (assume the first little while will NOT be optimal).

  – Determine if your existing router has QoS functionality and turn it on – again, this will likely require some tweaking (I have a Linksys WRT54GL with DD-WRT firmware). Another option is putting a QoS device between your router and modem (see THIS). If you have no idea what I’m talking about see the previous point, or the next point.

  – HIRE someone to install and set it up for you. Your chosen ITSP should have recommended installers. If the installer that shows up is not presentable and competent, ask them to leave and get another reference.

Some final points:

There is a trade-off here – you may save money on your phone bill, but you should expect to be out of service once in a while and use a cell phone as a backup. Don’t have a cell phone? Don’t get VoIP, period.

Set expectations with your household – there ARE going to be service issues and interruptions, especially when you first set up. If you gloss over this point with your better half, there may be some nights spent in the dog house.

Finally, INVEST in decent equipment and a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) to keep your Internet connection and phones working during a brown- or blackout. ITSP’s won’t necessarily point this out to you – they are a business, and the more complicated the process is, the less likely they will get you as a customer. Buyer beware.

A good rule of thumb is to budget at least what you project to save in phone bills over the next 6-12 months in good equipment (say $250 – $500 with a good UPS, router, VoIP ATA, QoS device, etc.).

VoIP is NOT free – this is a myth. It is a wonderful technology and someday soon all voice communication will be touched by it (if it’s not already). It IS a LOT more mature than it was even 1 year ago, and the tragic event in Calgary will surely make ITSP’s re-double their efforts to inform and re-inform their customers of their responsibility to make sure 911 contact data is accurate.

If after reading the above, you’re comfortable making the switch, great. If not, stick with a land-line.

I will post more on IP telephony and VoIP in the coming weeks, with a bigger focus on business use – the benefits of the technology there are far more than saving $ on a phone bill.

Cheers,

David