Guide To IP Trunks

circuits and here lies the rub. If you’re mixing voice and data on the same circuit then, even with QoS (Quality of Service) you are going to get some sort of quality issues affecting voice communications if you send a large email attachment or have remote workers opening documents from your server.

The solution is simple. Make sure you either set up a dedicated DSL circuit (they aren’t expensive) or find a supplier who’ll provide all the media as part of the service. DSL circuits have become a lot faster and – more importantly – a lot more reliable which means IP is no longer a technology to be feared. With IP trunks you can generally keep your existing numbers and rentals, even for the high end products such as IP Centrex’s ‘standard trunk’ and costs are still significantly cheaper than more traditional services.

Once you’ve moved to IP trunks you can deliver calls wherever you wish; so home working becomes easier and calls between offices and remote staff are free. If things go wrong some providers operate a back-up solution so check what is on offer as not all suppliers are ‘created equal’.

Another sticking point can be 999 calls. The ability to be able to dial emergency numbers is now a requirement but some suppliers have not updated their networks. Make sure you check both before and after installation. Also check exactly what you’re getting for your money. £2.00 per month does not get you any media in the ground, or any support for it. So if your ADSL fails the onus is on you to identify the fault and to get it fixed, not the carrier.

Higher end suppliers offer supported infrastructure as a direct and equivalent – in some cases better - replacement for the ISDN services offered by BT, so whatever fails, they fix. With IP it’s easy and affordable to have service resilience options which will activate in real time meaning your business carries on while the original issue is resolved.

Call charges are a commonly confused area. IP calls are NOT necessarily free. At some point you have to connect to someone not on your network, which means routing calls via BT and other carriers which in turn means somewhere there is a charge. That said the rates available with IP are very competitive with some carriers offering flat rates for calls throughout the UK, Europe, the USA, Australia and parts of Asia. Do watch out for call set-up and minimum call charges though and generally, ‘all you can eat’ packages are not going to save you as much as you think - if anything.

What every business needs is reliability, followed by competitive cost. Obtain and follow up on references from any potential supplier. Ideally call them and see how the call sounds.

Provided you find the right supplier then IP trunks are a very good option. They can be delivered to a non-IP phone system in which case an adapter converts back to ISDN on site. Even with this capital cost anyone currently operating a full BT ISDN30 circuit for lines can expect to make savings in three to six months and let’s face it, in today’s climate any return on investment made in under a year is a great result.