[olug] OT: Bandwidth Requirements for VOIP

[Lou Duchez]

When you say "VoIP", do you mean you'll be using Vonage, or Asterisk, or 
what?  Is there a particular goal you're trying to meet by switching to 
VoIP?

The minimum bandwith is pretty much a function of the compression -- a 
call can take 10k or 60k, depending.  Also, faxes don't tend to work 
that well over VoIP, and certainly not with G.729 compression (the low 
bandwidth kind).

And if you're using DSL or cable modem for both VoIP and Internet 
traffic, you may experience dips in quality if the VoIP is competing 
with downloads.  QoS can help, but it can really only help with the 
outbound part of the call; the prioritization of traffic coming down the 
pipe is decided by your ISP.

I find that VoIP can be as reliable as regular phone service, but to 
really do it right you need a business-grade VoIP product provided by a 
carrier like XO, and it will likely involve buying a phone system.  
Cheap VoIP over a DSL can work pretty well, for the most part; but if 
your business is utterly reliant on your phones, hiccups and problems 
caused by cheap VoIP may hurt your business more than you save.


> I'm looking at moving my wife's office over to VOIP this year. There are
> currently 2 lines supporting 4 users.   Fax traffic is less than 20 pages a
> week in/out.   Talk time can be sometimes be quite lengthy when dealing with
> the IRS or clients.   What would you recommend as a good bandwidth level to
> support the office?  Are the other questions I should be asking?
>
> Thanks!
> Dave Thacker
>
> _______________________________________________
> OLUG mailing list
> OLUG at olug.org
> https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug