At 6:52 PM +0000 3/25/04, "Chuck Whose Road is Ever Shorter" wrote:
>
> > When you start working with VoIP, think about situations like that to
>> know how absolutely, positively critical it is that it work. A Blue
>> Screen of Death may literally be responsible for human life.
>
>
>Well said, and point well taken
>
>The problem we in sales continually face is getting customers to think this
>way, instead of thinking "cheap". I can't tell you how many times I and my
>fellow engineers have been beat up over a few thousand dollars in a million
>dollar system because the customer does not think that even minimal
>redundancy / failover is necessary. It does not help when vendors are our
>there telling customers how much money they can save going VoIP
It could be very interesting to talk to the business liability
insurers, or the internal risk management function if they have one,
about what the cost of the lawsuits, loss of business, idle staff,
etc., would be if mission-critical functions go out.
Telephone service is in an entirely different risk category when it
comes to life safety issues, if a VoIP failure might mean not being
able to call emergency services. Incidentally, especially in the
current era of terrorist threat, I still suggest that even if one has
a multiply redundant VoIP system, it's still wise to have a few POTS
lines and/or cell phones in appropriate emergency locations.
As a practical example even with conventional PBX technology, I can't
think of a hospital where I've seen the systems, where each nursing
unit, lab, surgical suite, etc., didn't have a backup POTS line that
bypassed the PBX.
Incidentally, one of the places that really should have POTS and
cellular is the network operations center responsible for keeping
VoIP running. Think about it!
Apropos of NOC's in the US, if you have international customers or
sites, never rely on a toll-free number alone for the hotline to the
NOC. It's very possible that it can only be dialed from inside the
US, or even just from parts of the US. Don't assume that just because
Canada and Mexico are part of the North American Numbering Plan,
tollfree service will work across borders. Many Canadian phones can
call US tollfree numbers and vice versa, but it's certainly not
guaranteed.
Message Posted at:
http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=86404&t=86262
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