Home > Ask the Unified Communications Experts > Questions & Answers > Should a company going remote get a new vendor who offers local support and SIP instead of H.323?
Ask The Unified Communications Expert: Questions & Answers
EMAIL THIS

Should a company going remote get a new vendor who offers local support and SIP instead of H.323?

Carrie Higbie EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Carrie Higbie

Pose a Question
Other Unified Communications Categories
Meet all Unified Communications Experts
Become an Expert for this site


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   


>
QUESTION POSED ON: 30 June 2006
I work with a company that has an Ericsson BP 250 in the Australia headquarters and we'll be opening a small San Francisco, Calif. Office soon. We are currently interviewing vendors for an IP telephony solution to connect the two offices, as well as mobile U.S. workers and eventually some other small international offices. Ericsson does not have a large support infrastructure in the U.S. and the recommended vendor is in southern California, a plane ride away.

In your opinion, are there inherent integration benefits to staying with Ericsson (they recommend the MX ONE) rather than working with a local vendor with another platform (Avaya, ShoreTel and Cisco are well represented in the area)?

Not only does minimal vendor access cause concerns, but Ericsson is using H.323 call signaling and I understand that SIP is becoming the standard of choice. Would this affect our investment and future interoperability between systems?


>
You are correct to worry about local support. While many things can be handled remotely, parts replacement can not and you may not find it acceptable to be down during the plane ride. Personally, I am a firm believer in making sure that local support is available from multiple sources -- not just one. As for any specific benefits from staying with Ericsson just to be sticking with them, I am not sure that there really is a benefit if you can't get local support. Certainly your inside staff would only have to work with one platform, but it does not sound like you plan on supporting this equipment in-house anyway.

There are gateways that work between H.323 and SIP, so in theory, you could use anything on the U.S. end that you wanted. But you will certainly want to verify interoperability with any gateway vendor you choose. SIP is becoming the most popular protocol and will provide additional options and benefits for your roaming and remote users. Some of the newer gear includes a conversion gateway inside the box, so you may not even need an external gateway. The conversion gateway may add a tiny amount of latency, but SIP is very quick and sets up a type of virtual session to help speed things up.


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   



RELATED CONTENT
IP Telephony Systems
What are the operational costs associated with VoIP after implementation?
Unified communications infrastructure virtualization now a reality
HD voice value proposition: Just try using an HD phone
Tutorial: Connecting and leveraging VoIP islands
VoIP islands 101: How did we get here?
Do desk phones matter in the UC everything, IP everywhere era?
The new Nortel: LTE patents reviving Nortel?
Eldorado Casino can't afford to gamble on IP-PBX telephony upgrades
Agito first to make BlackBerry a dual-mode phone
Nortel voice customers are the vendor's only enterprise asset

UC strategies with Matt Brunk
What is the difference between E&M and junction lines, and do you have any advice on how to check faults in these?
How can MPLS help in VoIP implementation between a parent company and its branch offices?
What is the difference between a proxy server and B2BUA when it comes to SIP? How can I decide which one I should go for?
Can virtualization's benefits apply to UC?
How does one cope with echo in a VoIP-enabled network? What's the best way to use an echo canceller?
Does implementing VoIP security affect the QoS? How would one handle it, if it does?
Successful UC assessment team structure and methods
Do hosted and managed UC systems provide more benefits for certain enterprises?
Security concerns for migrating from open source VoIP to UC
Convergence and open source solutions the next big things in UC

VoIP Migration and Implementation
What are the operational costs associated with VoIP after implementation?
How can MPLS help in VoIP implementation between a parent company and its branch offices?
VoIP islands 101: How did we get here?
Linking VoIP islands: The value of SIP trunking
SIP trunking ROI: Linking VoIP islands and more
The benefits of linking VoIP islands
What are some best ways to save money on a VoIP deployment without losing too much quality?
Tutorial: VoIP ROI
VoIP implementation study guide
What will change for our employees when they start using VoIP?

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
G.722  (SearchUnifiedCommunications.com)
SIP trunking  (SearchUnifiedCommunications.com)

RELATED RESOURCES
2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary



Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
Search and browse more than 25,000 question and answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
Browse our Expert Advice



Voice and Data Communications Tips
About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
SEARCH 
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2008 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts