Plexus Connectivity Solutions

VoIP Site Readiness Assessment

There is a lot of buzz on the topic of Voice over IP, and equal amounts of healthy skepticism about the state of readiness of this new technology for prime time. Decision makers need to be sure that neither their voice communications nor their data traffic will be jeopardized by going to a converged environment. It is certain, however, that businesses are moving towards VoIP systems. As a network cabling company, we want our customers to know that Plexus has a role to play in helping you prepare for this new technology.

What role does Plexus play in VoIP?

There are several things a company needs to do to prepare their place of business for this new service. Complex things like evaluating and upgrading your WAN to handle Quality of Service, bandwidth management, and a whole lot of additional traffic with real-time characteristics… and simple things like making sure that in-place voice and data wiring or your electrical power environment won’t let you down.

If you are talking to providers of VoIP service about systems and solutions for your business, then you are hearing all about the complex things. You should also know that Plexus is ready to help you with the simple things, and that you cannot accurately evaluate the impact that adding voice traffic will have on the performance of your routers and switches unless your wiring infrastructure is up-to-speed.

Cable Audits

One of the advantages VoIP offers is the ability to use a single network for both voice and data traffic. This applies to voice packets traveling around the world over the Internet, and to the traffic that flows between a customer’s locations and within a building. In the context of structured cabling, however, separate station wiring for voice and data is recommended. There are several reasons for this.

Unless your office or building has been rewired for voice and data within the last couple of years, you will probably find that your voice cabling is not up to the standards of performance that IP networks require to operate well... and there is a difference between working and working well. A poorly performing connection may allow a VoIP device to connect, and only impair network function by slowing traffic when packets lost due to transmission errors are retransmitted. As connections and traffic increase, these retransmissions also increase and can create an avalanche effect on network throughput.

This can be avoided by having a qualified cabling provider audit your building’s structured cabling system. Plexus can often tell you what you need to know by performing a quick visual inspection of the material and workmanship used. If this is not conclusive, performance tests can be run on a random sample of your connections to verify their capabilities, or comprehensive cable testing can be done to provide detailed documentation on the state of your wiring infrastructure. These test records can be invaluable during subsequent problem solving sessions.

These tests will identify any cabling-related deficiencies that are likely to create performance bottlenecks in your newly converged network, and provide recommended remedies. Plexus will also provide a quotation for our experienced technicians to do the work.

Electrical Power Environment

One of the characteristics of legacy telephone systems we have come to count on is their ability to work through power interruptions. Businesses who operate their own phone systems know this, but these same businesses often do not have their LAN systems running on uninterruptible power service (UPS) systems and backed up with batteries.

If you plan to implement VoIP, you will need to provide power conditioning for all active components in the VoIP path. More than power-bars with surge suppression; to approach telecom-grade reliability you will need on-line UPS systems equipped with battery backup for all voice routers, servers and switches to protect them from voltage sags and brown-outs, and to provide power-fail operation for an interval of your choosing.

In addition to conditioning the power to your routers and switches, VoIP phones will also need to be line-powered. A new Power over Ethernet standard (IEEE 802.3af) has been developed to deliver clean power over network cabling to devices such as wireless access points, IP cameras, and VoIP telephones. Although intended for low power devices, we will soon see laptop and notebook computers powered from the Ethernet jack on the wall.

Plexus has roots in the electrical trade, and a number of our senior technicians have retained their journeyman standing. As part of our VoIP Site Readiness Assessment, we can analyze your electrical environment and let you know how it stacks up for VoIP. Whether you need rack-mounted UPS units in your wiring closets or prefer a centralized system for your building, we can recommend and/or implement the solution.

Summary

Plexus can help you take steps to ensure your network cabling and your electrical power are ready prior to the selection of a VoIP provider, but it makes sense to wait until a specific approach has been selected.

These concerns are not intended to discourage the adoption of new converged solutions to enhance your business processes. We wish only to stress the importance of building your converged solutions on a solid foundation of structured cabling and conditioned power. By paying proper attention to these basics of your network infrastructure, a host of performance problems of indeterminate nature can be avoided during the implementation phases and down the road as your new converged network becomes loaded with mission critical, real-time voice traffic.

If you are preparing your business for VoIP, remember that Plexus has expertise you need in structured cabling and power conditioning. We can help you deal with some of the uncertainties of change.