[Mac-telephony-list] Apple USB modem dongle

[Jerry via List]

Hi,

> I guess I should have asked this first....What is the sound quality
> of a VoIP call?

As with anything, it depends. :)

> I was at a Sprint store and made a call on one of their phones (their
> land line not a cell phone)  to another Sprint store and the sound
> quality was not good at all.  I asked the employees about it and they
> unanimously stated that the phone lines sucked because they were VoIP
> and not copper.

Well, this speaks volumes about how their network and infrastructure is
set up. (And since Sprint is a long haul carrier, it's not good)

VoIP deployed between a server and local users should be as good as the
regular phone system. While a poor layout here could cause issues, most
small networks are 100Mbps (and even older ones are 10Mbps), and with
"typical" traffic shouldn't have any issues.

VoIP over broadband (and the general Internet) is what gives people the
impression that "VoIP sucks". It has a lot to do with codec choice, number
of users and how the packets flow. Much of the Internet doesn't do QOS, so
your packets can be slowed or thrown away by congestion. This is similar
to being near the edge of cell coverage, where you hear silence. And,
since it's beyond your network, it's also beyond your control.

> This is why I have preferred to stay on copper for the time being,
> not because of money.
> What are your customers saying about the quality of VoIP phone calls?

Quality can be excellent, if implemented properly.

>>> Isn't the sweet spot for Asterisk/OpenPBX the replacement of
>>> proprietary (Comdial, Norstar, Avaya) business phone systems?
>>> EVERY business has computers, why not use one to run the phone
>>> system.

One thing to understand is that to get the full benefit of VoIP, you have
to change your entire phone system. That in itself can be so much of a
stumbling block.

J.