Call quality problems traditionally associated with VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) have virtually been eliminated thanks to technological advances pioneered by US-based Quintum Technologies, says South African distributor Allan Gee.
While VOIP services are illegal in SA under current telecommunications regulations, organisations that lease private networks from Telkom are entitled to use any spare capacity for the provision of a voice service for their own business.
Typically, a national organisation with branches in several centres would operate a private network (Diginet) leased from Telkom on a fixed monthly charge. Depending on usage, there may be long stretches where the core data functions do not make use of the network's bandwidth capacity.
Quintum's range of Tenor MultiPath Switch devices - the company is the world's second largest producer of voice switching equipment - offer two unique advantages over other VOIP equipment presently available in SA.
* Firstly, its SelectNet technology enables the switch to monitor network usage and, in the event of increased data traffic, seamlessly transfer the voice portion to the normal Telkom circuit - this without any disruption in service or quality to either the voice or data content.
* Secondly, Tenor's unique PacketSaver intelligence combines voice packets from several calls into a single unit thereby reducing bandwidth consumption by 50%.
"These two features set Quintum's products head and shoulders above other VOIP equipment," says Gee, managing director of Cape-based Equation Business Solutions. "While true voice over the Internet remains stalled in SA by existing legislation, the technology is gaining in popularity with organisations operating private digital networks."
However, Gee advises that a thorough examination of the network's usage and traffic patterns be carried out before venturing down the voice route.
"Our locally developed bandwidth management product - EQRoute - is an ideal tool to not only interrogate network activity upfront but also manage ongoing traffic patterns. It enables network administrators to limit the bandwidth allocated to all configured classes but allows the 'borrowing' of unused capacity from one category to another during periods of low demand," explains Gee.
"This maximises the return on investment of the network infrastructure while ensuring that mission-critical applications are not hampered by subordinate tasks."
"Importantly," says Gee, "being locally developed, support is first class and it is extremely cost-effective."
The experience of Cape-based Lusitania Food Products bears out Gee's claims. According to the specialised sea-food group's financial director Andr`e Pienaar, the company's telephone costs have been reduced by an average of 10% since installing the voice switching equipment, with no loss in core data functions.
"As important for us was the fact that no additional user training was required to implement," says Pienaar. "Users dial as normal and Equation's solution takes care of the rest; it really does work a treat. Now that's using technology wisely - to increase efficiencies and save money."
Share
Editorial contacts