Is your Router/Firewall VoIP Capable?
Open One Solutions specializes in Chicago Business VoIP Service
One of the most critical functional parts in a proper Business VoIP Deployment is your router and firewall. This is the critical connection to the outside world and most while even stating they are VoIP ready unfortunately do not support VoIP. This is the device which will make or break a proper Business VoIP Deployment and is the single most important functional part located within your office network.
We hear all the time, “But my IT guy said this is all we needed, and that it will support Business VoIP.” Some routers even claim they support business VoIP, but when it comes down to the actual implementation, they really don’t support a true Business VoIP deployment. Your router needs to be able to support the number of IP Phones you have in your network. It needs to have the proper throughput to support all the VoIP traffic, as well as prioritize the voice traffic over other data traffic. This is known as Voice Quality - Quality of Service (VQ-QoS) or some simply state it as Quality of Service (QoS). Being able to support QoS is often where many routers fail to perform.
It is best to have a router which can be managed remotely as well as provide statistics and reports which are specific to a quality Business VoIP deployment, such as the average Mean Opinion Score (MOS). MOS is a test that has been used for decades in telephony networks to obtain the human user's view of the quality of the network. Some of the best Business VoIP enabled routers can even measure their own temperature to insure they are not overheating, much like your car’s engine temperature.
What functions will the router support such as VPN, Wi-Fi (wireless), HIPAA/PCI Compliance? Will it need to mimic MPLS between locations if you have multiple locations? Can your router support multiple WAN or Internet connections? Will it allow for a 4G/3G Fail-over in the event your internet connection fails? Will you need to deploy a managed router service?
In many cases, these routers are best designed for VoIP. These devices tend to be HIPAA & PCI Compliant, they can allow for excellent VPN connectivity as well as mimic a MPLS network on public internet connections. Some even work as a giant collective and as internet attacks are happening they update the entire network real-time with rogue IP’s which are trying to attack networks.
Please never use a router which costs less than $50, or, for that matter, even less than $100 to run a VoIP network. These devices will simply not work to support a business VoIP deployment. We highly suggest you work with your Business VoIP provider to insure your router is VoIP capable for your needs and requirements.
Open One Solutions, Inc. is a Chicago based Business VoIP Provider specializing in both cloud / hosted and premised based IP phone systems or IP-PBX solutions. Open One Solutions brings years of experience in this field. Our company founder has been using and deploying cloud / hosted VoIP since 2004 and deploying IP-PBX solutions since the 90s. For additional information, contact us at 312-780-1010 or email us at info@openonesolutions.com