Reply to: Commercial grade VOIP solutions

[BrowneIssue]

it works with the corporate issue Blackberry's

Was that a greengrocer's apostrophe on that Blackberry?

Was that weak gag worth the post? Probably not.

[DimPrawn]

Dim-Tulip,

Purchasing departments are for purchasing a specced product at the best price. They are not speccing what to buy - that is what engineers / consultants are employed for.

Quite often we are asked to apply our analytical skills to find a best solution, which involves doing a bit of research, and boards like this can provide a good source of people who may have gone through the same process and so can help.

Yeah, leave it to the techies to select a key business critical solution.

[FarmerPalmer]

What's the purchasing dept of a company for then?

I wouldn't leave it to a lone techie to scour the Internet to find a commercial offering.

"I chose this one as I like the blue website and the fact that it interfaces to my iPhone."

Dim-Tulip,

Purchasing departments are for purchasing a specced product at the best price. They are not speccing what to buy - that is what engineers / consultants are employed for.

Quite often we are asked to apply our analytical skills to find a best solution, which involves doing a bit of research, and boards like this can provide a good source of people who may have gone through the same process and so can help.

[MPwannadecentincome]

What's the purchasing dept of a company for then?

I wouldn't leave it to a lone techie to scour the Internet to find a commercial offering.

"I chose this one as I like the blue website and the fact that it interfaces to my iPhone."

95% of companies either do not have a purchasing dept, or if they do the poor person's first hand experience is in purchasing stationery and tea/coffee!

there are only 350 top 350 companies, the thousands and thousands of others are left fending for themselves against the vendors!

[DaveB]

What's the purchasing dept of a company for then?

I wouldn't leave it to a lone techie to scour the Internet to find a commercial offering.

"I chose this one as I like the blue website and the fact that it interfaces to my iPhone."

Purchasing departments are for purchasing. Not spec'ing, short listing, reviewing and selecting a solution. Once thats done hand it over to your purchasing people to do the necessery with supplier contracts, due diligence and the rest of the paper work.

PS. The website is purple, not blue, and it works with the corporate issue Blackberry's

[DimPrawn]

95% of all companies will not be big enough to have anyone who has this experience!

So they can listen to the vendors, or employ a consultant to help them choose or learn!

What's the purchasing dept of a company for then?

I wouldn't leave it to a lone techie to scour the Internet to find a commercial offering.

"I chose this one as I like the blue website and the fact that it interfaces to my iPhone."

[MPwannadecentincome]

Okay, which Commercial grade VOIP solutions do you have 1st hand experience of specifiying, purchasing, commissioning, and supporting?

95% of all companies will not be big enough to have anyone who has this experience!

So they can listen to the vendors, or employ a consultant to help them choose or learn!

[DaveB]

On what grounds was skype banned ?

According to what I've been told it was a mixture of security concerns, bandwidth overheads, hardware requirements and management issues and was decided well before I arrived here. Right or wrong it's not an option until management at Parent Co. change their minds.

So rather than bang my head against a brick wall it's easier to try and find an alternative that removes those issues.

The reason I was looking at Jajah in particular is that it does not need additonal hardware and doesn't need access to the local network. It's available even at our remote sites with limited or no network connectivity. It works with our existing phone system and their Business package allows centralised account administration and tracking of call charges.

The issues I need more info on are around call quality, reliability and availability. Since I've not used it personally I thought I'd ask here and see if anyone else has, rather than rely on the sales blurb.

[FiveTimes]

Our parent co. has banned the use of Skype within the business, right or wrong, and it is not open to negotiation. I have now been told to go and find a secure, reliable VOIP solution for the business that will save us some money on international calls. We are part of a global group and international telephoney via both lanndline and mobile is a regular requirement.

JaJah looks interesting but I have no experience with it. Has anyone used it in anger or recommend alternatives?

On what grounds was skype banned ?

[cojak]

I use VOIPfone, which is business orientated, as good a quality as VOIP can be, and secure...

[DaveB]

Enough to know what I'm doing. Unless you actualy have something constructive to say, feck off back under your rock.

[DimPrawn]

Okay, which Commercial grade VOIP solutions do you have 1st hand experience of specifiying, purchasing, commissioning, and supporting?

[DaveB]

Based on what? The fact that I have asked for opinions on a possible solution from others who may have used it?

[DimPrawn]

My answer is you are not qualified to make that decision.

[DaveB]

Isn't this the sort of thing someone who knows what they are doing should be doing?

I mean, it's like asking me to pick the best electricity supplier for a massive client co.

So what are you doing posting an answer then?