Quality versus low-cost IP connectivity
IP-based offerings have not seen the uptick expected, with many sticking to ISDN due to quality concerns, says Max Stoner
Stoner: There is too much focus on cheap offerings, at the expense of service quality and expansion of IP based offerings
Reading through some old industry news articles from the noughties, I was reminded that many commenters were then delivering the last rites to ISDN, predicting its obsolescence within a couple of years.
Today ISDN is still fighting on, like a battle-hardened old boxer. Yes, SIP trunking and other IP-based protocols have eaten away at its market share, but I have heard that there may still be 20 million ISDN channels floating around in the UK.
Yet IP-based protocols offer large cost savings around calls and service rentals, while also affording an opportunity for voice and data convergence, flexible working, and disaster recovery.
However, ISDN cannot be undermined by a shoddy internet connection, of which there are plenty given the UK’s current telecommunications infrastructure.
We have all been there – sitting on a call plagued by drop-outs, lags, echoes, dalek voices, or the impression that our caller is at the bottom of a very deep well and using a walkie-talkie, or in a videoconference where the levels of packet loss and interference have you nervously glancing out the window in expectation of a rapidly approaching tropical storm or gale, capable of not only ruining your communications but blowing down half the city.
Of course, not all internet connectivity is poor these days. Advances in DSL technology have made legitimate ISDN replacement an option for most people at a reasonable cost.
I encounter resistance to the adoption of IP-based services regularly. In my opinion, the channel needs to alter people’s perception of VoIP, SIP trunking, and similar services. Some users are wary due to past experiences.
It is harder when for many their experiences were only a week or so ago on a provider's latest ‘voice specific’ broadband.
In my opinion, poor service still exists because – despite the relatively low cost of good, reliable broadband, particularly compared with ISDN – some providers are trying to drive the cost down to commodity broadband levels.
They may be using new technology with ‘high’ headline speeds, but are buying the circuits at the bottom of the rung from the network operators, and flogging the cheaper, non-priority, high contention, high jitter services that are not meant for mission-critical applications.
Those selling quality then have a a tough time justifying higher costs to potential customers, and the general problem of selling technology that has a tarnished reputation.
Many cost conscious customers may buy, say, a cheap SIP trunk and data service, but still keep ISDN as a back-up.
Logically, selling services with reliability comparable to that of ISDN – such as an ADSL or SDSL 1.1 service, possibly with backup – would seem to be the solution. Regrettably, the focus on cheap services that are not full replacements is hindering progress.
Max Stoner is corporate account manager at Fluidata