Generic Questions that maybe someone can answer 1

[DrB0b]

Hello all fellow Tek-Tippers,
I have a couple of questions since I am relatively new to the VoIP world and maybe someone will have a few seconds to answer them.

1) I know it is not best practice but can you run the VoIP traffic and normal LAN traffic on the same VLAN/subnet?
2) Assuming the answer is yes...... but you really shouldnt, what do people with soft phones do in their setups? We have almost 50 soft phones in our building and the software doesnt allow it to have its own IP and must use the IP of the host PC.
3) Does anyone have experience with 8x8 Cloud VoIP services? Good, bad, other?

Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.

 

[belevedere]

Not a good idea to run voice and data on the same vlan. At least make sure the QOS is set to allow voice a higher priority.
By cloud 8x8 VoIP services I assume you mean a hosted system. There are good and bad points about it. We sell both. It relly depends on the size of the system and the desire to have someone else host the hardware (other then the poe switch /router and phones). Usually by the end of 6-12 months you could have paid off an on site system (again depending on size) and owned it as opposed to monthly hosted reoccurring bills.

 

[DrB0b]

Our setup is about 80 people using phones at random times. All but 4 people are using soft phones connected to their PCs so we have no real control over those to put them on a different subnet/VLAN. The normal phones are on a separate VLAN but like I said it is only 4 people. 8x8 is a hosted solution, yes. I personally would rather have a PBX in house like I did with my last job. We had a Nortel setup at my last job and I loved it. The ROI on that is achievable but with this setup it is a constant payment. I didnt choose this but it was thrown in my lap so I have to make it work.

Do most companies not use soft phones? Our owner wants everyone to be using soft phones just due to her preference.

Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.

 

[Billz66]

there are GPO settings that can add QOs settings per application
you identify the softphone apps that are responsible for signalling and voice and apply the DSCP values
Assuming softphone executable is called softphone.exe , signalling is TCP and RTP is UDP , you can set this

This should at least prioritise the traffic - probably the best you can do for softphone when its living in the data subnet

we prefer hardphones over softphones
Tell them that its their choice but voice quality can never be guaranteed as it can be affected by Data and other apps interferening with the PC performance.

Our recommendations are that softphones are a last resort device ( mobile out of the office or no hardphone available)

If I never did anything I'd never done before , I'd never do anything.....

 

[LoPath]

I watched a business with about 120 agents go from hard phones with PBX to hosted soft phones. After 3 months, they want their PBX and hard phones back. Why?
1- Windows does what it wants. It doesn't always do what you want.
2- Their softphone client was Google Chrome based. Very finicky.
3- Hosted solution didn't have the features they were used to. The big one was multi-party conferencing. Small ones were call park/pick.
4- Hosted solution had several "unheard of" outages.
Moral of the story- make sure the business is okay with feature limitations and potential service interruptions. Don't let the consultants tell you "everything's going to be okay".

LoPath
Maintain HiPath 4000 V5 & V6, OpenScape Xpert V4, Xpressions, Contact Center

 

[DrB0b]

Thank you gentlemen. We are currently looking to replace the soft phones with hard phones as it will make my life much easier. I didn't really have a say in any of the decision making of this 8x8 system and it was thrown in my lap with the instructions of "make it work." If I had input in the purchase, hard phones would have been the default.

8x8 has their own app but for it to work with the soft phones it has to work with the Plantronics Hub app so when those two get finicky, all hell breaks loose. Seems to work great with the hard phones though.....

Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.