Wednesday, September 15, 2010

ISED: VOIP for Safety Plan

We're in the initial discussion phases regarding converting our existing =
NEC PBX system to a modern, VOIP-based solution. The primary driver for =
us (beyond all the great new features we'll get and the ease of maintenan=
ce) are safety concerns. Putting a network-attached speakerphone in ever=
y classroom for public address and emergency broadcast messages seems lik=
e a no-brainer to us.

With that said, I don't see many recent discussions on this list about VO=
IP solutions or VOIP providers. For those that have already made the swi=
tch, are there drawbacks? Unexpected benefits? What about recommendatio=
ns regarding hardware and service providers? How did you handle loss-of-=
power or loss-of-Internet concerns? We're looking into redundant broadba=
nd (copper and fiber) and we're working with a local UPS reseller to beef=
up our batteries.

For those who haven't switched, what are your concerns (other than cost)?=


Thanks,

Jack Hardcastle
Director of Technology
McDonogh School
Owings Mills, MD
jwhardcastle@mcdonogh.org
(410) 581 - 4754

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