I am currently the Lead
Engineer for the State of Delaware's (DHSS)
voice and data enterprise network.
I spend a majority of my time implementing a state wide
Avaya S8700 IP Connect voice system. This system has some very
nice capabilities including the ability to combine traditional TDM with
pure IP based phone gear. The S8700 platform is arguably the best
enterprise telephony platform in the world. The result of which is
an extremely configurable albeit complex telephone system. Our
system has over 3,000 stations at multiple sites spanning all three (3)
counties in Delaware.
When I am not working on the
high dollar Avaya system, I am at home tinkering with a completely free
open source IP PBX called
Asterisk. On
the opposite end of the price spectrum, Asterisk is still packed with
enough enterprise features to choke a horse! Asterisk has built-in
voicemail, IVR, CDR, trunking, SIP, H.323 and much more with tons of
optional and third party modules available.
Either way, proprietary Avaya or
open source Asterisk, a phone system is only as good as the people who
design, install and support it. Every IP phone system requires
qualified support staff and a properly configured QoS network. |
