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Comment by feld | Hacker News Reader

VOIP is considerably better than PSTN if configured correctly. There's no comparison. Your sysadmins don't understand VOIP.

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I think that statement needs some qualification. If you're sending the VoIP traffic across networks you don't control all bets are off. VoIP across an enterprise's private network or through a leased network where SLA's can be mandated and QoS can be controlled is one thing. "Wild west" VoIP across the Internet, especially through sketchy networks, is another.

Edit: "canbe"

just want to point out: vast knowledge of telephony/VOIP is not something every sysadmin should be expected to know. If you don't have telephony expertise on staff I hesitate to suggest someone build out a VOIP infrastructure on their own. It can be extremely time consuming to learn and it is definitely painful to troubleshoot.

Eh, I'd argue this varies a lot. In some cases you are more likely to run into issues setting up multiple SIP clients behind a NAT trying to connect to a server out on the public internet than you are to install your own PBX on-premises.

Grandstream, Yealink, etc. all provide pretty easy to administer Asterisk-based PBX appliances that can be paired with a SIP trunk of your choice (shout out to Flowroute here, they're great).

If you're feeling more adventurous sipXecs from sipfoundry is pretty easy to configure relative to the additional complexity it brings over the more simplified alternatives. I went from having 0 real world experience with SIP to managing a small installation for my aunts shop as well as one at home in a couple days.

For proprietary offerings there's of course Skype for Business, etc. and I would argue they aren't terribly hard to configure or maintain either.

Most of the work is just in network configuration once you have multiple sites and you need to ensure QOS going over your MPLS or whatever to ensure your voice packets take priority - that can be more difficult but that's something a competent network admin can help you with.

Shouldn't it be possible for me to get some IP phones in my office and tunnel through my router to a competent online voice provider? If so, can you recommend such a provider?

http://voip.ms is pretty decent and offers a few nice features that can avoid building an on-site PBX.

I use this with good Polycom "HD voice" devices. I'm also rather picky about voice quality.

Yes, that is exactly what we do at work. We have ~20 IP phones in the office plus a few in remote locations. A few of us also use softphones (X-Lite or Zoiper) & USB headsets.

Our pbx is hosted by http://sipworxx.com/ and it works great.

Their ignorance is always just slightly less than mine. Which is a sign of their intellectual "efficiency".

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