[Hidden-tech] best phone service?

[Matthew Crocker]

If you have an ATA to convert the VoIP into a regular POTS line then  
you should be able to plug your alarm system/tivo/fax/water meter  
into the POTS line and it should just work.   Your mileage may very.   
You can run a 28,800 bps modem over a VoIP POTS line (with g.711  
codec),  I don't recommend it but it should work as long as your VoIP  
is clean enough.The correct and long term solution is to replace  
everything with its IP equivalent so you don't need POTS anymore.  To  
get the most out of your VoIP experience you should have an IP  
phone.   I use a Cisco 7912 in my office and it sounds great. it  
connects to my VoIP phone switch.  I'm in the final stage of testing  
with Verizon now and then I have to test with the state public safety  
to make sure my E-911 works properly.  Once that is complete I'll be  
able to offer a Vonage type VoIP service with full 413 local number  
portability.  The switch is located in Springfield, voice quality  
will be great, especially if you use CrockerDSL.    For all the geeks  
out there (like me)  I'm actually have 2 phone switches in  
Springfield.  A Tekelec t7000 which connects to Verizon and their SS7  
network  and a Tekelec t6000 which is a full featured softswitch  
capable of handling over 1 million VoIP phones.

If you are planning on using VoIP at home as your only voice service  
you should really invest in a good UPS system that will power up your  
DSL modem/Firewall and Ethernet switch.  If your VoIP doesn't provide  
E911 service you should clearly label your phone as such.  If you are  
having a heart attack and your neighbor could use the wrong phone.

Our VoIP service will fully support e911 requirements so long as you  
register your address with us and don't move your phone around.  That  
is pretty standard with most VoIP providers.  The big difference is  
we will have direct connections to the Verizon Selective Router (911  
phone switch) in Northampton where most other VoIP providers run your  
call through a 3rd party which will ask/verify your address before  
passing the call on to the correct PSAP.

The hardest part getting a phone switch connected to the Public  
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is the e911 certification,   
everything else is just a bunch of paperwork and waiting.

-Matt

On Jan 21, 2006, at 11:24 AM, Andy Klapper wrote:

>    ** Be a Good Dobee and help the group, you must be counted to  
> post .
>    ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>
>
> I have Comcast and I would love to use drop the traditional phone  
> line, but … I have a security system that connects to the  
> monitoring service via the POTS.  Can I do that through Comcast  
> Digital Voice?  (or Vonage or other service?).
>
>
>
> How do these things hook up?  The cable enters the house in the  
> same place the POTS does.  The optimal solution would be to hook  
> the existing POTS patch panel up to a blinking box, which attaches  
> to the cable.  Same old phones, new phone service.  I have a  
> sinking feeling that it’s not that easy.  (I’m thinking a special  
> box plugged into a coax with a single phone jack, which at best  
> means I have to buy a multi-handset phone system and chuck my  
> existing phones – all six of them).  (Hint to Crocker and any other  
> telecom lurkers out there, if you want this service to go beyond  
> geeks/early adopters this is the way you are going to have to go  
> eventually).
>
>
>
>
>
> Andy.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net [mailto:hidden- 
> discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net]On Behalf Of Will Loving
> Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 11:11 PM
> To: Hidden-Tech Listserv
> Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] best phone service?
>
>
>
> Comcast Digital Voice is not similar to Vonage. Vonage and other  
> VOIP services encode the voice to IP packets and send them out  
> directly through your router over the internet. That’s why such  
> services are more subject to dropouts if you are doing a lot of  
> network and internet activity. Comcast Digital Voice sends the  
> voice signal up the Coaxial cable to the central office before  
> converting to IP packets. The result – in my experience of the last  
> year – is superb sound  quality and no drop out. The sound is  
> clearer and stronger than my original Verizon POTS connection. I  
> used to set my headset volume at 4 to 5, now I keep it between  
> 1-1/2 and 2-1/2.
>
> There are occasional annoying problems, but I’m completely sold on  
> the Comcast service. We’ve converted both our business and house  
> lines to it and have no standard phone lines at all. I pay $50 a  
> month for two lines with unlimited US calling and all the bells and  
> whistles, plus better sound than a standard phone line.
>
> Will
>
> Will Loving, President
> Dedication Technologies, Inc.
>
>
>
>
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--
Matthew S. Crocker
Vice President
Crocker Communications, Inc.
Internet Division
PO BOX 710
Greenfield, MA 01302-0710
http://www.crocker.com