July 2017 Frontier Computer Corp. Volume 1: Number 4

Out Front

In This IssueGrandstream now available at Frontier

Dog of the MonthEmma!

Is it Time to switch to VoIP?

Frontier to Launch Telephony with

Grandstream LineFrontier has become a full line distributor for Grandstream, the worldwide leader for VoIP Phones and IP Security. Peplink and Pepwave Routers include Quality of Service Prioritization for VoIP traffic and, with SpeedFusion, can create bonded bandwidth which make them ideal for successful VoIP implementation. “Many of our Partners deploy Peplink products for their customers’ VoIP applications, so it just made sense for us to offer VoIP Phones,” said Michael Maitland, Frontier Director of Channel Sales.

In April 2017 Frontier surveyed its more than 600 partners to explore interest in VoIP hardware and which VoIP brands they use. We found that 24% of our respondents already offer Grandstream phones. By adding the Grandstream product line, Frontier offers its partners a one stop supplier for VoIP solutions. In addition to IP Phones, Frontier will offer Grandstream’s IP PBX units, Analog to IP Gateways, their innovative IP video and voice conferencing as well as their line of IP Security Cameras and Network Video Recorders.

The full Grandstream line is available through Frontier immediately, and our new site, telephony.frontierus.com will go live in July.

FRONTIER DOG OF THE MONTH

Emma Loves to Run We bring our dogs to work at Frontier. If you stop in our office, you will likely be greeted by cold noses and wagging tails. Emma comes to work each day with her mom, our Accounting Assistant Barb.

At six months old Emma was on death row at a pound in Kentucky. Three Sisters Pet Shelter in Cincinnati saved Emma, and were sheltering her when Barb found her on petfinder.com. We will never know what happened to Emma in her first six months, but she is still very shy around new people and specifically men. She really wants to be everyone’s friend, but something deep in her past keeps her from diving right in.

Emma is such a sweet and gentle girl it’s hard to believe she was ever at risk. She’s got some Italian Greyhound DNA, so Emma just wants to go running with her mom anytime of day.

After you’ve known her for six months or so, she might let you pet her. It’s worth the wait.

July 2017 Out Front page 2

To VoIP or not to VoIP?TELEPHONES ARE CHANGING, especially in the United States. The traditional copper-wired network is not being innovated, and POTS (plain old telephone service) networks are being phased out. It seems like switching to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the obvious choice. No so fast. There are reasons why either might work best. It is an even more difficult choice if you already have an investment in an analog PBX system.

POTS networks have their advantages. To this day wired phones are the measure for call clarity. When a VoIP call is working right, it is said to be as clear as a wired call. In addition, aside from an occasional squirrel chewing through a wire, legacy phones almost never go down. In power outages, POTS systems still work because their power comes through the phone lines themselves. It is rare for a power failure or major weather disaster to take down the entire telephone system.

Legacy telephone systems have problems too. Classic Telecom systems are expensive, both initially, and in ongoing costs. VoIP first gained traction for its much lower cost. There are Telecom fees for every line, every service, and charges for timed use. As fewer end users choose legacy wired systems, the costs of maintaining the aging infrastructure are shared by fewer customers, so the Telecom costs are about as low as they are ever going to be. In the early days of VoIP, when nearly all calls were like an echo chamber, VoIP was cheap. Initially, Copper-wired monthly phone charges were running about double of equivalent VoIP fees. From those bygone days, we still have the mythology that VoIP will save buckets of money, but it is not exactly true anymore.

The VoIP providers have adopted the ways of Big Telecom. While you can get a Vonage VoIP line at home for $9.99, if you are a business the same line starts at $30. The entry Vonage Business line at $30 is still pretty low for the market where $45 monthly per line/number is not uncommon. In the wild, the savings range only reaches 40% if your office manager has been dining with the Telecom rep weekly and overlooking the upcharges. If your business has shopped wired phone service well, the savings will be about 10-20%. There are reasons beyond cost to consider switching to a VoIP system.

POTS systems are not flexible. Just moving a person from one office to another is work. If lines exist, extension numbers must be remapped in the PBX system, which is a work order for the IT Department. If new wires are needed, the Maintenance

Department or an outside vendor are required. With a VoIP system, a phone number can be moved down the hall or across town, and new lines and numbers can be added in minutes.

It is widely known that the wired networks will sunset, either through market atrophy or because the FCC will phase out PSTN (Publicly Switched Telephone Service). People still using legacy wired phones are roaming the deck of a ship filled with tiny leaks. It is sinking slowly, but eventually passengers are going to have to abandon ship. The question is how, and when.

For any new business setting up their first telephone system, the choice is simple. Do not get on the sinking ship. A new analog PBX system is expensive, and will be obsolete long before the significant capital investment is depreciated. The analog phones required are obsolete once you open the box. As an

alternative, VoIP has low initial start-up costs; a small office needing 10 lines could buy all the high quality IP phones they would need for about $600. There are a range of VoIP service providers, so competitive shopping is easy.

For an existing business currently using an analog PBX, with the upfront costs of the system already on the books, the switch to VoIP is less clear. Most VoIP Systems offer features just not available for wired service. Mobile phone integration is better, and the portability for remote employees is far superior. Things like conferencing, voicemail to email or text, and even call recording are often included. In addition, with cloud-based VoIP systems, the IT department is free of maintaining the in-house phone system. Most VoIP systems can be monitored and adjusted from a desktop or mobile app. Are those things enough to leave behind reliability and clarity of POTS now?

Eventually we will all need to get off the leaky boat. Can we ride it for another year, or even five, without getting our feet wet? There is no imminent threat, and while the sinking ship analogy makes for clever writing, it is not quite so dire. We will be making calls on POTS lines a while yet.

There are ways for those switching from POTS to VoIP to keep the benefits of a wired network. By maintaining a few wired lines for emergency fall back and building the right network with bandwidth bonding and QoS VoIP priority, a Voice over Internet Protocol system can completely replace Plain Old Telephone Service. The switch to VoIP is more of a WHEN question than an IF question. You will switch to a VoIP system, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for . . .

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