[geeks] IP telephony

[Nina Bersamina]

In addition to this, if you use Cisco Cataylst's, they
have ports that can do data and DC (power) for the
phones and the wireless technology therefore powering
up the phones with no need for power cords.  Also, the
phone profile can be stored across multiple call
managers (if you had different locations for offices)
and the phone therefore can be portable to any
location, you would just have to sync the call
managers information.  Their phones are xml based, and
can double as PIMs, they do asset tracking amongst
other things.

I was at Cisco a month ago in Honolulu, and I fully
enjoyed their toybox.

We are looking into IP phones as well.

:) 

-Nina

--- Al Potter <apotter at icsa.net> wrote:
> Cisco has some really neat stuff in this area,
> though it is probably NOT 
> suitable for consumer use.
> 
> They have several models of IP phones and a call
> manager, which is the 
> equivalent of a PBX.  If your company invested in
> the infrastructure (ie 
> drank the koolaide, bought phones and the CM), it is
> completely feasible to 
> take your phone home at the end of the day connect
> over a broadband link 
> back into the call manager, and send and receive
> calls as if your were at 
> your desk.
> 
> The preferable way to do this (IMHO) is through a
> VPN link (preferable 
> IPSec) between the remote location and the CM.  You
> can even do it via 
> 802.11b wireless, or purely in software (their
> product is called SoftPhone).
> 
> Yes, I think they (all the IP phone vendors) aim to
> put the phone company 
> out of the phone business.  I don't see how the
> phone company will be able 
> to detect it is going on, or do anything about it if
> all of the voice 
> packets are tunneled through a VPN.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AL
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