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The public telephone networks built decades ago have been incredibly robust. With the introduction of IP telephony systems, the expectation now is for superior reliability. However, not all IP systems are the same and not every system has been designed to deliver. So what contributes to reliability, and how do the manufactures of IP telephony achieve it?

Reliability is typically referring to the reliability of the hardware, measured by determining how often the hardware in a system fails and then calculating the percentage of time the system is available (99.999% is the standard in most IP phone systems). However, perhaps a more accurate term to describe the reliability of a system is 'availability'. Put simply: You pick up the phone and you get a dial tone, period.

Hardware type, redundancy and network architecture design all contribute to availability. In contrast to the majority of IP telephony systems available today, which implement call control on a standard server, the innovative alternative is to use dedicated solid state voice appliances that can offer substantially longer Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), five 9s of reliability, real-time operating systems and significantly lower power consumption. Fewer moving parts result in less heat, longer life and less down time.

With increased attention now paid to the total cost of ownership (the sum of acquisition and ongoing costs) of any IP phone system, the demand for cost effective redundancy is at the top of every decision maker's list. The simple answer is N+1 redundancy. Innovative IP telephone manufactures have created a multi-site unified communications solution that delivers 100% reliability by including just one additional unit of hardware. It is a true contrast to the expensive and complex conventional 1:1 design method.

Different from the traditional network design of a central published server and networked subscribing servers, innovative solutions offer distributed architecture with the ease of management of centralised administration under a single image (one database). The benefit of distributed architecture is that it offers no single point of failure: each switch and site can function as an independent call processor. In the event of a WAN failure, the system automatically disconnects the ailing server and continues to place and receive calls to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) without disruption.

So if the telephone is an essential, indispensable component of your organisation, can you afford to pick up the phone and not hear dial tone?