Re: VoIP on iSeries

["Tom Jedrzejewicz" <tomjedrz@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 10/11/06, Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 10/11/06, makins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <makins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Here's the announcement letter
> >
> http://www-306.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/7/897/ENUS206-257/ENUS206-257.PDF
> >
> >
> > I have to upgrade or replace my 14 year old Nortel switches and I am
> very
> > interested in this product.     If it were not for the reliability of
> the
> > iSeries I probably wouldn't have considered the 3Com telephone system.
> My
> > first consideration is how well it sounds and the second is price.     I
> > would be interested in hearing opinions from anyone who is running a
> 3Com
> > phone system.
> >
>
> standard phone license 250 seats $30K
> telephony server license $2K
> client IP presence $15K
> messaging something or other $15K
>
> I did not see a price for the i5 hardware. At these prices for
> software maybe the 700 CPW in the i5 is a no charge item. If the
> telephony software is the same price on the xSeries, buy it on the
> System i, then install it on xSeries hardware and use the i5 CPW for
> real work.
Steve ..

First .. this statement -- "use the i5 CPW for real work." -- is nonsense.
Telephony is by far the most important service that IS provides, and has by
far the most demanding uptime requirements.  If email is down for a day, I
get yelled at.  If the telephones are down for a day I get fired.

Second .. a huge driver toward putting telephony on the System i is
reliability; it is far easier to get the necessary reliability from a System
i than from Intel-based hardware.

Third .. you ignore the value of consolidating functionality onto fewer
physical servers.  It is harder to manage 10 services on 10 servers than it
is to manage 10 services on 3 servers.

Fourth .. on a mid-sized System i, the incremental cost of the 700 CPW is
relatively small.  Disk requirements of a phone system (even with voice
mail) are trivial.  Many companies will be able to fold this onto their
existing System i.  Those that can't (or choose to use separate hardware)
aill likely find that the System i hardware costs for the small system are
not out of line.

I am not sold on using the System i for telephony, but writing it off simply
because of a snap conclusion is sloppy thinking.  We need to serve our
employers better.

Take care ...