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home >> voice services >> Carrier Direct Connections
A carrier direct connection is a dedicated digital telephone line connecting between your office and the location of the nearest switch for, your choice of carrier. This has the advantage of further reductions to the cost of voice and data traffic as less of the calls made are routed via the incumbent network and as a result, carriers offer lower call prices. The disadvantage is that calls can only be routed via a single carrier at a time, so it's usually best deployed along side existing line infrastructure thus increasing rather than decreasing resilience of your services.
As time goes by, major carriers are developing their networks to the point at which they will be using IP technology (BT call this project C21 or "Switched On" http://www.switchedonuk.org/) from end to end. As this happens the cost of a direct connection for routeing voice calls will most likely continue to drop. In the future, voice will be just another "data" application which operates on your network - this process is commonly referred to as convergence.
Some of the "big" questions are:
Should you invest in the technology to route voice calls over a data network now or should you wait to see just how much cheaper traditional voice routed minutes (TDM) actually drop?
Is there a hidden cost in not investing now in the equipment that will be required in the future?
What are the risks of IP telephony and are the benefits worth paying more for?
Why aren't calls to normal phone lines cheaper when you route them from a VoIP enabled network?
The answer to these questions are dependent on your business, it's rate of growth your total expenditure on communications and your budget for the future and of course your choice of provider. Sky Blue will help analyse your business needs and prepare a tailormade solution to ensure you get the best combination of services for your business.
To find out if a direct connection is the best option for your business, or if it would be a sensible step towards VoIP or IP Telephony for your business, call us now.
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