Sometimes the biggest challenge to installing a new Granite Cloud Phone System is getting the right kind of wires to the places we need them. Last week we were faced with just such a challenge. Our customer had moved into a large building that formerly was a chemical manufacturer. While the space suited their new operation well, the previous tenant had done very little data wiring and what was there looked much like the wiring in the picture.
To make matters worse, the only wired internet access available at their location (without spending a fortune) was DSL service and, due to being at its extreme range, this was very slow. Our speed tests showed less than 2.5MB download and less than 1 MB up. We couldn't add more load to an already sketchy service.
We had to get creative...
One nice quality of Cloud Phone Service is that it uses relatively little data. A gigabit will support approx 36 hours of voice conversation. For our customer we needed reliable internet service with low latency and loss, but not necessarily a lot of data. This we supplied with Granite's Verizon CradlePoint Internet service. Wireless internet to the rescue.
To deliver our new internet service to the IP phones, we added a Ubiquity router and two Ubiquity wireless access points spread evenly across the facility. Then, deploying Yealinks USB WiFi adapters, we connected sixteen Yealink T42S phones to Granite Cloud Phone Service. Wireless LAN to the rescue.
To be honest, I was a little concerned that between the wireless internet and the wireless LAN there might be voice quality challenges. Once we got everything linked up and programmed, we were psyched to find that the sound quality was superb. The system works flawlessly.
If we had to run data cables for 16 phones and install a PoE switch to support the phones, the cost would have been over $3K. If we had to bring in fiber internet, the cost would have been over $500 per month. Instead, for the cost of a router and two WAPS, plus Verizon wireless internet (less than $100 per month) we were able to deploy Granite Cloud Phone Service.
Now our new customer has the best Cloud Phone System available today. By the end of the day staff was using the Mobile app and receiving their voice messages in their e-mail inboxes. We even set up the owner with a phone for his Florida home.
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