Preferred call center voice service: traditional TDM based PRI or VoIP/SIP trunking?

[BandwidthSeek.Net]

Hi, I'm looking for some unbiased feedback on which voice communications technology is preferred for inbound/outbound call centers.

Is it better to go the tried and true method of using a 24 channel T1 or 23 channel PRI which includes long distance cent-per-minute charges OR the new voice-over-IP technology of SIP trunks over large Internet bandwidth circuits (bonded T1, DS3, metro Ethernet)?

And as far as equipment costs go, which is the least expensive?

Any help would be most appreciated...

[ChetanJha]

Originally Posted by BandwidthSeek.Net

Hi, I'm looking for some unbiased feedback on which voice communications technology is preferred for inbound/outbound call centers.

Is it better to go the tried and true method of using a 24 channel T1 or 23 channel PRI which includes long distance cent-per-minute charges OR the new voice-over-IP technology of SIP trunks over large Internet bandwidth circuits (bonded T1, DS3, metro Ethernet)?

And as far as equipment costs go, which is the least expensive?

Any help would be most appreciated...

Well as far as equipment goes the least would be going for a server with dual processor and 4 gigs of RAM using some softwares like asterisk or free switch and their modules like billing module [CDR], voice logger,CRM , dialer etc and go for a IP based [VoIP]Telecom service which can route calls to any destination T1 would be a costly affair as you will then have to go for Media gateway.
The most important factor to be considered in both the scenario is expected CPS [calls per second] or expected Calls per hour or day which is to be considered in call sizing.
You need to clarify what sort of Telephony setup you are considering is for small office or small / medium contact center etc