Re: Comcast Telephone Service????

[J. <jsloud2001<removeme>@netscape.net>]

On Tue, 7 Nov 2006 23:05:18 -0500, "ABLE_1"
<royboynospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Hello all,
>
>I have been reading and attempting to understand this issue of VoIP.   I
>have talked some out of using any VoIP service because of all the problem
>expressed.   Well it finally happened.  I have a customer that decided to
>get his phone service thru Comcast Cable network.  He indicated that he was
>told it will work with an alarm system.  The panel is a NX-8E.  So I asked
>him "is this VoIP??"  He says what is that???  So I says Voice over IP.
>"No" he says,  "I don't think it is."    I says well we need to test to make
>sure that it can really work.  So we test..................  six times total
>we send signals.  And it worked every time.
>
>So here is my question.  What is Comcast doing or did we just get lucky??
>Any all thoughts here would be very much appreciated.
>
>TIA
>
>Les
>


Comcast isn't VOIP per se.  It doesn't use the Internet like Vonage
does.  It runs through a specific Comcast managed network that,
theoretically, is much more reliable than Internet-based VOIP.  ADT
just released their new IP telephony regulations.  They now allow
communication via what they call Managed Facility Voice Networks, but
not regular VOIP.

Here are their requirements:

What is a Qualified "Managed Facility Voice Network (MFVN)"?
A Qualified "Managed Facility Voice Network (MFVN)": (1) has a
physical facilities network that is managed and maintained (directly
or indirectly) by the service provider to ensure service quality from
the service subscriber location to the PSTN or other MFVN peer
network, (2) utilizes similar signaling and related protocols as the
PSTN with respect to dialing, dial plan, call completion, carriage of
alarm signals and protocols, and loop voltage treatment, (3) provides
real-time transmission of voice signals, carrying alarm formats
unchanged, (4) provides professional installation that preserves
primary line seizure for alarm signal transmission, (5) has major and
minor disaster recovery plans to address both individual customer
outages and widespread events such as tornados, ice storms and other
natural disasters, which include specific network power restoration
procedures intended to result in outage responses that are generally
comparable to those of traditional landline telephone services in the
same geographic region, and (6) has informed ADT that its network
meets the characteristics of a MFVN.