A must read discussion on Small Business VOIP!

This discussion on /.(Slashdot) is a must read if you are thinking of implementing VOIP. The discussion goes from Asterisk, Cisco Call manager, Cisco Call manager express, Vonage, SBC, AT&T, (did I write that twice, I meant SBC is AT&T!) 3COM, various CODECS, and Line quality etc. It is simple VOIP or IP Telephony GEM. Most of all don't forget to read this comment, which is at the bottom, about asterisk@home.

Also pieces like "Setting the call quality to the highest setting means that the G.711 codec is used, which consumes 64k/s per conversation. That's generally not a problem with a home user who only has one call happening at a time, but it will easily overwhelm the standard small-business broadband connection which might only have 128-256kps upstream bandwidth. Setting the call quality lower is probably using the iLBC or the GSM codec. GSM is commonly used for cell conversations, iLBC is a variable rate codec designed for VoIP. They both consume far less bandwidth, but you're right, the call quality sucks."

Also links like this. Giving information as how to setup a call center, "We now have over 250 phones installed at 4 locations(including a call center). We started switching to Asterisk three years ago and grew the system to the point where everything is Asterisk and we do all inter-office calls over VOIP(IAX trunks). The cost savings in licensing costs alone more than justifies 2 full-time IT staffers salaries. "