ISDN, Sprint, and Long Distance charges

dennylester · ‎10-20-2005

I know this really isn't a Cisco question but this is the biggest audience I trust to answer this correctly? Plus any response I get could benefit other Network Admins too.

We have several T1's for both Data and voice. We get $ .035 per minute long distance for all of our telephone lines.

I have ordered a few ISDN BRI lines to use as data only backups for our frame relay circuits. When I asked about LD charges I was told it would be $ .10 per minute since it's data.

I am hoping someone can clarify something for me. Does it make sense they would charge more for data verses voice calls?

My understanding is it's all one's and zero's whether or not we're running data or voice. The Sprint reseller we're going through says Sprint routes data calls through additional equipment and that's why it costs more.

Does this sound right or am I being price gouged?

thisisshanky · ‎10-20-2005

As far as voice and data services, there is not much difference between the two when run on ISDN lines. I guess a lof of the cost difference is dependent on availability of the service (Competition) from other vendors, as well as cost of equipments, provisioning, support costs etc. If there were a ton of companies providing the services, price would have gone a bit down, due to market competition. So I seriously think, it is lack of competition that still keeps the cost high.

From a last mile perspective, if you have Frame-relay and ISDN both from Sprint, you still wont have redundancy. So I would suggest using a different ISP, who uses a different telco than what Sprint uses (for your frame-relay). This is usually hard to achieve, as some time some areas have only one telco.

Also have you shopped around with other service providers for a cheaper rate ?

Sankar Nair
UC Solutions Architect
Pacific Northwest | CDW
CCIE Collaboration #17135 Emeritus

dennylester · ‎10-20-2005

Hello,

I did end up finding a Cisco article that mentioned why data may not run on an ISDN line configured for voice. It went on to say DOV was created to work around this issue, although it may not work with all Telcos.

You brought up a very good point regarding using Sprint for both Frame and ISDN backups. I did contact one other company that offered .079 per minute per channel through AT&T. That may be our better option so we don't put all of our eggs in the Sprint basket.

Unfortunately Qwest is the only Telco in our area, that I'm aware of, so I'm at their mercy.

Thank you for your input..