RIP ISDN 1992-2013

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard that Verizon sent out a notice to many eastern seaboard customers that new ISDN installs are no-go. This set off quite a lot of activity on broadcast mailing lists and blogs, ranging from "OMG--we're doomed" to "Told ya so".

I have to admit to a bit of deja' vu. I wasn't at Comrex at the time, but back in the mid 80's AT&T made a similar announcement, that long-line dedicated loops (that crossed LATAs) were going away. Broadcasting survived the change, and Comrex legend holds that it made a very nice sales bump in the then newly introduced two-line frequency extender.

While I certainly won't complain if our IP codecs sales see an impact on this, my real concern is in making sure customers who find themselves in a pickle get the best possible information about IP codec alternatives. There's a lot of opinion on the Internet <shocker, I know> and it can't always be trusted. The truth is, given the nature of ISDN these days, an IP codec on a suitable wired Internet connection really does rival ISDN in terms of reliability.

We may have been a couple of years early in obsoleting our ISDN products, but we saw the writing on the wall some time back.

Now let's be clear-- those touting "5 9's" reliability in regard to ISDN are kidding themselves. Talk to our support staff if you don't buy it. ISDN has become a legacy technology with legacy support for problems that arise (and they do arise).

So if you're worried about the demise of ISDN, do yourself a favor and find us at NAB or have a call with our knowledgeable sales or support staff. Knowledge is power and we all love talking about this stuff, even if you choose other products in the end.