Business Telecoms help voip etc
Discussion
Our contract is finally coming up for renewal with our supplier and I am looking to reduce our outgoings if possible.
We currently have
1 Business PSTN Rental
1 NW1 Broadband Business Pro
1 ISDN CLI Presentation (CLIP)
10 ISDN DDI Rental
4 ISDN2 Digital System Rental
I only need three lines ideally, i'm trying to get my head around VOIP, but can anyone explain it in laymans terms with whats required?
Obviously we need our broadband to continue in to the office, this is then fed through a router / telephone thing (sits on the wall, lots of cables) each desk has a joint ethernet plug and telephone socket.
What happens with voip?
We currently have
1 Business PSTN Rental
1 NW1 Broadband Business Pro
1 ISDN CLI Presentation (CLIP)
10 ISDN DDI Rental
4 ISDN2 Digital System Rental
I only need three lines ideally, i'm trying to get my head around VOIP, but can anyone explain it in laymans terms with whats required?
Obviously we need our broadband to continue in to the office, this is then fed through a router / telephone thing (sits on the wall, lots of cables) each desk has a joint ethernet plug and telephone socket.
What happens with voip?
jamescodriver said:
What happens with voip?
I'm no expert but have recently gone voip on a basic BT contract. The online portal BT have and indeed their app seemingly lets you configure calls endlessly. For example you can have extension numbers, dialing sequences and special treatments for certain calls i.e. calls from a certain number will go directly to a designated extension.It takes a while to find your way around the BT setups but seems good overall. I'd imagine other providers will provide similar.
The main thing I don't like about the BT system is if you have it set up to ring like a landline the incoming caller will hear 3 rings before your handset has rung. The alternative to this seems to be an automated 'dial the extension' or 'press 0' option which kicks in for the incoming immediately.
jamescodriver said:
1 Business PSTN Rental
1 NW1 Broadband Business Pro
1 ISDN CLI Presentation (CLIP)
10 ISDN DDI Rental
4 ISDN2 Digital System Rental
If that is 4 x 2 ISDN channels, ie 8 lines, we are paying £84.50 for 3 x 2 ISDN channels, 10 DDI and the CLI, I hunted high and low to get the prices we have, so your current PSTN and broadband is mighty cheap.1 NW1 Broadband Business Pro
1 ISDN CLI Presentation (CLIP)
10 ISDN DDI Rental
4 ISDN2 Digital System Rental
With VOIP you pay for the number of seats/phones you want.
We pay £15 per phone which included the hardware (actual desk phone) on a 3 year contract.
There's no box on the wall with our VOIP as its hosted in the cloud.
You just need to physically connect each phone to an Ethernet port that has a good connection.
It is possible to use your existing broadband to supply that connection if it's fast and reliable enough. Most providers will recommend a dedicated supply for the phones. Expect to pay from £35 for this.
As for the direct dial numbers I have 20 different numbers in my account for different locations and business's. We don't pay anything for the use of them and they are assigned to different phones via a hunt group or a direct dial.
In with my deal I get 2000 minutes per seat which is able to be shared across the account. Which is handy as I don't use the phone much but the girls do.
Hope that helps
We pay £15 per phone which included the hardware (actual desk phone) on a 3 year contract.
There's no box on the wall with our VOIP as its hosted in the cloud.
You just need to physically connect each phone to an Ethernet port that has a good connection.
It is possible to use your existing broadband to supply that connection if it's fast and reliable enough. Most providers will recommend a dedicated supply for the phones. Expect to pay from £35 for this.
As for the direct dial numbers I have 20 different numbers in my account for different locations and business's. We don't pay anything for the use of them and they are assigned to different phones via a hunt group or a direct dial.
In with my deal I get 2000 minutes per seat which is able to be shared across the account. Which is handy as I don't use the phone much but the girls do.
Hope that helps
We are looking at changing to this too.
I was advised that the ISDN2 was going to be withdrawn soon??
Also can anyone point me in the direction of a USB hand held phone?
All phones seam to need Power over internet which we don't have due to multiple switches.
Also if we power the phone then this means extensions cables (frowned upon) + yearly pat testing.
We have about 20 extensions on the shop floor all internal so no outside calls but the hassle of installing this puts me off. If we had a USB phone we could simply plug to the pc's which are already in place which would make the project viable.
The shop floor operators would not be too impressed with the headphones available.
Any suggestions would be appreciated here?
Not intending to hijack the thread at all and we were recommended and trialed 3CX which works fine and tick's all the box's.
I was advised that the ISDN2 was going to be withdrawn soon??
Also can anyone point me in the direction of a USB hand held phone?
All phones seam to need Power over internet which we don't have due to multiple switches.
Also if we power the phone then this means extensions cables (frowned upon) + yearly pat testing.
We have about 20 extensions on the shop floor all internal so no outside calls but the hassle of installing this puts me off. If we had a USB phone we could simply plug to the pc's which are already in place which would make the project viable.
The shop floor operators would not be too impressed with the headphones available.
Any suggestions would be appreciated here?
Not intending to hijack the thread at all and we were recommended and trialed 3CX which works fine and tick's all the box's.
OP: - there are various options available, but what you are looking for is quite straightforward (so my tech guys have told me). We are seeing many of our customers move from ISDN to SIP trunking (a form of VOIP), due to greater flexibility/scale-ability, reliability & cost.
SIP trunks provide Voice over IP (VoIP) connectivity for certified telephone systems (PBXs) allowing inbound and outbound telephony when connected to a customer’s chosen IP PBX and a suitable IP connection. SIP trunks help transform a customer’s site from analogue technology to an IP based one, where the IP PBX system will be connected over a providers IP based network.
We use SIP ourselves, both for our head office and our Support Office, and I only have good things to say. PM me if you want me to send you some information or have any questions.
Other non-SIP options, such as fully hosted are also available - but it really depends on what is required.
Zoomy: - BT have indicated they will be switching off ISDN services by 2025, but reports indicate that they could be 'as good as gone in 5 years'.
If you are looking for Internal use only, have a look at the 'Express USB Phone UPYLE4' - Please note, I have no experience of this particular handset/software, but it looks like it may fit your requirement.
SIP trunks provide Voice over IP (VoIP) connectivity for certified telephone systems (PBXs) allowing inbound and outbound telephony when connected to a customer’s chosen IP PBX and a suitable IP connection. SIP trunks help transform a customer’s site from analogue technology to an IP based one, where the IP PBX system will be connected over a providers IP based network.
We use SIP ourselves, both for our head office and our Support Office, and I only have good things to say. PM me if you want me to send you some information or have any questions.
Other non-SIP options, such as fully hosted are also available - but it really depends on what is required.
Zoomy: - BT have indicated they will be switching off ISDN services by 2025, but reports indicate that they could be 'as good as gone in 5 years'.
If you are looking for Internal use only, have a look at the 'Express USB Phone UPYLE4' - Please note, I have no experience of this particular handset/software, but it looks like it may fit your requirement.
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