ip phone stuff
Discussion
Does anyone know much about this?
I'd like to replace our pbx and 4 bt lines with an IP system, however we must be able to have have ip handsets at home. I presume I can do this with a VPN.
There are rental options but these are £10 per month per user which I feel will not stack up in the long term.
anyone comment?
Cheers
D
I'd like to replace our pbx and 4 bt lines with an IP system, however we must be able to have have ip handsets at home. I presume I can do this with a VPN.
There are rental options but these are £10 per month per user which I feel will not stack up in the long term.
anyone comment?
Cheers
D
davidd said:
Does anyone know much about this?
I'd like to replace our pbx and 4 bt lines with an IP system, however we must be able to have have ip handsets at home. I presume I can do this with a VPN.
There are rental options but these are £10 per month per user which I feel will not stack up in the long term.
anyone comment?
Cheers
D
I'd like to replace our pbx and 4 bt lines with an IP system, however we must be able to have have ip handsets at home. I presume I can do this with a VPN.
There are rental options but these are £10 per month per user which I feel will not stack up in the long term.
anyone comment?
Cheers
D
My wife has just done this with her family business i.e. replaced the pbx in the workplace and installed ip phones in the work place and at remote locations including our house and in France.
So it works. Company she used charged about 5 or 6k all in I think but they had a number of problems due to the fact it was the first time they did it and I wouldn't necessarily suggest you use them.
The remote locations either need a static IP or a clever app that pretends there is a static IP by regularly updating the DNS system (I think).
The system is up and running fine now so you can do it!
Edited by olf on Wednesday 18th October 11:11
Plotloss said:
Needs a little setting up but once its up properly its rock solid.
In fact its so good its difficult to see a future for traditional PBXs and even small ACD/IVR systems.
In fact its so good its difficult to see a future for traditional PBXs and even small ACD/IVR systems.
Ok then, how does it work, at the moment I have 4 bt lines I'd like to dump but retain the number. I have a 2mb leased line and adsl backup.
what do I do ?
D
I have spoken to a few people recently who have raved about Swyx www.swyx.com/uk/ seems like it would do the job.
You need a SIP Trunk provider such as www.gradwell.co.uk
You also request through them to transfer the BT numbers to their charge (works just like a mobile PAC transfer). You pay monthly per number £2 or so I think and then all the calls are placed through the SIP trunk (or you could retain a number of PSTN lines and let the PBX choose whether IP or PSTN is used by STD for example) and you pay on a per minute basis like a normal telephone line.
Asterisk itself runs on Linux. You can install Linux and then Asterisk on top of it or you can get a PC and install Trixbox which is the all in one implementation of Asterisk (probably the easiest place to start for a new user). There are literally hundreds of tutorials available covering just about every use.
Its flexibility is truly astonishing, I havent found anything yet it cant do to some extent.
www.asterisk.org
www.trixbox.org
www.asteriskdocs.org (you can download the very handy book Asterisk: The Future Of Telephony here as well)
They are some handy links to get you started.
What I would do initially is get an old machine, bung Trixbox on it, do a proof of concept using a simple SIP line and a softphone on another PC and move on from there.
You also request through them to transfer the BT numbers to their charge (works just like a mobile PAC transfer). You pay monthly per number £2 or so I think and then all the calls are placed through the SIP trunk (or you could retain a number of PSTN lines and let the PBX choose whether IP or PSTN is used by STD for example) and you pay on a per minute basis like a normal telephone line.
Asterisk itself runs on Linux. You can install Linux and then Asterisk on top of it or you can get a PC and install Trixbox which is the all in one implementation of Asterisk (probably the easiest place to start for a new user). There are literally hundreds of tutorials available covering just about every use.
Its flexibility is truly astonishing, I havent found anything yet it cant do to some extent.
www.asterisk.org
www.trixbox.org
www.asteriskdocs.org (you can download the very handy book Asterisk: The Future Of Telephony here as well)
They are some handy links to get you started.
What I would do initially is get an old machine, bung Trixbox on it, do a proof of concept using a simple SIP line and a softphone on another PC and move on from there.
Pretty much any IP telephone system will suit you.
As someone who supports them, I'd say to go for flexibility; keep (at least some) of the BT lines.
Any of the major telecoms companies do offerings that would suit you. Cisco, Mitel, Avaya et al are all worth looking at. My company is amongst those, but I'm not going to lead you in one direction, the choice comes down to expandability and your choice of applications. Be warned, Cisco will charge you for virtually any feature you can think of. transfer? Needs a licence key. Music on hold? Call waiting? queuing? pretty much the same.
Do you want a soft or hard phone for the remote locations? You can save cash here, if everyone has a laptop.
SIP trunks aren't essential, but have the potential to save you cash in the long run.
We find that with remote users, the savings from VPN'ing into a central location to make calls tends to generate enough savings to pay for the system in a year or so.
Purely soft switches are a nightmare - add an MS patch, watch it stop working. PC goes down, watch everyone twidddle their thumbs.
Purely SIP/IP trunks, service provider has an issue, watch everyone twiddle their thumbs.
Hybrid IP pbx's are the best compromise.
As someone who supports them, I'd say to go for flexibility; keep (at least some) of the BT lines.
Any of the major telecoms companies do offerings that would suit you. Cisco, Mitel, Avaya et al are all worth looking at. My company is amongst those, but I'm not going to lead you in one direction, the choice comes down to expandability and your choice of applications. Be warned, Cisco will charge you for virtually any feature you can think of. transfer? Needs a licence key. Music on hold? Call waiting? queuing? pretty much the same.
Do you want a soft or hard phone for the remote locations? You can save cash here, if everyone has a laptop.
SIP trunks aren't essential, but have the potential to save you cash in the long run.
We find that with remote users, the savings from VPN'ing into a central location to make calls tends to generate enough savings to pay for the system in a year or so.
Purely soft switches are a nightmare - add an MS patch, watch it stop working. PC goes down, watch everyone twidddle their thumbs.
Purely SIP/IP trunks, service provider has an issue, watch everyone twiddle their thumbs.
Hybrid IP pbx's are the best compromise.
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