How do I broadcast the same MOH source to multiple facilities?

We recently implemented the above, and it seems to work well.

This solution can be used with a standard MOH device, CD player, or (internet) radio station.

If using the (internet) radio station option, be sure that it is a station that has provided consent to rebroadcast.

In this example, I'll be connecting to an internet radio station (that provides consent to rebroadcast).

Note: to take up less bandwidth, find a station that brodcasts at 20-28Kbps -- this is all you need to achive good quality on the phone system, and not use up a lot of bandwidth.

[color blue]At the "corporate" office, you will need:

* Win2k/XP/Vista PC
* Soundcard
* Internet connection
* WinAmp (www.winamp.com)
* Shoutcast (www.shoutcast.com)[/color]

[color green]At the "satellite" office(s) you will need:

* Intranet to corporate
* Windows or Linux PC
* Soundcard[/color]

[color blue]At corporate, hook up your MOH port to the headset port of your soundcard. For help with this, see faq799-4980

Start WinAmp & put in a URL of an internet radio station.

Once the music starts playing, you should hear it when doing F86 on a Nortel phone. Adjust the volume accordingly.

Install the Shoutcast server, making note of the port & number of connections allowed. It is also recommended that this PC have a static IP address.[/color]


[color green]At a "satellite" location:

Hook up from the headset of the PC to the MOH port (once again, faq799-4980).

Install a media player (I've had luck with Winamp (windows) and Amarok (Linux)).

Launch the media player & for the music source, type in:

http://<ip.address.at.corporate>:<port>/listen.pls

Turn on music on a Nortel phone using F86. If all was installed correctly, you should start hearing music (it will be around 1 minute behind corporate).[/color]


It has been my experience that the volume controls on all PCs need to be set to the max.


The example I provided is probably the most complex, as you need to connect to the internet at corporate. If you choose to use a MOH device or CD player, you need to only purchase 1, rather than 1 for each location.