PRI will be shutdown in about a year time in the UK and will have to switch to SIP
Ive never used SIP on a BCM450 and speaking to other installers they say its a nightmare
The BCM line is long in the tooth and hasn't had any software updates since 2014.
I used SIP trunks on my BCM50 for about 5 years with no issues. Last year after an update by my SIP provider my SIP trunks wouldn't work right. The BCM50 would register with the private IP instead of the public IP. This caused incoming calls to fail. I fought it for several weeks, but ended up pulling out my FreePBX on a Raspberry Pi4. My SIP trunks worked perfectly again.
I'd also recommend staying on a PRI as long as possible. Ultimately you'll need to transition to a newer system as today's SIP has exceeded the BCM's capability.
I love the BCM line, but its time has unfortunately passed.
The main provider "BT" over here is indeed planning on forcing us all to go to SIP. It's a little bit like the world forcing us to have electric vehicles when in reality the chances of winning the lottery sounds to be a more realistic option!.
Anyway, Exmoggerz answer is indeed correct in that more and more sip providers have protocols that won't work with older SIP PABX's.
I've tried Gamma without any success but SIP accounts that require a username and password seem to work fine such as Sipgate.
If you are concerned about your BCM450 not having any SIP trunks, then do a search as there are ways to overcome it.
With regards to any ISDN to SIP convertors, it's best to go on the CS1000 or other forums such as Avaya IP Office or Mitel etc.
These gateways seem to be about GBP1000 and as exsmogger points out that the system is beyond EOL so you are probably better looking at a new system.
If you are keen to keep your Nortel phones you could look at E-Metrotel. Avaya IP Office will work with Nortel phones but I'm told not with the same functionality and licence costs can stack up.
BTW SIP channels are about half the price of PRI. I'll leave you to do the sums.
E-Metrotel system looks like a good option as I would like to keep the nortel phones
Its impossible to recable the building via CAT cable for IP phones
Has anyone used the E-Metrotel system and how hard is it to setup?
E-Metrotel has it's own forum on Tek-Tips. I understand that it's a good system based on Asterisk but with neat features to combine Nortel wired and IP phones etc.
I had a demo system working a few years ago. Personally, for me the main problem was no UK support. It's something to bear in mind.
PM me if you need any assistance with specific UK information.
"Has anyone used the E-Metrotel system and how hard is it to setup?"
I would think any system is close to being equal in setting up.
As for SIP Trunk reliability I hardly have any issues.
I use these carriers with several sub accounts on my BCM:
Call Centric (USA)
Sipgate (UK)
Voip.MS (Canada)
"I think the BCM50 can handle a maximum of 12 SIP channels but not sure about the BCM450"
48 or 130 with the CEC card
If your going to stick with the BCM then I can help you with setting up a temp SIP account to test with.
Curlycord, I've used Flowroute for many years, and they have been good with tech support. For whatever reason my SIP trunks won't work with them anymore on my BCM50. They work fine on the FreePBX.
I tried Voip.ms and SIP.us, but the BCM50 did the same thing as Flowroute and registered with the local IP address instead of the public IP address.
I was in rural Oregon for about 6 months and opted for StarLink. I had to use a voip provider called AxVoice to punch through the CGNAT (essentially double NAT) that StarLink uses. Downside about AxVoice is their a-hole tech support. Now that I'm on fiber to the house my Flowroute trunks work fine on the FreePBX.
FreePBX is OK for small systems, but I wouldn't recommend for medium-large systems. Their tech support can be rather testy, but it is free, so I can't complain (too much).
We had a similar issue that the PRI provider said that they will change all to SIP and the MICS doesn't support SIP and the customer was not willing to change the system (cheap or just didn't grasp that the system is living on borrowed time) so we installed a Grandstream GXW4501 to transition from SIP back to PRI
Took a couple of days to get all the details right but running now for 5 months without as much as a glitch.
I had in the past installed an old Avaya IP Office doing that same task but it was as a temp measure (running 8 months) until the new system was installed.
I recall we troubleshooting that Flowroute.
I couldn't get a free account with Flowroute to test.
"I tried Voip.ms and SIP.us, but the BCM50 did the same thing as Flowroute and registered with the local IP address instead of the public IP address."
I came across this person who fixed their same issue but with 3CX: "Make sure that your Firewall rules going from 3CX out are not being NAT'd"
Also I read that the SIP/ALG setting might be the culprit for that same issue.
Not at all. I'm now in a small town of a little over 1000 population. I was pleasantly surprised to find fiber run to the house. I had my choice of 1gb or 2.5gb. I took 1gb as 2.5gb would be wasted on my old hardware. Screaming fast and solid as a rock, so far.
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