IP PBX Recommendation 7

[ReallyRotten]

I'm interested in knowing what IP-PBX products are available for 20 - 60 employees. I've looked at Cisco's UC560 for up to 138 users but it seems like it is overkill even for 60 employees. The UC320W/UC540W max capacity is 24/32 users. Avaya IP office is expensive (sorry Avaya! I like you but you are pricey)

Who is hitting the 30 - 60ish market?

 

[Squelchtone]

Hello,

Our organization is looking to move from our old workhorse, the Rolm 9751 Model 10, to a VOIP system. I am the company IT guy and phone tech. I have some questions I hope will fit well with this thread. Other PBXs I have experience on are the NEC Electra elite, AT&T Partner II, and the Samsung OfficeServ 7400.

My first and most important question is this: Can VOIP phone systems do a Page All / Intercom to all other VOIP speakerphones on the system at the same time? (no over head PA speakers available, not an option for us)

In case of emergency at our facility, we would like to pick up one phone and Page All / Intercom to all stations at the same time and give them verbal instructions over their speakerphones, without anyone having to pick up their phones. Ideally, If this can be set up in groups by building, then we can pick up a phone and let's say there's a safety issue in the lab, we can just Intercom to all the phones in the lab and tell them to leave the building, or lock doors and stay put, etc.

If this is easy to accomplish with current systems, which brands of VOIP systems can Page/Intercom to all other phones on the system, and is this feaure already built in without having to buy 3rd party equipment or software. We also cannot install overhead PA horns or speakers, I know some PBXs have a PA out to Page using overhead horns, unfortunately we have too many buildings to be able to wire that and install PA amps etc.

On my current system, the Rolm has a COM_GROUP feature where if you are member of the group, one can pick up a phone, and intercom direct to any other member of the group, without them lifting the receiver, but it is a 1 to 1 call, not 1 to All.

Here are some specs on what we have now and some questions about VOIP as I am completely new to it.

Layer 2 switches and VLAN setup for a VOIP system
We have a pretty big computer network here, all HP Procurve Layer 2 switches, a Layer 3 core, but pretty much 1 default VLAN and everyone one the same subnet making for a big flat network. I've started to tinker with the VLAN options on my switches, I believe I have to have the VLANs in place and all ports documented before I get a VOIP system. I also have some POE switches, but not many, do most of you have a customer go all POE or do some opt to use a wall wart with each phone? If anyone can speak to this and give any pointers or any pro tips so I can avoid headaches please let me know from your experiences.

T1 channel bank / how does that plug into a VOIP system?
Current phone lines come into my Rolm PBX as a T1 broken out to 24 analog channels, and a T1 (non PRI) going right into the Rolm which does DIDs and some inbound and outbound calling. Do the VOIP systems of today have a way to bring our 24 analog lines into their cabinet? Are there cards that fan out to an amphenol cable and over to a 66/Krone block so I can cross connect to my telco handoff? I'm pretty handy with a punch down tool, but VOIP to me is a whole new beast, so I dont know how things plug into a VOIP cabinet/system.

WiFi VOIP telephone sets:
If I have some courtesy phones in lobbies right now, and only a phone outlet and no ethernet in the lobby, are there WiFi enabled VOIP phones that would work with the rest of the VOIP system? Would that also require a seperate SSID/VLAN on my access points just for the phones?

3 port switch built into phones / VLANs
I understand that some VOIP phones, or is it SIP phones (what's the preferred name?) have 3 port switches on the back, are those managed so I can set different VLAN tags on them? If I have a room with 1 ethernet outlet and need to have a computer and VOIP phone there, I would want to use the switch built into the back of the phone, but only if I can separate the traffic so PC and phone data are not on the same VLAN.

class of service on VOIP phones
Do VOIP phones carry with them their Extension number, so no matter where they plug into the network the Extension follows them? I know in a traditional PBX, a port on the PBX is hardwired to a physical location and any phone that plugs into that location becomes that specific extension number, on VOIP I would imagine that the extension number is programmed into the phone or is somehow tied to it's MAC Address.
Can a VOIP system have class of service to an office phone can dial local, long distance, but a lobby phone can only dial extension to extension and local and 911?

Lastly, and thanks for taking the time to read this and answer any of it that you can, I'm used to a PBX having a dedicated proprietary cabinet, are VOIP systems like that as well, or do they run off a computer tower and it's more or less the software that does all the work? (Sorry if these are "duh" questions, but I'm totally new to this technology, so I'm sure you guys get these "newbie" questions a lot.)

Thank you for your help, sorry for the long post,

Squelchtone

 

[Squelchtone]

I couldnt find a way to edit my post and I totally forgot to mention, we have 150 Extensions, 50 of which would need to be display phones, 100 of which just regular plain jane phones, but all 150 need to have speakerphone function.

Thank You,
Squelchtone

 

[phoneguy610]

check out the IPO page all is not a problem. I know they make wifi cordless phones, but they are pricey. T1 is very simple to setup with the IPO. VlANs and all that good stuff is no problem

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/Nortel

ACIS

 

[Sympology]

I'll do a few brief answers:

My first and most important question is this: Can VOIP phone systems do a Page All / Intercom to all other VOIP speakerphones on the system at the same time?
Yes, but check that your vendor supports it.

Layer 2 switches and VLAN setup for a VOIP system
Yes you do need VLAN'ing and QoS. You can get away without it if your backbone is fast enough, but at some point it will bite you in the ass. Firewalls and routers are often the weak point. We use a mix of kit, where PoE switches are available, wonderful, makes like so much easier. If not wall warts or PoE injectors. You can get rack mounted multiport PoE injectors, but they are pricey, almost as much as a new switch.

T1 channel bank / how does that plug into a VOIP system?
Depends on the system, some have built in TDM buses, otherwise a MediaGateway is required. I highly recommend Audiocodes kit for this. We have 5 year old Mediant 2000's that still sit there ticking along.

WiFi VOIP telephone sets:
Yes you can but they drink batteries. Our solution is DECT phones with a ethernet base station. Polycom do some of these as well as Panasonic (well they used to)

class of service on VOIP phones
Yes it's no different to a normal phone. You create an account with the relevant permissions. You then set the phone up for that account (many systems will auto-configure the phone for you). This is the BEST feature of VoIP system. You can take a phone to a different location, plug it in and it will carry on working. We usually configure the phone then send it to site. So long as they have a live network, they will work. The downside is some don't grasp the concept so they move to another branch (without telling IT) and wonder why they still get calls for the old site.


However I'd look at getting someone in before you buy the kit to test your network. VoIP is brilliant, unless you have a underperforming network, then it will be your worst enemy.


Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[Squelchtone]

Thank you guys for taking the time to reply to my post. We will be checking into your recommendations as far as making sure our network can handle VOIP to begin with, and then we'll take it from. In case I didn't mention it, we have 150 stations, and would like to keep the total cost of implementation down to 100-200K I understand that if the phones cost $300 each, then just our 150 phones sets is already $45,000, how much does the cabinet usually cost, and what's an average cost for an implementer to come in, IF the vlans are already in place?

Thank you and have a good weekend,
Squelchtone

 

[curlycord]

That is one hell of a budget.....room for network improvement too.


This

http://www.williamsglobal.com/picturesnews/REDBOX-FIREWORX.pdf

Plus Polycom sets IP550

Approx 20K installed




=----(((((((((()----=
curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

 

[phoneguy610]

only advice is stay away from the no name stuff.

Especially with a site with that many users. One can get away with it in a 5-10 user enviroment. You get what you pay for.

When all the tried and tested system prices come in between 50-60k and some guy comes in saying he can do it for 15-20k with a system you have never heard of RUN! lol you do get what you pay for

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/Nortel

ACIS

 

[jeffmoss26]

We put in a Cisco CallManager system back in June...CDW did all the implementation. It's 2 UCS servers with everything virtualized, along with a 2911 router serving as the gateway for T1 and paging connections.
We have over 100 phones and it works well. The administration takes a bit to learn, and is definitely more time consuming than the 3Com NBX we replaced. Everything is integrated with our Active Directory as far as users/extensions go.
Since we had VOIP before, our network was pretty much ready...Cat5e everywhere with POE switches.

jeff moss