New Branch office Advise

[rkatyal]

Hi all,

We currently have a Meridian Option 11C PBX with very old version of software. I believe it is Release 13. We are using 3900 series phones. We have 1 PRI and 5 pots lines(for backup) for about 65 users.

We are looking to open a branch office appx. 25 miles away from our head office. This location currently has nothing in place as far as voice and data goes.

I am looking for some suggestions as to how to design the voice network. Would some of you experts on this forum give some advise whether it is time to move to VOIP and if so exactly how to approach it.

Any/all feedback is greatly appreciated.

One side note, I am more of a data guy and perform minor administration tasks on the meridian. could someone also suggest some coursework/book/other medium that will help me educate myself.

Thanks,


Raj

 

[telecomPA]

as far as the Switch goes, you should really upgrade it to the latest release, which is Succession 5.0. the next thing you need to establish is how many sets you want at the new location and what functions you need to provide. You could run the new phones off of the Option 11C via a tie line as long as you can accomodate the circuit.
ask your vendor for some different scenarios.
for the training, try getting some of the books on ebay or amazon. i don't know how much you know, but going to the global knowledge school when you're on such an old release isn't worth it. once you upgrade and buy some newer phones, etc., then you can go to the global knowledge website and order a catalog. good luck.

 

[rkatyal]

thanks for the response. I greatly appreciate and value your advise.

Could you kindly clear up when you say tie line? I have not heard of tie line before?

Also, is Release 13 upgradeable to Succession 5.0 as you suggest?

And according to what you mention, does that mean I would not need another switch at the branch office? only phones.

Our users will be travelling back and forth between the 2 offices, which means that we would need to do moves or re-assigning the extensions to them all the time so they have same extension at both offices. How would that be accomplished?

 

[telecomPA]

tie line is a point-to-point circuit between 2 locations.

i'm not a pro in relation to software releases, you have to ask your vendor or maintenance provider.

in theory, as long as your system is ready for it, you would not need another phone system on the other side, just an MCK solution or a Nortel solution. i can't remember the names at this moment.

there's a lot you can do in relation to the numbers. if you run another box to the new office and are connected via a tie line or two tie lines, you can build the extensions more than once, this way they appear on both sides. you could also buy another system, but share one voicemail system, etc. there's a lot of different scenarios, you just need to look at 4 or 5, then narrow it down to 1 or 2 that suit you best.

 

[mklein76]

You might want to looking into a survivable remote gateway or CS1000B(branch office). In this scenario, you build the sets in both locations and as long as the WAN connection is up between the two sites, the phones register to the main office. If the connection goes down, the phones register locally and can use a local PRI to get/place calls.

With users traveling back and forth, you want to look into virtual office login. This will allow users to bring their extension with them to the phone they are sitting in front of.



Matt
Forex Capital Markets
CS 1000E VoIP/Symposium Admin