Newbie Advice on VoIP solution

[ndog4ever]

i am designing a network for a company and the question has come up about IP telephony. From the requirements ive gotten so far is about 50-70 total phone lines would be needed. I handle data and system services and this would be my first VoIP install. I want to stick with Cisco if possible, i dont need a lot of features. What are some good suggestions and what are some good websites for references on how to implement these kind of solutions. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[talbotpat]

Look at CallManager Express...used to be called ITS, or IOS Telephony Service. Seriously, there is a ton of information on CCO (

http://www.cisco.com)

regarding IP Telephony and generic voice over packet.

Good Luck!

Pat

 

[BuckWeet]

I'd look at the Cisco MCS 7815 servers and CallManager 3.3.. Don't look at the ICS 7750 because thats EOL'ed

 

[ndog4ever]

thanks i am looking at these. Is it easier to deploy with a Cisco server versus buying a box and installing callmanager?? what are the benefits of one or the other or is it just preference?

 

[BuckWeet]

Go with a cisco server, so then you can get smartnet support from one company.. Plus cisco will support that hardware platform from a single call to them..


BuckWeet

 

[holmes66]

Well, if you don't need a lot of features, a Cisco platform is perfect. That is exactly what you will get.

But why limit yourself? There are quite a few alternatives that do a great job of VoIP while giving you great feature/funcionality at the same time.

Check out the posts on this forum. Quite a few are people asking how to solve a problem that is easy to solve with systems that provide hundreds of standard features that are there for the taking.

You wouldn't consider giving up the power that IOS give you, would you? Why give up real PBX funcionality just to "stick with Cisco?"