Newbie to VoIP...what do I need to get our small business started?

[texnut]

Hello all,

We are a small business - approx. 35 employees. In our current office space we have a PBX system by ESI. We hate it. It has proven to be difficult to manage/use and expensive.

We are getting ready to move to a new office space and figured we would take a look at some VoIP offerings.

I suppose I am a bit confused on how the whole system works however - do we need any sort of PBX or "Base Unit" installed? What about the phones...do we need Power over Ethernet switches? and do the phones simply "log into" our service providers VoIP network on there own?

What about Voice mail or Call Hunt groups or queues? Can we get all of these features with VoIP?

Sorry for all the questions - many thanks for any help or clues you can provide us with.

Thanks,

S

 

[Sympology]

Ok we use Televantage so i'm biased (we don't sell it). But this can provide all of the above.

It's a grapical interface so is very easy to set up and admisister. It uses SIP phones, so pretty much any IP phone will work, although the Aastra 9912@s and 3's work very well with it. If you use SIP then the phones do "log in" (Register is the term your looking for).
Avoid h323 based systems like the plague.
However many people will also recommend Asterix. I've never used this, but it is a very respected system.

In summary to you answers in a generic way:

Yes you will more than likely need a PBX (see later), this can be a simple pc with little hardware up to a full blown PBX.
PoE. Depends on the hardware, but in general No. As they should come with adapters (or you can buy seperate). Try to get a system using the SIP protocol as then you are not tied to a single manufacturer.
If using a VoIP provider, then in theroy you can log straight into theres, but I'd go with a PBX and a trunk to VoIP provider. I'd recommend some kind of analogue or digital line as back up. What happens if the Ip link goes down?
As for Voice mail etc, that is purely down to the system.

However, all that said, as you are completly new to this, id make sure you get a decent support package, otherwise you may find yourself in trouble.

Stu..



Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[texnut]

Interesting - thanks for the pointers.

So while researching some more, I came across a package from

http://www.fonality.com.

Seems to be a backwards compatible IP-PBX system based off of the system you mentioned...Asterix.

So, I guess im looking at it from a networking perspective...how does the network work?

Theoritical situation:

1) I subscribe to VoIP service from Vonage and get say..12 VoIP lines.

2) Fonality Box (or any other IP-PBX) "registers" with Vonage...hence our 12 phone lines are now "connected".

3)All phones "register" with the IP-PBX box via network.

Does that situation sound about right?

And if I wanted to, I could throw in a few analog lines and feed them through the IP-PBX as backups, right?

 

[telnettech]

Asterisks is a open source VIOP solution....we have developed it to include voicemail functionality and have the voicemail send an email to us to let us know we have a voicemail so that we can check it from the road. Call and talk to 1 of our sales people @ 614-751-2000. We also have about 30 people in the Ohio office and about 20 in development office in India. The system is talking with each other using ip trunks between the 2. We have deployed this system among high end Hotels, Casinos and call centers.

Brian

To error is human.....if the machine doesnt work, then KICK IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[w33mhz]

I personally would look into Avaya solution, little pricy when you get into some licensing. They have an IP Office solution that will more than likely fit what you need. ALso supports a good variaty of phones, you can use IP and Digital phones. I haven't used that system personally, but I have heard some good things and have seen some nice things with the management interface. Can also be used across VPN connections as well. The only bad thing I have really heard about them is that some units have been known to just reboot, definitly not cooL. I am like StuReeves I am bais to what I use.
Telnetch is on to something with the asterix, I would say that is the ticket, except for one thing SUPPORT. You are going to have a hard time finding anyone in your area that will support the software or hardware for an Asterix server in case you have an equipment failure or need help programing, you could always pay the big bucks and get support from the asterix people, and I believe that it is some real BIG BUCKS.

 

[jml2665]

you will probably get as many opinions as there are people here. Avaya, Cisco, Shoretel, Mitel, Nortel, and all the other tels, the best thing to do is get as much information as you can, even the manufacturer propaganda, and then see which best fits your needs. Even go to other companies and ask about their systems and their implementation. Make sure to ask about the installers in your area too, most phone systems do a much better job of meeting your needs when installed and maintained properly.

 

[NewTechinTown]

Nortel makes a fantastic Hybrid system that lets you start small and evolve at your own pace and is extremely easy to manage.

 

[aarenot]

CHECK OUT THE ipoFFICE FORUM, NORTEL, ETC., ETC FORUMS HERE, AND ASK SOME QUESTIONS.

 

[jlkilpat]

I would look at Asterisk

http://www.asterisk.org.

It runs on Linux; so with an old pc, you can have it up and running quickly (I have it running on a 733mhz celeron and a newer AMD 3.2G). Someone posted fonality, they have purchased trixbox which is asterisk with a nice web interface and other open source tools. you can have this up and running in about 20 minutes after burning the trixbox disk. Load the free version of Xlite softphone on a couple of PCs and you can have a Voip system in an afternoon. With trixbox, you don't need to know about linux. Good luck.