Replacing Obsolete Nortel MICS and Looking at FreeBPX. Opinions? 2

[SteveVi]

Apologies in advance for the long post. I’m looking for a VoIP solution to replace our Nortel MICS system. We’re a special needs school for kids with Autism and have two locations. Each location currently has a Nortel MICS, PRI and 20Mbps internet service. The Nortel PBXs are connected to each other via a Point to point T1 and between the 2 sites we currently have 130 handsets, the vast majority of which are in classrooms and common rooms and are only used for emergencies, intercom, and paging, etc. These phone don’t have any incoming or make any outgoing calls. Perhaps 25-30% of the handsets are sitting on desks and our overall call volume is quite low despite the large number of phones.

We have CAT6 drops for voice and data at both facilities and use Cisco Catalyst 2960 series switches throughout so QoS shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll soon be changing our ISP and will have 100Mbps internet service at our main location and a 100Mbps point-to-point link between both facilities. We plan on keeping PRI at both locations along with a couple of POT lines for redundancy and plan on having 2 PBX appliances; one at each location.

We’ve looked at Allworx and Digium systems as they are the few commercial offerings in our budget range. We like both systems and either seems like it would serve us well. I have 2 issues with these systems:

1. The huge markup on the appliances despite their lower end CPU, RAM, and HDD specs; I can build a server with the same specs as a $5000 appliance for $800-900 worth of parts.
2. The licensing costs, recurring software assurance costs, etc.

Don’t get me wrong; I understand that these companies rely on recurring sources of revenue to remain in business and that their pricing is very competitive with other products in the marketplace. But as a non-profit, large recurring costs are a very real issue and I’m trying to minimize them where possible.

Anyway, with that long winded introduction out of the way, here’s where I’m at: I’ve started looking at FreePBX. It seems solid, it’s based on Asterisk (Digium), and gives us all of the features available with the Allworx and Digium systems. I can build or buy an appliance at a fraction of the cost of the Allworx or Digium applicances and I can use Digium phones (which I really like), and licensing and upgrades/updates are free of charge. Technology-wise, we have 3 guys (including me) in the IT department. We’re a pretty savy and versatile bunch and can generally work our way through networking, server config, and other IT issues pretty quickly. However, we’re Windows guys who know little about Linux, Asterisk, and VoIP in general. I’m reasonably sure we could get FreePBX up and running and configured. I’m more nervous about how we might get support if things go horribly wrong.

I’m looking for opinions, experiences, and success (or failure) stories from users who have gone through a FreePBX deployment, the pain, the joy, and how the system performs on a day to day level. In short; The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Thanks in advance -- Steve

 

[Westi]

Good that it wasn't me

I have to agree with you on the older sets (I have 5 6408D+ in my house) and I would love to take the Emetrotel for a test drive but my experience with Nortel is very limited and mostly I use Feature *0 to find extensions and ports before I take the KSU off the wall moving the phones to an IPO.

I heard good things about the Emetrotel but mostly here on TT not met anyone that actually has one which could be because I am not going to companies that are happy with their system.

Joe W.

FHandw, ACSS (SME), expired ACIS (SME)


"This is the end of the world, make sure to buy your T-shirt before it is too late"
Original expression of my daughter

 

[jsaad]

If I was running a non profit school, I wouldn't waste funds on VoIP phones. Given your stated low call volume, your Nortel Norstar is your best solution. Plenty of support and parts available.

Do you really need a point to point T1 or PRIs?

You may also look at an SL1100 by NEC. For your type of environment, digital phones are your friend.

 

[SteveVi]

jsaad,

Point-to-point T1 is used to connect both PBXs. It's not a true point-to-point, it's emulated using TDMoIP RAD Ware boxes over an MPLS connection. It's required for site-to-site 4 digit extension dialing. We have a receptionist at our main location and she handles calls for both sites. Not all extensions have DID numbers so being able to call the secondary site is a requirement. Dunno about where you are but Nortel support around here is sparse and fetching $120+ per hour. We've found a couple of "one man shop" outfits and they're usually busy enough that we can't get them quickly. Not ideal when we need support quickly. Most companies have dropped Nortel support in favor of more modern equipment. Throwing more money at our current system seems foolish since the support situation isn't going to get any better.

 

[Dexman]

A small diversion...The IP Office was created by a UK based company and Avaya aquired it. Outside of heritage, today's Avaya really doesn't have much in common with Western Electric/Bell Labs, AT&T and Lucent Technologies. Avaya broke with it's past when it retired the Partner ACS a few years back.

I "FEATURE 00"

http://dexman.webs.com/

 

[hawks]

stevevi, if this sytem works for you and you're not really looking to add more features. Then can you tell us about where you're located maybe someone here can give you a contact for support.