SIP conference bridge - what are people using with Mitel

[fissure]

Hi there,

wondering what people are using for in-house conference servers/bridges, ie, you can dial in, and enter a code, to join a conference.
(maybe something less 'full on' than Mitel's Audio Web Conferencing/UCA)

looking for in-house to avoid the per-minute/costly dial in numbers that a lot of hosted products have

Audio only is fine (ie no video)

With the Mitel 3300 we can have up to 8 party conferences, but by and large you need to call out to the other parties (they can't call in), unless you do something (which we haven't tried) with auto-answering analog ports I believe.
And getting even the call out to someone and join them to the call from analog/SIP conference phones (as opposed to proper Mitel desk phones) can be a pain.

We're looking for something that will connect to the Mitel via SIP, and internal+external people can call in, be routed to the conference bridge, and it will answer and prompt for conference number etc

We looked at:

Quorum Phone Conference Server - runs on Windows, which works as a SIP client (and we seemed to be able to get 3-4 people per extension on the Mitel, so possibly less expensive than solutions which rely on SIP trunks to the phone system/Mitel). But it doesn't seem to be actively developed any more.

Looked at TekConSer today, though don't yet have it working
but it only supports 8 parties (the same as the Mitel), though you can dial in to it, which you can't do with the Mitel

I believe Mitel's 'Quick Conference' product was licensed from another company, does anyone know who/what it was called, to see if it can still be bought?

I guess Microsoft Lync might be another option?

google also turned up:
free Linux open source app:

http://confserver.sourceforge.net/

and:

http://sylkserver.com

- SylkServer is available for Ubuntu, Debian and for MacOSX
and:

http://www.miton.co.uk/Docs/MeetNTalk1_Simple_Overview.pdf

welcome any input/suggestions, Neil

 

[Billz66]

We use MCA on MAS .

If I never did anything I'd never done before , I'd never do anything.....

 

[sarond]

Do you have access to Mitel 5000?
It has Meet-me Conferencing that is simple and sounds like what you're looking for.
You dial in to a conference number and enter a PIN and you are then joined to the conference.
You could SIP Trunk the 5000 to the 3300.

 

[LoopyLou]

Use MCA

I'd tell you a UDP joke but I'm afraid you won't get it. TCP jokes are the best because you always get them.

 

[SXWizard]

MCA is our solution for customers who require audio conferencing.

 

[danramirez]

MCA

http://www.hatkana.com

http://www.wtelecom.com

 

[sarond]

Looks like I'm over ruled

I have never used MCA so will now investigate.

 

[TheMitelGuy]

I would stick with MCA.

As an FYI, the Mitel Quick Conference server was actually created by Mitel. It was based on the Mitel 3050 ICP - which never really sold. The Mitel 3050 ICP was turned into a fancy state machine, and if are using Benbria, then you are using the Mitel 3050 ICP.

 

[sarond]

Just setup my AWC on MAS 2.2 for audio only.
Was painless and works quite well.

 

[LoopyLou]

Think the MCA is pretty simple if its audio only.

I'd tell you a UDP joke but I'm afraid you won't get it. TCP jokes are the best because you always get them.

 

[sarond]

I'll chime in again,
I forgot that I had an Elastix (Asterisk) server that I sometimes play around with.
I did setup a meet-me conference with this and it works. It is also free, so you would only need some hardware (server) and SIP Trunks licenses on the 3300.
Just a thought.

Other things you may be able to use it for
- Fax to email server
- IVR Server
- SIP extension server
- Basic Voicemail Server