Need help in speccing out a small business setup
Aegis:
Thanks drgeoff - and yes - I had started investigating Asterisk and FreePBX. As you say though, not something that can be knocked together in an evening - luckily there's no real time pressure here though.
Since I maintain their PCs/network it makes sense for me to do this for them too (more work for me as well ;))
SteveInWA:
Quote from: Lavarock7 on January 08, 2016, 06:41:23 am
There is a slight problem with your friends request. He has 4 cordless phones but I suspect they all connect to one base station. That means they are all the same phone, so to speak.
If they happen to be 2-line phones then that makes it a bit easier but you woudl still have 2 base stations then.
Let's eliminate the cordless phones for the moment, or assume each has its own base station:
If it were me, I would set up an account at Voip.Ms, test things and then port the number to them. They have UK servers.
I would get two Obi202 because each one has 2 phone ports.
Then I would configure 4 subaccounts (extensions) on Voip.Ms, each one with its own voicemail and failover, etc. I would assign each to have the same CallerId for outbound calls.
Then I would create a recording, "Thank you for calling the XYZ Company. If you know the extension... enter it, otherwise press 101 for Joe, 102 for Sam, etc"
I would then create the Digital Receptionist (IVR), attach it to the incoming line and fan the results out to the appropriate extension.
If desired, you can have the unanswered calls go to an "operator" extension prior to voicemail, etc.
Each person has the ability to call out or receive calls simultaneously. All calls to customers show the same number is calling. Inbound calls get routed as the customer wishes. Each worker has his own voicemail.
The cost is 2 Obis and a few dollars a month for the phone number to be at Voip.Ms.
A slightly more expensive proposition (not cordless) is using IP phones that have adaptaer built it, or Obi1xxx type IP phones with multiple line buttons so any worker could pick up someone elses call if necessary.
With a single base station and 4 phones that are essentially extensions off that one phone number, only 1 call in or out can be done at the same time. Usually you can transfer a call to another handset, but no one else would be able to make or receive a call with that type of setup. I assume that is not your goal, thus re-thinking the type of phones in use.
+1 to this excellent description.
Leveraging cloud-based telephony is the easier, more-reliable and robust solution for business telephony vs. trying to set up your own PBX.
Aegis:
Thanks for all your suggestions! I think I'll pick up a single OBi202 for tinkering/getting the ball rolling - I'll probably be back asking all kinds of questions soon :D
*Edit* I will ask - what do you think is an acceptable data-rate for VOIP? (and for the setup described by Lavarock) - they're currently on DSL and getting around 3 Mbps - would this work or is it too slow? Thanks!
drgeoff:
VoIP typically uses the telco standard 64 kbit/s codec so with IP overheads etc around 100 kbit/s per simultaneous call is required. But:
1. that is required in each direction and DSL usually has a much lower outgoing speed than the incoming one. What is the 3 Mbit/s you mention?
2. VoIP does not tolerate packet delay in the same way as browsing or file downloading. If a low speed link is also being used for non-VoIP services, choppy audio is very likely. Enabling QoS can help but is not a sure-fire solution.
3. With any 'cloud' architecture even the internal calls between extensions may need to traverse the connection to the internet. That is 200 kbit/s in each direction per call.
Aegis:
3 Mbps is the downstream, upstream is around .8 Mbps - the internet will be in use for light browsing and some occasional streaming too (music/videos). Unfortunately there's no way to speed this up either (getting fibre laid would cost thousands that the company doesn't have).
Sounds like I'd be pushing it to use VOIP at all? :(
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