How to set up a 3 or 4 line system?
JeffDB:
Hello,
I'm a little one man insurance agency working out of my home and currently use Vonage for 2 phones and a dedicated fax line. They have gone up on their rates a few times and I would like to try moving them all over to the Obi system.
In looking at the products page it looks like Obi Plus Lite Basic would be my preference, but I'm not sure what hardware etc. would be needed.
It looks like it could go up to four lines, but the hardware with the most lines available appears to be the OBi202 with two lines. Can the unit be expanded to handle additional phone lines? Or would I need to buy two of them?
I actually only have two lines with Vonage. A fax line and an old number we had years ago in an adjacent county that AT&T wanted to charge me an arm and a leg to keep when I moved, and to charge me long distance rates for every incoming call in addition to the exhorbitant fees to keep it, which is why I originally switched to Vonage.
AT&T was the only one that could give me a new number for my new location, but when their rip-off contract finally ended (long story) I switched it to Vonage. But I eventually ported it to my Sprint cell phone, made it my Google Voice number as well and dropped that line using "simulring" or whatever they call it to ring the still existing Vonage line along with my cell phone.
It works pretty well, but it would be nice to have two separate lines again along with the fax line. It would also be nice to have a line for the family. We dropped the landline when I finally talked my wife into getting cell phones for us instead some years ago. I disconnected the incoming AT&T line and used a Y connector to connect the main business line to the house wiring so all the phones in the house will work.
Unfortunately, I'm the only one that will answer them, because my wife and the kids don't want to answer the business line inadvertently.
So 2 business lines a family line and a fax line would be sweet. Actually adding 2 family lines so my wife could answer he cell phone on any line would be even better, but I guess I shouldn't get too greedy.
So back to the original question, (sorry for the ramble), what hardware would I need? Should I get 1 OBi202 to try it out and then expand it with additional options if I want to go with additional lines? Or would I go ahead and get a couple of them to set up 4 lines, and then purchase a 3rd if I wanted to get to 5 or more lines?
I'd like to go ahead and order ASAP so I could port the numbers and cancel Vonage before my next bill comes due.
Thank you for any help or advice you might be able to provide.
QBZappy:
JeffDB
Quote from: JeffDB on January 05, 2013, 09:07:30 am
In looking at the products page it looks like Obi Plus Lite Basic would be my preference, but I'm not sure what hardware etc. would be needed.
Welcome,
If you are thinking about setting up the Obi Plus Lite Basic, then you need to know that it only works with the OBi202. I think it narrows it down considerably. For your fax needs you should look at fax friendly voip services like Call Centric, or Anveo. Note that you will not be able to connect a fax machine to the OBi202, you would need an OBi101 for that. You might consider using your computer to send faxes.
Ostracus:
Dock-and-Talk could be used to bring the cell phones into the picture.
JeffDB:
Quote from: QBZappy on January 05, 2013, 09:30:34 am
JeffDB
Quote from: JeffDB on January 05, 2013, 09:07:30 am
In looking at the products page it looks like Obi Plus Lite Basic would be my preference, but I'm not sure what hardware etc. would be needed.
Welcome,
If you are thinking about setting up the Obi Plus Lite Basic, then you need to know that it only works with the OBi202. I think it narrows it down considerably. For your fax needs you should look at fax friendly voip services like Call Centric, or Anveo. Note that you will not be able to connect a fax machine to the OBi202, you would need an OBi101 for that. You might consider using your computer to send faxes.
Thanks for the welcome and the reply, QBZappy.
Why can't I hook up the fax line to the OBi202? I just hook the multifunction fax/printer/scanner up to my Vonage ATA. It doesn't have a special port or line for it. I do have tow Vonage ATAs, though. But I think that is because I used to have two landlines with them and they had to send another for the fax and they were both daisy chained together.
I just checked the products page (http://www.obihai.com/product-primer.html) which seems to indicate that it should work with a fax.
"The OBi202 also supports T.38 fax for reliable facsimile calls over the Internet as well as a 1-port router with VoIP application prioritization (QoS)."
If it does work, I'm guessing it uses one of the 2 available phone ports?
I'm also still wondering if the OBi202 can be expanded to allow additional lines, or if I would need to buy 2 (or 3) and daisy chain them together ... or something different.
QBZappy:
I stand corrected. The fax machine can indeed be connected on the phone port.
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