Suggestions for SOHO setup
SteveInWA:
Quote from: Roger on March 26, 2015, 05:22:14 am
I am feeling a little beat up on, but I don't mind it; if it means I get some good advice along the way. I suspect that I know less than I think I know, that's why I am trying to ask the right questions.
Based on the suggestions so far I think I am going with the Asterisk/FreePBX for the phone lines and an Obi202 for the fax/security system. The current phones are really old and the workers don't like them, so I don't yet see the benefit of adding an Obi504 or a Talkswitch to the mix (but please correct me if you think I am missing something).
So, I am taking your advice Steve. It has been less than 24 hours since I asked the question. Why did you jump to the conclusion that I was not only not taking your advice, but not anyone's advice? I really appreciate everyone's advice.
Sorry, Roger; I was just being my curmudgeonly self. I was mainly musing about the sociology of online forums and male behavior, wherein somebody asks a question, we pile on with answers, (which is a good thing, don't get me wrong), giving the person asking the question a lot of options, and potentially sending that person into information overload, and then no clear action path emerges. Sometimes, it has a happy and collaborative result; sometimes, it's a CF!
Your plan sounds like a good option to me.
Roger:
I am just glad I didn't hurt anyone's feelings. I don't want a maintenance headache either, so I am going to try to keep it simple. For now I am enjoying learning the RasPBX and once it is configured it shouldn't need too much extra work.
Here is what I am thinking is the final plan: outgoing and incoming lines through Callcentric with 3 channels each, which should be plenty of capacity for 5 people. Callcentric has VM too, so I could almost do everything I need just with Callcentric, but without a PBX I cannot transfer calls. So I will run my RasPBX for the transferring, IVR, and voicemail. If I ever get in a jam with the RasPBX I can revert to just using Callcentric and they will still have a better system than they have today. At any time if they are not happy with me or I am not happy with them, they should be able to switch to a cloud provider without having to buy any new equipment.
LTN1:
Quote from: Roger on March 26, 2015, 01:10:05 pm
I am just glad I didn't hurt anyone's feelings. I don't want a maintenance headache either, so I am going to try to keep it simple. For now I am enjoying learning the RasPBX and once it is configured it shouldn't need too much extra work.
Here is what I am thinking is the final plan: outgoing and incoming lines through Callcentric with 3 channels each, which should be plenty of capacity for 5 people. Callcentric has VM too, so I could almost do everything I need just with Callcentric, but without a PBX I cannot transfer calls. So I will run my RasPBX for the transferring, IVR, and voicemail. If I ever get in a jam with the RasPBX I can revert to just using Callcentric and they will still have a better system than they have today. At any time if they are not happy with me or I am not happy with them, they should be able to switch to a cloud provider without having to buy any new equipment.
If you want to keep call costs down, instead of 2 Callcentric accounts, I would have 1 Localphone account (as primary) and 1 CallCentric account. Localphone rates are much cheaper than Callcentric and it has free incoming calls. You probably want the primary account to be something like Localphone (or equivalent) as most of the time, only 1 or 2 lines are being used...and you want to use the least expensive lines (Toll free calling is charged by Callcentric but free for Localphone). Localphone has 2 outgoing channels and 5 incoming channels. For 911 calls, you can route it through the Callcentric account as Localphone doesn't offer e911. A US monthly subscription of 5,000 outgoing minutes for Localphone is only $5--800 minutes for only $1.60, etc.--or you can pay by the minute .5 cents (whereas Callcentric is more like 2 cents). Just suggestions of examples but of course, you can use any reasonably rate providers.
Roger:
Thanks for the heads up about localphone. For the most part I just use GV though I used callwithus before that. Taking a look at the callcentric website (and I am sure others) I was surprised how much functionality they built into their website. They have extensions, call treatment, voice mail, etc. Its almost as much functionality as a simple PBX and there is no monthly hosting fee (granted you cannot transfer from one extension to another). Today it is much better to be a phone customer than a phone service supplier.
LTN1:
Quote from: Roger on March 27, 2015, 05:18:49 am
Thanks for the heads up about localphone. For the most part I just use GV though I used callwithus before that.
I referenced the Localphone option for your church. Your references to using GV and Callwithus was probably for yourself. But if you ever wanted to use GV (which is a valid option) for your church, get a hybrid pbx so you can use those OBi/GV lines. That way, the church calling can be totally free.
If it was me advising a church of a few hundred or less, I would get a hybrid pbx, hook up an OBi202 with two lines for most of the calling needs and include additional Localphone and Callcentric accounts for call out overflow. Most of the time you will likely never use it...so the church would only have to put a very small deposit in those accounts for pay as you go (for Localphone it's $1). If most of the calls go through the OBi/GV (including the fax which a church rarely uses), it would really keep ongoing costs down. The main costs is the original outlay of the hybrid pbx system (by hybrid I mean one that handles both analog and SIP lines) and whatever phones the church would like to upgrade to (since they don't like their old phones). If you don't want to deal with wiring, especially in far away rooms, get the wireless LAN extension points--but of course then those extension points would require IP phones and not analog phones.
What size church is this (and church denomination) if I may ask?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page