Obi202 and business phone with 4 extensions

[ptran504]

I just purchased a Obi202 and I had an old Obi100 sitting around. We currently use 8x8.com and pay $85 for TWO extensions. I wanted to help cut down our business phone bill, but also am super afraid of phone down time. We currently use 2 VOIP phones for the 8x8 service and want to add 2 more phones. What phones are recommended in order to be able to "send" to different extensions. Don't need anything too too fancy. We will shortly be getting a fax/analog line from Time Warner since they faxed us so we don't really know what to do with that yet. Maybe fax since VOIP fax is so sporadic (thru 8x8.com it is anyway).

Another thing I would like is to have time schedules for the auto attendant for our open hours and another recording for our closed hours. Don't know if this is possible thru Obi. Currently we also have "on hold" music which advertises things within our office. That isn't super important but definitely would be very nice. Sorry if I am all over the place. I don't mind reading also, but it seems like most of this forum is focused on home phones with just 1 or 2 extensions.

PS I noticed that OBILITE is for 2 VOIP and 2 ANALOG phones. I would like to save as much money as possible, but don't mind paying for the yearly one if necessary. Would still save us money in the long run compared to 8x8. Much thanks!

[Shale]

What is OBILITE ? Did you mean OBiPLUS? I don't use OBiPlus, but it is aimed at applications like yours.

The time schedules, music on hold and more would be handled by your VOIP provider. I know how I would do that with Anveo, but I am confident other VOIP providers do that too.

[ptran504]

What is OBILITE ? Did you mean OBiPLUS? I don't use OBiPlus, but it is aimed at applications like yours.

The time schedules, music on hold and more would be handled by your VOIP provider. I know how I would do that with Anveo, but I am confident other VOIP providers do that too.

Ooops. I mean OBIPLUS. SOrry. Why did you choose to go with Anveo and not google voice (free)? Just curious. Will there be any down time for the business phone during the swap? We depend on our phone for business so....

Thanks for the reply by the way and thanks for the good news!

[ptran504]

I was looking at something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Office-Digital-System-Bundle-Charcoal/dp/B003DNSA3U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376487652&sr=8-2&keywords=xblue+x16

BUT it looks like the obi202 would be doing the work of that master box if I am not mistaken. All of the auto attendant would be handled by VOIP provider or what not right?

[dircom]

The system you are referencing is for POTS LINES

[ptran504]

Ooops.

How about this one?

http://www.officemax.com/technology/phones-headsets/multi-line-phones/product-prod5010021?cm_mmc=CSE-_-Amazon-_-Phones%20%26%20Headsets-_-24021586&CA_6C15C=520011670000397707

Are those systems for VOIP a thing of the past now that there are more inexpensive solutions like Obi and Ooma?

[ptran504]

We have two of these phones in our office right now:

http://www.amazon.com/Polycom-SoundPoint-Power-Supply-Included/dp/B002VVZKTW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1376490282&sr=8-3&keywords=Polycom+SoundPoint+IP550

We got them from 8x8 for $105 a piece. Dang these phones are more expensive. I wonder if it is overkill for our needs. If I add 2 different model phones onto the OBI then will they be able to transfer between each other? Thanks.

[Shale]

Why did you choose to go with Anveo and not google voice (free)? Just curious. Will there be any down time for the business phone during the swap? We depend on our phone for business so....

I use both GV and Anveo.  I ported the number to Anveo. Anveo handles the 911. And, an unexpected bonus, the Anveo system was flexible in giving me abilities to screen calls from telemarketers. The telemarketer calls are way down, and I had that number for a long time. I can look at the logs, and see calls that never rang my phone. I expect they were mostly robo-calls. My use is not for a business. In working with the Anveo call-flow system, I noticed how that would easily map to the call-tree systems I have dialed into for companies. This includes doing different things for different hours.

While GV is free for now, that could change. Having two providers gives me some redundancy. Also, I did not want Google to know everything.

Regarding how long you will be out of commission, I would expect less than a day where an incoming call might go to either line... but it would probably go to one or the other. Others may have different experiences. Do not cancel your existing lines until the new service works. The porting of lines normally cancels the old service, but you would probably want to confirm that after things have transferred.

[ptran504]

Thank you so much for your advice. Do you have any phones that you would recommend for my situation? I am kind of lost on if I should use a POTS or VOIP phone. I would prefer POTS since I wouldnt have to pay $200 for the OBIPLUS

[dircom]

you need to provide detailed info
such as, how many phone numbers are you going to have
how many simultaneous conversations to you want to be able to have?  1, 2 3 or 4?
do you want intercom between phones
voicemail
are you going to have any POTS lines for fax?

etc  etc

[Shale]

Thank you so much for your advice. Do you have any phones that you would recommend for my situation? I am kind of lost on if I should use a POTS or VOIP phone. I would prefer POTS since I wouldn't have to pay $200 for the OBIPLUS

OBiPlus has a free option. However I have not seen users extolling the virtues. Maybe those users never post positive things onto the forums. Such posting is fairly uncommon for business user in other things I have been involved with.

Looking at http://obihai.com/obiplus.php I see where you got "Lite" from! "The OBiPLUS 'Lite' Basic subscription is free and supports up to 4 users with support via the OBiTALK web forum. " The bulk of the posters here don't use OBiPLUS... Most of us use OBiTalk, but some program their OBis without outside website configuration.

One of the forums here is on OBiPLUS.

[ptran504]

Sorry for the late reply.

1. We will need 4 extensions with 4 phones. Seems like each extension is pretty cheap so might as well. 3 would work too, but 4 would be awesome! Prefer to be able to have 3 to 4 people on the phone at one time.
2. Will have 1 number that we want to retain from 8x8 to transfer over.
3. Will be setting a POTS from TWC for a possible fax line (they made us get it). 8x8 or VOIP faxing has proven to be very bad so far. If it is better with other services then we don't mind doing digital faxing.
4. Intercom between phones would be very nice, but we communicate through AIM instant messenger. If anyone has any advice on this one to save bandwidth then we are also all ears.
5. What phones do I get to maximize features? We currently have 2 of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Polycom-SoundPoint-Power-Supply-Included/dp/B002VVZKTW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377724144&sr=8-1&keywords=polycom+ip550


Thanks for the help. I have a Obi202 and Obi110 in the office right now but am paranoid about the switch. Our current internet is a crappy 3mb down/600kb up right now so I dont know if it can handle 4 phones. Will be going to 10D/2U.

I will take a look at the OBIPLUS forum also to see if I am more specific questions on that. Thank you.

[RFord]

ptran504:

A lot of PBX like features can be gotten from VOIP providers such as Anveo, which would allow you to set up and call extensions within your office (for free), rollovers, etc.  VOIP. ms also have such features.  Why not call/email Anveo and tell them what you desire and they can point you to what the setup will need to be.  No need for OBiPLUS, etc. and you could use your existing equipment.

[ptran504]

ptran504:

A lot of PBX like features can be gotten from VOIP providers such as envy, which would allow you to set up and call extensions within your office (for free), rollovers, etc.  VOIP. ms also have such features.  Why not call/email Anveo and tell them what you desire and they can point you to what the setup will need to be.  No need for OBiPLUS, etc. and you could use your existing equipment.

Even if I were to use OBIPLUS it would be the free version since I do not need more than 4 phones. Anveo does work with Obi from my understanding. It seems like alot of people here like Anveo so I will definitely be having a chat with them. I just want to get our phone bill down. It is $85 for 2 lines right now.

[QBZappy]

I just want to get our phone bill down. It is $85 for 2 lines right now.

I always wonder why the telecoms offering POTS are not competing with voip service providers on price or features. It seems to me that if a telecom business wants to stay around as long as possible that they would feel the need to do this. For some reason they don't seem to feel the necessity. Without fully understanding the industry there is certainly more here than meets the eye. Capitalism doesn't work this way. When big business wants to move clients over to a new service there is usually an economic incentive. Make the less profitable service more expensive, then sooner or later most clients will gravitate to the cheaper service. POTS is highly regulated. It may be that the FCC (USA) and CRTC (Canada) obligate them to offer some minimum level of services (ie 911).

[ptran504]

Our 2 lines is actually through 8x8 which is a VOIP company. They have refused to budge on pricing and I guess they are going to call our bluff.

Spoke with a nice guy over and Anveo and he didn't even try to upsell me. Said I could get the start package and get 4 lines for a total of $25 bucks which is more than fair to me. Would be about $140 through 8x8.

Will be buying a Cisco SPA330 to try it out before we commit. I now have a Obi202 and Obi110 that I will not be using cause I didn't do enough research. Poor me. Or do they have some use at this point? Anveo person (i may be misunderstanding him) said the Obi is really only if I want to use an analog phone with VOIP services. Everything that I need for the office can be provided via Anveo. Feel free to chime in. I just ordered the cisco though and will now play with ANveo.

[RFord]

What is the SPA330?  Why do you need it?  You already have (own) two Polycom SoundPoint IP 550, which is capable of 4 VOIP Lines and you have the OBi202+OBi110.  The OBi can be used with analog phones, which you already have, so I don't understand the need for the SPA3XX (is it SPA303?)?

Maybe you should head over to the DSL forum ( http://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip ) and request some help with setting up your business system.  Before you do that, please come up with exactly what you see your system being able to accomplish (specs).  I think you have all the pieces in place now and just need a service to tie them together.

[ptran504]

I am sorry. SPA 303. It is just a VOIP phone. I have 2 phones now, but need 4 phones total and also have 4 people be able to use the phone at the same time. Sorry about that.

I will check out the other forum too.

[ptran504]

The only purpose of the obi in this case is to use an analog phone for VOIP correct? Does not provide anything else of service? Not talking down Obi. Just want to make sure we are on the same page. Thanks again for the help!

[QBZappy]

@ptran504,

The only purpose of the obi in this case is to use an analog phone for VOIP correct? Does not provide anything else of service? Not talking down Obi. Just want to make sure we are on the same page. Thanks again for the help!

1) Voip and analog phones can be used with this ATA.
2) Its main claim to fame is the built in Google voice integration.
3) Routing and dial plans seem to be more powerful than competitor brands (with corresponding learning curve for advanced users).