VOIP/PBX Installation and Support

[RVQ]

Hi Guys,

Does anyone know of any companies that can consult on, install and support Asterisk based solutions in the Johannesburg area?

Thanks

[InfinityMVS]

Any reason they have to be based in JHB ?

[RVQ]

Any reason they have to be based in JHB ?

If the server bursts into flames I'd like to be able to throw the engineer on it to kill the flames

[georgegolding]

Have you thought about removing the need for an onsite PBX entirely, move to www.euphoria.co.za

[InfinityMVS]

LOL...ok if you don't come right will be glad to assist remotely.

[InfinityMVS]

Have you thought about removing the need for an onsite PBX entirely, move to www.euphoria.co.za

Is hosted PBX really the way to go vs onsite ? and why do you charge your pre-paid customers more and per minute compared to your post paid customers, surely you get the money in advance, there is no risk so why penalize them ?

[RVQ]

Have you thought about removing the need for an onsite PBX entirely, move to www.euphoria.co.za

I did but if I get angry then I have to drive all the way to some 3rd party data centre to kick the server. Boss also wants backup Telkom lines in case the fibre goes down and refuses to be some 3rd parties biaatch in case we want to change providers...

[georgegolding]

The biggest risks with onsite Asterisk solutions, is the very high risk of the asterisk server being hacked via your internal network.Call costs can be racked up into the 100's of thousands of rands in hours. If you take the in-house solution I highly suggest investing in a high quality firewall and ensure it is managed and up to date. The alternative is to put it in the secure cloud and rest assured your pbx is in a highly secure data center which reduces the risk to almost zero when managed propertly. www.euphoria.coza

[georgegolding]

I did but if I get angry then I have to drive all the way to some 3rd party data centre to kick the server. Boss also wants backup Telkom lines in case the fibre goes down and refuses to be some 3rd parties biaatch in case we want to change providers...

Hey I missed this, I hear you. We use a technology called ViBE which seamlessly fails over to backup internet connection such as ADSL. We suggest a Wireless, Fibre primary link and a backup solution to ADSL or in case of emergencies. Using ViBE we can process 25 calls over an ADSL line. It makes little sense do it yourself, when a company exists that's sole purpose is to keep the pbx and tms running at all times. Your only opening yourself up to risk and disappointment running a box yourself.

Why not contact us and we can setup a 2 week free demo with no cost or commitment barring couriering you some phones for testing. www.euphoria.co.za

[gmza]

InfintyMVS: you wrote - "and why do you charge your pre-paid customers more and per minute compared to your post paid customers, surely you get the money in advance, there is no risk so why penalize them ?"

I realise this question wasn't directed at me and that I represent a company that charges the EXACT SAME rate for prepaid and postpaid, however, I can certainly sympathise with those who charge more for prepaid because the administration that accompanies it is considerable and mind-numbing. I deal with such queries on an hourly (not even daily) basis, 5 to 6 days a week, and I can assure you that, even factoring into account bad debt and considerable credit vetting costs associated with postpaid, the administrative overhead of prepaid clients is still much more costly and the average revenue per user much lower.

I continue to charge the same rate for prepaid and postpaid primarily because (a) it is a matter of principle not to further penalise those who may already be in a financial pickle; (b) because it creates a bad impression (to many people like yourself) to charge more for prepaid; and (c) because it is not prepaid users' faults that the banking system in this country only provides one truly simple, universal and effective means of instantaneously transacting (credit card) and then makes it unattainable to those who don't qualify for credit.

Prepaid is a nuisance and it is costly. But I don't blame prepaid users for that; I blame the banks.

This goes back to the question of costs. Should the prepaid user pay more? Well, the one argument is that if prepaid costs more to provide, then the fees should be higher. The other is that if the banks are to blame, then the consumer should not be penalised. Both arguments have merit.

[RVQ]

The biggest risks with onsite Asterisk solutions, is the very high risk of the asterisk server being hacked via your internal network.Call costs can be racked up into the 100's of thousands of rands in hours. If you take the in-house solution I highly suggest investing in a high quality firewall and ensure it is managed and up to date. The alternative is to put it in the secure cloud and rest assured your pbx is in a highly secure data center which reduces the risk to almost zero when managed propertly. www.euphoria.coza

Well the company that eventually does get the job to install Asterisk will need to know how to secure the box as well...

[warwickw]

Securing the PBX is one aspect, but crucial is a good password policy for your sip or iax extensions. This must be the weakest part of every install I've seen to date.

I advise that you make them so complex that there is no possible way of remembering them 12 digits with lots of special characters and numbers.