Best handset and call solution for single user speaker phone calls

[bobbyb]

Hi there,

I have two different VOIP things to take advantage of that I am looking for advice on:
1. Hardware
2. Best calling plan solution

My company is encouraging people to work from home a few days a week. We still need to do teleconference calls. Often this is with international people to a central dial in. I have just installed fibre at home.

1. As far as hardware goes, a hands-free speaker phone with mute is ideal for me. Nothing too fancy.
What options should I look at?

2. I notice that ISPs typically talk about VOIP handsets with a monthly rental line and charging by the minute or second.
To me this sounds like exactly the legacy copper billing that fibre is there to change. But if people are prepared to do it, it makes sense for ISPs to monetise in this way.

Is there another way for me to do these kinds of calls into a common number, without having to pay a line rental and being charged in time increments, instead of the data that is actually being used.

What is the most cost-effective for a single user doing these kinds of calls from South Africa?

 

[Clarotech]

Hardware: Look at Yealink or Snom. If you intended to use the speaker phone facility then you may find the budget phones wanting. Other option is a good headset and a softphone client.

Calls: If the requirement is for people in the company to call each other then a hosted PBX would be the way to go. If everyone is just taking care of their own and dialing into a 3rd party conference facility then you can probably settle on a personal SIP service.

As for costs. With a hosted PBX you will save on calls inside the company. As for calls to outside parties, someone has to pay the upstream costs to the big Telco's so there is no way that is going to be free.

 

[AsteriskUser]

@bobbyb Have you tried Freshphone? Its free to register, they have an app too, if you don't want to shell out for a yealink phone you can use their mobile app or the phone built into the website. As for call rates, they seem good on international, I don't really call outside of the UK though.

 

[bobbyb]

Thanks @Clarotech and @AsteriskUser

As far as speaker phones go, people on mybb have identified this reseller https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-landlin...f-voip-phones-to-go/1003252036790910041691209

Are any of those phones particularly recommended as far as speaker and mute option goes, and straightforward for my single user needs?

And then to use this with Freshphone?
Is Freshphone equivalent to providers with low calling rates like Abacus, Switch, 3gi, Maru Africa, Wozacom, STM or Ugo?

 

[websquadza]

Regarding the hardware, also consider Grandstream - their options are affordable and speakerphones work great.

The best solution here would indeed be some sort of Hosted PBX / Unified Comms solution, extending your office PBX to anywhere a user sits with internet. Every member of staff on your team would be able to communicate with one another for free while outbound calls would be billed for.

Unfortunately, there is nothing old school about paying per minute. There are ICASA mandated termination rates and good core voice hardware and software costs money to buy and operate - an important factor to consider when looking for the cheapest options. Rather consider operators who deliver great rates (we're talking upwards of 50% savings on your per minute Telkom costs) as well as a reliable, resilient service.

 

[georgegolding]

Thanks @Clarotech and @AsteriskUser

As far as speaker phones go, people on mybb have identified this reseller https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-landlin...f-voip-phones-to-go/1003252036790910041691209

Are any of those phones particularly recommended as far as speaker and mute option goes, and straightforward for my single user needs?

And then to use this with Freshphone?
Is Freshphone equivalent to providers with low calling rates like Abacus, Switch, 3gi, Maru Africa, Wozacom, STM or Ugo?

Yes, I would say FreshPhone has some advantages. It has a free mobile app with G729 codec, it has a built in browser phone, it has zero monthly costs which most other providers charge R50 per month. Often your calls for the month for a home user will be less than R50 per month. There call rates are competitive, especially internationally.

 

[AsteriskUser]

@bobbyb In my opinion, Yealinks are great, if you do go with the snom, just remember there is a setting on it which trips up a few providers, its called "support broken sip registrar". For sound quality though if you were looking for a boardroom phone, Polycom is amazing, but it comes with a hefty price tag. That's why I suggested a free service if you don't find its working out you can always cancel. Also, remember they have a web app so you could plug in a logitech conference system or something that has a good mic pick up and speaker.

 

[walt chen]

you will need a conference phone, you could set up soft pbx at home, allow your colleagues to register to the soft pbx with extension no. which are created by the soft pbx, you will only paying for hardware fee( or you can alternatively use software free of charge). they will be totally under your own control. but you will need an IT guy to build up it. and last thing is a sip account.

 

[dillydog]

For basic use in a quiet room I would say go for an entry level Yealink T21P, and add in a headset for when higher quality is a requirement. If you drop me a PM I would be happy to assist you with all of your VOIP requirements.