Mal1ce
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
It’s my first foray into the world of VOIP here, so this might be a fairly “noob’ish” and longwinded post, please bear with me
I’ve been asked by a relative to advise on helping to save on the telephone costs for their relatively small company (2 branches in KZN, one with 10 users in PMB and 5 users in DBN). Current costs are in the R4.5k region per month for each branch, and a large percentage of those costs are cell phone calls and branch to branch calls.
The current PABX provider for the PMB office is offering an add-on module for the existing NEC PABX to enable VOIP functionality. The provider has recommended their MTALK Webcall service, basically a VOIP line with no monthly rental fees, and better rates, per second billing, etc. The PABX currently manages two Telkom analogue lines and a Premicell (Vodacom SIM) for cell to cell calls.
The proposed plan is to retain one Telkom analogue line, and convert the second to the VOIP (the PABX vendor will provide a 033 number rather than a 087). All incoming calls will remain on the Telkom line, and all outgoing calls to be routed via the VOIP line. The Premicell may be done away with and replaced with a second VOIP line if further savings can be made or expansion is necessary (I’ll get to this in a bit, regarding connecting other branches). In the event of the ADSL going down, all outgoing calls will automatically be routed to the Telkom analogue line until the ADSL service is restored.
1.) Now, I see the MTALK Webcall service is essentially an MWEB product, the existing ISP used in the PMB office is WebAfrica, and the vendor assures me that there is no difference in call quality regardless of ISP used, but the logical part of me thinks surely using the same ISP for ADSL bandwidth and VOIP would be a better choice, as opposed to routing the call once it enters the IP network in JHB (where I believe MWEB’s IPC is?), down to Cape Town (where WebAfrica’s IPC is?) and then to PMB? Can someone confirm?
2.) Is a 512k line sufficient for VOIP with a staff complement of 10 users? Browsing is already slow at present, surely a 4096k line would better suffice? The office do use a proxy server at present, and the vendor has recommended a Billion 7300GRA router to replace the existing Netgear DG834, of which the only difference in routers I can see is that the Billion supports QoS?
3.) If I was to link the DBN and PMB offices via VPN over ADSL, is it simply the case of plugging in an IP phone in the Durban office, configuring the PMB PABX with an additional extension, and making interbranch calls using VOIP? Both branches would have a 4096k ADSL line, and make use of the same ISP for lowest latency. If so, by the same token then surely the DBN office could make outgoing landline and cellphone calls over the VPN and via the VOIP line in the PMB office? (if the Premicell is done away with and a second VOIP line is added in PMB).
Any and all advice is welcomed, if I’ve missed anything or if more information & detail is required please let me know what and I’ll try to provide.
Thanks!
It’s my first foray into the world of VOIP here, so this might be a fairly “noob’ish” and longwinded post, please bear with me
I’ve been asked by a relative to advise on helping to save on the telephone costs for their relatively small company (2 branches in KZN, one with 10 users in PMB and 5 users in DBN). Current costs are in the R4.5k region per month for each branch, and a large percentage of those costs are cell phone calls and branch to branch calls.
The current PABX provider for the PMB office is offering an add-on module for the existing NEC PABX to enable VOIP functionality. The provider has recommended their MTALK Webcall service, basically a VOIP line with no monthly rental fees, and better rates, per second billing, etc. The PABX currently manages two Telkom analogue lines and a Premicell (Vodacom SIM) for cell to cell calls.
The proposed plan is to retain one Telkom analogue line, and convert the second to the VOIP (the PABX vendor will provide a 033 number rather than a 087). All incoming calls will remain on the Telkom line, and all outgoing calls to be routed via the VOIP line. The Premicell may be done away with and replaced with a second VOIP line if further savings can be made or expansion is necessary (I’ll get to this in a bit, regarding connecting other branches). In the event of the ADSL going down, all outgoing calls will automatically be routed to the Telkom analogue line until the ADSL service is restored.
1.) Now, I see the MTALK Webcall service is essentially an MWEB product, the existing ISP used in the PMB office is WebAfrica, and the vendor assures me that there is no difference in call quality regardless of ISP used, but the logical part of me thinks surely using the same ISP for ADSL bandwidth and VOIP would be a better choice, as opposed to routing the call once it enters the IP network in JHB (where I believe MWEB’s IPC is?), down to Cape Town (where WebAfrica’s IPC is?) and then to PMB? Can someone confirm?
2.) Is a 512k line sufficient for VOIP with a staff complement of 10 users? Browsing is already slow at present, surely a 4096k line would better suffice? The office do use a proxy server at present, and the vendor has recommended a Billion 7300GRA router to replace the existing Netgear DG834, of which the only difference in routers I can see is that the Billion supports QoS?
3.) If I was to link the DBN and PMB offices via VPN over ADSL, is it simply the case of plugging in an IP phone in the Durban office, configuring the PMB PABX with an additional extension, and making interbranch calls using VOIP? Both branches would have a 4096k ADSL line, and make use of the same ISP for lowest latency. If so, by the same token then surely the DBN office could make outgoing landline and cellphone calls over the VPN and via the VOIP line in the PMB office? (if the Premicell is done away with and a second VOIP line is added in PMB).
Any and all advice is welcomed, if I’ve missed anything or if more information & detail is required please let me know what and I’ll try to provide.
Thanks!