Need PBX, VoIP advice

czc

czc

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Hi guys,

We're soon going to move offices and the boss wants to get a better telephone system than we currently have. At the moment we have 3 lines, One to run the adsl, fax and also a phone in one room, then another phone line in the downstairs office and another phone line shared by the upstairs offices. When somebody phones the downstairs phone and wants to speak to someone upstairs it creates an annoying situation of going upstairs to fetch whoever and then coming down again.

Someone mentioned some sort of 'hunting phone system'? if someone doesn't answer it rings the next phone. Don't know if this is a normal PBX function. Then someone else also mentioned that VoIP quality can be poor. So we want a system that will work well.

Any suggestions in which direction to go? What info is needed to decide on the best route to go?
 
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The PABX does not do hunting. That is a Telkom feature. Proper VoIP requires QOS (Quality of service) which you do not get on an ADSL line. (It is a best effort service)
 
So if I understand this correctly you have 3 physical phones and don't have a PBX?

Yes a PBX can do many things for you including hunting over a predefined set of extensions. You can also do things like ring a set of extensions at the same time instead of hunting around. Possibilities aplenty.

If you only have 3 extensions then a hosted PBX is probably a better option for you.

As for VoIP and quality there are a number of factors like the quality of your handsets, connectivity to the VoIP provider as well as the quality of the VoIP provider. You don't want to mix data and voice on the same line. You can make use of ADSL but if ADSL in your area is poor then it won't be an option and as mentioned SLA on ADSL is best effort. If you can't afford to be without telephony then some form of redundancy is recommended.

I'm sure we can help. Drop me a PM with your details if you like.
 
Hi

Sounds like you want a PABX. There are many options, hosted, owned, Voip, analogue etc etc.

It all depends on your budget, your internet connectivity, your call volume, and also your technical knowledge.

I suggest you do some research and make the call :)

regards Clive
 
The best solution here is a simple hosted PBX and 3 IP phones , as you mention voIP quality can be bad, i will tell you this , VoIP quality is controlled by 2 things 1/ the provider, of which there many good ones out there . 2/ Your last mile connectivity to the internet. DSL is always a problem , you MAY get away with it as you will have such low call concurrency, for cheap last mile that works for the SME look at LTE is you have good coverage or a wireless VPN , PM me with the location that you are moving too and ill tell you what is available in your area .

Paul Colmer
 
We have just gone onto VOIP and have tested the following:
1) VOIP over ADSL on congessed line = Terrible to unusable even on a 10mb line
2) Voip over 3g - Much better than option 1 but still ok quality
3) VOIP over fibre - best of the lot however we still get dropped calls maybe 1/100 or so

We are saving a fair amount of many and dont have a PBX system as we dont have a receptionist so I opted for this. Its good based on the cost but still not the same as telkom.
 
Dropping 1/100 calls is great ! Its not your fibre thats dropping the calls its the cellular networks that your VoIP provider interconnects to .
 
Hi Paul

So how would one correct this as its becoming an issue for some staff? Are there better providers ( VOIP ) than others?
 
This is the question of all questions ' Are there better providers than others' ? well without making a superstar / hall of shame list and upsetting everybody let me try and define what a VoIP provider is and what is specific to SA. The VoIP industry was a shambles years ago with companies operating under VAN's licenses but this all changed after a historic court case between Altec and Telkom where Altec won the right to provision its own network and this was the birth of the IECNS ( individual electronic communication network license) which is what we all operate under today. Many VoIP providers are available in SA and they fall into different segments. I will exclude overseas providers offering 'Grey' routes as the calls have to go out of the country and back in again resulting in high latency and poor quality. So the big providers have established interconnects with all the fixed line Telkom /Neotel and then to the Cellular carriers Voda/ MTN Cell C and Telkom Mobile. You can sign up directly with these providers . The next in the food chain is the providers that still operate under an IECNS license but do not have their own interconnects but rather connect to the big providers above them and are 'wholesaled' minutes which they pass onto their clients. Lastly both the above provider models have resellers that offer services direct to the clients on their behalf.
So within this model, what makes a good provider ? 1 / Redundancy , the ability to failover to other carriers in a disaster situation and this should be seamless to the client, 2 / Good SLA's , 3 / No contract tie in , 4/ network management . The last being the most important in the regard of one of your questions, as we now our cell phones drop calls all the time, we just accept it as a fact now to the extent that we never even bother to log a complaint with the carrier's any more but if a call drops on a VoIP network the client is on the phone and complaining that there is something wrong with the VoIP provider, this is just a mind set and all the good providers can monitor their networks and see that a call was dropped by the cellular network because the called party drove into a dip or something and provide evidence that this is no fault of the VoIP provider themselves, this provides an understanding and better relationship with the client.
I will be glad to expand further on this topic if you PM me
 
czc said:
Hi guys,

We're soon going to move offices and the boss wants to get a better telephone system than we currently have. At the moment we have 3 lines, One to run the adsl, fax and also a phone in one room, then another phone line in the downstairs office and another phone line shared by the upstairs offices. When somebody phones the downstairs phone and wants to speak to someone upstairs it creates an annoying situation of going upstairs to fetch whoever and then coming down again.

Someone mentioned some sort of 'hunting phone system'? if someone doesn't answer it rings the next phone. Don't know if this is a normal PBX function. Then someone else also mentioned that VoIP quality can be poor. So we want a system that will work well.

Any suggestions in which direction to go? What info is needed to decide on the best route to go?
Click to expand...
forget about VoIP...endless problems, costly with ip phones...and your setup might not justify the tech. How many phone calls do you guys make in a month?....iow what's you telkom bill coming to....only the calls?

You need a simple Hybrid system. Where, how and when it should ring is simple programming by the technician on the switch board.
My advice for setup is a simple 3 port card to handle 2 of the Telkom lines. Then a 2x6 extension card. Switchboard phone is digital and will use one of the 2 dig ports. 3 phones use 3 of the 6 analogue extension ports.

The line for ADSL and fax should stay off the PABX...
 
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alkit said:
Not sure why everyone here seems to be anti voip?
Click to expand...
Could it be to do with the fact that almost everyone is esentially stuck with Telkom which means, if you're on VOIP you might be saving, but it ultimately costs everyone else who's calling you an arm and a leg? If they had nothing to hide then they didn't have to go fight for Telkom-like numbers. Red alert there. No?
 
ZCFOutkast said:
Could it be to do with the fact that almost everyone is esentially stuck with Telkom which means, if you're on VOIP you might be saving, but it ultimately costs everyone else who's calling you an arm and a leg? If they had nothing to hide then they didn't have to go fight for Telkom-like numbers. Red alert there. No?
Click to expand...

In my case I am keeping my normal Telkom phone and cellphone.
 
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