Need to setup VOIP for business

P

Playboy

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Hi Guys

I need to do a cost exercise and determine the feasibility of implementing VOIP in the business. Our current telephone bills are somewhere in the region of 5-6k per month. I am aware that that are 10 lines which is costing 1.5k for rent.

What are the hardware costs involved in setting up VOIP. What are the requirements - A strong data line? What type of bandwith does VOIP calls use per second? Do people use skype or is there other ways to do it?

Im assuming that if the power/data lines are down then that would been your communications are down so I am assuming that keeping the telkom lines would still be necessary incase of emergency purposes. One cannot afford to be without communication.

If you guys could be so kind as to provide me with SA VOIP providers and those with the best costs.

Thankyou so much
Marco
 
It will definitely be viable on that spend.

Example if you were to keep 4 Telkom lines and add an 8-line Switch Telecom solution (effectively upgrading you from 10 to 12 lines in the process):

Assuming bill is R6,000 including VAT, that's R5,263.16+VAT of which line rental (10 lines) is R1526.30+VAT and calls R3,736.86+VAT.

You haven't given breakdowns, but let's assume 70% of call costs are mobile and 30% are land-line and other.

Savings:
6 Telkom lines: -R915.78+VAT
Mobile calls: -R465.61+VAT
Other calls: -R336.32+VAT
Total: -R1717.71+VAT

New Costs:
8-line VoIP Trunk: R175.44+VAT
Additional ADSL rental: R362.28+VAT
Local-only 2gb: R33.33+VAT
Total: R571.05

Net saving: R1146.66+VAT (R1307.19)

In terms of backup, you can use your existing internet link as a backup link for voice. It will handle voice+data together for backup purposes (not day-to-day use). It is also relatively trivial to get a prepaid Vodacom 3G for backup with no real monthly cost. The 3G modem should have full HSUPA for best results (e.g. not the older Huawei E220, but newer E270 or similar). Edimax make a dual ADSL/3G modem with auto fail-over between the two.

For a more accurate evaluation based on your actual call breakdowns, visit www.switchtel.co.za or call 087 550 0000
 
gmza what are the rates per minute using voip to call landlines/cellphones? if i look @ the call rates on switchtell it looks more expensive than telkom? So where is the saving other than the fact we saving a bit of rental? i thought the calling charges to landlines/mobile was alot cheaper?
 
You need to look at package 1 if you're comparing to Telkom as that would be similar billing increments to Telkom's. Package 2 is a per-second package and therefore not directly comparable. On package 1, it is R1.57/min (R1.38+VAT) to mobile and R0.43/min (R0.38+VAT) to land-lines. Telkom is R1.89 (R1.654+VAT) to mobile and land-line is R0.65 (>50km) or R0.43 (<50km) with min charge of R0.65.
 
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Savings do not look excessive considering the inconveniance if the data line is down. The business has spent a considerable amount in getting cables in so i don't think its wise jumping in to voip unless the savings will be worth it. gmza can u give me some links of reputiable voip providers in SA so that i can contact them directly
 
It's over 20% off your bill and that's using a dedicated ADSL and keeping a fair number of Telkom lines in place for redundancy. Ultimately you can save more if you strip out more of the Telkom lines, but I've presented a conservative scenario as you seemed to prefer a cautious approach.

In terms of VoIP providers, the following are well known in the industry and are ISPA members and therefore subject to ISPA's code of conduct: ECN (www.ecntelecoms.com), Switch (www.switchtel.co.za), TelFree (www.telfree.co.za), Vox (www.vox.co.za). This is not an exhaustive list, however.

In terms of recommendations, let me state up front that I'm affiliated with Switch so I'm not in a position to recommend any competitors. That's for others here to do. I would, however, recommend that you check that whomever is recommended to you is a member of ISPA (http://www.ispa.org.za/membership/list-of-members/) as being subject to a code of conduct and part of an industry recognised body gives them some additional legitimacy and gives you some additional protection.
 
We Are also looking at somthing very similair in the cape town area ? who should we speak to ?
 
Sorry no am I Look at Telkom Cell Saver they give you a 25% discount on cell calls.
Greg will be able to give more details
 
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