New VOIP Sollution for the office

I

Imminent

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Hello,

Who do you guys prefer when it comes to getting a whole new VOIP Sollution installed at one's business?

We're thinking about going with Samsung but we are looking for more quotations so can anyone here perhaps try and assist us?

We are a few Km outside of Bloemfontein.

We have about 40 staff who work here, a lot of who use cellphones.

20 work in the office and 20 work outside on the farm.

Would be excellent if we could give everyone outside wireless phones to communicate with those inside the office and to make calls.

What do you guys think? Who can we trust with this installation?

Remembering we are based in Bloemfontein in the Free State.


Kind Regards,
Imminent
 
yebolinux said:
You can use any voip server based on Asterisk is cost effective then using Samsung,
Click to expand...
+1 for an Asterisk-based solution. Have a look at Snom wireless phones, or if you want something a bit more multi-purpose, Nokia Eseries phones with a SIP client.
 
If you don't mind doing a bit of work.. I'd say do it yourself.

Last year I installed a Yeastar MYPBX at our office, with Yealink VOIP phones. Took a bit of learning and some research, but anyone who does IT for a company with 40 people should be able to set it up no problem.

Only problem I did have was configuring the SKYPE for SIP trunks. I however contacted Yeastar, and was contacted back by one of their support guys with in an hour. He then gave me his skype details to chat with him live, and he logged in a sorted everything out for me by reconfiguring some of the settings. Service was really good. Of course, you can also setup an asterisk server yourself if you want.

From what we were paying Telkom each month for their PBX.. it paid for itself in 3 months.

Only thing I'm not sure of is the wireless phones. You don't have to use the Yealinks however and any SIP phone will work. I have also messed around and connected my Black berry up to the PBX and can get people to phone my Cell phone, using the WIFI from the office, so there are quiet a few options
 
There is plenty of support for Asterisk and it is easily supported remotely via an ADSL or any internet link.

The new Snom M9 wireless phone are great, even better than the Siemens Gigasets we have been using.
 
Do you guys know if there are people out there catering to small to medium sized businesses selling pre-setup Asterisk based PBX systems? I'm starting to think that it is a market with some serious potential. I know of 2 very large companies that are running Asterisk call centers, both companies are household names, even to people in townships (so it is definitely stable enough for small/medium/large/enterprise)

Out of interest, how much is a entry level Samsung or equivalent PBX?

@Op:
/sorry for hijack.

As the others have said, Asterisk. If large companies run call centers on Asterisk based systems, do you really need more proof? Once it is setup, it doesn't go down. Hardware failure can be handled by any person that can fix a computer, no need for special expertise. The only time you need an "Asterisk specialist" or "Techie" is if you want to change Asterisk specific settings.
 
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Has anyone here looked at 3CX as an option? Windows based, and pretty damn easy to setup one you get your head around the sequences for incoming calls etc.

The only downside I see from this system is that there are licensing fee's involved. Other than that, lots of functionality - Place calls from your Outlook contact list, Voicemail for each extension, emails you any voicemails. Automated call attendant etc. etc. etc.
 
We work with a few providers who are experts at Asterisk and Cisco, including one or two who focus on the Asterisk and others who offer a combined Asterisk/VoIP service. Send me a mail at [email protected] or private-mail me and I'll put you in touch. (all recommended).

One thing I can say for all solutions - make sure the service provider is clued up on security so you only pay for calls that your company makes!

BTW - if you contact me, I can comment on the Bloemfontein situation as well.
 
Savage152 said:
Has anyone here looked at 3CX as an option? Windows based, and pretty damn easy to setup one you get your head around the sequences for incoming calls etc.

The only downside I see from this system is that there are licensing fee's involved. Other than that, lots of functionality - Place calls from your Outlook contact list, Voicemail for each extension, emails you any voicemails. Automated call attendant etc. etc. etc.
Click to expand...

I have used 3CX and it works well, just havent configured one.. is it a b@llache or can this be done by in house IT?

Also started looking at the Sammies OfficeServ 7200, anyone with experience with them?
 
The only b@llache I experienced was setting up the FXO gateway to get Caller ID and Hangup tones. Otherwise everything else is a synch. You can download the 3CX software for free from their website in order to play / test it. The free version allows 4 concurrent calls, but disables some of the more advanced functionality. Editions comparison Another thing to note is that this system requires very little in terms of resources to run, I've read somewhere of people running small office installations off an Atom based thin client. - I had 3CX running on the receptionists desktop machine (C2D), whilst supporting an office with 8 extensions and 2 incoming lines, without any hassles while the dedicated machine was on order.
 
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3CX is expensive, and has no real advantage over Asterisk, other than a slightly shallower learning curve.
 
Mams said:
where can i buy one of these?
how many SIP accounts can you setup on the unit?
GSM? does it take sim cards for LCR?
Click to expand...

Scoop Distribution if you are a dealer, if not they can refer you to one.
System supports 100 users, 22 concurrent calls, so I'd imagine you can have 100 SIP accounts if you wanted to.
You have to purchase the GSM module seperatly and plug it in, likewise if you want FXO or FXS ports.
 
Definitely go for an Asterisk-based solution. www.Miro.co.za sells SIP desk phones from around R500 a phone (Atcom, GrandStream). We are running huge call centres on Asterisk, but you need a company near you for support, mostly if you want to change configurations - the system itself is rock-solid (Once setup it will just keep on working).
 
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