suggestions for sm. office pls

JasperKat

Looking for advice/suggestions for the following from you knowledgeable guys pls... the business I work for moved 2mths ago into a new office, there used to be just 2 of us but now there's 3 (& soon to be 4) so we’re looking to get a ‘proper’ phone system in place…

What we’re using at the moment is the following:
- Eircom land-line (01 number)
- Eircom business 3mb broadband pckg
- Skype account (normal, not a business one)
- Olympus DualPhone connected to a pc to work with skype
- 4 network points in each of the 6 floor boxes, 1 normal phone is currently plugged into one of those ports to make & receive landline calls on it in addition to the DualPhone
- SonicWall TZ170 (I read the other post about configuring it for Voip & am now worried)
- 24-port network switch (don’t ask me what make or anything about it, it’s already in the office when we moved in)

The eircom phone bill each month is usually only the bb & line rental, hardly any call charges.

We’re currently paying skype about €29 every 3- 4wks.

We think we need to be able to do the following but we’re open to all suggestions & advice on a better way of doing things….
1. Allow incoming pstn phone calls to the existing number
2. Allow us to make all outgoing calls over VoIP to any number via our existing skype account or another service provider
3. Continue to use eircom existing broadband. (monthly line rental with hardly any outgoing phone calls)
4. Allow us to make and receive calls via our 1 ptsn line if the internet is down.
5. Allow us to use IP handsets within the office.
6. Allow us to put customers on hold with music & transfer to another extension.
7. Allow us to have voice mailbox/out of office messages

A friend pointed out this to me & I think it could be a good option, unless anyone else has any ideas?

Thanks for any advice & info,

Jasper

JasperKat

nobody?
could really do with some help on this pls guys
Thanks in advance,
Jasper

roryq

Hey jasper,

Seems like you are looking for a simple enough trixbox system. There is no price on the Atcom system.

I'm in the middle of building our office system. Well I have it built but questioning my choice. For no reason I'm thinking.

I'm thinking a trixbox system built a budget pc. Would prob do the trick for you.

What I've purchased for the office is 20 polycom IP 330's for the standard desks.

http://www.voipon.co.uk/polycom-soundpoint-ip321-p-1766.html

I moved all the phone lines from eircom to Blueface. But what you could do here is either migrate the number to them and change the number the broadband is on to another number.

With the trixbox you get on hold music and an IVR option and also you get to access voicemail anywhere call recording and such.

oh nearly forgot to get the trixbox to access the eircom line. I'm not too sure whether you have ISDN or an analogue line so you'd have to come back to me on that in relation to that so I could tell you what you need for that.

Tomtata

Hi jasper,

The Atcom device you mentioned would suit perfect, they are cheap and cheerful but work well - The have the stock Asterisk GUI so its fairly easy to setup.

A slightly better option would be the Pika Warp appliance - Same type of solid state embedded device but with more power and expandability etc... You can also install FreePBX which make configuring a breeze.

wasim21k

JasperKat, if i were you i would go for trixbox route, and you don’t need very heavy pc, any old machine would do the trick. Simple and easy to configure. and good luck

JasperKat

thanks to everyone for your really helpful replies, got a few q's if you don't mind...

Roryq, yea we've an ordinary eircom line not a isdn one, altho' i'd love to move to bf can't really move the bb to another line tho' 'cos thats the only one we have...

never head of any of these devices but very interested in getting somethign sorted out using one of them - are they all reasonably easy to setup? don't quite understand where they'd fit in our network ? do i connect it to an old pc to just configure it? does it connect to our sonicwall or the 24-port switch? sorry for my limited knowledge...

Thanks again for your very helpful responses...

Jasper

roryq

You could get a standard analogue BRI card and put a spilter on the line as well. So that would work for you.

http://www.voipon.co.uk/sangoma-a200-fxo-fxs-analogue-card-pci-p-392.html

Is what I have and that will pipe in the external number as in your office number.

In relation to the setup all it is and open source linux platform and you just run a web gui off it.

If you have access to VMware you could build a mock up. You would not have to worry about the Sonicwall unless you go down the Blueface route. But there is a number of work arounds for sonicewall now.

It would connect to the 24 port switch

JasperKat

roryq thanks for your reply but after reading it I'm now officially more confused than i was before!

roryq wrote: »

You could get a standard analogue BRI card and put a spilter on the line as well. So that would work for you.

do you mean that I would need to fit that card into a pc? what's a spilter & where does it go?

roryq wrote: »

http://www.voipon.co.uk/sangoma-a200-fxo-fxs-analogue-card-pci-p-392.html

Is what I have and that will pipe in the external number as in your office number.

not sure I understand what you mean by this, sorry.

roryq wrote: »

In relation to the setup all it is and open source linux platform and you just run a web gui off it

basically I'm getting that i should get my hands on an old pc, put the card (you linked to) in it, browse to a website & configure it???? is that right? I know i'm missing something cos I don't understand how the phones get connected to this box?

been reading about the trixboxes & also like the sound of the pika warp apliance that tomtata linked to, am i right that it would plug into our 24-port switch? & i could use the freepbx on any pc to configure it? is this pretty much what would be achieved if I went with the old pc above??

sorry for all the questions but I really do appreciate your helpful responses.
Jasper

roryq

Hey jasper,

What I meant was if you have one line coming into the office which provides both phone and broadband on it.

What you would do is disconnect the phone and take the RJ11 and place it in the card. The card is just a interface card similiar to a network interface with four slots for four different lines. So say my external number is 01-99999999. By connecting the cable.. When you ring 01-99999999 it will pass via the sangoma card to the trixbox. So the trixbox will do the IVR and stuff.

Basically the Trixbox is a server for the phones and they all connect via a network switch.

The phones are configured via the endpoint manager which scans all the Network interfaces and selects which ones are the phones. And you load them up as extentsions.

If you want to test it out. Get yourself and old pc and a phone. I've got a blueface test account that I can give you access to it. And before you go buying the card and the rest play with one phone and the system.

If you have any experience with Linux or like me have none. Once you get the head around the basics it is very easy.

JasperKat

roryq, thanks again for your extremely helpful reply... very much appreciate it mate.

roryq wrote: »

Hey jasper,

What I meant was if you have one line coming into the office which provides both phone and broadband on it.

yea that's exactly what we do have at the moment.

roryq wrote: »

What you would do is disconnect the phone and take the RJ11 and place it in the card. The card is just a interface card similiar to a network interface with four slots for four different lines. So say my external number is 01-99999999. By connecting the cable.. When you ring 01-99999999 it will pass via the sangoma card to the trixbox. So the trixbox will do the IVR and stuff.

ok so I need one of those cards to go in the old pc & the phone would plug into the floor port as it is currently?

roryq wrote: »

Basically the Trixbox is a server for the phones and they all connect via a network switch.

The phones are configured via the endpoint manager which scans all the Network interfaces and selects which ones are the phones. And you load them up as extentsions.

ok so do we need to buy new Ip phones with network cable connections so they plug into the floor-ports? or will just ordinary phones work plugged into the floor ports?

roryq wrote: »

If you want to test it out. Get yourself and old pc and a phone. I've got a blueface test account that I can give you access to it. And before you go buying the card and the rest play with one phone and the system.

i'm trying to get hold of an old pc from the boss of the company, he'll let me know on mon if he's got one to use & I'd really appreciate if you would let me try it with your blueface a/c, thanks a mill

roryq wrote: »

If you have any experience with Linux or like me have none. Once you get the head around the basics it is very easy.

i've had one brief encounter with ubunto a while ago but nothing else, really looking forward to getting into this & finding out how it'll work.... :D:D

roryq

So where the main line comes into the office and splits out to the broadband modem and the main phone you would take it from there.

In relation to phones I know you can use a thing called an ATA adapter I don't know much about these to be honest.

I just swapped out the phones with Polycoms as I just told just make the move accross as the old system called serious grief.

if you have any problems at all let me know. I can give you my mail address and you can get in contact with me that way.

It took me awhile being a linux novice but go it sort out fairly quickly

JasperKat

ok so, i've been given an old pc with an 80gb hard disk & 1gb of ram in so I'm gonna try the trixbox ce edition on it this eve...

& I'll get the boss to order me one of those cards & a couple of the phones - he wants 3 desktop ones (like your link) & a cordless to walk around the office with...

Thanks a mill...

jasper

JasperKat

Well i managed to install the trixbox on the old pc & connect to it through a web-browser, logged into the Admin stuff & had a look through all the options & settings etc.

Now I'm just waiting on the card to be delivered & have to get teh phones.... I think that's where I'll have the real fun.

Anyone any ideas on a basic cordless phone to use?

Thanks in advance...

Jasper

prof_frink_2000

We are shortly launching a hosted IVR service, which would work over your broadband. You could keep your phone number and we can sell you the VoIP phones as well. The service can work from anywhere in Ireland. As we are only just arriving to market we can provide you with a trial for a month or two, you just pay for the calls you make. There is some information on our website www.mycleverphone.com. Or you can email me with any questions: conor@mycleverphone.com

In regards to the cordless phone the C475IP from siemens has good quality. Any of the siemens DECT phones are worth buying. I reccommend you stay away from wifi based handsets unless your router supports protocol or VLAN QoS.

roryq

In response to prof_frink's post this is also done by blueface.

I think JasperKat wanted something that he could manage and expand on himself as the business grows. Also with his hardware there is a once off payment and then he manages it.

But that is my read on it

JasperKat

yes Roryq, you're absolutely right I'm trying to get something in place that we (or whoever takes my place in teh business if/when i leave) will be able to control & add extensions when we expand again (thats the plan anyhow!)

The boss told me he'd ordered the card you'd linked to, Roryq, but i found out today that actually he hadn't, when he tried to order it through the website he couldn't & ran voipon uk, he was told by a guy on the phone that he'd got to choose an option at the bottom of that page (1x 2-port FXO +£67), the guy asked if he had a fax machine & directed him to this item here instead, which’s cheaper too…. but we don't actually use the fax machine so I'm tempted to go with the original A200 card... I’m going to hopefully get it definitely ordered Monday without fail…. But before I do….

Last couple of things I’m not really clear on & want to see if I'm right or not...
- I put this new pci card in the trixbox pc & it’ll recognise it without me having to install anything like drivers etc?
- the rj11 cable that comes from the wall socket currently goes into our router so will that now get plugged into one of the ports in the new pci card & 2nd rj11 cable will then need to go from another port in that card into our router?
- polycom phones we’re buying from voipon just use an rj45 cable to plug into the floor ports?
- can I configure the trixbox to route calls through our existing skype a/c?

prof_frink_2000, thanks a mill for your suggestions & trial offer - i could see the website was still under development but I didn't see any pricing for the packages? i don't think at this stage it's a route we want to go down but i'll mention it to the boss anyhow just in case i'm wrong. Best of luck with the launch & I hope the business goes very well for you in the future.

Thanks a mill for everyone’s really helpful replys…

Jasper

bhickey

JasperKat wrote: »

- I put this new pci card in the trixbox pc & it’ll recognise it without me having to install anything like drivers etc?

With Sangoma cards, you'll need to download & install the Wanpipe drivers & then run the setup program. Google 'Trixbox Sangoma' before you start.

- the rj11 cable that comes from the wall socket currently goes into our router so will that now get plugged into one of the ports in the new pci card & 2nd rj11 cable will then need to go from another port in that card into our router?

No no no! You need to split your line into 2 with an ADSL filter. One cable supplies broadband to the router, the other supplies a phone line to the card.

- polycom phones we’re buying from voipon just use an rj45 cable to plug into the floor ports?

Assuming the floor ports are connected to an ethernet switch then yes but you'd also need power supplies for the phones unless you're powering them using a POE switch.

- can I configure the trixbox to route calls through our existing skype a/c?

If you're able to get the Skype account working okay as a trunk in Trixbox then yes that should work.


Brian

JasperKat

Brian, thanks very much for your reply & info - very gratefully received...

bhickey wrote: »

With Sangoma cards, you'll need to download & install the Wanpipe drivers & then run the setup program. Google 'Trixbox Sangoma' before you start.

ok, will do this before i do any more, thought it was too easy!

bhickey wrote: »

No no no! You need to split your line into 2 with an ADSL filter. One cable supplies broadband to the router, the other supplies a phone line to the card.

oh err, wasn't sure i'd got this part right at all & appreciate you pointing out the error of my thinking. But, does a network cable get plugged into the trixbox pc at all?

bhickey wrote: »

Assuming the floor ports are connected to an ethernet switch then yes but you'd also need power supplies for the phones unless you're powering them using a POE switch.

yes the ports go back to a 24-port

bhickey wrote: »

If you're able to get the Skype account working okay as a trunk in Trixbox then yes that should work.

I'm hoping that this will work with skype, i'll let you know if i'm successful

Thanks again,
Jasper

bhickey

JasperKat wrote: »

oh err, wasn't sure i'd got this part right at all & appreciate you pointing out the error of my thinking. But, does a network cable get plugged into the trixbox pc at all?

Yes Jasper, you've 2 cables altogether going onto the Trixbox PC. The office LAN is connected to the ethernet port on the Trixbox PC and the phone line goes into the Sangoma card.


Brian

JasperKat

Brian thanks a mill for your reply really appreciated....

the boss still hasn't placed the order so any thoughts on the card choice? should we go with sangoma or the OpenVox A400P10 - 1 FXS card that i linked to?

thanks in advance of any advice,
jasper

bhickey

JasperKat wrote: »

the boss still hasn't placed the order so any thoughts on the card choice? should we go with sangoma or the OpenVox A400P10 - 1 FXS card that i linked to?

Hello Jasper, personally I prefer the Sangoma cards even though they can often work out a bit dearer. Any non-gimpy card though should work fine. The installation process would be different for the OpenVox as you wouldn't need to install the Sangoma Wanpipe drivers.

It's a good think that you didn't order the card 'cause if you want to plug the phone line into the card to receive inbound calls on the Eircom line then it's an FXO interface that you need on the card and not FXS (which is the one you'd plug an analogue phone into).


Brian

JasperKat

Brian, many thanks for your really helpful reply once again...

bhickey wrote: »

Any non-gimpy card though should work fine.

I don't have a clue what gimpy is

bhickey wrote: »

It's a good think that you didn't order the card 'cause if you want to plug the phone line into the card to receive inbound calls on the Eircom line then it's an FXO interface that you need on the card and not FXS (which is the one you'd plug an analogue phone into).

oh errrr :eek: just want to make absolutely certain before i do finally get the boss to order the card... we have an eircom box on the wall which has 2 cables coming from it:
- 1 (black) rj11 cable is the bb going to our router
- 1 (white) rj11 cable is the phone line which currently goes into port no. 6 on the hub & the siemens analogue phone is plugged into floor-port no.6,

If i understand it rightly, i'm going to plug the (white) rj11 phone-line cable directly into the FXO port on the card in the trixbox?

i'm guessing that i don't need an adsl filter because I believe that the eircom box is itself a filter (that's what the eircom eng told us when it was fitted)

Thanks again.
Jasper

bhickey

JasperKat wrote: »

I don't have a clue what gimpy is

Gimpy=crappy, cheap, poor quality etc.

If i understand it rightly, i'm going to plug the (white) rj11 phone-line cable directly into the FXO port on the card in the trixbox?

Yes that's correct

i'm guessing that i don't need an adsl filter because I believe that the eircom box is itself a filter (that's what the eircom eng told us when it was fitted)

You are correct. In this case you already have the Eircom box with the inbuilt filter and the 2 outputs (ADSL & Phone) on it so you don't have to add anything.


Brian

pgor

I am trying to set up a trixbox for the past few months, this forum has been really helpful.
Forgive me if this question is stupid, I already have a computer network in my office, can I manage trixbox from the existing monitor at the reception desk although the trixbox computer is running a different operating system (windows)? If yes, how will I set it up?
Also, the main reason I am trying to get trixbox up and running is to use CLI and integrate it with my existing customer data base on the software I currently use. I am glad to find willing help!!

bhickey

pgor wrote: »

Forgive me if this question is stupid, I already have a computer network in my office, can I manage trixbox from the existing monitor at the reception desk although the trixbox computer is running a different operating system (windows)? If yes, how will I set it up?

Unless you're planning to run Trixbox on a virtual server then it would normally be running on its own computer using the Linux operating system (i.e. not Windows).

The Trixbox/Asterisk management GUI is web-based so you can access that using a web browser from any computer.


Brian

roryq

pgor wrote: »

I am trying to set up a trixbox for the past few months, this forum has been really helpful.
Forgive me if this question is stupid, I already have a computer network in my office, can I manage trixbox from the existing monitor at the reception desk although the trixbox computer is running a different operating system (windows)? If yes, how will I set it up?
Also, the main reason I am trying to get trixbox up and running is to use CLI and integrate it with my existing customer data base on the software I currently use. I am glad to find willing help!!

Typically when you boot up the trixbox system and attach a monitor to the system you will see the ip address listed on the screen. And it can be managed from that location.

Also what type of customer database are you using is this Sugar or a similar product.