providers for phone line & internet
-
@scottalanmiller said:
@dafyre said:
I was under the impression that if you had a PBX that all of the phones talked to the PBX, and the PBX itself would handle the translation between the phones and the PRI / SIP trunk. The phones themselves would communicate to the PBX via IP or analog phone line or whatever, and the PBX would handle the rest.
Is my thinking wrong on this?
That's correct. What is on one side of the PBX has nothing to do with what is on the other side of the PBX. Just like your router can have Ethernet on one side and a fiber jack on the other or token ring or whatever.
So many individuals think of VOIP systems and believe all components must be VOIP to say you run VOIP. People run VOIP PBXs with POTS lines and a FXO gateway that allows the PBX to make and receive calls with those lines. The same is true for PRI as Scott mentioned (VOIP gateway appliances out there to connect back to a VOIP PBX that runs as VM, etc.). You could even go so far as to continue to use analog or digital desk phones with a new VOIP PBX if you have the right adapters to connect the phones to the PBX (i.e. the Grandstream HT701 to connect analog phones to a VOIP PBX using SIP).
-
@scottalanmiller said:
@LAH3385 said:
Yes it will be MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper. Maybe about half or more than what we are paying right now. Still... Since NEC phone isn't support we will have to provide our own phone system.
- PBX are free. So that should be a none issue.
- Softphones are free. You can always go that route.
- Desk phones start around $80 if you want brand new hardware.
Even building from scratch, the only major cost of a new phone system is often just the optional handset costs.
Time to build it and time to learn to manage it if you are not familiar with the new PBX must be considered. Is this something an admin or team of admins can effectively do to ensure testing and implementation are thorough enough for the project's success? There is a time cost which translates into time not spent on other projects whose completion may have contributed more to increasing company profit.
-
I will say if you put the NEC in place in the last couple of years (which I thought I saw that you did), it may be possible to sell it on eBay or to some kind of firm that buys old PBXs to make up a little bit of money toward new handsets / something else. When we got rid of our Avaya IP Office 406 system in 2013 and moved to Elastix, a company bought all the hardware from us for around $1500 - $2000 if memory serves (including about 70 Avaya 5410 desk phones as well).
Compare the cost of the system to the money saved over a period of 2-3 years switching to a SIP provider and using some type of open source PBX. You may make that money up pretty quickly.
