Small office phone setup
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@scottalanmiller said:
@ajstringham said:
Yeah, I heard you guys moved to FreePBX a couple months ago.
Yes we did, but the moves were separate. Elastix in Toronto to Elastix in Chicago to FreePBX in Chicago.
Which makes sense.
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@JaredBusch said:
Missed the fact that it is a sonicwall. simply hate them because they cause so many problems with SIP. Prior to SIP use being so common, they were a great platform that I would recommend.
One of my least favourite security devices. Too expensive and too low quality.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
Missed the fact that it is a sonicwall. simply hate them because they cause so many problems with SIP. Prior to SIP use being so common, they were a great platform that I would recommend.
One of my least favourite security devices. Too expensive and too low quality.
I picked up the SonicWalls nearly 3 years ago - I even had a thread about it on SW before deciding. It came down to SonicWall vs Barracuda. I went with SonicWall.
Everyone is talking about Ubiquiti devices now - Considering their price I can definitely try one (assuming it will create a VPN P2P with a SonicWall).
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i've got one here (i think you've got one too) but if you want we can setup a test VPN just to check it out.
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@Hubtech said:
i've got one here (i think you've got one too) but if you want we can setup a test VPN just to check it out.
LOL - You know that I personally purchased a Ubiquiti. Thanks though.
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How about hosting my own PBX in my datacenter?
All of the above still qualifies (100Kb/s) etc, do I need to have VPN's to all of my sites?
What if I want to use a hard phone at my home as part of the system, let's assume I don't have a VPNing firewall at home.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Something else to mention - my carrier currently forwards all calls that would overflow the two lines back to my main office. Can SIP trunks do that?
Sure, but even better is getting the ability to go over two lines. It's really easy to get unlimited lines with SIP, or at least many lines.
I only have two people at this location that can answer the phone - I want the rest of the calls to go to my main office so they can be handled immediately. Most calls don't need to be handled directly by the location in question.
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@Dashrender said:
I only have two people at this location that can answer the phone - I want the rest of the calls to go to my main office so they can be handled immediately. Most calls don't need to be handled directly by the location in question.
With VoIP you aren't dealing with "these lines to here and these lines to there" anymore. It's a pool of capacity and everyone can use it.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
I only have two people at this location that can answer the phone - I want the rest of the calls to go to my main office so they can be handled immediately. Most calls don't need to be handled directly by the location in question.
With VoIP you aren't dealing with "these lines to here and these lines to there" anymore. It's a pool of capacity and everyone can use it.
Sure, once the whole system is SIP - but it won't be, not for quite some time.
My current phone vendor will only support certified SIP providers (AKA - ones that pay them
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@Dashrender said:
I only have two people at this location that can answer the phone - I want the rest of the calls to go to my main office so they can be handled immediately. Most calls don't need to be handled directly by the location in question.
So for this scenario, you create a ring group with the 2 users' extensions in it.
Then you create a misc destination that ends the call to the main office's TN.Similar to this except I am failing it to another ring group.
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@Dashrender said:
My current phone vendor will only support certified SIP providers (AKA - ones that pay them
)So drop the phone vendor. Why are you keeping them if they are holding you ransom and costing you money?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
My current phone vendor will only support certified SIP providers (AKA - ones that pay them
)So drop the phone vendor. Why are you keeping them if they are holding you ransom and costing you money?
This is why I'm looking to my own PBX.
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@Dashrender I'm confused, I thought that you were not doing something because you were not replacing the PBX. So you can replace all sites at once and use a single trunk for all calls?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender I'm confused, I thought that you were not doing something because you were not replacing the PBX. So you can replace all sites at once and use a single trunk for all calls?
Your original understanding is correct - I'm not replacing everyone all at once.
I'm only looking to replace one of my branches today.
When we look to replace or upgrade the system at our main location, we'll decide if we ditch the current vendor and move to something else, or stay with them and upgrade.
Unfortunately, upgrading will be less expensive in the short term. Replacing the old system entirely would require all new hand sets in the main location (approx 65) and possibly some recabling of the CAT 3 to 5e.
The phones would be approx $75/ea ($4875) plus POE switches (really don't want to be using power bricks), plus recabling, assume we have to do 3/4, at $100 a drop ($4875) Plus some software purchases for FreePBX and FOP2, etc.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender I'm confused, I thought that you were not doing something because you were not replacing the PBX. So you can replace all sites at once and use a single trunk for all calls?
Your original understanding is correct - I'm not replacing everyone all at once.
I'm only looking to replace one of my branches today.
When we look to replace or upgrade the system at our main location, we'll decide if we ditch the current vendor and move to something else, or stay with them and upgrade.
Unfortunately, upgrading will be less expensive in the short term. Replacing the old system entirely would require all new hand sets in the main location (approx 65) and possibly some recabling of the CAT 3 to 5e.
The phones would be approx $75/ea ($4875) plus POE switches (really don't want to be using power bricks), plus recabling, assume we have to do 3/4, at $100 a drop ($4875) Plus some software purchases for FreePBX and FOP2, etc.
I don't understand peoples' need to go PoE for phones. While I agree it can be handy, I look at it as one more thing to break. You have to buy PoE switches, which are, from what I've seen, a fair bit more expensive than standard switches. Upgrading the cabling would make sense though. Still, what's the big deal about plugging in one more cord for a phone?
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@ajstringham said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender I'm confused, I thought that you were not doing something because you were not replacing the PBX. So you can replace all sites at once and use a single trunk for all calls?
Your original understanding is correct - I'm not replacing everyone all at once.
I'm only looking to replace one of my branches today.
When we look to replace or upgrade the system at our main location, we'll decide if we ditch the current vendor and move to something else, or stay with them and upgrade.
Unfortunately, upgrading will be less expensive in the short term. Replacing the old system entirely would require all new hand sets in the main location (approx 65) and possibly some recabling of the CAT 3 to 5e.
The phones would be approx $75/ea ($4875) plus POE switches (really don't want to be using power bricks), plus recabling, assume we have to do 3/4, at $100 a drop ($4875) Plus some software purchases for FreePBX and FOP2, etc.
I don't understand peoples' need to go PoE for phones. While I agree it can be handy, I look at it as one more thing to break. You have to buy PoE switches, which are, from what I've seen, a fair bit more expensive than standard switches. Upgrading the cabling would make sense though. Still, what's the big deal about plugging in one more cord for a phone?
Agreed, it is nice when you don't have a power socket handy... but most companies sell POE injectors for that occasion. In addition many phones now-a-days come with a 10/100(/1000) switch built in so running new wiring wouldn't be necessary if you already have a computer in the same room.
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@coliver said:
@ajstringham said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender I'm confused, I thought that you were not doing something because you were not replacing the PBX. So you can replace all sites at once and use a single trunk for all calls?
Your original understanding is correct - I'm not replacing everyone all at once.
I'm only looking to replace one of my branches today.
When we look to replace or upgrade the system at our main location, we'll decide if we ditch the current vendor and move to something else, or stay with them and upgrade.
Unfortunately, upgrading will be less expensive in the short term. Replacing the old system entirely would require all new hand sets in the main location (approx 65) and possibly some recabling of the CAT 3 to 5e.
The phones would be approx $75/ea ($4875) plus POE switches (really don't want to be using power bricks), plus recabling, assume we have to do 3/4, at $100 a drop ($4875) Plus some software purchases for FreePBX and FOP2, etc.
I don't understand peoples' need to go PoE for phones. While I agree it can be handy, I look at it as one more thing to break. You have to buy PoE switches, which are, from what I've seen, a fair bit more expensive than standard switches. Upgrading the cabling would make sense though. Still, what's the big deal about plugging in one more cord for a phone?
Agreed, it is nice when you don't have a power socket handy... but most companies sell POE injectors for that occasion. In addition many phones now-a-days come with a 10/100(/1000) switch built in so running new wiring wouldn't be necessary if you already have a computer in the same room.
Cat3 is pretty old, so upgrading to Cat5e or Cat6 even (if your blood is a little richer) will improve quality and performance. Especially if you run ethernet to the phone and connect your computer through the phone, it'll make a difference.
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@ajstringham said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender I'm confused, I thought that you were not doing something because you were not replacing the PBX. So you can replace all sites at once and use a single trunk for all calls?
Your original understanding is correct - I'm not replacing everyone all at once.
I'm only looking to replace one of my branches today.
When we look to replace or upgrade the system at our main location, we'll decide if we ditch the current vendor and move to something else, or stay with them and upgrade.
Unfortunately, upgrading will be less expensive in the short term. Replacing the old system entirely would require all new hand sets in the main location (approx 65) and possibly some recabling of the CAT 3 to 5e.
The phones would be approx $75/ea ($4875) plus POE switches (really don't want to be using power bricks), plus recabling, assume we have to do 3/4, at $100 a drop ($4875) Plus some software purchases for FreePBX and FOP2, etc.
I don't understand peoples' need to go PoE for phones. While I agree it can be handy, I look at it as one more thing to break. You have to buy PoE switches, which are, from what I've seen, a fair bit more expensive than standard switches. Upgrading the cabling would make sense though. Still, what's the big deal about plugging in one more cord for a phone?
Medical - we need most if not all phones to work in a power outage (which means I did forget to specifically mention I'll need a larger UPS for the switches as well.
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@Dashrender PoE for handling power outages can make sense. But I would expect a medical facility to have central protected power and a need for computers and other devices to keep working too in case of power loss. Doesn't this negate the value of PoE for that purpose?
PoE can still be good, but it definitely is not needed to withstand an outage. It might be a good strategy, but it would come from more factors than just that.
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@Dashrender said:
The phones would be approx $75/ea ($4875) plus POE switches (really don't want to be using power bricks), plus recabling, assume we have to do 3/4, at $100 a drop ($4875) Plus some software purchases for FreePBX and FOP2, etc.
PoE could be done down the road, FreePBX is free, FOP2 is only $40. Phones are a real cost but one that starts paying for itself immediately. The longer you wait to replace the phones, the more you pay month to month. So if you know that they will ever be replaced, the sooner the better. It's like having a leaky gas tank. It costs money to replace, but it has to be done. The sooner you do it, the less gas is wasted.
And if not replacing all at once causes you to make decisions based on branch needs instead of company needs you might be costing yourself even more by creating a more complicated setup that might plague you for a long time.
