Phones new location
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@Dashrender said:
Ok, since the Yealink's I was looking at before all came with power bricks, I suppose we could get away from the POE being a requirement, but then we'd have to put in UPSs in the places where phones must work even when there is a power outage.
Yes, UPSs are needed if you need the phones to keep working and everything along the chain is on UPS already. If you have computers on UPSs then you just add the phones to the existing UPS and nothing more is needed. It's always been best practice for all computers to be on UPS (it protects them from damage) so hopefully no new UPSs are needed.
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@Dashrender said:
Plus I'll want POE for my wireless network we'll be putting in as well.
Lots of great reasons to use PoE. PoE is really cool and clean. I even use some PoE at home. Just evaluate it on its own rather than as a "determination" of VoIP vs. non-VoIP.
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@Dashrender said:
About half the phones hang on the wall with CAT3 wiring, not CAT 5 - those would need to be upgraded. The other half could plug between the PC and the wall like our current VOIP setup.
@scottalanmiller said:
Yes, if you have non-PC location phones new cable would be needed. That's a pain
CAT3 fully supports 10mb ethernet and PoE. It was in the standard in fact.
Since these phones have no computers behind them, you have no need to worry about bandwidth.
There is not a voice call that will take 10mb ever.
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@scottalanmiller said:
You might find that there are a lot of features that you want once you know what modern phone systems can do.
Can you provide some examples?
Thinks I know of - ability to take your phone with you to any other ethernet port. We can do that now in our VOIP space - we simply don't
Follow me calling - this would only apply for the Office Manager (CEO) and the physicians. While it could possibly be handy time to time for the Office Manager, the docs definitely don't want it. it's so bad that the docs don't even have voice mail for fear that a message will be left and not checked for days or longer.
For those that have voicemail (there are around 10 of us) it might be nice to have the voice mail delivered to our email, in text and voice form.
Desktop dialing - OK this one I would like. Not sure it would be overly useful for staff - though during call backs, if the number could be pulled from our EHR, that could be really nice.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Ok, since the Yealink's I was looking at before all came with power bricks, I suppose we could get away from the POE being a requirement, but then we'd have to put in UPSs in the places where phones must work even when there is a power outage.
Yes, UPSs are needed if you need the phones to keep working and everything along the chain is on UPS already. If you have computers on UPSs then you just add the phones to the existing UPS and nothing more is needed. It's always been best practice for all computers to be on UPS (it protects them from damage) so hopefully no new UPSs are needed.
We don't have UPSs anywhere except my desk.
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I am also considering cutting down the number of handsets we have. Currently we have a phone in every patient room/clinic room. This is really unnecessary. The phones are primarily used to call the language line when we don't have a translator onsite. In this case, having the room in the privacy of the patient/clinic room is nice.
I think I could reduce this to three wireless VOIP phones to cover our nine clinic rooms. In the new building I could reduce seven phones to 2 wireless ones.
Thoughts? -
@JaredBusch said:
@Dashrender said:
About half the phones hang on the wall with CAT3 wiring, not CAT 5 - those would need to be upgraded. The other half could plug between the PC and the wall like our current VOIP setup.
@scottalanmiller said:
Yes, if you have non-PC location phones new cable would be needed. That's a pain
CAT3 fully supports 10mb ethernet and PoE. It was in the standard in fact.
Since these phones have no computers behind them, you have no need to worry about bandwidth.
There is not a voice call that will take 10mb ever.
Would I have to put new wall plates on those locations? Obviously I'd have to change the cabling plant from the 66 blocks to patch panels, etc.
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@Dashrender said:
Can you provide some examples? [Of VoIP features we might not think of...]
Some ideas, I don't know what features you have currently so some of these might not apply:
- Complex automated prompts
- High availability or otherwise simple failover in case of hardware failure
- No additional hardware to keep or maintain or replace
- Users can transparently move not only between rooms but between sites and even to home or mobile
- You can easily send logs to services like Loggly and keep an eye on things
- You can monitor the phones using the same tools that you use for the rest of your infrastructure
- You can take your phone system offsite or do an offsite failover easily, even if the building burns down
- You can move to SIP trunks, which carry many benefits of their own
- You can do free calling between sites or to homes
- Unlimited conference rooms
- Ring groups, hunt groups, etc.
- Ability to support yourself without needing vendor intervention
- Upgrades are free
- Video phones for free
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@Dashrender said:
We don't have UPSs anywhere except my desk.
No important end user equipment that needs protecting? Do you need all of the phones to keep working if none of the computers do?
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@Dashrender said:
Would I have to put new wall plates on those locations? Obviously I'd have to change the cabling plant from the 66 blocks to patch panels, etc.
They would have to be converted to Ethernet, yes.
This is not the "best" solution, but it may well be the most cost effective.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Ok, since the Yealink's I was looking at before all came with power bricks, I suppose we could get away from the POE being a requirement, but then we'd have to put in UPSs in the places where phones must work even when there is a power outage.
Yes, UPSs are needed if you need the phones to keep working and everything along the chain is on UPS already. If you have computers on UPSs then you just add the phones to the existing UPS and nothing more is needed. It's always been best practice for all computers to be on UPS (it protects them from damage) so hopefully no new UPSs are needed.
We don't have UPSs anywhere except my desk.
You don't have UPS's at your wiring plant for your switches or your PBX? This is one case where I found PoE very useful, you could put the PoE switch (or injectors) on a UPS in the closet and have them up in the event of a power outage. This way you only need to purchase one UPS and then a PoE switch.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
We don't have UPSs anywhere except my desk.
No important end user equipment that needs protecting? Do you need all of the phones to keep working if none of the computers do?
Protection requiring a UPS, nope.
Not all phones, key phones need to stay working, but our DR Plan specifically says that staff will use their personal cell phones if needed, so keeping the phones on hasn't been a high priority.
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@coliver said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Ok, since the Yealink's I was looking at before all came with power bricks, I suppose we could get away from the POE being a requirement, but then we'd have to put in UPSs in the places where phones must work even when there is a power outage.
Yes, UPSs are needed if you need the phones to keep working and everything along the chain is on UPS already. If you have computers on UPSs then you just add the phones to the existing UPS and nothing more is needed. It's always been best practice for all computers to be on UPS (it protects them from damage) so hopefully no new UPSs are needed.
We don't have UPSs anywhere except my desk.
You don't have UPS's at your wiring plant for your switches or your PBX? This is one case where I found PoE very useful, you could put the PoE switch (or injectors) on a UPS in the closet and have them up in the event of a power outage. This way you only need to purchase one UPS and then a PoE switch.
Of course I do - I realize I over stated it by saying I had no UPSs anywhere except my desk. For example we USPs in the server room, and the phone/switch closets.
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@Dashrender said:
Not all phones, key phones need to stay working, but our DR Plan specifically says that staff will use their personal cell phones if needed, so keeping the phones on hasn't been a high priority.
So it be a new feature, rather than continuing an existing service level?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Not all phones, key phones need to stay working, but our DR Plan specifically says that staff will use their personal cell phones if needed, so keeping the phones on hasn't been a high priority.
So it be a new feature, rather than continuing an existing service level?
Not really - the digital phones we currently stay up as long as the UPSs are alive. The VOIP ones do as well, but they are in the other building where all VOIP are on POE with UPSs.
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@Dashrender said:
Not really - the digital phones we currently stay up as long as the UPSs are alive. The VOIP ones do as well, but they are in the other building where all VOIP are on POE with UPSs.
If they already have VoIP and PoE then you just get to keep that, I assume?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Not really - the digital phones we currently stay up as long as the UPSs are alive. The VOIP ones do as well, but they are in the other building where all VOIP are on POE with UPSs.
If they already have VoIP and PoE then you just get to keep that, I assume?
The main location is spread over two building, building one has the old InterTel DIgital system
Building two has the Mitel VOIP system.I could keep the Mitel, ditch the old interTel digital, and replace all digital phones with Mitel VOIP ones, and then deploy Mitel phones at the new office and bring them in via VPN to the main office...
Or I can keep the Mitel and it's VOIP, replace the brain on the InterTel to a VOIP enabled one that happens to support the Digital handsets I have, and still install Mitel phones at the new site connected via VPN.
Or I could ditch everything I have and replace it all with asterisk and all phones with new VOIP phones (though I've read that I can use my current Mitel phones with Asterisk). Still needing the VPN to bring the connections back to the main office.
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Oh, I missed somehow that the Mitel system was VoIP.
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If the Mitel phones are SIP then you should be all set. Last I knew, they used SIP.
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@scottalanmiller said:
If the Mitel phones are SIP then you should be all set. Last I knew, they used SIP.
I asked about that. Mitel uses it's own protocol (if memory serves) but phones support SIP as well.
I asked the vendor about using SIP trunks, and they told me they only support specific vendors, etc. A lock lock type situation.
