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What kind of telephone system for a small business?

7 points by takrupp ↗ HN
We run a couple of businesses with one of them being pretty phone intensive. We have 5 employees now and are looking to upgrade our telephone system.

Current setup: - Panasonic 2-line cordless phone (3 handsets plus base station) - Comcast Digital Voice

Needs for new setup: - Must support 4-lines plus. - Should be easy to install, hopefully wireless (I dont want to run a bunch of RJ11 or even 45 anywhere in the space, less wires the better) - Standard PBX functions: Hold music, extensions, call forwarding, conference calling - Preferably something expandable - We need 4 lines now, but it would be great to be able to build the same system out to 6 or 8+ lines.

I've been considering setting up a Asterisk PBX on an old netbook and then buying a few CISCO IP phones, connect them to a wireless router and then have a couple of cordless IP phones for roaming around the site. I think to do this though Ill need to get a new VOIP provider (I dont think Comcast will let me do this). This solution also seems pretty overkill and technically challenging. An easier solution would be very welcomed.

Ideally we'd spend around $1000 on the hardware, and under $200 per month for 4 phone lines. Thanks!

9 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 31.7 ms ] thread
garyrichardson
There are a bunch of hosted VOIP/PBX options available. Is this an option for you?

You could have a bunch of ATA's plugged into a switch with cordless phones plugged into each.

Alternatively, you can get 802.11 native phones, but that may be expensive. For example http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6788/ph... -- I'm sure there are some cheaper non-cisco options.

TYPE_FASTER
There are so many options now.

You could install Asterisk/FreeSwitch/FreePBX internally and purchase a SIP trunk with unlimited minutes from a provider like Aretta (https://www.aretta.com). I personally don't have any experience with them.

Or, you could pay to have the provider host your PBX, which will probably save you a ton of work, but will (of course) cost more.

http://www.phonebooth.com is another option.

maarek
We use OnSIP, http://www.onsip.com/ I HIGHLY recommend them. Call quality is great, support is competent, and the pricing structure is usage based, not a flat rate. I don't work for them, and I am not an affiliate, but I have been a customer for 3-4 years.
takrupp
This looks interesting. Do you need any pbx or if i got 5 IP phones, set them up, they would just work?

Need to crunch some numbers on per minute vs flat rate. One of the businesses is phone intensive, probably use 120-240 minutes per day.

justhamade
Finally a post I can respond to on HN.

1. If you want decent wireless phones I think your budget might be a bit low, check out the Snom M3 http://www.voipsupply.com/sh-m3dect-basic, or the Aastra 57iCT http://www.voipsupply.com/aastra-6757i-ct. (Cisco's phones are not worth the money)

2. SIP trunks/hosted PBX will save you some money but you need a good connection 3. You need QoS if you only have 1 internet connection. If you are doing a lot of calls at once you might want to get your another connection http://www.bandcalc.com/

4. If you go with a SIP trunk might as well use hosted PBX onebox, ringcentral, toktumi are ones that I have heard of 5. If you need high reliability stay on analog lines and get a server with FXS, I have used Xorcom. Cost is around $1100.

6. Do you need fax? Some hosted services come with faxtoemail and emailtofax.

b14ck
I've been working in the telephony industry for nearing 2 years now. I'm currently the lead developer at a communications company.

I'd recommend installing Elastix (http://www.elastix.org/) on any old p4 computer you can find. Elastix is an Asterisk-distribution (fully open source) which uses a customized version of FreePBX (a pretty awesome web interface for configuring / managing Asterisk).

It's extremely easy to use, and integrates with different CRM systems, supports faxing, and basically anything else you want. They also have 24/7 tech support available by phone (which is good), if you get stuck.

For phone lines, I'd recommend getting a SIP account with flowroute (http://flowroute.com/). They're a stable, cheap, and reliable SIP provider that has:

1. An awesome web portal. 2. Is easy to sign up with. 3. Is cheap. 4. Won't let you down.

You can't really beat them for US phone service.

If you want help setting anything up, I can even help out online (or over the phone) for free. I've set them up for friends, family, and some local businesses, and it has been a huge success every time.

Check out my profile for contact information if you have questions or anything, I'd be happy to answer them.

takrupp
I spoke with a guy a vocalocity (that I think someone on HN referred them to me), and they seem like a pretty good fit (unlimited us/canada, good web PBX, reasonably priced hardware). Does anyone have any experience working with them?
[dead] Be_Silly
Got the be SipXecs www.sipfoundry.com for featureset/installation ease, and above all config simplicity, which goes as far as redundant servers being no bother at all. Grab an ISO and fire up VirtualBox or whatever, 4 lines is going to require hardly any cpu time or ram. Their v4.2 featureset is massive, but you don't have to enable it all naturally.

Mentioned above, Aastra phone units are was good value, and the only ones which are passably easy to customise for toucscreen functions.

If that's not your ideal handset supplier, start with the list of handsets which auto-config with SipXecs.

cellurl
I worked at Rockwell Collins where they had VoIP and Cisco IP phones. They didn't save money, and they provided no useful features.

Give em headsets....