Anyone using BT Cloud Voice

[okonaut]

Tempted by this. They've made a compelling financial case for us to switch. I've avoided VOIP partly because we are running short of LAN sockets, but they say they will sort that our as well.

Anyone using them and have feedback on reliability and call quality in particular? It's BT so I assume that they will balls up the install somehow leaving us without phones for a day.

 

[TPTele]

I do not know anyone who is using this but people normally love or hate BT depending on whether the have ever dealt with BT support. You could have a look at their support forum to get an idea of what BT users think: https://business.forums.bt.com/t5/Phones-phone-lines-and-phone/bd-p/Phone-systems

After going up against BT on various projects I would be surprised if the package is that great unless they are tying you in for a 7 year contract.

If you want to PM me with the details I will give it quick review to see if it looks good.

 

[cjd]

It's worth comparing a couple of providers.

I'd worry a little about the LAN outlets, BT tend to be way over the top on such stuff and infact if you buy a phone like the snom, it has a integral switch which means it doesn't use any additional sockets - just daisy chains off the PC socket.

As above, be wary of long contracts - these days more than a month is long.

 

[Alan]

Is that right, so with the snom you can just have one wall RJ45 and the daisy chain several phone?

 

[cjd]

Is that right, so with the snom you can just have one wall RJ45 and the daisy chain several phone?

Yup, unplug pc cable, connect to snom, connect jumper from snom to pc. The new D 7xxs snoms even have integral gigabit switches. eg

http://www.voipfone.co.uk/shop.php?method=view&pid=101

Normally if you have a lot of people using phones and pcs you'll need to seperate the voice and data traffic which just requires two independent IPs.

The guys will explain it if you're interested - 0207 043 5555

 

[okonaut]

Info re Snom is interesting. BT are annoying me at every turn (poorly informed local business teams, adding on over-priced and unnecessary components etc). That said, I tend to find they are a bit better these days once you are (finally) up and running.

However, if we don't need to re-cable then the gloves are off: CJD's firm would have been my first call otherwise. I might do that Monday.

 

[okonaut]

Just to follow up on this: If anyone is considering BT Cloud Voice for business just don't bother.

They are the most incompetent bunch of f-wits imaginable. Desperately trying to cancel already.

@cjd must be benefitting nicely.

Whilst I am on a rant: What is the point if BT Local Business Teams? I presume whoever came up with that idea was a big fan of Chinese whispers.

 

[cjd]

@cjd must be benefitting nicely.

Yes we are, but we'd prefer people came to us first rather than go through the agro with BT - it takes a while and a lot of effort to get things sorted out. It's often a very expensive mistake.

 

[JohnGrove]

Sockets shouldn't be a problem as most ip phones daisy chain into the computer. Then it's down to your indidual requirements and number of phones you require. You could look at a hosted solution or a self hosted pbx such as Asterisk. You could also explore the possiblity of using softphones and headsets (no additional wiring required there). BT do tend to lock you in for quite a period though. I install Asterisk boxes and the sip provider I work with works on a simple monthly contract.

 

[RelyOnIT]

If you are new to VOIP I'd have a look at @cjd offerings. Seriously good support and they are cheap too. They don't get you to sign any long contracts, if you are unhappy you can just walk away. I've used their SIP's for a long time now and can honestly say never had any problems. Installed a hosted VOIP system for a client recently and voipfone's support was very patient with all my questions as the client kept changing the goal posts! Furthermore their support is in the UK for me that's a huge plus point. I've installed asterisk in the past but you do have to maintain it and I wouldn't recommend it for the faint hearted. We are 3CX partners and if you want more features and an on premise solution this may be the way to go.