Telephone System - Small Business

[Madz5]

Hi,

I require help!

I am in the process of setting up a small office.

For example, if I was to I to have 5 tables with 5 telephones. I recall rather than have one line each for each telephone there is a system where you can have extension numbers for the 4 telephones and have one main number where the calls come from and the remainder depending on who the call needs to be transferred to can be transferred to the extension number.

I hope I am making sense but I am unsure of the what the system is called. I contacted BT but they were talking about feature lines for each one or something but it was very expensive.

I hope someone understands what I require but please can someone advise:

1. what it is that I require (based on what I have said) if you need further information please let me know...
2. Where I can purchase this telephone system at a reasonable price...
3. Can i not just have the one telephone line and the others on extension numbers?
4. If i only have the one telephone line and someone else calls i still want someone else to take the call on the other phone ? so would this mean that I would have to have separate lines?

I am so sorry if i sound so confused ! any help is appreciated

:|

M x

 

[10032012]

You need a PBX/PABX system. What is your budget?

 

[Madz5]

Hi,

Well I am clueless when it comes to this phone thing but I need something reasonable I am not sure of the costs involved for this... but it needs to be cost effective and not too expensive! (e.g. running in to thousands of pounds preferably cheaper the better)

thanks

 

[MikeJ]

Have you got a decent broadband signal in the office? If so, consider a voip system. Speak to CJD on here.

 

[Madz5]

Yes I do have a decent broadband signal.

Thank you I hope that CJD will read my post and reply...

 

[adamcooke]

If you're looking for an internet phone system, we launched Dial 9 at the end of last year and we can easily accomodate your requirements.

http://www.dial9.co.uk

We can provide as many extensions as you need, incoming UK numbers which ring any (or multiple) desk phones as well as features like music on hold, call transfers, conferencing and much more.

Just ask if you have any questions

 

[Madz5]

I am reading so much stuff its ever so confusing. I will have a look at the website tomorrow i think i have confused myself so much with various options my brains frazzled.

I will get back to you with questions tomorrow now.

thanks

M x

 

[adamcooke]

I am reading so much stuff its ever so confusing. I will have a look at the website tomorrow i think i have confused myself so much with various options my brains frazzled.

I will get back to you with questions tomorrow now.

thanks

M x

Not a problem - there is a lot of jargon out there and many different companies offering very similar services.

If you want a nice little document to print off (or just read on screen) and read in your spare time, we've made booklet outlining some of the key features: http://www.dial9.co.uk/docs/booklet.pdf

 

[StevensOnln1]

I've been using Voipfone (user cjd on here) since last summer and can't recommend them enough. You'd be looking at costs of under £10 per month (excluding call charges).

 

[cjd]

Yes, it's a PBX that you need. For that number of extensions you should use a hosted system. It all sounds complicated - and at first it is - but you soon get passed it.

It's best to have a long chat with one of our support people on Monday -020 7043 5555 - so that you're confident that it all does what you want.

In the meantime have a read of this:

http://www.voipfone.co.uk/switchboard_and_hosted_PBX_services.php

 

[Madz5]

Thank you both, I will have a read of the information.

One thing I am confused with is I currently have a landline with BT does this mean that I would not need to pay line rental to BT and the number would be "ported' (Is that the correct word?) over?

Also my fax line is currently on a VOIP line with BT using my internet.

So if I understand correctly If i was to use the system suggested I would no longer need to pay BT but the company that i decide to go with? and just pay BT for the broadband?

sorry for the questions..

 

[adamcooke]

Thank you both, I will have a read of the information.

One thing I am confused with is I currently have a landline with BT does this mean that I would not need to pay line rental to BT and the number would be "ported' (Is that the correct word?) over?

Also my fax line is currently on a VOIP line with BT using my internet.

So if I understand correctly If i was to use the system suggested I would no longer need to pay BT but the company that i decide to go with? and just pay BT for the broadband?

sorry for the questions..

No need to apologise for questions

You would still need to pay BT for broadband and line rental (for the line which the broadband is supplied on) but other than that, the charges would be payable to your new VoIP provider.

 

[Madz5]

Oh god Im confused!

So I will pay BT for the broadband....I understand.

But would I need to pay for the other line which is the landline - a simple yes or no would do?? I think i posed the question in a silly way!

the information given in the document has been helpful.

 

[Madz5]

also as i only have the one phone line if i was to get this system in place.. if someone is dialling out or receiving a call can the other person also make a call/take calls ? or do you need a telephone land line for each individual....

 

[adamcooke]

No - you don't need any other BT lines other than the one for the internet.

You also do not need any additional BT lines for multiple outbound calls.

 

[leemason]

It sounds from the number of extensions that you require that a hosted PBX would be good. However, check your broadband speed first with something like http://speedtest.net/. It's the upstream bandwidth which is important for voice calls. It depends how many concurrent calls you will require but generally you will probably need about 120Kb per active call. Using your broadband for a lot of other traffic (heavy uploads, etc) could well have a detrimental effect on voice traffic so beware of that too.

In general if you are going to have more than a couple of concurrent calls I'd suggest a separate broadband for voice. This will minimise any effect on voice quality of other Internet activity.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

We use a Orchid telecom system that allows full control and 4 incoming lines to 8 or 16 handsets and retails at onlt £120, just connect and use includes ring another extension if busy, for sales dial 1 etc and many more functions

 

[Searcher]

Message to OP : permission to share your thread please !

I'm in exactly the same situ as you. Move in to new offices end April and the phone options are doing my head in.

Thanks

 

[cjd]

Message to OP : permission to share your thread please !

I'm in exactly the same situ as you. Move in to new offices end April and the phone options are doing my head in.

Thanks

Easiest and quickest way to decide if VoIP is useful for you is to give us a call and talk it through with one of the support staff - 020 7043 5555. They're not sales staff, they're tech support; they won't try to sell you stuff.

 

[leemason]

I've installed the Asterisk Open Source IP PBX system for a number of my smaller customers are it provides a huge amount of functionality. The is a variation on this system called PBX in a Flash (http://www.pbxinaflash.com/) which I've recently installed on a second hand server for another customer and it's an excellent system. It can install on pretty much any old PC hardware and works excellently well. The great thing about this sort of system is that you can mix traditional telephony (analogue lines, ISDN, etc) with full VoIP functionality to provide a highly flexible system.

 

[ChyrillStucker]

[FONT=&quot]I'm having trouble finding a right voip switch?[/FONT]

 

[ChyrillStucker]

Hi,

I require help!

I am in the process of setting up a small office.

For example, if I was to I to have 5 tables with 5 telephones. I recall rather than have one line each for each telephone there is a system where you can have extension numbers for the 4 telephones and have one main number where the calls come from and the remainder depending on who the call needs to be transferred to can be transferred to the extension number.

I hope I am making sense but I am unsure of the what the system is called. I contacted BT but they were talking about feature lines for each one or something but it was very expensive.

I hope someone understands what I require but please can someone advise:

1. what it is that I require (based on what I have said) if you need further information please let me know...
2. Where I can purchase this telephone system at a reasonable price...
3. Can i not just have the one telephone line and the others on extension numbers?
4. If i only have the one telephone line and someone else calls i still want someone else to take the call on the other phone ? so would this mean that I would have to have separate lines?

I am so sorry if i sound so confused ! any help is appreciated

:|

M x

1. What you are looking for is called a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) system.
2. Since you require a small number of extensions, I would suggest you to go for Hosted PBX system since most of the hardware is maintained by the provider and little investment is required. There are various companies offering this type of system. I am using PBX system from The Real PBX. You can check it out.
3. You can have one main line and the rest on extensions.
4. No, you do not need to have separate lines. You can forward the call to the extension where you wish to receive it.

 

[leemason]

With either a host PBX or one of your own you have a number of different alternatives for providing connection from inbound numbers to telephone extensions. For example if you have 5 telephones you could have either:

1. One inbound number which could ring all phones at once. When outbound calls are made the CLI will be that one inbound number. In this way you are not sending all inbound calls to the same physical phone.
2. One main inbound number plus a separate number for each phone. So if someone calls the one inbound number then this rings all phones. However anyone can ring a number for each individual phone to ring as well. When dialling out each phone can use it's own number as the CLI (or all phones can still use the common number as their CLI).
3. A number of inbound numbers linked to certain groups of phones. So you could have one number for sales, one for support, one for admin. The sales number could ring two sales phones, the support number could ring two support phones, and the admin number could ring the one admin phone.

You can also have voicemails on each extension. Setting up a queue for inbound calls would be possible so:

1. Line answered by system "Welcome to our company..."
2. Call put into queue, if a phone is free then this will ring. If not free the caller will be played on hold music.
3. When an extension becomes free and is answered the inbound call is taken off the queue and put through to the phone.
4. If the call is queued for more than x seconds/minutes the caller could be offered the chance to leave a voicemail instead.

All things like this are possible and reasonably simple with a good hosted IP PBX system.