Staple Design – Gwilym GJ …think, design, build, enjoy, think, evolve…..

New small business Voip system up and running

Well it’s been a bit of an epic – mainly struggling with diverse hardware and getting Telecom to give up the Wanaka Wastebusters number. But the new internet based phone system is now up and running.

The system:

• 4 x lines on standard phones through 1 x Linksys ATA and 1 x WAG with 2 ATA ports
• 4 x people using softphones – X-Lite
• 1 x Linksys SPA922 VOIP deskphone
• Auto attendant on main calling in line
• Eftpos and Fax on a POTs line which also carries the ADSL
• Voicemail on all extensions with voicemail sent to email addresses where necessary

Lessons so far:

• Linksys ATA’s seem to be more reliable and give better call quality than a software phone on a PC.
• Starting out with one sort of end point (ATA’s) would have been easier. Having people on three different solutions makes config and customization a bit of a nightmare.
• The free version of X-Lite does not do a blind transfer, I haven’t found a free softphone yet that does but will try Zoiper tomorrow.
• Without a local digital PBX (Wastebusters is using the Kiwilink service) you are restricted to the options that the external service offers on their (usually Asterisk) setup. In this case a limit of 9 speed dial numbers restricting the pool of possible blind transfer speed dials.

Savings

• Reduced monthly rentals by around $200
• Cheaper calling costs
• Flexible extensible PBX features, mostly changeable through web interface