Small Phone system for Out of School Club

[jmak]

Hi Everyone

 

I've been asked to investigate a phone system for our out of school club. They have a single PSTN line and want to have a system which allows the caller to select one of two extensions or leave a message. Any ideas?

 

Obviously for the sake of two extensions, they don't want to spend a fortune. Also, I don't officially support them, so I'm after something plug 'n play. I've been told that there's a problem with providing an extra PSTN line - haven't established what yet...

 

Thanks

[FN-GM]

You could look at IP phones with Asterisk. And use a SIP trunk for external calls.

[FN-GM]

Asterisk is free by the way.

[jmak]

I have solved this

 

Apparently the issue stems from a parent who wouldn't leave a message with the play group (run as part of the same business but keeps different hours) and had to phone back while play group promised not to answer the phone, so that they could leave a voicemail. I pointed out that if a parent called school and didn't get to the person they wanted to, they would leave a message with the person they did speak to and trust them to pass the message on. I also asked how many people felt this was a problem - turns out it's one parent (in the 7 years the club has been running) and no members of staff. Have reported back saying "do one". Just slightly annoyed I bothered thinking about it...