techie17 Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 We are starting look at a new hosted telephone system for our MAT and I’ve narrowed it down to two solutions, Hosted 3CX with 32SC and Gamma Horizons. Both work out roughly the same TCO over 5 years and I’m torn between which solution is the right one for us as both have positives and negatives. If you guys had a choice out of those two, which one would you choose? Hopefully someone can help me make my mind up!
fiza Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 Just signed up to hosted 3cx with Spitfire. Phones delivered yesterday. Too early obviously to say good or bad but like the way it works.
techie17 Posted October 3, 2019 Author Posted October 3, 2019 Just signed up to hosted 3cx with Spitfire. Phones delivered yesterday. Too early obviously to say good or bad but like the way it works. Is yours based on Simultaneous Connections? If so, if one extension calls another internal extension, does that count as two simultaneous calls?
techie17 Posted October 14, 2019 Author Posted October 14, 2019 I've just been been informed that Spitfire dont support handsets that are on FTTC links due to issues with call quality so does anyone else run a hosted system over and FTTC link? Ours are 80/20 and will have around 12 handsets per site.
localzuk Posted October 14, 2019 Posted October 14, 2019 Just to say 32 SC is a LOT. We've got 60+ extensions, and we rarely have more than 4 simultaneous calls going on. We've got a 16 SC license and about another 30 handsets to add. For 3CX licensing, you don't need a license for every handset.
techie17 Posted October 14, 2019 Author Posted October 14, 2019 Just to say 32 SC is a LOT. We've got 60+ extensions, and we rarely have more than 4 simultaneous calls going on. We've got a 16 SC license and about another 30 handsets to add. For 3CX licensing, you don't need a license for every handset. We will have 4 sites initially though and then increasing to 6 or 7. The problem is we have no way of measuring how many concurrent calls we currently use but i know its not uncommon for one of our sites to have 4 calls on the go at any one time.
DGardiner Posted October 14, 2019 Posted October 14, 2019 (edited) We are starting look at a new hosted telephone system for our MAT and I’ve narrowed it down to two solutions, Hosted 3CX with 32SC and Gamma Horizons. Both work out roughly the same TCO over 5 years and I’m torn between which solution is the right one for us as both have positives and negatives. If you guys had a choice out of those two, which one would you choose? Hopefully someone can help me make my mind up! we run 3cx hosted, just over 100 extensions in 6 schools + our head office with 16SC - our peak concurrent calls is usually about 6 at most and we have plans to move another 3 schools over to it this year once some leased lines are installed. our monthly rental is averaging out £2.40 per extention at the minute and comes down as we add more schools. but we bought all our hardware upfront. We will have 4 sites initially though and then increasing to 6 or 7. The problem is we have no way of measuring how many concurrent calls we currently use but i know its not uncommon for one of our sites to have 4 calls on the go at any one time. Our provider said we can prorata our licence at any time if we need the upgrade - id assume thats standard for all 3cx customers Edited October 14, 2019 by DGardiner 1
techie17 Posted October 14, 2019 Author Posted October 14, 2019 So do you think it’s more sensible good no for the 16 simultaneous calls then upgrade if required ? If one extension calls another extension, is that classed as 2 simultaneous calls?
free780 Posted October 14, 2019 Posted October 14, 2019 I know of an org that moved to 3CX. I'm not sure if it was the reseller but they had issues with support. It depends how much customisation you want to do. I do notice no one seems to have taken the Teams plunge yet.
fiza Posted October 14, 2019 Posted October 14, 2019 So do you think it’s more sensible good no for the 16 simultaneous calls then upgrade if required ? If one extension calls another extension, is that classed as 2 simultaneous calls?That's 1 call.
keyboards Posted October 15, 2019 Posted October 15, 2019 We use hosted 3cx, most of it is pretty seamless and works well.
techie17 Posted October 15, 2019 Author Posted October 15, 2019 We use hosted 3cx, most of it is pretty seamless and works well. Are you using over an FTTC link or have sites that do?
DGardiner Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 So do you think it’s more sensible good no for the 16 simultaneous calls then upgrade if required ? If one extension calls another extension, is that classed as 2 simultaneous calls? 1 i think, but yeah i would buy the 16, check that you can change as needed and maybee inform the powers that be you may need xyz but are trying no to overbuy as the licence whilst not breaking the bank in cost is a decent saving month by month from what i remember. once its in you should be able to see the info you need to make these desicions! when we got our 16 i expected it to be near capacity as we likewise couldnt see our live usage, could have got away with an 8 in all likelyhood
TechMonkey Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) I know of an org that moved to 3CX. I'm not sure if it was the reseller but they had issues with support. It depends how much customisation you want to do. I do notice no one seems to have taken the Teams plunge yet. I'd be interested to know the issues they had and what customisations they have not been able to do. We manage on pre-paid hours and have barely spoken to our support company in years. We aren't doing anything particularly fancy but anything anyone has wanted to change we have managed it ourselves. We have 16 sim calls and also could probably drop to 8, but the cost isn't that high to worry about and it is nice not to have to stress about calls. 2 extensions making a call to each other is counted as 1 simultaneous call. Think of it as connections, rather than people talking. Caller 1 connects to Caller 2, that is one sim call. If they conference call in Caller 3 that is another connection so 3 Sim calls. Unless you are a very large organisation, sales or a call center most sim calls are quite low. As ever, upgrading always pleases a company, trying to downgrade is either impossible or very hard to do. Edited October 16, 2019 by TechMonkey
techie17 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) In regards regards to SIP trunks on a hosted 3CX system, am i correct in saying that the SIP trunks are only used for external calls (mobiles etc) and not internal calls? Someone just mentioned that no matter what call you make either internal or external, it will use a SIP trunk which i though wasn't correct? Edit: i was also told that a call from one internal extension to another counts as two SC's so is this also incorrect? Edited October 16, 2019 by techie17
lmrogers Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 I know of an org that moved to 3CX. I'm not sure if it was the reseller but they had issues with support. It depends how much customisation you want to do. I do notice no one seems to have taken the Teams plunge yet. So I took over from a network manager who had took the plunge with Teams using Yealink Teams handsets. I have just replaced it after 3 months with 3CX. Teams is so far off being a fully functioning phone system in my opinion. Couple of years and it will possibly be alright.
DGardiner Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 In regards regards to SIP trunks on a hosted 3CX system, am i correct in saying that the SIP trunks are only used for external calls (mobiles etc) and not internal calls? Someone just mentioned that no matter what call you make either internal or external, it will use a SIP trunk which i though wasn't correct? Edit: i was also told that a call from one internal extension to another counts as two SC's so is this also incorrect? yeah the trunks are only picked up for external calls. internal calls are 1sc 1
mavhc Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 Meanwhile I'm running a FreePBX VM myself (using a spare 2GB ram on the server) and paying £5/sc per month, with 15000 minutes included, 0 cost for extensions. And extensions continue to work if the internet ever fails.
Edu-IT Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 Meanwhile I'm running a FreePBX VM myself (using a spare 2GB ram on the server) and paying £5/sc per month, with 15000 minutes included, 0 cost for extensions. And extensions continue to work if the internet ever fails. Who is the provider for your channels?
mavhc Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 Who is the provider for your channels? Gamma, there's quite a few other posts about it.
Oakinno Posted February 15, 2020 Posted February 15, 2020 (edited) In regards regards to SIP trunks on a hosted 3CX system, am i correct in saying that the SIP trunks are only used for external calls (mobiles etc) and not internal calls? Someone just mentioned that no matter what call you make either internal or external, it will use a SIP trunk which i though wasn't correct? Edit: i was also told that a call from one internal extension to another counts as two SC's so is this also incorrect? As the 3CX system is hosted an internal call isn't really internal like an on prem VoIP phone system where the traffic resides with the LAN. The outgoing call will use a SIP channel to reach the hosted platform then another SIP channel to come back in and ring the called user. Edited February 15, 2020 by Oakinno
mavhc Posted February 18, 2020 Posted February 18, 2020 Which means your phones only work internally if your internet is working, crazy. Running a voip server isn't that hard, once you set it up it just runs, mine's a VM using 1GB of ram. I can have 1000s of phones for no extra monthly cost.
flyinghaggis Posted February 18, 2020 Posted February 18, 2020 As the 3CX system is hosted an internal call isn't really internal like an on prem VoIP phone system where the traffic resides with the LAN. The outgoing call will use a SIP channel to reach the hosted platform then another SIP channel to come back in and ring the called user. I believe with the 3CX system you only pay per "line" rather than per phone so providing you have a relatively small number of concurrent calls you can have as many phones/users as you like. That seems pretty cost effective for schools who tend to have loads of phones/devices but relatively few people making calls at the same time. Especially as I've heard 3CX offer apps for Android/IOS so if you're users have school issued phones/tablets or BYOD they can also use those as a fallback or alternative if more convenient than VOIP handsets.
Edu-IT Posted February 18, 2020 Posted February 18, 2020 Which means your phones only work internally if your internet is working, crazy. Running a voip server isn't that hard, once you set it up it just runs, mine's a VM using 1GB of ram. I can have 1000s of phones for no extra monthly cost. Did you say you can mirror it to another server for free too?
mavhc Posted February 18, 2020 Posted February 18, 2020 Did you say you can mirror it to another server for free too? Yeah, because most Hypervisors support that, and it's just another VM. Also you can set up multiple servers, one for each site, and have different routes, eg 2xx goes to site 2, 3xx to site 3, external numbers via internet, probably worth it if you have 100 phones per site 1
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