jimmckenna Posted February 4, 2021 Posted February 4, 2021 Hi, this is a new area for me? Bear with!! How have you setup your systems? Seems to be multiple options? Hosted v Cloud Hosted? Current phone system Analogue with old PBX in place? Do I need to really procure a completely new PBX before I even consider what type of VOIP I should look at? Current broadband have FTTP and the potential to obtain 1gbps on 1 gig bearer. Location is a High school with approximately 40 handsets required. I also have one other school (smaller first school), different site, that has a leased line option of 100/1000 only 6 handsets required. Could I use the broadband connection only and reduce costs by eliminating the costs of a PBX, and other associated hardware? Any suggestions advice much appreciated!! Cheers
leeshellard Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 We use 3CX can be hosted in the cloud or in a virtual server of your own on windows or Linux. We have 70-80 handsets and a lot of remote workers working via android or iOS app now. Couldn’t recommend it more. So so easy to setup and run. You can download and install for free with 2 concurrent calls to do some testing.
jimmckenna Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 Hi, thanks for the quick reply!! Just to confirm, I would not need to change the ageing PBX in school as all voice would use my FTTP broadband connection?
FN-GM Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 We are currently deploying 3CX in our company. We have done 5 sites of 18. I have also used FreePBX. FreePBX is free and more customisable however 3CX software apps blow FreePBX out of the water. We have ours hosted without MPLS network provider who also provides SIP. It means the clients and SIP never travels over the public network and stays internal. @jimmckenna you would use 3CX to replace your PBX.
Jay241 Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 We use 3CX at our school and its just bees knees. It's absolutely fantastic with the customization and as well as having it on portable devices on phones. Really easy setup on or off site if you want them to host it and the best thing, it just works... Really really do recommend it.
VeryPC Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 Morning @jimmckenna Just looping in our specialist in this area - @johnlevis, I'll get him to drop you a PM! In the meantime, not only do we use 3CX in-house here at VeryPC but we've also helped provide support, set up and guidance to many schools across the country. Check out our webpage here and keep an eye on that inbox! https://very-pc.co.uk/products/phone-system/3cx-phone-systems - Ryan 1
jimmckenna Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 Many many thanks for the replies. The one down side is loss of internet in school, all phones would also be down, hosted or cloud hosted. Any comments about reliability? experience so far of using such a service. I can see there would be cost savings if no new internal PBX required. So is it a balance between costs of new internal infrastructure v possible loss of service. As it happens no internet at school at the moment, problems with Talk Talk infrastructure, I believe
Jcx500 Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 We are using an Alcatel Lucent system , Im planning 3CX for our next site though ! 1
TechMonkey Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 (edited) Many many thanks for the replies. The one down side is loss of internet in school, all phones would also be down, hosted or cloud hosted. Any comments about reliability? experience so far of using such a service. I can see there would be cost savings if no new internal PBX required. So is it a balance between costs of new internal infrastructure v possible loss of service. As it happens no internet at school at the moment, problems with Talk Talk infrastructure, I believe Depends on how you do it. If you run 3CX hosted then key staff could use the app on their phone using mobile data to appear to still be at their desks. This goes for where ever they are, we have run with staff still answering their office phones while working at home over the COVID fun and games. There is even a web based version staff can run on their home PCs/Laptops. Both app and web version work really well. The cost saving really is in SIP, your lines and call costs will be way down. The only extra internal infrastructure will be POE switches if you haven't already got them, and handsets, if you need them. Again, you could run just the PC softfone. Our IT department don't have any handsets, we use the app and have BT headsets. I love it, so much easier. Edited February 5, 2021 by TechMonkey 1
MatthewL Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 The other thing with 3CX is there is a Windows client or even web browser so really anyone with a headset can use it. 1
mavhc Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 I installed the FreePBX appliance as a VM, £0, bought some phones, £40 each, got some sip lines from Gamma £8/concurrent call/month with 15000 free minutes per line, all combined. My android phone connects as if I've got a second sim installed, as it's just SIP, plus you have the web interface for making calls, managing your voicemail etc, although most people just have their voicemail emailed to them as an mp3. Can connect the phone directory to ldap on the server too. 1
Davit2005 Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 (edited) Many many thanks for the replies. The one down side is loss of internet in school, all phones would also be down, hosted or cloud hosted. Any comments about reliability? experience so far of using such a service. I can see there would be cost savings if no new internal PBX required. So is it a balance between costs of new internal infrastructure v possible loss of service. As it happens no internet at school at the moment, problems with Talk Talk infrastructure, I believe Would suggest you have a backup internet connection for some redundancy. VOIP is a lot more flexible and will save money in that alone. No more running or using valuable data pairs just for phones as nearly all phones have a socket for the PC as well so simply make sure using a PoE switch or if that is not viable a power injector can work as well. Simply need to tag the VOIP vlan and then untagg the data for the PC. For testing you could set up a SIP trunk for very little money (you do not need a SIP trunk if you are only testing internally) and install 3CX (either the appliance or on a spare PC or evaluation server) or FreePBX. I use 3CX at home and can vouch for it's ease of use but a lot of people have successfully setup freePBX Edited February 5, 2021 by Davit2005 1
mavhc Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 voipfone should give you free sip connection, pay for outgoing calls, incoming free. 2
jimmckenna Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 Many thanks for all the replies much appreciated. Time to absorb this information and then plan next moves!! Cheers
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