SPARK IP CENTREX Questions...

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dimsim

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#214178 1-May-2017 12:11

I have a few questions for anyone in the know..

How long it take for this service to be setup?
Is there a list of supported devices anywhere? Already have Cisco SPA500 series phones.
Are supported devices auto-provisioned?
Are presence indicators (Such as on our SPA500's) able to be used for ringing extension identification and call pickup?

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Chorus

#1773373 1-May-2017 12:25

I don't know the answers to any of this, however I happen to sit next to the IP Centrex provisioning team. They are in a meeting at the moment, but when they come out I will see if someone can provide answers to your questions.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

Wheelbarrow01

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#1773442 1-May-2017 13:24

How long it take for this service to be setup?

This is dependant on whether a standalone access is required – the setup of IPC itself is relatively quick from provisionings end but there are a few variables which can be site dependant which include, technician to install the phones, sending out phones and router, and the access install itself. We would be able to give a more accurate projection once we had a case logged.

Is there a list of supported devices anywhere? Already have Cisco SPA500 series phones.

The Spark Digital Client Manager or Business Hub should have a catalogue, the phones are Cisco 504 and Cisco 525, unsure of switches.

Are supported devices auto-provisioned?

Equipment is either preconfigured before being send to the technician to install or they will configure them on site.

Are presence indicators (Such as on our SPA500's) able to be used for ringing extension identification and call pickup?

the IP Centrex service does have extension dialling as well as call pickup function among other services. Your best source of information would be to contact your client manager (for Spark Digital customers) or your local Spark Business Hub (for small to medium enterprises).

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

dimsim

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#1773622 1-May-2017 15:44

Excellent - I believe we are able to supply our own phones (we already have 6x Cisco SPA502G) and are already running a PoE switch with the Phones on a separate VLAN so we have no need for a technician to do the install. I assume we only need to supply each phones mac address, reset the phone then enter the provisioning URL.

Can you confirm please if this is the process?

Thanks.

sbiddle

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#1773651 1-May-2017 16:21

When I last looked at a setup a few years ago they didn't support presence. The platform actually had very limited functionality compared to what else is in the market.

kornflake

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#1773683 1-May-2017 17:45

presence still not supported. IPC is a bit behind the pack to put it politely.

antoniosk

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#1773698 1-May-2017 18:08

It's a pretty old platform and an even older product. If you need presence get an ippbx and be done with it.

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dimsim

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#1773723 1-May-2017 19:14

Mmm, that's a shame I assumed this was a new VOIP offering not an IP connected old Centrex system which it what it now sounds like.

Anyone have an basic single box IP PBX's that would work well with our Cisco Phones? Our requirements are

Basic IVR

Presence/call pickup

Voicemail to email

Simple phone configuration

Perhaps I've been spoilt before with the array of phone configuration options on a UC320w - it was super simple to configure presence, speed dials etc for both the phones and a sidecar, i guess that's what id like to be able to do again if available.

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sbiddle

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#1773761 1-May-2017 19:43

dimsim:

Mmm, that's a shame I assumed this was a new VOIP offering not an IP connected old Centrex system which it what it now sounds like.

Anyone have an basic single box IP PBX's that would work well with our Cisco Phones? Our requirements are

Basic IVR

Presence/call pickup

Voicemail to email

Simple phone configuration

Perhaps I've been spoilt before with the array of phone configuration options on a UC320w - it was super simple to configure presence, speed dials etc for both the phones and a sidecar, i guess that's what id like to be able to do again if available.

FreePBX - or pretty much any of the other hosted solutions out there that offer hosted if you're after that.

chevrolux

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#1773813 1-May-2017 20:10

I would say the official FreePBX distro is quite hard to go past if you are technically capable.

It is very mature these days and really quite hard to "do it wrong" security wise. Just don't do stupid things like configure DISA's or write custom contexts that can access trunks, but mainly don't forward 5060 to the box.

Download the distro, stick it on some half decent hardware, buy the commercial endpoint manager (for provisioning your SPA's) and you're away laughing.

coffeebaron

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#1773838 1-May-2017 20:43

3CX has very good auto provisioning. It doesn't do full auto provision of the Cisco phones - i.e. you need to manually stick in the provisioning link into the phone web interface, but after that phones will auto provision.

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sbiddle

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#1773840 1-May-2017 20:48

coffeebaron:

3CX has very good auto provisioning. It doesn't do full auto provision of the Cisco phones - i.e. you need to manually stick in the provisioning link into the phone web interface, but after that phones will auto provision.

It's fully automatic if you do DHCP option 66 (as it is with FreePBX also)

dimsim

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#1773842 1-May-2017 20:52

I guess running more hardware is what we were trying to avoid by going with IP Centrex.

Can anyone recommend a hosted IP PBX service that can auto provision the phones and setup presence etc? If the SPA500's are not compatible then I guess we could look at using another brand if that's whats needed.

chevrolux

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#1773850 1-May-2017 21:05

What's the issue running more on-premise stuff though? TBH I think people get all a bit caught up in "the cloud" and figure everything good is up in that magic bubble.

The cost benefit of investing in a bit of hardware versus renting a hosted system from somewhere can be significant - especially in the VoIP scene. I for one can say that our markup on the hosted product is rather large compared with on-prem hardware markup. Plus we do a lot less maintenance on on-premise hardware than we have to do on the hosted platform (but that's a bit of a bad comparison to be fair).

But anyway, to answer the question... FreePBX can work well in a hosted environment and with a decent WAN solution (or even just VPN back to the datacenter) you would utilise the auto-provisioning just as you would with an on-premise server. Otherwise, commercially there are quite a few companies running hosted versions of 3CX which, again, with the right WAN setup can provision your phones.

And to just throw all that out completely.... registering your phones up with 2talk Cloud PBX lines would achieve what you want to achieve - but with no auto-provsioning.

Edit: just one more.. Vadacom comes to mind too for a very mature hosted product that plenty of people speak highly of. But no idea what their hardware policy is.

n00dy

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#1773858 1-May-2017 21:22

IP Centrex is about to get an overhaul, details will be released in the very near future. It will include an upgrade many of its features and add a new suite of functionality. I would be waiting just a little longer before deciding.

dimsim

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#1773860 1-May-2017 21:23

chevrolux:

What's the issue running more on-premise stuff though? TBH I think people get all a bit caught up in "the cloud" and figure everything good is up in that magic bubble.

The cost benefit of investing in a bit of hardware versus renting a hosted system from somewhere can be significant - especially in the VoIP scene. I for one can say that our markup on the hosted product is rather large compared with on-prem hardware markup. Plus we do a lot less maintenance on on-premise hardware than we have to do on the hosted platform (but that's a bit of a bad comparison to be fair).

But anyway, to answer the question... FreePBX can work well in a hosted environment and with a decent WAN solution (or even just VPN back to the datacenter) you would utilise the auto-provisioning just as you would with an on-premise server. Otherwise, commercially there are quite a few companies running hosted versions of 3CX which, again, with the right WAN setup can provision your phones.

And to just throw all that out completely.... registering your phones up with 2talk Cloud PBX lines would achieve what you want to achieve - but with no auto-provsioning.

Edit: just one more.. Vadacom comes to mind too for a very mature hosted product that plenty of people speak highly of. But no idea what their hardware policy is.

I've been considering 2talk's Cloud PBX but haven't progressed any further due to their lack of documentation on configuring our SPA5xx phones. There is a generic SIP configuration document and some other for older SPA phones but not much else, hence my questions here about auto provisioning.

I mean we are only 6 extensions but I was hoping to avoid having to manually configure each phone.

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