[WXC/VFX] Where can I get IP PBX System (Asterisk)?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] Where can I get IP PBX System (Asterisk)?

nhe911

27 posts

Geek

#15922 15-Sep-2007 01:06

I'm exploring options for setting up an office PABX system for 4 lines and 12 extensions. IP PBX, particularly open source based Asterisk PBX or similar systems, seemed to be a lot more cost effective than the traditional PABX. Does anyone know someone in Christchurch can possibly help to set up one?

KiwiOverseas66

173 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#86732 15-Sep-2007 03:57

Gidday.

couple of questions if I may,

1) what's your budget like,
2) who does your IT/ LAN support (do you have someone)?
3) how important is it to have a stable voice platform
4) do you need voicemail, IVR, any other features, etc....

I've worked on a fair few IP PBX installs; from small system for about a dozen people up to large switches servicing organisations with the population of Matamata. There is plenty of choice available - and on the whole the products are good - but support can vary greatly.

cheers

nhe911

27 posts

Geek

#86778 15-Sep-2007 14:34

Hi,

Thanks for being interested in to help.

You were quite right in terms of supports, both internal and external. For that, I would probably correct my inital thoughts of getting a voice server, but moving more towards a solid state device.

Reliability would be important to us. We definitely require something that's business grade.

The must-have features are simply to allow us share 4 lines on 12 extensions and to allow a general number to receive more than one incoming calls, plus a fax which got its own number.

Any other feature would be nice-to-have and cost-dependent.

Features such as SIP trunking would be nice-to-have. In near future, another nice-to-have feature would be GSM trunking to the degree we can allow mobile phones to make calls via the office (system) without manual intervention.

I’ve been given some information for traditional PABX products such as NEC Topaz and Aria 24.

In terms of time frame. I’d appreciate to have some information soon, as a decision will need to be made pretty much by the end of next week.

maverick

3594 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

WorldxChange

#86780 15-Sep-2007 15:01

Have a chat to these guys, even though they are in Auckland they have people they work with in Christchurch and the Quadro system PABX is a pretty good product all round.

ask for Matt or Nate

www.3bit.co.nz

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

KiwiOverseas66

173 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#86813 15-Sep-2007 21:15

nhe911: Hi,

Thanks for being interested in to help.

You were quite right in terms of supports, both internal and external. For that, I would probably correct my inital thoughts of getting a voice server, but moving more towards a solid state device.

Reliability would be important to us. We definitely require something that's business grade.

The must-have features are simply to allow us share 4 lines on 12 extensions and to allow a general number to receive more than one incoming calls, plus a fax which got its own number.

Any other feature would be nice-to-have and cost-dependent.

Features such as SIP trunking would be nice-to-have. In near future, another nice-to-have feature would be GSM trunking to the degree we can allow mobile phones to make calls via the office (system) without manual intervention.

I’ve been given some information for traditional PABX products such as NEC Topaz and Aria 24.

In terms of time frame. I’d appreciate to have some information soon, as a decision will need to be made pretty much by the end of next week.

No problem.

The reason I put the emphasis on support is that there are plenty of systems out there which will do the job. In the past couple of years prices have come right down - so businesses are spoilt for choice. In terms of features there are a few differences here and there - but you could probably throw a blanket over them in terms of overall performance. Aria, NEC have been around for ages. Haven't heard of Quadro - but Xnet know what their doing so if they recommend these guys than that's validation enough. Where the systems will differ is with support. As you probably know - when these things go belly up you want to have an engineer (a certified engineer in that product) in the city you are based in - rather than relying on remote support from say Australia. Nothing like being without your phones for a day to appreciate the value of local support. The reason I mention this is I've dealt with a few customers using systems with third party support for overseas. One govt agency I worked with stumbled along for 8 weeks with intermittent problems until the software provider flew someone out from Australia. Turned out to be a software bug (although they were blaming the network at the time). Also as it turned out - the local installer - this was their second installation of this system, and the engineer they had was certified in the brand - but not the particular model they had installed.

Also, don't be put off looking at some of the traditional PBX products like cisco call manager express or nortel BCMs. Can be expensive - but there are stacks of cisco or nortel certified engineers in Chch. Something like the nortel BCM 50 is a good deal. Supports up to 20 users (can be extended to 40), supports SIP, voicemail, unified messaging, auto attendent, etc - can even run a small call centre with intelligent call queuing. Will also run cordless IP exnts. Also has a firewall, support PSTN, ISDN, DSL trunking (not sure about the GSM support). Support is provided by Cogent - so yes they are in chch. One of the nice things as well with this system is that all the smarts are already installed. If you want to use unified messaging you pay the licensing fee which gives you the activation code - and its on. No downloading or installing - and you don't pay for it until you want it turned on. From memory - the base module is 3-5k to purchase - then you add the cost of the phones and the trunking module you want. In terms of size the thing is about twice the thickness of a laptop.

good luck.