VOIP for charity organization - advice needed for a noob.

Forums › VoIP › VOIP for charity organization - advice needed for a noob.

Zal

214 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 24

#179128 27-Aug-2015 15:05

Hey GZ
Would appreciate some advice on how to setup a VOIP setup for a charity organization.

Note I currently do their I.T.

Current setup:
Total 7 users
x3 POTS lines, two for calls, one for fax.
Old PABX that is a good 10 years old.
Costing a good $150 along for just the lines per month.

Looking at getting sip lines from 2talk or internet provider (they are on fiber)

Wanting:
2 or 3 sip lines for calls
One for fax
Simple and easy setup - phones get little use.

I've tried one of these: http://www.gowifi.co.nz/coming-soon-new-products/grandstream-gxw4104-series-ip-4-fxo-analogue-gateway.html?keyword=voip
But it was a bitch to setup and I could never get it working.

Random questions:
Is VOIP secure? Can anyone tap into these calls?

Would appreciate any and all advice for a poor noob like myself.

Thanks!

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 225

#1375277 27-Aug-2015 16:12

My suggestion is that you use a full service provider for the VOIP service and they can provide full support.

Can you please state what you are trying to achieve by moving them to VOIP. This will have a big impact on your options.

Zal

214 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 24

#1375296 27-Aug-2015 16:45

Good suggestion, who would you recommend?

Reason for change is cost saving. $150 a month for lines plus tolls is pretty costly for one or two phone calls a day.

kornflake

409 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 56

#1375370 27-Aug-2015 19:10

would stear well clear of grandstream, although there phones look better now days (hope the gui has changed) go for a decent peice of kit like epigy, if your compitent (not confident) look after after the admin yourself if not pay someone.

Jax

92 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#1375435 27-Aug-2015 22:37

Run a virtual PBX?
http://www.3cx.com/phone-system/edition-comparison/

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 225

#1375473 28-Aug-2015 07:07

Zal: Good suggestion, who would you recommend?

Reason for change is cost saving. $150 a month for lines plus tolls is pretty costly for one or two phone calls a day.

More questions first before a recommendation.
* How many simultaneous calls do they need to be able to make? I'm guessing the answer here is they only need one call a time as they only make one or two calls.
* Do they have cellphones? Is using cellphone "free" minutes to make calls a cost effective option?
* How many incoming calls do they receive?

michaelmurfy

meow
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+1 received by user: 10370

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#1375503 28-Aug-2015 08:25

Set up a FreePBX box and get in touch with Vibe Communications. They can do VoIP for $12.95/mo (single line) that can handle an unlimited amount of concurrent calls.

It also depends on your budget. If you're happy installing it yourself then go the FreePBX + Cisco IP phone route otherwise look into getting a full dedicated system from a VoIP company like an ipecs.

I also believe Solarix can install, provide VoIP and provide leasing.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

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Zal

214 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 24

#1375721 28-Aug-2015 15:02

graemeh:
Zal: Good suggestion, who would you recommend?

Reason for change is cost saving. $150 a month for lines plus tolls is pretty costly for one or two phone calls a day.

More questions first before a recommendation.
* How many simultaneous calls do they need to be able to make? I'm guessing the answer here is they only need one call a time as they only make one or two calls.
* Do they have cellphones? Is using cellphone "free" minutes to make calls a cost effective option?
* How many incoming calls do they receive?

Two simultaneous calls would be fine. They used to have phone steppers with Vodafone untill they moved. So currently its one line.
Only personal cell phones, so not really an option.
On a busy day, maybe 10 calls a day, some days its one or two.

The actual turn over of calls is very limited.

Can Fax be piped over VOIP?

Wise

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radicall

94 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 8

Trusted

Radicall

#1375725 28-Aug-2015 15:11

Zal: Hey GZ
Would appreciate some advice on how to setup a VOIP setup for a charity organization.

Note I currently do their I.T.

Current setup:
Total 7 users
x3 POTS lines, two for calls, one for fax.
Old PABX that is a good 10 years old.
Costing a good $150 along for just the lines per month.

Looking at getting sip lines from 2talk or internet provider (they are on fiber)

Wanting:
2 or 3 sip lines for calls
One for fax
Simple and easy setup - phones get little use.

I've tried one of these: http://www.gowifi.co.nz/coming-soon-new-products/grandstream-gxw4104-series-ip-4-fxo-analogue-gateway.html?keyword=voip
But it was a bitch to setup and I could never get it working.

Random questions:
Is VOIP secure? Can anyone tap into these calls?

Would appreciate any and all advice for a poor noob like myself.

Thanks!

Hi,

As this is for a Charity I would be happy to talk to you about a reasonable Hosted Solution.

We can look at getting some ex-lease CISCO Handsets with a relatively cheap 8 Port POE.

Will include a fully functional Hosted PBX instance.

Best of all a real person you can call on for support, moves adds and changes that include on going maintenance.

Give me a PM with your details or call me.

See our story on our website available in the signature.

Happy to negotiate what is reasonable and works for all parties involved.

______________________________________ www.radicall.co.nz ________________________________________

Be Successful WITH US! - Light ideas for YOUR SUCCESS - Business Solutions OF A NEW AGE - Result Driven IDEAS _______________________________________________________________________________________________

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 225

#1375746 28-Aug-2015 15:34

radicall:
Zal: Hey GZ
Would appreciate some advice on how to setup a VOIP setup for a charity organization.

Note I currently do their I.T.

Current setup:
Total 7 users
x3 POTS lines, two for calls, one for fax.
Old PABX that is a good 10 years old.
Costing a good $150 along for just the lines per month.

Looking at getting sip lines from 2talk or internet provider (they are on fiber)

Wanting:
2 or 3 sip lines for calls
One for fax
Simple and easy setup - phones get little use.

I've tried one of these: http://www.gowifi.co.nz/coming-soon-new-products/grandstream-gxw4104-series-ip-4-fxo-analogue-gateway.html?keyword=voip
But it was a bitch to setup and I could never get it working.

Random questions:
Is VOIP secure? Can anyone tap into these calls?

Would appreciate any and all advice for a poor noob like myself.

Thanks!

Hi,

As this is for a Charity I would be happy to talk to you about a reasonable Hosted Solution.

We can look at getting some ex-lease CISCO Handsets with a relatively cheap 8 Port POE.

Will include a fully functional Hosted PBX instance.

Best of all a real person you can call on for support, moves adds and changes that include on going maintenance.

Give me a PM with your details or call me.

See our story on our website available in the signature.

Happy to negotiate what is reasonable and works for all parties involved.

This looks like your best option as it includes support which is the area some of the cheaper solutions fail in.

You could also ask about a more modern fax service and consider having incoming faxes going into an email system and have an outgoing gateway for sending faxes too.

radicall

94 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 8

Trusted

Radicall

#1375767 28-Aug-2015 15:39

graemeh:

This looks like your best option as it includes support which is the area some of the cheaper solutions fail in.

You could also ask about a more modern fax service and consider having incoming faxes going into an email system and have an outgoing gateway for sending faxes too.

Thank you for the vote of support.

Yes we would recommend a simple 2fax port for their fax number to send and receive faxes as PDF through email, would be part of the service and maintained by us.

Cheers!

______________________________________ www.radicall.co.nz ________________________________________

RedMoose

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1388073 15-Sep-2015 18:16

Hi,

We run a charity called Vivere NZ, for which we had to make this very decision.

We chose to go with 2 talk and got one line and one fax line. The faxing system with 2talk is easy you can send and receive faxes either ver a fax machine (either a networking fax or ATA analogue fax) or ver email.

Phone line wise we purchases a cheap Cisco ATA converter and used a spare phone we had lying around the house. Our monthly fee was only about $20 +GST. We have since added more lines and switched our personal phone lines over to 2 talk too and we are still paying far less than we were with telecom.

We have had very little problems with them, and setup wise you do need to self set up you VOIP devices or ATA devices however once it is set up it is normally a breeze. Plus you can set up a range of features like call diverts, recording etc extremely easily with 2talk.

We are happy to answer any questiosn you have about it :)