VOIP suggestion for big office

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CYaBro

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#80555 1-Apr-2011 10:16

Hey, one of my bigger clients is looking into possibly changing to a VOIP system in their office.
They are currently expanding and would have to upgrade their current phone system anyway and have been given an estimate of about $30,000!

Who would be the best person/company to talk to about this?
WorldxChange?

They currently have 30 staff with extensions and 10 incoming phone lines.
8 lines for phones, 1 for broadband & 1 for fax.
They are going to need 6 more extensions right away with the possibility of more in the near future.

They currently only have a standard ADSL2+ connection but they do have access to Northpower's fibre if they go to VOIP.

Thanks!

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

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#454122 1-Apr-2011 11:15

Crickey $30k!

You can definitely get a system in for less than that.

If they have fibre that opens up the options quite a bit. I would be happy to provide some recommendations - I'll PM you my direct contact details. Cheers

Reluctant geek

maverick

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WorldxChange

#454168 1-Apr-2011 12:35

It's not just the phone system you want to check out, every man and his dog will want to jump on these, for a full SIP trunking solution you will want your customer to have a full end to end solution no good having a fancy IP-PBX if some things don't work.

Really having fibre dosn't mean it's a full solution if the handoff to the SIP provider is going through a public peering point whats a complete waste of time ! any issues here screws your customer , for buisness you really want a point to point IP solution , also you may want to check what providers you look at, ie does the SIP provider have their own network or are the reselling someone elses, makes a huge differnce when things go wrong, they ring you, you ring the PABX guy they ring the reseller VoiP Provider who then rings the actual VoIP provider... Then the blame game starts ... :)

Here are some things to think about

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=43&topicid=77786

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

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

maverick

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WorldxChange

#454171 1-Apr-2011 12:40

PS.. If you want to talk to someone from WxC drop me a PM and I will get one of our guys to to give you a call,

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

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

Ivor

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#454311 1-Apr-2011 18:39

30K???

An on-site Pentium 4 Asterisk Server can handle that all with a delicated Broadband connection plus 30 ATAs would cost like 3K to 4K only!!

sbiddle

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#454314 1-Apr-2011 18:47

Ivor: 30K???

An on-site Pentium 4 Asterisk Server can handle that all with a delicated Broadband connection plus 30 ATAs would cost like 3K to 4K only!!

2nd hand equipment FTW.

Ivor

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#454319 1-Apr-2011 18:58

sbiddle:
2nd hand equipment FTW.

They could be new but I would say just entry level.

If changing all phones to like Linksys SPA942 etc etc... this would cost a lot more.

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

sbiddle

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#454348 1-Apr-2011 20:19

Ivor:
sbiddle:
2nd hand equipment FTW.

They could be new but I would say just entry level.

If changing all phones to like Linksys SPA942 etc etc... this would cost a lot more.

They would deliver a professional system. ATA's and analogue phones in an office environment these days is nothing but a cheap hack with far too many limitations.

AndrewTD

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#454367 1-Apr-2011 21:20

Your client could always consider a hosted VoIP solution. Key benefits of hosted VoIP (as opposed to deploying an on-site PBX) are the fact that you don't have to worry about running the device, and hosted VoIP is probably the most flexible when it comes to setting up new users in other locations. For non-VoIP skilled people, it's usually best to outsource the running of the system to VoIP specialists.
Hosted VoIP will have cheaper start up costs, but possibly higher lifetime costs than outright system purchase.

WxC advertise that they offer a hosted VoIP solution (here: http://wxc.co.nz/vhostedip.html ). But when I last asked WxC about it (probably more than a year ago now) they weren't actually delivering it to new customers. Hopefully they do now.
There are other companies that are definitely delivering hosted VoIP solutions now.

I would add that if WxC are now deploying hosted VoIP to new customers, then they would probably be my first choice / recommendation, because I think they are one of the few truly business-class VoIP providers in NZ today, and their tech people are accessible, knowledgeable and helpful.

kind regards Andrew TD

Zeon

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#454501 2-Apr-2011 12:23

AndrewTD: Your client could always consider a hosted VoIP solution. Key benefits of hosted VoIP (as opposed to deploying an on-site PBX) are the fact that you don't have to worry about running the device, and hosted VoIP is probably the most flexible when it comes to setting up new users in other locations. For non-VoIP skilled people, it's usually best to outsource the running of the system to VoIP specialists.
Hosted VoIP will have cheaper start up costs, but possibly higher lifetime costs than outright system purchase.

WxC advertise that they offer a hosted VoIP solution (here: http://wxc.co.nz/vhostedip.html ). But when I last asked WxC about it (probably more than a year ago now) they weren't actually delivering it to new customers. Hopefully they do now.
There are other companies that are definitely delivering hosted VoIP solutions now.

I would add that if WxC are now deploying hosted VoIP to new customers, then they would probably be my first choice / recommendation, because I think they are one of the few truly business-class VoIP providers in NZ today, and their tech people are accessible, knowledgeable and helpful.

Yea would definitely recommended hosted voip or at least keep the voip server colocated at a datacenter. I've also never had problems with running voip over public peering points. I have run WxC voip fine from ICONZ and Orcon before they had directly interconnection with wxc and traffic went via APE

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tknz

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#455029 4-Apr-2011 10:27

Defenitely co-location, I designed a VOIP solution where it is multi-tenanted for smaller customers and they just need to have a phone endpoint and charge per extension so the phones work anywhere, you could probably set this up yourself as the multi-tenant part is the difficult part and you don't need that. Just a quick suggestion is to move their Exchange/Mail to Microsoft BPOS or Google Apps and then they can have a complete remote office solution where they can work from anywhere with a connection.

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Any views and ideas that I have expressed in my comments are my own, and do not represent my place of work.
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pacgen

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#455422 5-Apr-2011 09:53

I would go with www.conversant.co.nz.

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maverick

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WorldxChange

#455440 5-Apr-2011 11:12

pacgen: I would go with www.conversant.co.nz.

And that would be because you work for them !!!!, posting like this without disclosing your interests is very very bad form, so you have a national network are looking to offer the full solution or are just hoping to sell a PABX.

Meet the Conversant team
At Conversant, we hire talented, passionate people you’ll love to deal with

.Brett Thorburn, Leader - Demand
An Aucklander born and bred, Brett spent the 20 years between 1997 and 2007 working in Italy. His roles there all involved sales and customer relations of some kind. Including experience as diverse as export market development for multinational car companies to investor relations for a top fashion house. As well as completing an MBA, Brett developed a sales approach based on delivering solutions to customer requirements, rather than simple product placement.

On his return to NZ, Brett established a new market in automotive distribution. In 2008, Brett joined the Conversant team as a Director. His focus is to understand your needs as a business and how to help you get the most out of Conversant’s internet phone systems. His experience in working with a wide range of companies across a broad spectrum of industries helps him understand how clients’ needs differ.

On weekends Brett likes to explore the Hauraki Gulf or take to the hills on tramping expeditions – although most hikes are less ambitious than his successful assent of Kilimanjaro in 2008.

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

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

timmmay

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#455442 5-Apr-2011 11:14

Posting recommendations for your own company without disclosing should be grounds for banning, IMHO. People should get objective advice here, not a sales pitch.

pacgen

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#455446 5-Apr-2011 11:19

Apologies Maverick et al, I am a newbie to this forum business and noticed most other users posting here are "spinning their own wheels" so to speak. I'll create a Conversant user name for future recommendations.

pacgen

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Wannabe Geek

#455449 5-Apr-2011 11:23

- "I would be happy to provide some recommendations - I'll PM you my direct contact details."

- "PS.. If you want to talk to someone from WxC drop me a PM and I will get one of our guys to to give you a call,"

I don't think posting a company website counts as a sales pitch any more than these (disclosure aside).

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