Before attempting to Implement ...

[jfigura]

Please excuse the Noob questions but I want to be sure I understand this correctly...

What I perceive this PBX being able to do is to take my incoming telephone calls, and route them to virtual extensions, or softphones on my LAN.

It is to my further understanding that if I have a VOIP provider such as Vonage or Broadvoice, I can then transfer out, or call out from the Lan. Is that correct?

What if for my business, I already have Vonage for my main business and fax lines (incoming and outgoing). I would assume that the incoming calls would work like a normal landline, but to go out, I need either the softphone option, or another account from Broadvoice.

If a call comes in on my main line and hits the PBX Greetings Menu, and the caller selects an option which happens to be my partner 5 states away, I am assuming that the PBX could route the call to him via the outbound account via Broadvoice. Is this correct?

Sorry guys... I am a video editor not a PBX programmer

 

[N_G]

Hi,

Thanks for your mail and interest.

Yes, your understanding of our system is right. Not bad for a video editor

THe only part i did not completely understand is if you have VONAGE, you would be able to use it for both inbound and outbound calls. So you would not need Broadvoice as well. THat said, Broadvoice is easier to configure.

Lastly i do want to mention that it will require some networking knowledge to configure all the components.

 

[jfigura]

Networking... No issues here with me. Been at it since token ring.

Let me re-state my areas of ignorance - PBX and anything beyond basic PHP code.

Let me re-explain exactly what I want this system to do for me...

I have three offices - One in NH, MA, and IL - The offices in NH is the main office. Currently, I have on hand, a vonage account that has two numbers, one for voice, one for fax. An 800 number also points to the main line.

In MA, I have another Vonage line for that office.

In IL, he is remote and is restricted to Satellite internet, a very crappy landline, and his cell phone which he has excellent service on.

What I want is:
#1 - Call comes in to main office
#2 - Caller hits the PBX and is presented with a menu choice
#3 - Caller makes a choice to contact the extension that is located in Illinois
#4 - Call is forwarded to Illinois


It would be to my understanding if I read correctly that I would indeed need a secondary VOIP account in order to forward that call?

Thanks for the response. I appreciate it greatly. If anything, at least I am being educated about my options as a very small business.

--Joe

 

[N_G]

Thank you for your explanation. Your networking knowledge should more then enough then

In regards to the call forwarding, is he reachable on a phone number or via the internet only? In the new build its possible to forward calls to an external number, for example the mobile. Is this what you are looking for? It will be possible to do this via internet as well however satellite internet is usually not a good type of connection for VOIP

 

[jfigura]

Anyone out there care to offer a clarification for me?

Thanks in advance to whoever might be able to set me straight before I spend time embarking on this adventure...

 

[N_G]

Hi Jfigura,

I am assuming that this was posted just before i posted my reply? If not please let me know in more detail. But yes, what you asked should be possible...

 

[jfigura]

Hi Nick,

Yeah we must have posted at the same time. Sorry about that. Yes - the remote office with Satellite Internet would be to a cell phone.

So I am assuming that in order to forward the call in that manner, another VOIP account like Vonage Softphone, or Broadvoice would be needed to handle the transfer of calls.

--Joe

 

[N_G]

Yes, unless you'd use a VOIP Gateway and transfer it out via a PSTN line to the mobile number..

 

[jfigura]

Ok Nick. I have zero POTS lines in my house. Everything is via an upgraded cable modem service and I generally get on average at least 500K up to most networks. My wife and I both work from the home and each have VOIP lines via Vonage. Haven't had a POTS line in over a year, which is why your company and software appeals to me. I had been getting quoted on going back to POTS with an older Toshiba based PBX but it was ridiculously expensive.

Additionally we thought of using an outside service, but would have lost our phone numbers and then had to pay per minute on incoming calls.

You mentioned the next version would be able to transfer calls out to a cell or PSTN line. When might we be seeing that? I think once you release that I will start giving this thing a whirl and see how it goes.

Thank you for being responsive on these questions. I really appreciate it.

--Joe

 

[N_G]

In that case there is no need for a PSTN gateway. Just sign up with a provider such as Broadvoice and you can make calls out to PSTN numbers.

 

[jfigura]

Thanks again Nick.