Please help..need to setup voip to POTS over network

[hkalltheway]

I would appreciate if anyone could help here. I see this is a very interesting piece of software. Could anyone help me with my desired setup?

Basically, I have a vonage line that I will use as a POTS line in my scenario...as if the vonage jack is a POTS jack. That makes calling north america free. I live in Saudi Arabia. I want to offer my friends in Saudi Arabia the ability to call North America for free using my vonage line. I want to assign them extensions on the 3CX server, so they can use any SIP client to connect and dial via the outgoing vonage POTS. Could this program serve this purpose? How would I set up extensions for people outside my network? Please advise. Thanks!

 

[Pentangle]

Hi,

Yes this is possible, but is your bandwidth good enough to be able to allow multiple people access like this?

Basically, the architecture would be such that you would set the Vonage line as a trunk line, and extensions given to each user. You would then give your friends a SIP client and set up your firewall to open the requisite ports.

You would then have your friends calling into the 3CX server and out via the Vonage line to the States.

The one thing i'm not sure about is why your friends don't get their own Vonage line and avoid the use of a PBX at all, as if your only reason for this is free calls to the US I don't see where running a PBX would add any value for you?

 

[hkalltheway]

Thank you very much for your detailed response, Pentangle!

The issue is that we don't want to subscribe to multiple vonage lines because of cost. Secondly, I am the only one who used to live in Canada and have a valid credit card there. Otherwise, we are now all in Saudi Arabia. In order to subscribe to vonage, one needs a US or Canadian billing address, and my friends don't qualify. I have about 1mbit of dedicated available bandwidth specifically for this application. I think that would support 4 connections without a problem simultaneously. Now, is there any way of restricting the pbx to restrict the maximum number of calls at one time? Say I change from vonage to another provider, which allows for more than one outgoing call at the same time using the linksys pap2 or a similar device.

 

[Pentangle]

Ah but is it 1mbit/s of bandwidth upstream AND downstream?

There is a setting on the trunk line that allows you to limit the number of concurrent connections via that line.

 

[sunitmathur]

I think that you'll need a FXO gateway (ex: Sipura SPA3000 / Handytone 488) to be able to make 3cx talk to the Vonage line. Alternately, you can subscribe to the vonage softphone and use that as a VOIP gateway. I am also trying to set up something similar with my local digital line, not for sharing though..just to get access to the line when I am travelling...my digital line has unlimited calling to India...

I am planning to buy the Grandstream Handytone 488...about $40 in the US.

hope this helps.

Thanks