atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX VoIP & Cloud Phones, Hosted PBX, General IP Phones Please Help Get Me Started: Simple VoiP Setup

Hi there, I would like some help with a simple VoiP setup and hope you can give some simple recommendations.

I need to get an 800/866 number and I'd like to use VoiP as I already have cable internet but no phone lines. I would prefer to have my own "box" instead of using a service like Vonage that leases you their box.

I don't need anything complicated or really fancy features, and above all, something that's easy to program and change settings would be great.

I would like to have a cordless phone setup with two handsets (one for upstairs and one for downstairs).

Thank you for your help in answering this newbie question!

Callcentric can help you out with that:
https://www.callcentric.com/support/device/cisco/spa112-spa122

Thanks!

So let me see if I understand.. the device is actually a Cisco SPA112, but the link you provided is specifically for "Call Centric" service. I could buy a Cisco SPA112 and sign up for any 'ol VoIP service that is compatible with the Cisco SPA112?

Thank you!!

Yes, that's exactly right.

Thanks. Will the CISCO SPA112/122 work with any regular type of phone?

So, a simple phone like this would work: https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/201946/Panasonic-KX-TG9471B-DECT-60-Digital/

Yup it will. I use Call Centric service. Not bad service. Prices are reasonable. One thing to note, when Hurricane Sandy hit, they were offline for 2 weeks. Like dead. Nothing, no website or anything. I get the impression it is run by a handful of people (like less than 10). Keep that in mind. I don't know if they have geographically distributed their services yet. VoIP.ms is another good option too. They have geographically distributed servers. Also can setup autoattendants and other more advanced features that CallCentric doesn't currently support. Both offer toll-free 8XX service.

To plug in your phones you can use that Cisco ATA. Another good one to use is the Obihai 100 or 110. Very simple to setup. A couple of clicks for Callcentric and VoIP.ms.
https://www.obihai.com/product-primer.html

Due to the Sandy disaster, which truly was a 100 year occurrence, CallCentric was dark for a little over 2 days, NOT 2 weeks.

I use CallCentric for my business. Believe me on this.

They are an excellent provider, and do have plans for more redundancy.

In terms of the time frame, just BEFORE Sandy they were fighting off a very bad DDoS internet attack. I think that's why you got confused as to the time frame.