atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX VoIP & Cloud Phones, Hosted PBX, General IP Phones Off-premise extension

We have a Panasonic KX-TA824 with KX-T7736 sets.

We'd like to move a station to an off-premise location for an employee who will work from home (served by the same CO.)

The telco offers an OPX (or VG32) circuit, but its specifications make me doubt that it would actually allow the remotely-located 7726 set to work like it does in the office (line/station appearances, intercom, etc.)

Would it be possible to accomplish this using an IP solution, like MultiTech IP gateways at both locations? We'd consider changing the PBX, but it seems that all the "VoIP" solutions touted by the manufacturers refer to the line side, not the station side. Hosted-PBX might work, but we're concerned about both the operational reliability and the stability of companies offering the service. (Plus I don't know if we can port our existing numbers over to a hosted provider.)

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You might want to post this in the Panasonic forum. From memory I don't think your phone system supports VOIP. An OPX definately will only act like a single line telephone off the system. Hosted is a big nono, unless you want to lose control of your telephone numbers if you decide to leave them.

Thanks. I did also post this in the Panasonic forum, where it was thought I should post it here too.

We'd be willing to change the system to accommodate this setup, as an OPX wouldn't probably give us what we want, as you pointed out.

We won't go hosted if we have to use their phone numbers.

What about other systems that might permit off-premise extensions over IP? Like I said in my original post, it seems this VoIP thing is mostly designed on the line side instead of the station side from what I've found so far.

I think ESI has one that would do what we want in their IVX E and X class systems, but those systems seem to be a poor fit in that they're so large and expensive (pricing deleted)

We've got a generous budget for this, but I don't feel right getting a 60-station system to serve three or four stations.

Sally:

True, the existing 824 system you have won't give you any kind of VOIP capability for off-premises extensions. In order to do this, you will have to either use the OPX mentioned earlier (OL13C circuit) to a single-line phone or replace the system.

There are LOADS of systems out there that offer a mix of TDM and VOIP capabilities. Don't limit yourself to one manufacturer. Big names aren't always the best, in fact it is the local dealer presence for the brands that really matters. It's the dealer you need to be evaluating, not the name of the manufacturer. If you follow this logic, you will be pleasantly surprised over what you can buy that's really good.

Station side VoIP does work, with certain systems you can have a handset that is programmed just as if it was at the main office.
You can transfer calls, place them on hold, conference, monitor other hansets on the system and even page to the handset.

If the remote phone is at "home office", make sure you have adequate bandwidth available, understand how firewalls can affect call set up, and realize that 911 calls won't generally show up as being made from the remote site.

As Ed said, its the dealer that makes the difference, if he/she can identify your true needs and provide the correct product and sevice, you will be happy.

Sally, if you only have a few stations look at some other VOIP system other than ESI. ESI isn't the cheapest on the block...and we are a dealer and love them. We also sell NEC Aspires becuase we have to be price aware. Also, don't sell short a single line telephone working off an OPX. With the right training a regular telephone off a PBX can work wonders AND the NICE thing about an OPX is that you don't have to worry incessantly about voice quality issues. Good luck!

Most of the newer systems can have a mix of TDM & VOIP for stations. Get with a local dealer and see what they suggest.

I'm not familiar with Panasonic, but you might see if a newer system with VOIP can use your existing phones, might save you some $$$.

OPX works fine with Multi Tech.
Multi Tech works great with Panasonic.
We set them up on single line ports for remote users. Just get a std 1,2 or 3 line phone at remote location and send slt ports from PBX to them. Features such as transfer, voicemail pickup paging,etc. may be programmed on buttons so theres no need to learn complicated codes. Station assigned to remote users can be assigned to DSS button at recption or assistant phones to know when they are on the phone or unavailble.
No VPN required (usually) Multi Tech's Net Coder
works fine in most cases.
Remote user can make calls (subject to any toll restriction you wish to impose),receive calls, transfer calls, make pages, send and receive voice mail and most other features.
You can upgrade the control unit of your Panasonic and have Full VOIP Keysets for the remote users that function just as if they were at main location.
Just move up to TDA system and keep old phones.

I'm not sure if you have a good answer yet, but there is another way to do this-
Using two sipura/linksys ATAs you can make sort of an 'internet extension cord'. This is done with the dialplan of the ATAs, on the phone side (any will do) set it to send any calls to the IP address or hostname of the other unit. On the line side (need SPA3000 for the FXO port), set it to immediately dial the IP of the other unit. There used to be a good guide on voxilla.com for sipura dialplan hacks, but I can't find it at the moment...

Also this will only get you phone service, not keys or anything like that.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by IronHelix:
[QB] I'm not sure if you have a good answer yet, but there is another way to do this-
Using two sipura/linksys ATAs you can make sort of an 'internet extension cord'. This is done with the dialplan of the ATAs, on the phone side (any will do) set it to send any calls to the IP address or hostname of the other unit. On the line side (need SPA3000 for the FXO port), set it to immediately dial the IP of the other unit. There used to be a good guide on voxilla.com for sipura dialplan hacks, but I can't find it at the moment...

I've been setting up the several Comdial DX-80 and Spura/Linksys VoIP adapters. Will post the dialplan codes once I test some more ideas.

Office #1 can access the VoIP unit under a line button and then dial 101-148 for an extension or 400 for paging. Likewise for Office #2.

They can also access the analog port under a extension key and it will ring the other office under a outside line button. But they really don't need that function.