sundance-communications.com/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX VoIP & Cloud Phones, Hosted PBX, General IP Phones Routing System

Alright- I know very little about telephone systems. I am working with my family's small business as tech support, web design, etc.

They would like a way to route phone calls- as in a system. Call the main line, and have the choice of what department or person they would like to reach. It needs to be routed outside of the building, to others cell phones or LAN lines. I have seen several (expensive) online services for that kind of need. That particular phone is currently a LAN line, which we can easily change to Vonage or another VOIP service.

We also have Optimum Voice (The Optimum triple play from cablevision), which would be VOIP. I have not found any sort of "softphone" applications that were free, although I already have a VOIP service.

A friend of mine once found an old ISA card which could route calls around...

I know that VOIP has many more features than analog lines. Are there any software (or hardware) that can do this type of thing for me?


Alright, so, enough of the rambling. It gets down to this- Most importantly, What are the options for a routing system of this type?

Thanks!

Aven:

Welcome to our forum. We promise to do the best that we can do to assist you, but we will also tell it like it is. Before we get started, I must correct you on one thing. You refer to "LAN" lines (Local Area Network), where I think that you meant to refer to them as "LAND" lines. This is slang for a traditional land-based telephone line. There isn't really such a thing as a "LAN" line.

This may be confusing you into believing that you need a VoIP system to accomplish the very simple call processing requirements that you have. While it is true that you may purchase a VoIP platform to accomplish this, it can also easily be done with a TDM system for one-quarter the price in most cases.

The provider of your telephone service may also be IP-based, but again, that is not a prerequisite in order to simply process phone calls. Unless you plan to purchase SIP trunks, any system can use standard (POTS-Plain Old Telephone Service) lines.

"Triple-Play" as with most CATV provider's phone service is NOT delivered via VoIP. It is just multiplexed like any other analog signal over an existing coaxial network. This is not new technology, in fact it is very old. It is only because the CATV service providers are offering this that it appears to be "new". It doesn't matter which company provides your phone service as long as you know what you are doing.

My suggestion would be that you take a step back, put away the VoIP goggles and look at this application from a more realistic (and cost-effective) point of view. I think that you will be surprised how much these buzz words actually cost for literally no difference in features. In many cases, IP products and services actually offer fewer features.

Welcome to the Board. Hope you enjoy your visit.

In addition to what Ed has already said, I would also like to add that seeking out experienced help is highly advised. You started out right by coming here and asking your question. While we can help you figure out what you might and might not need you should still seek out a qualified professional in your area. Always remember to get references and follow up on them!

Secondly, VoIP will be an over-complication of things for a small business and your skill level. Is your goal to self-manage the system yourself? And if so, why? It seems you already have enough hats to wear.

My initial advice is the same as Ed's. Seek out a TDM/POTS system that will do what you need. Most of the systems that offer the functionality you want will also offer a VoIP equivalent of it if it turns out you really need it.

You are not reinventing the wheel. And what you are trying to accomplish can be done simply, regardless of the dial tone transport medium.

You need a small key system with an automatic attendant feature. The auto attendant can be programmed to direct calls either to inside extensions, or, via outgoing trunks, to outside destinations, through semi-permanent programming, which a competent installer can do for you. Callers will be directed to press certain digits to be directed to the various destinations, whether they are inside the business or outside numbers.

Most manufacturers of commercial-grade key systems offer the auto attendant feature, among others, and what you want to accomplish is a typical application of those features.