atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems NEC Telephones & Systems NEC Electra Elite IPK II from POTS to VoIP...

Hello all,

My small business has inherited a functioning NEC Electra Elite IPK II 2U system. It is currently running on 4 POTS lines with about 10 actively used extensions, but there are about 20 stations programmed in (using the Dterm 80 series terminals).

Our phone provider's technician (Integra Telecom) gave me a fairly detailed overview of the WebPro system, and I've been managing our configuration and system management for the past year or so.

We are in negotiations to move our office, and our current landlord is giving us the phone system to take with us if we want. I would prefer to convert the system to VoIP.

My research has shown that the PVA(x)-u10 card is capable of providing the VoIP service to the system. What I am trying to determine is if the PVA card requires licensing to activate, and whether our system has this function activated already or not. So far, I have not gotten any definitive answer from Integra on this question.

When I go to the Feature Activation page in WebPro, I see the following chart:

Active Feature Name
No (0) VoIP Clients (MEGACO)
No (0) SIP Clients
No ACD
No Hotel/Motel
No CTI
No SMDR
No Firmware Update
Yes CCISoIP

The system consists of a CPU card running firmware 01.61, an ESIE(8) card, an ESIB(8) card, an SLIB(4) card, a DTI-U40 card, and a VMP(x) voicemail card.

So, the questions are:
Is the PVA(x)-u10 the right card for what I want to do?
Does my system need additional licensing to activate this feature?

Thanks in advance!

You would need the PVA card loaded for VoIP phones and licensed for the number of phones you want to register. The licensing goes into the PVA card. However, you cannot get them from NEC anymore. The system has been discontinued. You can purchase a migration package and move it to an SV-8100/9100 platform. I suggest that with such a small system to keep it as is until it dies or you are ready to invest in a new system.

Thanks for the response, but I just want to be clear:

I'm trying to VoIP to the outside world, not VoIP inside my office.

VoIP inside my office using phone company POTS lines requires an IAD(8) card or more (depending on the number of IP phones on the network).

VoIP to the outside world over my broadband connection and using the standard DTH phone stations over twisted pair cables and RJ11 jacks in my office requires a PVA(x)-u10 card with ESIE and ESIB cards.

My system clearly isn't licensed for any VoIP or SIP clients (internal), but I can't figure out if the CCISoIP activated feature means that external SIP trunking is possible. I've found a PVA card for $99, I might just buy it and try it out...

I reached out to NEC to find out about the cost of a migration package to the SV8100 or SV9100. I'm also pricing out 3 POTS lines and internet at our new location for a comparison...

These are the three functions that the PVA card could be licensed for;
Media Gateway Package, IP CCISoIP Application, and Multimedia Conference Bridge – CNF Application.
There is no SIP trunk option that I am aware of.
Without the license files loaded the card is useless.

According to the NEC IPK II VoIP Reference manual, the PVA card supports CCISoIP or SIP trunking. From what I can gather, CCISoIP is NEC's proprietary version of external VoIP, but the card can accommodate either protocol. CCISoIP functions to connect two IPK's over the internet to appear as a single phone system, compared to SIP trunking which is an open protocol.

Right from Chapter 8 of this manual it states the following:
3.1.1 SIP Trunking Requirements
The following are required when using the SIP trunk on the Electra Elite IPK II system:
􏰁 Electra Elite IPK II software version 1500 or higher
􏰁 VOIP ETU [PVA(X)-U10 ETU with MG16 Application 1.50 or
higher]

Are the PVA cards licensed to a specific piece of hardware, or does the license just release features in the system itself and you can use any PVA card? (in other words, if your PVA card dies, can you just buy a new one and stick it in, or do you have to relicense to the replacement card?)

As I've said, CCISoIP is an activated feature of my system today. From what I've read in these manuals, this appears to be the same functionality as SIP trunking. I can configure SIP Trunking (and CCISoIP) in the system data, but it correctly states that no cards exist in the system, even though it allows me to configure and store the data.

If CCISoIP is active on my system, and the license is not tied to a specific PVA card, I'm wondering if just purchasing a card and sticking it in is enough.

I tried VOIP trunks on my IPK2 at home last year. Was a dog. Sounded like everyone was talking slowly so went back to a ATAs and analog trunks ..

As the IPK2 is old and not supported maybe go for a SL1100 with SIP trunks. If if you're really keen try a analog to IP TK converter.

I have an IPK not IPK II at home with 2 SIP trunks connected using a Cisco SPA122 SIP to analog adapter. Basically what happens is you register your SIP account on the adapter, and then it converts it into an RJ11 jack, so an analog device can connect. It works perfectly without any issues at all. I would not even try setting up VoIP on the Electra IPK, it's not worth it when you can go online and get an ATA that will work right for less money and without the hassle of an old, outdated system.

Interesting alternative. I'll look into the Cisco adapter. I think I like that option better, particularly if the voice quality through the IPK SIP Trunk isn't good.

I've got a mothballed IPK II system that was abandoned by another tenant about a year ago. I just got it running again and got its IP address configured so I could log into it through my network. Its feature activation screen looks exactly like my 2U system, even though its only got an EISB(8) and a COID(4) in it.

I'm also interested to see what NEC offers for their migration path. If it makes financial sense, I'm open to turning both these older systems in for the 5 cent deposit and upgrading...

I use voip.ms as my VoIP provider and have had no issues at all. The sound quality for me has been just as good as using analog lines. I have the COID(4) card in my system, which is used to connect to the ATA. Caller ID works fine, and I have rollover setup where it will automatically roll the call over to the next available account just like you could do call forward busy with the phone company. You can take pretty much any legacy non-IP phone system now and make it do VoIP, for a pretty cheap price.

I concur with NorstarUser that your best option is to use a SIP convertor of some kind and to connect to your IPK II as analog trunks.

Upgrading with NEC is a good option also.

CCIS / CCISoIP is Clear-Channel-Inband-Signalling and allows you to link PBXes as if they were one unit. For example, we linked two NEC 2000IPS using CCIS over IP: one was in Dallas and one was in Houston. Calling office to office was as simple as dialing an extension, regardless which location the user was physically in.

That was over IP, so it was CCIS/IP or CCISoIP. This is different from IP Trunking or SIP trunks.

Sound quality over IP can be an issue, and several factors need to be considered: How much bandwith is available? A POTS line, in digital terms, takes 56K of voice space + 8K of overhead, for 64K. Multiply by 24 and you have 1.544 Mbps, which is a T-1 line; take away one channel for data and you have a 23 voice-channel PRI.

Now, if you use a compression algorithm, such as g.729a, your VOIP voice channel will take as little as 6.9Kbps, but the sampling rate is low, so forwarded calls will be choppy or will echo. g.723 will give you a good intermediate rate -- if memory serves, around 13 or 14 Kbps. g.711 will give you no compression at all, and will take, surprise, 64K.

So there's a tradeoff between bandwidth and quality of the call.

ALSO, and this is very important, your IT / NETWORK guys need to understand QoS, and need to set 5/7 for voice traffic. Cisco switches will honor QoS by default; other managed switches and routers may need to be programmed for QoS.

So, um, bottom line: go with the SIP convertors.