Hello,

We have a company here and then another location out in D.C. I was wondering if there is any way to "connect" two PBX units (maybe a KX-TDA100 or 200) so that the the line I have here would also work for the phones hooked up to the PBX unit out there. I've been looking into VoIP and i'm not sure if that's what i would need or not...
I probably didn't explain that very well but if you were able to understand let me know if you have any answers.

You would be better off doing Kx-T TDE 100/200 or NCP 500/1000. The TDA will be brown bread shortly
get on Panasonics website and put your zipcodes
in. There are dealers in both areas Locations
that can hook you up this is not something that
a enduser can do....

You may also use FXS/FXO voip circuits such as MultiTech if you can't afford two new systwms.
Can be used on any phone system (just about).
Basically you would have pool key for second system. Press button you get ICM tone from Wash. Dial an ext,
dial a trunk code to make a local call in Wash. or dial a page code and page the other campus. transfer calls etc. Works same on other end.
Not seamless but works. Low cost

It seems that we would have only one phone in the D.C. location and so i was wondering if it would work to just connect the IP phone in D.C. to the internet and connect it through a VPN to the PBX here. I talked to someone yesterday who said i would need a CTI Link Card. I don't really know much about this and so any answers are helpful.

no you would need a ip ext 16 card if you insisted on the tda

I have a customer with a TDA 200, with an ipext16 card, a phone in Virginia Beach,Va., one in Minneapolis, and a gateway card connecting it to another TDA 200 via a mpls circuit. All works well, with exception of the ups and downs of the dsl. Mostly consistent.

Oops I forgot to add the original pbx is located in DesMoines Ia.

MPLS is that Like Frame relay ?
Have heard the term used by Panasonic sale person lately was wondering?

Yeah its the "new" less expensive version of frame relay. I think it stands for Multi Protocol Layered Switching. It is supposed to route thru private network structure rather than the internet. In 3 years time, it has only had an issue 1 time. Absolutely no voice quality issues and with a ipgw4 it uses very minimal bandwidth. Definitely the way to go when connecting multiple locations with multiple pbx's. The two dsl locations with ip phones are only 1 phone at each location, and it works ok on that.

forgive me these mpls circuits are point to point
and have special routers on each end ?

I get the part that the systems are linked via MPLS but there must be an internet connection as well If you have remote sites that have ip phones runninig....

Correct, some ip phones are connected via dsl vpn. There are some ip phones connected via the mpls on the network at pbx location 2, but not physically connected to pbx 2. It's all about the ip addresses of the phones and the ip address of the ipext16. If you can ping the card from anywhere on the network or vpn, the ip phones should connect.

thanks ict!

Thanks for all the info guys. So all i would need an IP-EXT16 VoIP card in the PBX unit at location A and then connect the phone to the internet at location B, then have them talk to each other through a VPN network, right?

yes and no. what do the do with their local pstn lines at location B? are they going to have two phones on there desk?

I was thinking only one connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable.

you didn't really answer my question what type of phone is on the desks in dc now ?

Sorry, currently we don't have a phone in DC. We would be using an IP one but havent gotten that far seeing as we don't know how to set the whole thing up.

Think of it this way. The ip phone in DC connected to the TDA in Colorado would be like streching a long line cord from the pbx to the phone. All calls originated from the ip phone would use the resources (lines) in Colorado. If DC dialed 911 from the ip phone, it would appear to the psap as though the call originated in Colorado. So if you are not needing a published number for DC and calls went thru an 800 number in Colorado, that might be ok. If you need to have a published number in DC and some sort of connectivity to Colorado, then you would have a system at both locations, and connect them via gateway cards/resources.
Sorry if this is too basic, but sometimes understanding ip connectivity needs to start at square 1.

they really should come up with a ip phone that has a pstn port on it

Ictelco, thanks for the very basic explanation. It actually helps a whole lot. We would not need a published number for the DC area. Would you know the process of setting that up? (What we would need... etc.) And if we did it that way, would we be able to use intercom to communicate to the other phones in CO that are hooked up to the same PBX unit? Again, all this is new to me and so thanks for all the help.

ICT said it in simplest terms that totally explains
it picture a 3000 mile long flat gray satin phone cord stretched from Colo to dc to your ip phone you will be able to do just about everything someone in colo can do including intercom, paging ,check your voicemail etc...

Ok, so what would i have to do and what would i need to get that to work the way you just said?

I am not sure if you have a tda in place but if you are having trouble with theory behind the concept of ip phones I would get the company that sold you the system(since this is not a do it yourself system) to set up a VPN between the two locations and install the cards in your system and do the programing and show you how all this comes together......

What kxtvet said. You really need to contact a Panasonic dealer. Or the dealer of any other system that has VOIP capabilities, which is pretty much all manufacturers now. John C.

This is really beyond the scope of this forum. (IMHO)
Why not contact a Certified Panasonic dealer in your area who has experience with this equipment.
They could explain the options face to face and give you some clue as to the costs involved on both ends.