virtual pbx

[bytes]

How many of you use this type of service?

I have been using my GV number for the last 3 years, and it's about time to move on. I tried installing asterisk but couldn't get it to work properly, also my Linux is not the best. With that being said, I am looking to get a hosted virtual pbx. I need something with Automatic Call Distribution and hopefully some other bells and whistles.

These are the few I have been checking out (mainly the bigger ones).

Virtual PBX
RingCentral
Grasshopper

Has anyone used any of these or can anyone suggest different providers?

Thanks!

 

[scottay]

Not sure I can be much help on the hosted services, but I can shed some insight on Asterisk. After fighting with the raw Asterisk install, I found FreePBX, which is all based on Asterisk but was much easier to setup.

I've got it running on an old PowerEdge 800, and all seems to be working well. I don't know how valuable your time is, but I did end up sinking quite a bit of time into it. Once I got it all setup, however, all is working great and I'm super happy with it. If you choose to play with it feel free to let me know and I'll make sure you avoid some of the pitfalls I fell into with crappy PCI cards

 

[SAG]

For hosted PBX I think RingCentral is a great choice.
However, I have two words for you... incredible pbx.
You can even run it in a VM on your desktop, no linux knowledge required.
You can thank me later.

 

[acscva]

I have used a variety of VOIP solutions. After some headaches with Ring Central and Freedom Voice I found Vocalocity. I havent looked back at all. Absolutely they have the best set of features for the money. I am a channel partner with them and getting ready to another deal within the next couple weeks with a new client I just got referred to.

I have a single user account but have 1 phone in my home office, 1 in my actual office and can answer or make calls from my iPhone. I get voicemail via email and pay an extra $4 for text recognition that actually very accurate unlike google voice or the others.

If you are looking for a single phone or several I can get you setup with a great deal. I would be glad to do a demo of their online system as well. PM me if you are or anyone else is interested.

 

[Peaceful]

That incredible pbx looks pretty interesting, gonna have to check that out. My biz number is already a GV no. so should be pretty painless checking it out.

 

[tankman1989]

You might want to look at Trixbox as well. There are 2 versions a free "community" version and a paid version. I found that the free version seemed to have all the features that you could want and didn't see what the benefit was to getting the paid version. It was very easy to set up and pretty intuitive in the layout.

 

[bytes]

For now I am going to stay away from Asterisk. If the net goes down or a power outage...I will have no phones. At least with with a vpbx hosted somewhere else I can still get calls to my cel. But, it's the cost. That's really why I wanted to build an Asterisk box.

I'm going to have to look at Vocalocity and Trixbox. Thanks

Any other providers?

 

[DocGreen]

I have a client that is looking for a phone solution, and I've never messed with anything other than POTS... So.

Would any of these virtual PBX systems be appropriate for an office starting out with ~5 workstations and potentially ending up at ~20+ down the road?

(Clearly I have a lot of research and learning to do with this one, lol)

 

[SAG]

I have a client that is looking for a phone solution, and I've never messed with anything other than POTS... So.

Would any of these virtual PBX systems be appropriate for an office starting out with ~5 workstations and potentially ending up at ~20+ down the road?

(Clearly I have a lot of research and learning to do with this one, lol)

In my experience, a well installed Asterisk server on an Intel Atom with 4GB of ram can sufficiently run 50 extensions.

I have a 30 extension nursing home running off this setup.
As well as a law group, accounting firm, risk investment company, H&R Block branch, and NUMEROUS small doctor's offices.

Most are SIP, but I do have 2 customers with PRIs and one who uses an analog card and 4 POTS lines.

 

[DocGreen]

In my experience, a well installed Asterisk server on an Intel Atom with 4GB of ram can sufficiently run 50 extensions.

I have a 30 extension nursing home running off this setup.
As well as a law group, accounting firm, risk investment company, H&R Block branch, and NUMEROUS small doctor's offices.

Most are SIP, but I do have 2 customers with PRIs and one who uses an analog card and 4 POTS lines.

Thanks, I'll look into that! From what others have said, I assume that's a Linux server? Been a while since I messed with Linux... been looking for an excuse to toy around!

 

[skdmaster]

Check out 3CX - windows based system - easy to setup and configure.

 

[bwhatley87]

I'd be happy to help you with a hosted asterisk install. We use this for ourselves and a few small businesses. I have a local asterisk server at a school district with over 250 extensions.

 

[DocGreen]

OK, so programming my own Asterisk server is probably out of the question... I don't have the programming background to tackle something like that. I like the idea of Switchvox, but it looks like it could get a bit expensive.

Anyone in Northern Indiana/Southern Michigan experienced with Asterisk? I wouldn't mind bringing in some outside help on this one.

 

[SAG]

Anyone in Northern Indiana/Southern Michigan experienced with Asterisk? I wouldn't mind bringing in some outside help on this one.

If you want to toy around man I'd be happy to give you some pointers.

 

[tankman1989]

OK, so programming my own Asterisk server is probably out of the question... I don't have the programming background to tackle something like that. I like the idea of Switchvox, but it looks like it could get a bit expensive.

Anyone in Northern Indiana/Southern Michigan experienced with Asterisk? I wouldn't mind bringing in some outside help on this one.

You should be able to have it all done remotely once you get the system installed. We did all the trixbox administration remotely for our clients. Trixbox is just a user interface on top of asterisk - basically just a GUI for asterisk that is a little more intuitive.

I'm going to be setting it up in the next couple days for my home office so I could help you out if you need help.

Also, I did some looking into the pricing for a PSTN gateway and they seem to have gotten more expensive over the years instead of going down in price which is what should be happening. I can get unlimited free long distance through my local phone company with free phone with internet but to host a VoIP PBX I'm going to be charged $.029 per minute for calls! That is like what long distance used to cost 10-15 years ago - on top of the $19.95 monthly PSTN access fee. This is just ridiculous. It's almost 3x the cost it was 5 years ago...

BTW if you want to check out Trixbox CE here is a link: http://www.trixbox.com/products/trixbox-ce

 

[SAG]

You should be able to have it all done remotely once you get the system installed. We did all the trixbox administration remotely for our clients. Trixbox is just a user interface on top of asterisk - basically just a GUI for asterisk that is a little more intuitive.

I'm going to be setting it up in the next couple days for my home office so I could help you out if you need help.

Also, I did some looking into the pricing for a PSTN gateway and they seem to have gotten more expensive over the years instead of going down in price which is what should be happening. I can get unlimited free long distance through my local phone company with free phone with internet but to host a VoIP PBX I'm going to be charged $.029 per minute for calls! That is like what long distance used to cost 10-15 years ago - on top of the $19.95 monthly PSTN access fee. This is just ridiculous. It's almost 3x the cost it was 5 years ago...

BTW if you want to check out Trixbox CE here is a link: http://www.trixbox.com/products/trixbox-ce

Trixbox..... used to be awesome.
My friend Andrew ran the project for a while before getting tired of it.
Fonality, when they took it over, really mucked stuff up. Last I heard they had run it into the ground.
Nice to see that the community picked it back up. I really thought it to have been abandoned by now.

 

[DocGreen]

At the very least I would be interested in playing around with it in my shop and potentially using it to run my own phones. I've got a stack of Dell's laying around looking for a purpose, lol... aside from the computer to host it, what is required to get it functional? Is PSTN access a requirement or are there other (preferably cheaper) ways?

 

[DocGreen]

You should be able to have it all done remotely once you get the system installed. We did all the trixbox administration remotely for our clients. Trixbox is just a user interface on top of asterisk - basically just a GUI for asterisk that is a little more intuitive.

I'm going to be setting it up in the next couple days for my home office so I could help you out if you need help.

Also, I did some looking into the pricing for a PSTN gateway and they seem to have gotten more expensive over the years instead of going down in price which is what should be happening. I can get unlimited free long distance through my local phone company with free phone with internet but to host a VoIP PBX I'm going to be charged $.029 per minute for calls! That is like what long distance used to cost 10-15 years ago - on top of the $19.95 monthly PSTN access fee. This is just ridiculous. It's almost 3x the cost it was 5 years ago...

BTW if you want to check out Trixbox CE here is a link: http://www.trixbox.com/products/trixbox-ce

It looks like Fonality ended all support for Tribox CE at the begining of the year, and is telling everyone to upgrade to Tribox Pro...

 

[SAG]

At the very least I would be interested in playing around with it in my shop and potentially using it to run my own phones. I've got a stack of Dell's laying around looking for a purpose, lol... aside from the computer to host it, what is required to get it functional? Is PSTN access a requirement or are there other (preferably cheaper) ways?

SIP trunks are cheap.
Hell, I could just give you an IAX trunk from mine if you were just wanting to play around. (Don't go racking up my international calling bill! )
Or, I could show you how to get free phone service using Google.
I wouldn't run a business off the free google service, but I do have 3 google trunks at my home that have been all but perfect for 2 years now.

 

[DocGreen]

I wouldn't run a business off the free google service, but I do have 3 google trunks at my home that have been all but perfect for 2 years now.

Yeah, I learned that lesson... when I first started the business I used Google Voice to add a 2nd line to my cell for business calls... 1/3 of the calls never rang through.