Best Blank Sheet Phone System
April 25, 2012 6:14 AM Subscribe
What is the best VoIP approach for a startup in the very early stages?
Right now we are a two man gang. It seems like I could very easily go to a DSD provider and get two sequential phone numbers for my partner and I, buy an ATA from someone and go a la carte from there. The issue is that in the next 3-4 months we will know for sure if the business is a go. If that happens we will pretty quickly hire 2-3 more people and move over to some sort of PBX solution. What is the best way for me to go about are telephony needs today that is readily scalable into a more professional setup that allows my partner and I to keep our by-then-current numbers.
We expect to not be huge phone users, but a large proportion of our calling will be between the US and Europe. Its hard to see even in situation where we are wildly successful beyond any of our dreams where we would ever have more than 20 employees.
Right now we are a two man gang. It seems like I could very easily go to a DSD provider and get two sequential phone numbers for my partner and I, buy an ATA from someone and go a la carte from there. The issue is that in the next 3-4 months we will know for sure if the business is a go. If that happens we will pretty quickly hire 2-3 more people and move over to some sort of PBX solution. What is the best way for me to go about are telephony needs today that is readily scalable into a more professional setup that allows my partner and I to keep our by-then-current numbers.
We expect to not be huge phone users, but a large proportion of our calling will be between the US and Europe. Its hard to see even in situation where we are wildly successful beyond any of our dreams where we would ever have more than 20 employees.
Response by poster: Oh and once we launch I won't be maintaining this, I will hire a pro. But hiring a pro now is not something we want to do.
posted by JPD at 6:19 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by JPD at 6:19 AM on April 25, 2012
If you want to keep things simple, take a look at the XBlue X16 system. You can buy it at Staples, among other places. I know, it seems like it would be a cheesy inferior product compared to a more name-brand solution, but it's actually quite a well rounded basic phone system, and the price is awesome. One of the phone installer forums I frequent (lots of old telephone wiring gurus on there) highly recommends this system for the price as well.
Out of the box the "PBX" (voice server) will connect to 4 standard telco lines (6 with expansion module installed). The server then handles switching to support up to 16 digital phones. The kit I linked to comes with 4 phones, but I think there are other packages with 2 phones or 8 phones or whatever you need.
I installed this system for a small government administration building. They had 2 telco business lines (straight dial tone), and wanted 4 phones throughout the building. I unboxed, installed and wired the server and programmed/tested all phones in about 2 hours. The phones allow all kinds of features like voicemail & greeting programming, conferencing, speaker, station-to-station transfers, etc... All pretty intuitive and simple to set up.
Obviously even if you have all 16 digital phones connected, your total # of simultaneous inbound/outbound calling lines is limited by the true number of telco lines you've got. So basically, you can pay for 1-6 standard phone lines and connect up to 16 digital phone to those lines with the XBlue. That's a pretty realistic setup for your uses, I think.
The 4 phone + server package is $800 at Staples now, but I got it on sale for $600 a year ago (also: Staples coupon codes are quite generous!). Browse around. The nice thing about this package is that you don't have to program and maintain a true centralized PBX. Station programming is done at the phone itself, and that's basically just for voicemail, ring settings, etc. It's advanced enough to do what you want but simple enough to get out of your way.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:01 AM on April 25, 2012
Out of the box the "PBX" (voice server) will connect to 4 standard telco lines (6 with expansion module installed). The server then handles switching to support up to 16 digital phones. The kit I linked to comes with 4 phones, but I think there are other packages with 2 phones or 8 phones or whatever you need.
I installed this system for a small government administration building. They had 2 telco business lines (straight dial tone), and wanted 4 phones throughout the building. I unboxed, installed and wired the server and programmed/tested all phones in about 2 hours. The phones allow all kinds of features like voicemail & greeting programming, conferencing, speaker, station-to-station transfers, etc... All pretty intuitive and simple to set up.
Obviously even if you have all 16 digital phones connected, your total # of simultaneous inbound/outbound calling lines is limited by the true number of telco lines you've got. So basically, you can pay for 1-6 standard phone lines and connect up to 16 digital phone to those lines with the XBlue. That's a pretty realistic setup for your uses, I think.
The 4 phone + server package is $800 at Staples now, but I got it on sale for $600 a year ago (also: Staples coupon codes are quite generous!). Browse around. The nice thing about this package is that you don't have to program and maintain a true centralized PBX. Station programming is done at the phone itself, and that's basically just for voicemail, ring settings, etc. It's advanced enough to do what you want but simple enough to get out of your way.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:01 AM on April 25, 2012
Update: Better pricing and variety on the Xblue packages here: http://www.telcodepot.com/phone-system/xblue-x16
Plus great support from them too.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:02 AM on April 25, 2012
Plus great support from them too.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:02 AM on April 25, 2012
Numbers are pretty portable these days, so I wouldn't worry about that. I work at a startup and we've scaled from 3 to 7 employees across two continents and Skype works well for us. We pay a flat fee for the World Calling package or something like that and then all calls to European landlines and mobiles are free. All you need is a mic+headphones setup at your desk and you have a super flexible voip system wherever you have a computer. It can also do SMS, call forwarding, and that kind of stuff. Plus you get the chat with your colleagues.
posted by Aizkolari at 7:02 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by Aizkolari at 7:02 AM on April 25, 2012
Response by poster: My partner wants an actual phone sitting on his desk. I understand this. We rejected Skype as an option because of this.
posted by JPD at 7:20 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by JPD at 7:20 AM on April 25, 2012
Response by poster: Oh also for reason having to do with our current office space the system has to be VoIP. So I take it the XBlue system isn't an option.
posted by JPD at 7:23 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by JPD at 7:23 AM on April 25, 2012
Ahh, okay.
Xblue does make a similar VoIP product, the X50. I've not used it myself, but it looks nice and doesn't cost a lot more. Would be worth looking into. More info.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:27 AM on April 25, 2012
Xblue does make a similar VoIP product, the X50. I've not used it myself, but it looks nice and doesn't cost a lot more. Would be worth looking into. More info.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:27 AM on April 25, 2012
You say you rejected Skype because you want a phone on your desk, but there are physical phones that you can use with Skype (I can't vouch for any of those phone specifically; I just know they exist).
You could also look at some solution using, for example, Obi boxes with Google Voice or Ooma. Neither of those would scale up well, but they could be a good (and cheap) stop-gap solution until you figure out what your needs will be.
posted by Betelgeuse at 7:36 AM on April 25, 2012
You could also look at some solution using, for example, Obi boxes with Google Voice or Ooma. Neither of those would scale up well, but they could be a good (and cheap) stop-gap solution until you figure out what your needs will be.
posted by Betelgeuse at 7:36 AM on April 25, 2012
Response by poster: Scaling I'm worried about the phone numbers not the hardware. I'm in a business where there is a huge premium placed on how professional looking things are. I don't want all of my employees to have a different random number.
I was leaning towards Obi boxes for the initial capital outlay.
posted by JPD at 8:00 AM on April 25, 2012
I was leaning towards Obi boxes for the initial capital outlay.
posted by JPD at 8:00 AM on April 25, 2012
We've used Vocalocity and it works pretty well. We have a virtual receptionist, virtual extensions tied to our mobiles, physical phones, conference phones, and voicemail. There are lots of other add-ons too.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:13 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:13 AM on April 25, 2012
Easiest way is to put in an open source pbx, such as Asterisk, and purchase DID numbers and SIP channels from a provider such as SIPStation.com
Then you have the option of dozens of different phone models (Polycom, Cisco, Yealink, etc) that are reasonably priced.
Asterisk can be expanded to support hundreds of phones and SIP lines.
I used it temporarily for 25 users for 6 months.
posted by johnn at 8:14 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Then you have the option of dozens of different phone models (Polycom, Cisco, Yealink, etc) that are reasonably priced.
Asterisk can be expanded to support hundreds of phones and SIP lines.
I used it temporarily for 25 users for 6 months.
posted by johnn at 8:14 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If you want CHEAP and the ability to keep your numbers with a fair amount of flexibility, you can do what I did. I have a small home business, plus I work from home for my normal job one day a week, plus I have a cell phone and my fiancee has a cell phone. I tried NetTalk Duo and Packet8 and a bunch of others, but what I have now is AWESOME and way cheaper.
Step 1 is to get a google voice account. Even if just use personal accounts to start with instead of using google apps for business, you get free voice. Voice gives you a telephone number, each of you can have your own number. Import contacts (if you have them) to setup who hears what message. I have my clients who hear one, new customers hear another, work hears another, and friends hear another.
Next, buy an ObiTalk. I suggest from Amazon (Currently still on sale for $49). It will interface with ANY VoIP provider, but GTalk works out of the box and provides FREE calls in the continental US. The nice part is that you can add multiple numbers to the same device, I have my personal GVoice and my work Gvoice both ringing to the same device, although I believe I can add more.
Plug the device in at your phone service base location (before any bridges) and your whole system will be hot. I just have a Panasonic 6 DECT 3 phone system plugged in.
The call quality is awesome, I get simulring whenever I want it via gvoice, and if I tell the device my prefix, I don't have to 10-number dial, straight 7 digit works fine. It integrates with gvoicemail (my landline "voicemail" sign comes on when I have gvoice mail) and I can dial from the second number just by pressing either *2 or #2 (sorry, I forget, I rarely have to use it) and I can silence the entire system by "do not disturb"ing my gvoice accounts.
I haven't had a single issue and I recommend this to anyone. Apparently people have success faxing over this system as well, but I haven't tried.
posted by TomMelee at 8:19 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Step 1 is to get a google voice account. Even if just use personal accounts to start with instead of using google apps for business, you get free voice. Voice gives you a telephone number, each of you can have your own number. Import contacts (if you have them) to setup who hears what message. I have my clients who hear one, new customers hear another, work hears another, and friends hear another.
Next, buy an ObiTalk. I suggest from Amazon (Currently still on sale for $49). It will interface with ANY VoIP provider, but GTalk works out of the box and provides FREE calls in the continental US. The nice part is that you can add multiple numbers to the same device, I have my personal GVoice and my work Gvoice both ringing to the same device, although I believe I can add more.
Plug the device in at your phone service base location (before any bridges) and your whole system will be hot. I just have a Panasonic 6 DECT 3 phone system plugged in.
The call quality is awesome, I get simulring whenever I want it via gvoice, and if I tell the device my prefix, I don't have to 10-number dial, straight 7 digit works fine. It integrates with gvoicemail (my landline "voicemail" sign comes on when I have gvoice mail) and I can dial from the second number just by pressing either *2 or #2 (sorry, I forget, I rarely have to use it) and I can silence the entire system by "do not disturb"ing my gvoice accounts.
I haven't had a single issue and I recommend this to anyone. Apparently people have success faxing over this system as well, but I haven't tried.
posted by TomMelee at 8:19 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Came to recommend SipFoundry opensource project SipXecs with connection via voip.ms.
* Use your own server hardware
* Purchase an AudioCodes Gateway
* Polycom phones work great
* Can be supported by third party (email me for info)
Can set it up in just a couple hours, works great, lots of features.
Our setup went from 15 telephones to 838 across a number of remote locations.
posted by bleucube at 10:24 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
* Use your own server hardware
* Purchase an AudioCodes Gateway
* Polycom phones work great
* Can be supported by third party (email me for info)
Can set it up in just a couple hours, works great, lots of features.
Our setup went from 15 telephones to 838 across a number of remote locations.
posted by bleucube at 10:24 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
setup an openvbx system somewhere and route all calls to your cellphones. You can even get a 800 number for around $3/month.
It will cost a few bucks a month ($20) to run the server and you'll pay only for what you use.
posted by Freen at 2:27 PM on April 25, 2012
It will cost a few bucks a month ($20) to run the server and you'll pay only for what you use.
posted by Freen at 2:27 PM on April 25, 2012
My small business recently switched from a clunky old PBX system to Phone.com's Virtual Office. I'm the one who maintains it, and I love it. You can have one or more main office numbers, with unlimited virtual extensions--including fax numbers. Phone hardware is not required, but is available--you can get an IP phone or an adapter to use an existing analog phone (we use a mix of both at the office). You can easily set up very professional-sounding menus (including menu trees, dial-by name menues, etc.) and greetings. You can also set up a ton of call-handling rules that appears seamless from the outside, so you can have calls forwarded to cell phones, home phones, etc. without the caller ever knowing. It is exactly what I'd recommend for a startup right now, and should scale nicely when you expand.
posted by rhiannonstone at 3:31 PM on April 25, 2012
posted by rhiannonstone at 3:31 PM on April 25, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JPD at 6:18 AM on April 25, 2012