Greetings Johnmhome!
Thank you for your question, this is actually something I think is
really interesting. I worked on one of the presidential campaigns
during the NH primary and our primary phone system was VoIP, which was
when I first heard about the system. In my research I have found most
places recomending that you go with hosted services at this point.
The VoIP software boxes seem to be a more expensive, less reliable
system then many of the hosted services. Because you mentioned that
you were having problems to begin with I am only including the Hosted
VoIP systems. If you find that you want the other let me know and I
will include that as well.
============== Hosted VoIP Systems ===================
When i started to research Hosted VoIP system my list was much larger
then it is now. As I went along and discovered which services were
bad I removed them from the list. There are other hosted services out
there then these but if they are not on this list it means they were
rated poorly.
Peformance Tests comparing the services
PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1750983,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1750984,00.asp
Feature Summary Table
http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1735,s=1510&iid=95954,00.asp
------------- AT&T CallVantage ---------------------
It seems to be the conclusion of most VoIP review sites that at this
point and time for the money and quality AT&T is the winner. They
have a competitive pricing package which superior voice quality and
overall reliability.
http://www.usa.att.com/callvantage/soho/index.jsp
"CallVantage is a solid choice from a well-established company. Its
impressive, well-rounded service finishes tops in our book"
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751730,00.asp
####### Quality ##########
"The Web-based configuration interface is one of the best we've seen,
and sound quality was well above average."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751038,00.asp
####### Features #########
Included features which each line...
*Voicemail
*call Waiting
*Call Forwarding
*Caller ID
*Locate Me
*Conference Calling
*Do Not Distrub
*Keep Your Number For Life
*Speed Dial
*Safe Forward Number
*Fax and Modem Support
"In addition, Verizon's call logs are the best in this roundup. They
track your incoming, outgoing, and missed calls, and best of all, you
can retrieve information about individual calls, such as the duration
or cost, on any entry you select. Through the Web interface, you can
also conduct a directory search to find the name of the caller, place
a call to the number, or even schedule a callback for a later time.
With another click, you can update an entry in your address book with
the phone number in your log."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751730,00.asp
"When it comes to features, AT&T's offerings stand out: They include a
conferencing bridge for up to ten users, at no extra charge, and
Record and Send, a new feature that sends a recorded message to up to
20 recipients at once ($0.49 per use). The Locate Me service will ring
up to five alternate phone numbers either in sequence or
simultaneously."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751730,00.asp
####### Pricing ##########
The CallVantage small office plan is $49.99 /month which gives you
unlimited calls.
###### Ratings ##########
*Rated Very Good (4 out of 5) by PC Magazine
*Rated Excellent (8.0) by CNet
*Rated Good (6.9) by CNet users
------------------- Vonage ----------------------
http://www.vonage.com
"Vonage has managed to become a household name in the VoIP space over
the past year, and the maturity of its service is apparent. It offers
solid sound quality and competitive pricing. Overall, though, we felt
that the services of some of the newcomers, such as AT&T and Verizon,
overmatched this VoIP veteran."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751044,00.asp
########### Quality ######################
"Though Vonage's service, features, and voice quality are more than
adequate and we have no hesitation recommending it, we're more
impressed with the offerings from AT&T and Verizon."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751799,00.asp
"Vonage deserves kudos for being only one of two VoIP services (the
other being AT&T CallVantage) we've tested where the clarity of the
audio equaled that of analog call quality. The audio volume was
actually louder than we experienced with our analog phone. As we've
seen with every VoIP service that has come through our doors, however,
a barely noticeable background hiss was present on both ends of a
call. This faint background noise did not impact our ability to make
and receive calls; it was little more than a very minor distraction,
most evident when no one was speaking."
http://reviews.cnet.com/Vonage/4505-9238_7-30974765-5.html?tag=top
########## Features ######################
*Voicemail Plus
*Caller ID with Name
*Call Waiting
*Call Forwarding
*3-Way Calling
*In-Network Calls
*Take Vonage with you
*Area Code Selection
*Call Transfer
*Click - 2 - Call
*Call Return
*Caller ID Block
*Repeat Dialing
*Call Hunt
########## Pricing ######################
$49.99 for unlimited local and international calls.
######### Ratings ######################
*Rated Good (3.5 out of 5) by PC Magazine
*Rated Excellent (8.5) by CNet
*Rated Good (6.1) by CNet Users
-------------- Verizon VoiceWing ----------------
There is no doubt that Verizon is a heavy weight. Like AT&T they have
a lot of muscle and a lot of experience behind them that is sure to
them a strong competitor for years. Verizon is one of the better VoIP
services being offered at the moment but still has a ways to go before
taking out some of the more established players.
########### Quality ######################
"On our quality tests, Verizon achieved mixed results. The juried
quality ratio was an admirable 4.0, but both its post-dial delay and
call-setup times were much longer that the others, at 7.6 and 10
seconds, respectively"
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751754,00.asp
"VoiceWing didn't fare all that well on our voice-quality tests; calls
exhibited a faint rustling sound in the background and quickly
degraded when we uploaded a file to the Web while trying to carry on a
conversation. Verizon DSL customers should take a look, but other
broadband subscribers can find an equally full-featured VoIP for less
elsewhere."
http://reviews.cnet.com/Verizon_VoiceWing/4505-9238_7-31271415-2.html?tag=glance
"I use it for my home business -- and I even use it for much of my
long distance personal calling -- it just works great. I have DSL with
VZ -- so the price is great."
http://reviews.cnet.com/4864-9238_7-31271415.html?messageSiteID=7&messageID=1090628&tag=1090628&cval=1090628&ctype=msgid
"Like most VoIP services, VoiceWing deviates from the clean sound of
analog call quality by exhibiting a very faint but still noticeable
background noise on both ends of a call; in the case of VoiceWing, it
resembled a rustling sound. We found that the presence and the
persistence of the background noise varied from call to call, and it
was also influenced by which end of the call was generating audio,
that is, who was speaking. The background rustling sound did not
interrupt nor did it force the end of any one conversation, but we
were more aware of it on some calls; it was reminiscent of the
background noise of analog telephone connections we took for granted
around 20 or more years ago."
http://reviews.cnet.com/Verizon_VoiceWing/4505-9238_7-31271415-5.html?tag=top
########## Features ######################
*Back-Up Number
*Caller ID
*caller ID Block
*Call Forwarding
*Call Waiting
*call Waiting with Caller ID
*Fax Capability
*Repeat Dial (*66)
*Return Call (*69)
*Speed Dial 10
*Three-Way Calling
*Voice Mail
*Voice Portal
*Do Not Disturb
"Verizon's Web site offers an extremely intuitive and easy-to-use
interface, a tad superior to AT&T's. All the common features are
available, as well as a few that make the service unique."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751754,00.asp
########## Pricing ######################
Verizon Voice wing costs $34.95 per line for unlimited local and national calls.
######### Ratings ######################
*Rated Good (3.5 out of 5) by PC Magazine
*Rated Good (6.5 out of 10) by CNet
------------------ Lingo ------------------------
Among the services compared this is not a very good one. Due to its
low price point it isn't a bad service for those making a lot of
international calls. However if you spend most of your time calling
domestically then your going to want to go another way.
http://www.lingo.com/
########### Quality ######################
"On call quality, Lingo's performance was either average or below
average on most of our tests. The frame-muting ratio (which indicates
dropped frames or missing bits of conversation) was the worst in our
roundup (0.8 percent) for a combined ten test runs. Our test jury came
to the same conclusion and generally rated the service as sounding a
bit tinny or thin."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751729,00.asp
"Unfortunately, Lingo's call quality was inconsistent, with more
interference than we've experienced with other VoIP services"
http://reviews.cnet.com/Lingo/4505-9238_7-31200476-2.html?tag=top
"By comparison, the Lingo "service" seems to spend about as much time
*not* working as it does working, and I have no patience for their
almost impossible to understand Indian tech support. I understand that
VoIP is not a mature technology, but I have had a cable modem since
its infancy (1997), and never experienced this much down time. This is
throughly unacceptable in my book."
http://reviews.cnet.com/4864-9238_7-31200476.html?messageSiteID=7&messageID=1153952&tag=1153952&cval=1153952&ctype=msgid
########## Features ######################
*Anonymous Call Rejection
*Call Forwarding
*Caller ID Block
* *69
*Call Waiting
*Caller ID
*Do not disturb
*Emergency Calling Service
*Free IN-Network calling (Free to call other Lingo customers)
*Redial
*Speed Dial
*Voicemail
*Directory Assistance
*Dedicated Fax Line
########## Pricing ######################
Lingo has two major business plans. One which offers free unlimited
calling for $49.95 and another that offers unlimited international
calling for $99.00 a month.
######### Ratings ######################
*Rated Good (3.5 out of 5) by PC magazine.
*Rated Very Good (7 out of 10) by CNet
*Rated Poor (3.2 out of 10) by CNet users
------------------- VoicePulse ---------------------
"Overall we remain very impressed with VoicePulse's feature-packed
service, call quality, and reasonable price. Subscribers won't be
disappointed; still, AT&T's service offers just a bit more in terms of
features, Web interface design, and installation options."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751798,00.asp
"Still, with overall strong call quality, flexible privacy settings,
and simple setup, VoicePulse is a VoIP service to consider if you can
work around its drawbacks."
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/VoicePulse/4505-3535_16-30923425-2.html?tag=top
########### Quality ######################
"VoicePulse delivered very strong scores on both of our call-quality
tests, and our jury-based quality tests supported those findings"
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751798,00.asp
"I get better voice quality than on my analog line with Voicepulse.
The account web features are very basic and easy to use. Very simple
interface. The only reason I do not give them a 10 is lack of e911
service. "
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review2139_main10703.html
"Unfortunately we had too many instances of choppy phone calls. I have
a 1.5/384 DSL line which was not in use at the time. I did ping
plotter and pings to voicepulse.com (like their FAQ mentions to do).
Only one day did I see a little packet loss which I notified lbdsl,
and they followed up with level3 -- no problems were found. I did a 2
hour ping to voicepulse.com with 1000 packet size, got avg 70ms
response times and no packet loss. I would still get choppy phone
calls before and after the testing. I even switched to the bandwidth
saver on and another phone to no avail."
http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/2416
########## Features ######################
*Telemarkter Blocking
*7-digit dialing
*Virtual Numbers in any area code
*Caller ID
*Call Hunt/Find Me
"VoicePulse lets you add additional lines to your account quickly and easily.
When you add additional lines to your VoicePulse account, not only do
you get everything on the same bill, you can use our advanced features
that help you use multiple lines more efficiently, like Call Hunt /
Find Me, Multi-Ring and Distinctive Ring. "
http://www.voicepulse.com/features/service/AdditionalLines.aspx
"VoicePulse has the strongest call filtering of any provider reviewed
here, in addition to its robust set of features. Its multi-ring and
call-hunting features can even ring non-VoicePulse lines;"
"Call filtering with the VoicePulse service is several layers deep. If
you have more than one line, you can fine-tune the feature to filter
calls associated with each line?for example, to keep a particular
person's calls off one line. You can even set what action you want to
take to handle calls from specific numbers. You can also configure the
filtering engine to send you an e-mail as soon as any of the filters
has been triggered."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1751798,00.asp
########## Pricing ######################
$45.99 per month for unlimited national and international calls per line.
######### Ratings ######################
*Rated Good (3.5 out of 5) by PC Magazine
*CNET Editor Rating Very Good (7.3 out of 10)
######### Interesting Links #############
Techware Labs Review
http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/network/voicepulse/
********************************************
Most of these services have other pricing plans available which offer
fewer minutes. The average is about $25.00 for 500 minutes. The
better services offer free in network calling as well so calling
between office phones does not take away from your minutes.
It appears to me that at this point the AT&T system is the way to go
in terms of reliability, voice quality, etc. Everything I saw spoke
very highly of the AT&T service and you can be sure with a big name
behind it things are only likely to get better.
I hope I provided you with the information that you are looking for.
If there is something that is unclear or you want looked into further
let me know and I will be more then happy to do so.
Best,
djbaker-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
djbaker-ga
on
29 Apr 2005 10:49 PDT
Greetings!
########## Hosted Solutions ###############
*** Summary ***
In the realm of hosted VoIP services there are few companies which can
operate on a business class level. According to eweek...
"Of the 400 VOIP service providers in North America, only a handful
deliver services that can be considered business-grade, such as IP PBX
support, business broadband VOIP or VOIP over IP-VPN."
As a result finding a wide array of options for you was not possible.
Finding reviews for the specific services was even more difficult.
The important thing to consider with most of these services is who is
providing the backbone.
The current provider that you are using is one of the larger VoIP
carriers on the market. Your main carrier, Covad, bought out GoBeam
last June as an effort to get into the VoIP market. CoVad is not
affiliated with another organization but rather offers their own
national backbone.
Because of this I feel safe in recommending NuCall Communications as
one of the top providers and if you are planning on going with another
hosted service it is probably the one for you. The reason for this is
their affiliation with Level 3 Communications.
Level 3 Communications is a heavy weight in the communications field.
They provide wholesale VoIP service to a lot of big name companies.
Among the recent deals they have made they are providing backbone
support for Adelphia and AOL. According to the Boston Biz Journal
Level 3 is one of the few VoIP carriers to make a service garuntee
like the traditional telecoms do.
Other carriers such as Qwest Communications and SBC Communications
offer lighter versions of the hosted service but they require you to
use their phones.
Another possible provider is Eureka Networks. The problem with Eureka
is that they are regionally based and provide service only to parts of
the East Coast and midwest.
---------- NuCall Communications ----------------
http://www.nucall.com/nuvoice.html
NuCall is a former hardware maker who entered into the business class
voip service about a year ago. Providing the backbone of their
service is the giant communications company Level 3 Communications.
This is signifigant because Level 3 garuntees service quality much
like you'd find with a traditional provider.
"Nucall is counting on its Level 3 arrangement to drive sales, saying
the Broomfield, Colo.-based carrier is one of the few VOIP carriers to
guarantee service levels, a criteria small businesses are accustomed
to getting from old-line telephone companies like Verizon
Communications Inc.
Level 3 uses network monitoring devices from Chelmsford-based Brix
Networks Inc. to accomplish that. Brix director of product marketing
David Kaufman agreed that Level 3 probably has the best VOIP service
guarantee in the business, but he added that 70 percent of Brix's
clients plan to use the equipment to monitor VOIP services."
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2004/06/07/story7.html?page=2
====== Basic Features ========================
*Direct Inward Dial number
*Unlimited local calling
*Unlimited Inbound calling
*Unlimited on-net calling
*Long distance & international
*Audio conferencing
*Call hold
*Call park/pick up
*Call forwarding
*Caller ID
*Caller ID block Hook Flash
*Call Transfer
*Last number redial
*Speed Dial
*Extention dialing
*Hunt Groups
*Music on hold
*Bridged line appearance
*Do not distrub
*Loudspeaker paging
*Calling restrictions
========= Information about what they offer ===========
"NuCall?s VoIP solutions are ideal for remote workers, allowing remote
offices, telecommuters, road warriors and contract workers to function
in the same communications environment as headquarters, regardless of
where they are. Adds, changes and deletions can be made quickly and
easily from NuPort, our browser-based management control."
"NuCall evaluates your current infrastructure, business requirements
and desired goals in order to propose the ideal solution set. In this
process we evaluate how your business operates and your strategic
goals; we assess your phone and LAN equipment as well as your current
charges and usage for voice and data connectivity.
Based on your business requirements, we propose an integrated
communications roadmap consisting of single-source carrier-grade
solutions and best-practices LAN optimization and management. This may
be as simple as back-hauling voice circuits from an existing PBX to a
fully-blown managed IP solution-set delivered to the desktop.
Upon approval, we coordinate implementation, turn-up and training with
your staff. NuCall performs on-going network management and customer
support.
NuCall?s solutions are designed to be non-intrusive and services can
be migrated slowly while co-existing with current services. The
end-result is a solution that not only saves money but also allows the
business to devote full resources to their core business, not running
a telephone network."
"BusinessClass VoIP Level is hosted in a carrier-grade network, not
the public Internet as most residential carriers do. The applications
were built with a browser-based model in mind, making it easy for the
service provider and the customers to administer, manage, and update
their features (such as speed dial keys, phone templates, and moves,
adds, and changes) as if it?s their own system. Therefore, a PBX is
not required ? only phones. Other Web-based portals, such as those
offered by Vonage, are simply PC-based solutions with a Web-enabled
front-end for making calls over the Internet. Calls over the Internet
may be satisfactory for consumer-grade calling, but businesses require
a higher quality of service. BusinessClass VoIP Level gives the user
the same voice quality they have been accustomed to with their own
PBX, unlike other VoIP solutions that may transport voice traffic over
the public Internet."
"The service is engineered to be as reliable as any other
carrier-grade network product. Since all of the data is stored in the
network, the data itself is intact. The system has been tested to have
?five 9s? reliability (99.999% availability), including (and
especially) customer data"
"The service will work with any analog phone (no LCD support
possible), Cisco IP phones, and Polycom IP phones. If the customer has
had a Toshiba DK Key system, their phones may also work with the
solution, as well as a Nortel Meridian system. These can be converted
to IP phones by means of an IP adapter Gateway."
Software Company Case Study
http://www.nucall.com/case3.html
###### In House Solutions #############
An internal VoIP system is different from the hosted VoIP in that you
need to provide a lot of the hardware yourself. On site you will have
a gateway which manages and routes calls. Connected with that you
will have a call manager which feeds the individual extentions. Calls
go from the handsets, to the call manager to the gateway.
At this point you have two options for how they go out into the real
world. Either they get routed over standard telecom lines or they are
sent out to a carrier service. The difference is one travels over
standard lines while the other is VoIP most of the way.
A number of companies sell internal VoIP solutions and the complexity
of a system depends on your needs.
The exact cost of an internal VoIP system is difficult to determine
without talking with someone in sales at one of the major companies
and knowing your exact needs. i have put together a couple sample
systems below which is compatible with the current phone system that
you have and your needs as I understand them. I tried to go with the
more reliable hardware companies.
------ Cisco System -----------
The key component of the Cisco phone system is the central
router/gateway. This is the brain of your system. This is where the
call manager software is located, it is where the outside lines come
into and it is responsible for making your phones work. This can also
be a very expensive piece of hardware. A few sample prices I found
were in the high thousands. There is used equipment available but you
will still be paying top dollar for this.
If you think that you might want to go the Cisco route my
recommendation to you would be to contact an authorized dealer in your
area. That way you can tell them exactly what your needs are, what
features you want, how many off site/on site people you have, plans
for future scalability, etc and they can tell you exactly what system
and configuration would be best for you. This will help save you a
lot of money since you will not have to risk buying something you did
not need, or something that doesn't do what you need. You can look
one up a Cisco dealer here:
http://tools.cisco.com/WWChannels/LOCATR/jsp/partner_locator.jsp
--------- EdgeAccess ----------
http://www.ipaxs.com/
A company called EdgeAccess offers a package which would also probably
fill your basic needs. The difference between them and Cisco is two
fold. The first difference is quality. As you probably know Cisco is
the leader in this type of field as far has hardware goes. The other
difference is customizablity. Cisco has a huge set of options and can
be tailored to your specific needs. Edgewise has only a couple of
products and as a result may not be as scalable or modular as you
might need.
The two big products that EdgeAccess provides which would fill your
needs are the DigitalGateway and the Universal Access Device.
** Universal Access Device **
"Universal Access Device (UAD) provides a cost effective, flexible
solution that enables secure, converged Voice and Data communications
anytime, anywhere and with any wired or wireless network. Its'
innovative technology provides unrivaled voice quality and
dependability, making convergence the best solution for optimizing
performance.
VoiceWise sits on the Edge of your network to offer scalable last mile
technology to extend deployment options and geographical reach.
Consisting of a CPU, hardware, firmware, VoIP application software,
VoiceWise serves as a router, DHCP, Quality of Service (QOS) Manager,
Triple DES VPN Client, proxy, firewall, NAT and analog gateway ? all
in one lightweight unit. To accommodate demands for mobility, it also
acts as a wireless access point, allowing you to easily connect
phones, fax machines and laptops or create a converged wireless
network infrastructure.
VoiceWise is designed for change. It has flexible port density and
configuration. And, it includes a unique universal WAN interface that
can connect with any broadband network. As WAN standards evolve, so
can VoiceWise. Instead of reinventing the entire infrastructure, WAN
cards can simply be replaced for dramatic costs and times savings"
** DigitalGateway **
"The Edge Access DigitalGateway bridges IP networks with the PSTN,
enabling VoIP communications outside of your network. The EDGE Access
DigitalGateway is designed to operate within the network and by
interconnecting calls from phone, fax or modem; the DigitalGateway is
the next generation central office.
The Edge Access DigitalGateway reduces costs, space, network
management and personnel. In managed IP network environments, the
DigitalGateway provides all this at one-tenth the bandwidth required
by traditional circuit-switched TDM equipment"
----------- Swyx ---------------
http://www.swyx.com/
** SwyxWare **
SwyxWare is the system that I am going to recommend if you plan on
going with an internal solution. Rather then involve a lot of
expensive hardware, SwyxWare is a software based solution which
provides all the features that you are looking for.
"SwyxWare is a software solution based on the Microsoft® Windows®
Server platform, which turns the server into a PBX. SwyxServer not
only carries out all the functions of a classical PBX, but also
provides high-performance phone functions for every user. The PBX
functions of SwyxServer include call connection requests, call
authorization and all call switching processes, as well as the
management of group calls."
"The conference manager integrated in SwyxServer allows conference
calls with internal and external callers. A conference can either be
setup individually by any user or the callers can dial directly into
a virtual conference room with a unique extension. The access to
conference calls can also be controlled with call routing rules. For
example, it's possible to protect conference rooms with a PIN or
restrict the access to certain telephone numbers."
"With SwyxWare's software component SwyxLink-Manager, communication
can be operated over existing IP connections between different
subsidiaries or sites. Calls between the subsidiaries are free of
charge. All outgoing calls are held within the IP network as long as
possible before the least expensive communication path is selected.
SwyxLink-Manager also controls the bandwidth administration by
configuring voice codecs, compression methods and number of
connections. When the maximum number of connections is being used or
when the IP connection has failed, all calls are performed
automatically as a fallback solution over the PSTN."
Features:
*"Do not disturb" function
*Advice of Charge
*Application Sharing
*Automatic service restart in case of errors
*Blind call transfer
*Call detail records
*Call hold
*Call Pick-up
*Call redirection depending on schedule entries in outlook calendar
*Call restrictions
*Call routing manager
*Call swap
*Call Transfer
*Call waiting indication
*Callback on busy, internal
*Callback on request
*Caller list with date and time
*Conference bridge
*Conference, user enabled
*Configuration via Micrsoft Management console
*Connection logging and display
*Consultancy call
*Conversation recording
*Default handling of call that could not be connected
*Delayed redirection
*Dialing by blockdialing
*Dialing by overlap sending
*Dialing of vanity numbers
*Extended call routing
*Fax and DTMF support
*Fax-Intergration
*Fax - over-ip
*Fixed redirection
*FollowMe
*Global Phone Directory
*Group Calls
*Group Functions
*Group Signalling
*Interactive voice response
*Interncom
*Intersite-Coupling
*Mapping of Project numbers to outgoing calls
*Multi gateway support
*Music on hold using selective WAV file
*Phone directory with user status
*Redial list with date and time
*Redirection if absent
*Redirection if busy
*Redirection, remote configuration
*Roaming user profiles
*Selection fo Caller ID for outgoing calls
*Status display for all connections
*Status display via MMC
*Supervised call transfer
*Supports H.323 terminals
*Supports SIP
*voice compression
*Voice encoding according to G.711
*Voicemail, change annoucements remote
*Voicemail, remote inquiry
*Voicemail, transmission via SMTP
*voicemail, User defined compression
**** SwyxGate *****
In addition to SwyXWare SwyxGate is required. The good news is if you
dedicate a powerful enough computer (PIII 1 ghz min.) to it they can
run on the same system.
"SwyxGate is a gateway solution which consists of a software component
and at least one ISDN card. SwyxGate converts incoming calls from
the PSTN into IP packets and adapts outgoing calls from the IP network
into signals and voice transmission to the PSTN. To interface with
the PSTN, SwyxGate uses standard ISDN cards."
"The maximum number of simultaneous connections to the telephone
network depends only on the user's communication requirements and can
range from 2 to 30 for a single SwyxGate. SwyxGate can be installed
on a stand-alone PC as well as on the SwyxServer PC for smaller
installations. The administration of SwyxGate is performed with
Microsoft's Management Console (MMC)."
@@@@ Reviews @@@@@
The SwyxWare system has recieved a number of positive reviews.
Computer Shopper have it 4 out of 5 stars
(http://shopper.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/reviews/63644/swyx-swyxware.html),
"VoIP (Voice over Internet) is finally becoming an attractive option
for smaller businesses and educational establishments. Swyx is a well
established VoIP telephony company and the latest update to its
SwyxWare platform adds to its attraction."
http://www.itweek.co.uk/products/software/1157646
"Swyx is the undisputed king of Lan telephony. It is good, easy and
cheap. SwyxWare is an IP telephony solution for internal and external
communication that should excite anyone wanting cost savings. It is a
software-based IP PBX (private branch exchange) that also performs
traditional PBX tasks and integrates with email applications. For
example, with SwyxWare you can place your call directly out of
Microsoft Outlook's calendar or indeed any customer databases or
contact management system (as long as it has a TAPI interface).
Conversely, it gives you the lowdown on callers before you answer the
phone."
http://www.dynamicsonline.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/56
############# Summary ###############
Which system you go with is really a matter of what your needs are.
If you go with the in house systems be prepared to encounter some real
speed bumps while you get adjusted to the system. In the long run it
will likely provide you with more flexibility and probably a reduced
cost. Something to consider though is that as technology improves the
burden will be on you to upgrade. This is contrary to a hosted system
where the upgrades are on them when new technology comes down the
pike.
A hosted system will allow you to be more hands off and devote less of
your human resources to trouble shooting and working on an in house
solution. At the same time it will not necessarily provide you with
the flexibility to customize it to your needs.
In my opinion either the SwyxWare system or the NuCall hosting package
will likely accomplish the needs of your organization. If you are
still undecided then try to answer these questions.
*How much flexibility and customization do I need in a system?
*How much time do I want to devote to upkeep and maintenance, what is
the opportunity cost of this time?
If you have any further questions or need something cleared up please
don't hesitate to request a clarification before rating my answer.
Have a wonderful day!
Best,
djbaker-ga
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