Dec 31 2008
Software phone systems can save you money!
For decades, a handful of giant manufacturers have maintained a virtual monopoly in the SMB phone systems market. This has resulted in expensive, proprietary technology that was difficult to manage and costly to maintain. By some estimates, only a third of small businesses have implemented phone systems for these reasons. This leaves the majority of this segment underserved!
Introducing the software pbx or phone system. A software phone system is an application designed to perform all the features of a purpose built pbx but built to run on standard computer hardware. Since software phone systems can be installed on commonly available computers, much of the cost associated with proprietary phone system hardware has been eliminated, which means software phone systems save you money!
Most phone system solutions available today are based on Voice over IP (VoIP). This does not mean that these systems will not connect with traditional phone services. In fact, the majority of phone systems available today support both traditional phone lines as well as VoIP.
Here are the 4 key ingredients required to build your own phone system.
1- Computer Hardware
2- Phone System Software
3- Phones
4- Gateways
Computer Hardware
Selecting suitable computer hardware is an important factor since your new phone system will depend on a reliable platform to run on. If your phone system project is for play, any reasonably equipped computer will do. If your phone system implementation is intended for business use, it would be wise to check with your software provider for recommended hardware products. For mission critical enterprise applications, a hardened server is highly recommended.
Software
Selection of software depends as much on personal preference as it does on features and capability. Some users are more comfortable working in a Windows environment while others are comfortable with Linux or Mac OS X. There are software based phone system solutions available for just about any platform. Most of these solutions are easy enough to install and manage and offer a plethora of features and functionality.
Since the defacto industry standard for voice communication these days is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), software selected should support SIP.
Without delving into a detailed feature listing (We’ll save that for another article!), here are some of the more popular features that most people look for in a new phone system:
1- Call Handling (Hold, Transfer, Conference, Forward, Park, Auto Attendant, Digital Receptionist, IVR, etc.)
2- Unified Communication and Mobility (User Portal, Voicemail to Email, Unified Messaging, Single Number, Remote Access, Soft Phone, etc.)
3- 3rd Party Application Integration (Outlook, Salesforce / Web-based CRM, Exchange, Fax, etc.)
4- Management (Web based Configuration, Backup/Restore, Call Logging/Reporting, etc.)
5- SIP Trunk (VoIP) support to connect to one or more ITSPs (Internet Telephony Service Provider)
Windows based phone systems: 3CX, pbxnsip
Linux based phone systems: Asterisk, Elastix, Trixbox
Mac OS X based phone systems: pbxnsip
Phones
The phone is the interface between your end users and the system so factors such as ease of use, end user features, aesthetic appeal, call quality, ease of support should be considered when choosing phones. There are 3 major categories of end user devices that will work with your new system:
1- Hardware IP Phone (Desk Phone, Wireless Phone, Conference Phone, etc.)
2- Software IP Phone (PC/Mac Software Client, Smart Phone Mobile Client)
3- Traditional Analog Phone via ATA (Analog Terminal Adapter)
There is no shortage of options when it comes to phone selection. Check with the software provider, your vendor and user forums for recommended models before deciding on what phones to order.
Gateway
A gateway is a device used to connect your VoIP based phone system to the public telephone network. Without a gateway, most SMB phone systems are still able to connect to the outside world using a SIP (VoIP) trunk. The SIP trunk connects your phone system to an ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider) who then relays your calls to and from the public telephone network. However, using only VoIP means that you are entirely dependant on your Internet connection to for phone access to the outside world.
The gateway enables you to connect analog POTS lines (Plain Old Telephone Service) or digital ISDN BRI and PRI (T1/E1) lines directly to your phone system. You can continue to take advantage of VoIP but also keep some direct connectivity to the public telephone network for reliability and failover.
Here are some of the options available when it comes to gateways.
1- PCI Telephony Cards
2- External Ethernet Gateways
3- External USB Gateways
PCI Telephony Cards: There are PCI and PCIe based telephony cards available for a variety of platforms that will enable you to create your own gateway for your phone system. If you are comfortable installing hardware in your computer, this may be the simplest and most cost effective solution for you. If you’re not sure about getting under the hood of your system, this might not be the best solution for you.
External Ethernet Gateways: There are many external Ethernet based gateway devices on the market that will enable you to connect with a variety of telephony interfaces. These gateways are network devices that connect with all your phone lines and communicate with your phone system over Ethernet.
External USB Gateways: Some platforms support external USB based gateway devices that will enable you to connect with a variety of telephony interfaces. USB gateways are like peripherals that interface with your phone system on a USB port. These gateways also support a variety telephony interfaces for your phone lines and analog devices.
If you have a question or are just looking for help with planning your ideal software based phone system, feel free to comment on this post or call me at 1-866-924-4292.
