VOIP Companies for Small Business

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Recently took on a new role as an IT Manager and I've been tasked with getting VOIP for the company.

Requirements are: users in two different cities can transfer calls to and from each other so I'm thinking of getting a cloud based PBX company to host the VOIP hardware.
Ability to work from home or remotely so probably need access to softphone software to allow for this.
We'll have around 50 staff this new year.

Companies I've looked at are VoipFone, BT and Gradwell. Still have to get their quotes for the systems per line etc. Can anyone recommend any others I should look into?
 
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How many users are you talking about? What are the internet links like?

You can easily transfer calls between offices with an in house PBX - there's a million ways to skin that cat
 
iaind said:
How many users are you talking about? What are the internet links like?

You can easily transfer calls between offices with an in house PBX - there's a million ways to skin that cat
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50 or so, one office has alright internet my office is getting fibre this year. I'd imagine the inhouse PBX to be a lot more expensive compared to the cloud based ones and I'd need one on each office?
 
For 50 users I'd consider hosted SIP, which is very flexible. Obviously this will rely heavily on the quality of your Internet connection unless a dedicated circuit is installed

- GP
 
GhostlyPea said:
For 50 users I'd consider hosted SIP, which is very flexible. Obviously this will rely heavily on the quality of your Internet connection unless a dedicated circuit is installed

- GP
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Hosted being the company running the SIP or an external company?
 
mrbell1984 said:
It's alright saying that if there is a dedicated person who can run systems like this. Running services in house requires people with technical knowledge.
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The external company will run the system itself and the phones you have on site will just connect out over the Internet to their equipment. The call is then routed to the PSTN via them

- GP
 
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GhostlyPea said:
The external company will run the system itself and the phones you have on site will just connect out over the Internet to their equipment. The call is then routed to the PSTN via them

- GP
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Yeah this is what I was thinking, don't think it was worth getting all the hardware purchased for the 16 users we have in my office and then for the rest of them being in the other office.
Thanks
 
mrbell1984 said:
It's alright saying that if there is a dedicated person who can run systems like this. Running services in house requires people with technical knowledge.
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Huh? Where did I recommend getting an in house solution? =/ I said get it all hosted. Dedicated circuit is not a dedicated internal service, its an internet connection just for the SIP

- GP
 
How are the 50 users split across the 2 sites?

To be honest, I'd personally never run voice over the interwebz. If you want SIP trunks to an in house PBX, a dedicated circuit is the way to do it properly. If you're talking hosted PBX, I don't know if any providers offer that but would add to the cost

In terms of in house vs hosted cost wise, there'll be a bigger capital outlay but lower ongoing costs - the hosted solution is likely to become more expensive over the longer term. In house doesnt mean complicated or requiring technical skills - telecoms companies are everywhere, find one to install and support the system and you dont need to worry too much. The level of support can include all the user configuration too if you dont want to even touch it. However, systems vary from hugely complicated (Cisco) to Easy peasy (Shoretel) so bear that in mind if you're looking at this route.

In terms of where to site it and what to buy, it depends on the distribution of staff between the offices. If it's 25 in each then you probably want a small system either side or you could put a larger system in a colo with dedicated links. If its 48 in one office and 2 in the other, then a system in the head office and register the phones in the remote office to that would be fine.

I'd always prefer in house over hosted for a PBX but I can see the draw - just make sure you're considering everything and not making assumptions. You're probably looking at about £10/user/month all in (plus calls) so £500 per month. Bearing in mind a 25 user Avaya IP Office system can cost about £5k plus a few hundred quid a year to maintain and support - you're probably becoming more expensive for hosted in 2-3 years
 
We have about 16 or 17 in my office then the rest in the other office in Wales. The CTO and directors have said they'd prefer to have a hosted solution "in the cloud" compared to a dedicated solution in house. There are more people in Wales but I'm based in Edinburgh but don't think they'd want to hire a telecoms team just to manage the phone they'd want me to support so it's a bit difficult flying down to Cardiff when major issues occur.

I also have to get a VPN setup to connect the two offices also but this is another project for another day!
 
You could give Kesher a try.

http://www.keshercommunications.com/index.html

But setting up a VOIP PBX is not hard. I sent myself on a 2 day course and set up VOIP servers in both of our company offices, with remote access for the directors from home. Programming the servers was the hardest part and to be honest I'd not bother doing it myself again, I'd just commision a VOIP engineer to do it for me.

Everything else was just fairly standard network hardware. If you are not going to use analogue lines or ISDN but are going to use SIP Trunks it is even easier.

Granted mine was only for 20 users, but to be honest 10 or 100 users it is all fairly much the same.

Your biggest challenge is making sure that you have sufficient capacity on your internet connection for your call traffic and QoS.
 
mrbell1984 said:
oh sorry I thought you meant hosting internally in house.
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No worries, it's usually me getting the wrong end of the stick :)

iaind said:
QoS on an internet connection?
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This. You won't get any (chances that a supplier will be on the same ISP and that they ISP would be willing to maintain markings is slim to none)

iaind said:
I'd always prefer in house over hosted for a PBX but I can see the draw - just make sure you're considering everything and not making assumptions. You're probably looking at about £10/user/month all in (plus calls) so £500 per month. Bearing in mind a 25 user Avaya IP Office system can cost about £5k plus a few hundred quid a year to maintain and support - you're probably becoming more expensive for hosted in 2-3 years
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I do also agree with this largely, our Avaya/Lync system is all in house with ISDN trunks for the Avaya side and SIP for Lync, but for a smallish disparate segmentation of users especially if ther are no IT internal staff with this skillset ten I'd probably still be looking to go hosted

- GP
 
I'd recommend Voipfone - we use them for a variety of services including VOIP and number diversions (from when we moved).

I know of many many other users who would recommend them too, in fact i've never heard a bad word said about them!
 
GhostlyPea said:
No worries, it's usually me getting the wrong end of the stick :)

This. You won't get any (chances that a supplier will be on the same ISP and that they ISP would be willing to maintain markings is slim to none)

- GP
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Actually there are quite a few smaller specialist ISPs who specifically offer QoS for VOIP traffic on their networks.
 
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