Best Options For A Multi-line Telephone System?

[alterEGO]

Dont forget to keep at least one copper line working ....................!

lol, i wonder which one that might be

[arfur mo]

Dont forget to keep at least one copper line working ....................!

as most need internet they use the fax line for thier adsl needs.

the copper requirement was for emergency times like poer cuts, trouble is especially on bigger systems you may be miles away from th designated 'live' phone (thats assuming you knew where it was) then a fire breaks out.

so in these days with nearly everyone owning mobiles it's not such an issue but may be (i.e. i'm not sure) a legal requirement.

regs

alan

[Guest anguscanplay]

edit.

[Lectrician]

as most need internet they use the fax line for thier adsl needs.

the copper requirement was for emergency times like poer cuts, trouble is especially on bigger systems you may be miles away from th designated 'live' phone (thats assuming you knew where it was) then a fire breaks out.

so in these days with nearly everyone owning mobiles it's not such an issue but may be (i.e. i'm not sure) a legal requirement.

regs

alan

Although with BT's 'Converge solutions', you can get obscene broadband speeds delivered over the same fibre cable used to supply your ISDN30. But then, it is always good to keep a copper ADSL live and connected to a fallback router.

[arfur mo]

Although with BT's 'Converge solutions', you can get obscene broadband speeds delivered over the same fibre cable used to supply your ISDN30. But then, it is always good to keep a copper ADSL live and connected to a fallback router.

agreed very prudent,

i'd imagine the sale of the pmcia modem cards has increased for that reason, some even have dial-up via a modem, terrified they may loose their internet due to a glitch of some kind causing severe losses.

so sort of belt, braces, truss and parachute approach

regs

alan

[billythebellbox]

as most need internet they use the fax line for thier adsl needs.

the copper requirement was for emergency times like poer cuts, trouble is especially on bigger systems you may be miles away from th designated 'live' phone (thats assuming you knew where it was) then a fire breaks out.

so in these days with nearly everyone owning mobiles it's not such an issue but may be (i.e. i'm not sure) a legal requirement.

maybe one for stu?

[SystemQ]

Hi Paul,

I am a Meridian engineer and run my own company. You have a couple of options to upgrade your system.

As others have mentioned, ISDN30 is a good way forward and becomes cheaper than copper (analogue) lines as you add more lines (channels) to it. Alternatively, you can expand the system using an add-on module to increase the capacity to 20 analogue lines.

VoIP is not an option with the system you have (assuming it is a Meridian Norstar). Personally, i don't think VoIP is good enogh yet to make business calls. It is OK for Skype when you are making personal calls and can be fine for business calls too, but the call quality cannot be guaranteed. The last thing you want is a customer struggling to understand what you are saying.

However, if you really want to try VoIP, the cheapest way forward to to change your phone system for a BCM (Business Communications Manager for Nortel). This is a direct replacment for the Norstar. It is functionally the same so you don't have to learn how to use it and better still, you can use the phones you have already on the Norstar. This would make a good saving over replacing with another type of phone system. The BCM does everything that the Norstar does, but also has all the latest enhancements, including VoIP capability, CTI (screen popping), voicemail which your Norstar my not have, IP phones and the list goes on. The BCM is very well priced and all the extra features is is capable of come pre-loaded and only need to be activated with a key code (which you unfortunately need to buy )

Although the Norstar has been around for some time it is still a good system and we hold plenty of stock of bits and pieces for it should you decide to go down that route.

I hope this helps.

Paul

Hi all.

Thanks for the advice.

I guess I am leaning to the ISDN route and perhaps a new system hub and maybe retain the original meridian phones as everyone is pretty much used to them.

We currently have seven lines and would like that increasing to ten. The telephone hub we currently have is the Norstar 824.

What CCU would you recommend?

I had a look at the Nortel BCM and it does look very good, it looks like either the 50 or 200 unit would be suitable.

In the past we have used a telephone engineer from Derby who is now full time lecturing so I would be interested in hearing from any one to quote us for swapping it over and programming it after BT

[PaulCarter]

Hi Paul,

I would be please to send you a quote but I think it would be better if i can talk to you direct rather than through this forum. Can you let me have an email address or other contact details so i can put something together for you?

If you want to contact me direct you can get me at (using the PM facility)

Regards,

Paul.

Hi all.

Thanks for the advice.

I guess I am leaning to the ISDN route and perhaps a new system hub and maybe retain the original meridian phones as everyone is pretty much used to them.

We currently have seven lines and would like that increasing to ten. The telephone hub we currently have is the Norstar 824.

What CCU would you recommend?

I had a look at the Nortel BCM and it does look very good, it looks like either the 50 or 200 unit would be suitable.

In the past we have used a telephone engineer from Derby who is now full time lecturing so I would be interested in hearing from any one to quote us for swapping it over and programming it after BT

[KiwiBoy42]

Hi

I am an telecom engineer of some 15 years standing, I can assist with advice on equipment, set up and network connection VoIP, ISDN (BRI and PRI). We are able to order any BT network or Gamma SIP trunking that would give you what you are looking for. Let me know if you want any further help.

Thanks

[jackbuchan]

Hi there,

We currently use in our office a BCM 50 system with an expansion pack we have 15 phones and 9 lines comeing in and around 10 DDI numbers for each user and for in our workshop we used to have a meridian system which i must say is very outdated compared to this bcm state of the art system it can handle many more extensions and we have it set up with unique voicemail boxes for each user, night service mailbox when we are closed and a busy mailbox when the lines are full!

The auto attendant incase you are not familuar allows us to route calls as they come in e.g press 1 for bodyshop, 2 for accounts etc we find it excellent and makes it a worthwhile investment in the long run we purchased it outright from bt and we just rent the lines and a small amount for our DDI numbers.

Also we have got seperate extensions that we have allocated on the system for our Fax, Visa Machine , And franking machine which makes a saving as well because you can alocate them a DDI number to communicate.

PS: The bcm can be connected just as we have done to our network which makes programming and updating new ext, mailboxes etc a breeze (It even allows you to print off reports on who answered the most calls and who were allocated to from the auto attendant! e.g option1 : Ext 221 (mr smith) 122 Calls On Mon 21/1/08)

If you need any further info on the BCM systems just send or post a message!