In earlier posts we looked at several ways for you to use SIP with your device of choice inlcuding SIP softphones, SIP for Apple, and SIP for Android.

Wrapping up this series we can’t leave out the “As Seen on TV” juggernaut, magicJack.

A lot of you have heard of magicJack, a phone system that promises free local and long-distance calling in addition to free call waiting, free voicemail, free caller ID – basically, the whole works.

It sounds like a great offer, and certainly the type of offer a startup business would like to use to reduce overhead as much as possible.

But we live in a digital age, and the Internet makes phone calling via computer a top-flight convenience for businesses of any type. It’s hard to weigh which phone system to use.

The good news is that magicJack uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which means you can use the Magic Jack service with a standard VoIP product. Given how cheap Magic Jack is to use – and how easy it is to use SIP and VoIP technology in today’s world – there should be no excuse for any startup to spend a lot of money on expensive phone systems.

Using magicJack SIP

For the same reason a lot of people use magicJack, they turn to other SIP solutions. Chances are they want to make unlimited calls anywhere in the country and not have to worry about exorbitant fees and charges that show up unexpectedly in their business’s expense account every month.

But the appeal of using the magicJack SIP system is that it combines much of the best of both worlds: the cheap, affordable service of magicJack with a simple, easy-to-use interface of SIP.

But how do you use it?

A simple online search will yield you plenty of results – some of which violate the terms of the magicJack TOS and some of which do not. We can only recommend that you use the ones that do not, and for further information on that front you’ll need to consult your magicJack TOS.

Using SIP for Your Business

We should warn you that magicJack, when compared to the power of SIP in a VoIP service, really isn’t all that different from what you can already do for your business. SIP for your company can include softphone technology that allows people to avoid the expenses of hardware altogether – this can be everyone from the CEO to the secretary.

These setups are easy to use and don’t require that you break any company’s terms of service. That’s an easy solution for your company’s overhead no matter how many employees you have.

Related Articles

• How to Obtain magicJack SIP Credentials
• VoIP POTS Emulation on FXO with magicJack
• More on magicJack
• magicJack Plus Review

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

Because not only is a mind a terrible thing to waste but so too is your valuable time and money, VoIP Supply’s Edu Assist Program will save educational institutions both time and money when deploying Voice over IP (VoIP). 

Education Specific Applications

VoIP Supply designed the Edu Assist Program to provide service, support, and expertise tailored specifically to educational applications. In addition to the discounts, free shipping, and payment terms that this program provides, education-specific purchasers can expect:

• Expertise: Manufacturer certified VoIP experts providing consultations.
• Choice: Choose the right solution from a large VoIP specific catalog.
• Help: Live customer service reps including full support packages.
• No Hassles: No fine print, no run around, and the industry’s leading returns policy.
• Investment Protection: Extended product warranties.
• Reliability: On-time and prompt response.

“Educational customers have unique needs,” said Garrett Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at VoIP Supply. “VoIP Supply understands the nuances of these deployments so we aim to provide a high level of assistance.”

For additional information about the Edu Assist program give us a call, 800-398-8647, or fill out the form to contact a VoIP expert.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

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VoIP phone service not only saves you on your calls, but lets you enjoy all value-added features, which otherwise are charged for in case of your traditional phone. Owing to these facts, people are abandoning their traditional phones and going head-over-heels for purchasing residential VoIP services. I want to outline some basic options or requirements that you will need to get started.

Soft Phone Options

A soft phone is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet using a general purpose computer, rather than using dedicated hardware. Often a soft phone is designed to behave like a traditional telephone, sometimes appearing as an image of a phone, with a display panel and buttons with which the user can interact. A soft phone is usually used with a headset connected to the sound card of the PC, or with a USB phone.

It’s important to differentiate soft phones from services based on soft phones. Skype, Google Talk, and Vonage are Internet telephony service providers having their own soft phones that you install on your computer. Unfortunately these three major providers are not interoperable, and you can’t place a direct call between them.

Currently VoIP Supply is carrying a wide variety of Skype hardware and accessories. This includes Skype phone, wireless phones, and headsets to name a few. Check out these great deals here.

VoIP Analog Adapters

A VoIP Adapter, most commonly known as (ATAs) are used by many VoIP companies selling a Telco-alternative VoIP service, where the device is used to replace a user’s connection to a traditional telephone company. When sold in connection with a VoIP service, the ATA is often locked so it cannot be used with a competing service, and the user can only partly change its configuration. Some providers do sell devices that are not locked and can be used with any compatible provider. All of the products that VoIP Supply sells are unlocked and can be used with any provider that allows you to bring your own device to their offering.

Some of the more popular brands that we carry are Linksys and Grandstream. Inside those brands you some various types.

• Single FXS – A single FXS VoIP adapter allows you to connect one telephone. Single FXS VoIP adapters come with either one or two Ethernet ports.
• Dual FXS – A dual FXS VoIP adapter allows you to connect up to two telephones. Dual FXS VoIP adapters come with either one or two Ethernet ports.
• FXO / FXS – A FXO / FXS VoIP adapter allows you to connect a single telephone and a single POTS line. These combination adapters are typically used to provide fail-over or life-line capabilities.

VoIP Phones

Utilizing a VoIP phone can really enhance the over VoIP experience. A VoIP phone works by taking your analog voice and converting it into digital packets that are then transmitted across a network using. VoIP phones can also convert digital packets in analog voice streams. To accomplish this conversion and transfer of voice stream a VoIP phone uses specific set of VoIP protocols and voice codec’s.

Here at VoIPSupply.com we have a wide variety of ip phones to choose from. We carry all of the major brands including Polycom, Aastra, Linksys, Snom and Grandstream to name a few. All of the phones we offer are great choices for any user level.

If you need assistance choosing any of the above hardware option feel free to contact me directly.

dhartman@voipsupply.com or 1-888-398-8647 X3417.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

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FXS – According to Wikipedia, FXS stands for foreign exchange station.  Since that is so clear and makes so much sense I can stop there right? Not! So clearly the actual meaning of these words isn’t going to help us remember or understand what they mean.  FXS is an RJ11 port that connects internally to an analog office phone or fax machine.  Think of the S as meaning a station or a cubicle.  Any FXS port is going to connect to an analog DEVICE and the cable from the port to the device will never leave the building.

FXO – According to Wikipedia, foreign exchange office designates a telephone signaling interface that receives POTS (plain old telephone service).  Um… ok. Let’s put it this way, FXO is a port that will connect a device to an outside telephone line.  Think “O” for “Outside”.  Picture an RJ11 wall jack that connects to a box in your basement which is connected to the line from your house to the nearest telephone pole on your street.  Any RJ11 port on an device that is headed towards that wall jack is an FXO port. It connects your device to the “outside” world or your local area telephone “office”.

FXS ports are often used on ATA (Analog Telephone Adapters) such as the Linksys PAP2T or Grandstream HT502.  The FXS port connects the analog telephone to the ATA which connects to the internet via a Router or modem.  Some ATA’s also have an FXO port. This connects to the wall jack by the computer to provide failover. In this case, in the event of internet failure, you can still make telephone calls via the POTS line.  Also, you can use the FXO port to make free local calls on your POTS line.

FXO ports are most often used on Gateways and PBX’s to support Failover or Fallback as mentioned above.  Most critical phone systems should have a failover feature so phone calls or faxes may continue in the event of internet failure.

So you see, FXS and FXO are super easy, as long as you don’t rely on their given names for an explanation!

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

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Obviously IP DECT solutions offer many benefits to its end users, the first and most obvious is mobility. Most of us have grown accustomed to living in a world where “we can always be reached”, and usually when we find ourselves in a position where we can communicate with outside world, we panic because we have come so accustomed to always being connected.

As it relates to VoIP, mobility is offered in many different ways weather that be via a wireless headset connected to your desk phone, a cordless Wi-FI solution leveraging your existing WLAN, cordless soft phones installed on laptops, or VoIP DECT solutions.

Consumer Versus Enterprise DECT Solutions

When we speak about VoIP DECT solutions, we usually like to separate the solution and distinguish between a consumer grade DECT solution or enterprise grade DECT solution. Most consumer grade DECT solutions are found in a home or small office environment with usually 1-8 users. A DECT solution could meet your complete phone system needs in a SOHO environment.

An enterprise DECT solution is meant for those large environments where we are dealing with anywhere from 10 to 1500 users. Most of these solutions can be found in large manufacturing facilities, healthcare, college campuses, and government applications.

As it relates to the environment, obviously there are different DECT solutions and products that achieve both the requirements of a SOHO or Enterprise DECT Solution.

Planning a DECT System

When it comes to planning out a DECT solution, there are many factors to consider especially if you are planning an enterprise-like deployment. You will want to meet all of your users needs as well as present the best quality as it relates to functionality, voice quality, and mobility. Below, we will detail a few of these considerations.

• Number of Users- How many DECT handsets will you need to completely satisfy all of your users. Like I said, most SOHO DECT solutions can handle 6-8 Users. This is a limitation of the solution itself as the base station used in these applications can only support 6-8 total DECT handsets paired to it. If you are customer that needs more than 8 DECT handsets, then you will need to look at an enterprise grade DECT solution.
• Call Control Platform- Most SOHO DECT applications have been tested to work with most SIP based PBX’s or service providers. I can tell you that I have personally tested many of the SOHO based DECT solutions with in-house asterisk software or open-sourced distributions of asterisk and the solutions work like a charm. If you are using a service provider, you will want to check with them first to ensure your DECT solution will work with their network and call control platform. Some Enterprise DECT solutions also work on a SIP Based call control platform but some offer interfaces to the Cisco Call Manager or Unified Communications platform, interfaces to older legacy (analog PBX’s) via the use of a special DECT gateway.
• Size of the DECT signal coverage- DECT operates on the 1.9GHZ frequency has the ability to span anywhere from 300 meters to 1000 meters from one particular DECT Base station or Access Point. Obviously signaling and the strength of the DECT Frequency is affected by any physical barriers which we will talk about in our next considerations. The Snom M3 SOHO DECT solution offers DECT repeaters which simply repeat DECT signal even farther out from the Main DECT base station to offer you even more DECT coverage in those hard to reach places. DECT repeaters, in most cases must be in the same DECT signal coverage as the MAIN DECT base as pictured below and the number of additional repeaters vary between solutions. Some SOHO solutions don’t even offer a repeater solution. Keep this in mind when planning your deployment. Also DECT signal can be broadcasted in either horizontal or vertical applications to meet you many floors you may have in an office building.
• Physical Barriers- Obviously, in a solution where there are little barriers in the way of the DECT frequency being broadcasted, the solution scales to a much larger coverage area. However, this does not mean that the frequency can’t penetrate any barriers you may have. DECT frequency can get through walls including concrete walls, but obviously the signal strength is degraded. When designing your solution, you will want to test your known or thought to be known “dead spots”. You will also want to physically place the DECT base station in the middle of your coverage area or center of your building. This will offer you the greatest coverage end to end or wall to wall. Like I said, you will want to test those dead spots, the corner of your office, any rooms separated by concrete walls, and you may also want to check your outdoor coverage as well as often times this frequency has a tendency to overlap outer walls and reach to outdoors. Theoretically, your users may be able to step outside and still make and receive calls on their DECT handset. A good way to pinpoint your physical barriers is to dust off those old blue-prints and map out where these may be.
• Outdoor Scalability- While I mentioned that some SOHO DECT solutions can broadcast outdoors, none of the physical Base stations or repeaters were designed however to be in the outdoor environment. In larger deployments such as college campuses, the need for outdoor Access Points or repeaters is eminent. In this case, you will only find outdoor access points in enterprise level DECT solutions.

As you can see, there are a number of different considerations to think of when designing and deploying a VoIP DECT solution. In our next segment, we will offer a few product suggestions to meet the needs of a SOHO and Enterprise DECT solution. This will include DECT bases, repeaters, handsets, and other requirements needed.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

Now it’s time to look into choosing the wireless VoIP phone that is right for you. Before selecting a phone there are several factors that you should consider. Things such as why you are looking for a wireless IP phone, what type of phone you require, who will be using it, what is the budget, and what do you expect and need out of the phone should all be thought out prior to purchase.

Let’s first take a look at the two main types of wireless VoIP phones – WiFi and DECT.

Wireless Versus DECT

WiFi phones require a wireless access point in order to connect and register with a service provider or PBX. These phones normally work with the 802.11b/g standard and will scan to find the nearest access point. At this point, all WiFi phones are single line units and there are none that support multiple lines.

DECT phones are wireless, but they have a base station that is hardwired to an internet connection and then the signal is transmitted wirelessly to the handset. These are single line phones as well and usually have a range of 300 square feet from the base station. Signal repeaters are available if you need to increase the range that the phone can move from the base station.

Now that we have identified the two different types of wireless phones, it is time to consider which type is appropriate based on the user’s needs and preferences.

Determining Your Needs

The first question is ‘where will the phone be used?’ If the user wants to be mobile and use this phone while traveling, or is in an environment where he or she can’t be tied down to an area within 300 square feet of a base station, then the WiFi phone is probably the best choice.

Once that is determined, the factors to consider before selecting a model include budget (prices can range between $150 and $400+ per unit), and what specific features are required. Features to think about include roaming between access points (most wifi phones will do this), ease of configurability, headset compatibility, conferencing, call forwarding and speaker phone among others.

Video calling is also a possibility through WiFi with the Unidata SQ-3000 phone. Generally speaking, as you are looking at the different WiFi phone options, the prices will increase as the feature set increases.

If the environment where the wireless VoIP phone is needed is a single location and traveling with the phone is not required, then a DECT solution is most likely the way to go. The call quality and reliability of the DECT phones is generally better than that of the WiFi phones as the internet connection is hardwired to the base station.

DECT technology does a great job in sending the signal wirelessly to the handset, and multiple handsets can work off a single base station.

Don’t Forget Your Budget

Your budget can help you decide which manufacturer to go with, as there is a low cost option (Siemens Gigaset), middle of the road option (Aastra MBU400 or SNOM M3), or high end (Polycom/Spectralink). The biggest sellers tend to be the Aastra model and SNOM model.

These two phones are very similar in quality and feature set, with a few minor differences such as the Aastra model having an FXO port for PSTN failover, and the SNOM model having a signal repeater available to buy as an accessory.

With a little planning and analyzing what the needs are of the wireless VoIP user, selecting the appropriate phone should be quite easy. For further information and/or assistance in making the best choice please call me at VoIP Supply, 716-250-3873, or email, jshanahan@voipsupply.com at any time.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

There are a few methods by which a mobile handset can communicate over wireless. Wi-Fi and DECT are the two most commonly used and most debated. Before we get into the advantages of DECT, let’s take a look into what DECT actually is.

What is DECT?

DECT or Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications is a digital communications standard of which is primarily used for creating cordless phone systems.  Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications uses base stations and SIP to connect to your VoIP PBX.

DECT runs on 1880 MHz-1900Back in the early 1980’s, when cordless analog units began to reach European shores from the Far East, techies quickly adorned to the fact that commutating digitally would be better. This meant less crackle and interference, afforded the use of more phones within a small space, a higher measure of security against eavesdropping, the ability to move throughout buildings by passing over between base units, and more.

In the mid-1990’s, DECT technology was beginning to mature and become economically feasible. Quickly, all of the major telecommunications manufacturers hopped on-board and began developing product.  In a nutshell, DECT is a radio access technology.

That’s all well and good but…What’s the big deal?

Advantages of DECT

DECT devices have the advantage of using their own spectrum. This means that there is NO COMPETITION for the use of precious airwaves between computers and Wi-Fi devices.

Another advantage of DECT is that the power required to operate is considerably less than Wi-Fi. In other words…it is possible that DECT can offer you more talk time! Wi-Fi requires more power as it wasn’t originally developed or designed with handsets in mind.

Wait…..there’s more!

Taking advantage of DECT can save you money! Opting for a DECT VoIP solution can save you money. Leading manufacturers such as Aastra, Siemens, Snom, and Polycom all offer great affordable solutions that can cover different types of requirements from enterprise type solutions to residential users. If you have to cover a larger area, there are base stations that offer “roaming” and or “handover”.

Stay tuned as I will be continuing to cover the DECT and wireless VoIP spectrum over the coming weeks!

As always, feel free to direct all questions to me directly @ BHyrek@VoIPSupply.com or give me a ring @ 716.250.1990.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

All you simply have to do is walk in your local Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or Target and browse the aisle that contains telephones and other electronics. DECT has actually been around for quite some time now, predominantly in the analog world. DECT stands for “Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology” and facilitates a cordless or wireless communication between a base and handset or receiver via a 1.9 GHz frequency range. In most cases, you get around 300ft or so of DECT signaling from the DECT base station. This means that you have a 300ft circumference around that particular base to enjoy cordless freedom.

For the majority of IP DECT solutions, the range doesn’t stop there. These solutions can be accompanied by DECT repeaters which simply transmit the DECT signal strength another 300 ft outwards. In most cases, these DECT repeaters must all reside within the main DECT base signal frequency.

Please see the diagram below which shows this graphically.

If you currently are using a cordless telephone at your home, most likely it is communicating with the base over DECT frequency much like the below Uniden phone does.

DECT doesn’t end with cordless analog telephones, more recently, DECT 6.0 technology has been used to facilitate a wireless communication link with a headset and base station. Take for instance the Plantronics CS55 cordless headset, the actual headset pairs to the headset base via DECT frequency and allows users to easily make and receive calls wirelessly over this frequency. This adds greater mobility and flexibility to any professionals daily work activities.

Most recently, DECT technology has been absorbed by the IP world, predominantly the Voice over IP world. The solution’s presented work much like the cordless analog solutions you find at your local electronics store but instead of using older analog telephony communications, the IP DECT solutions present an RJ-45 Ethernet connection for facilitation of VoIP telephony instead.

Also with most IP DECT solutions, you can add up to 6-8 cordless handsets (depending on the manufacturer), each with their own SIP extension to 1 base unit.

As you might be thinking, DECT technology presents a number of advantages when you compare these solutions to their closest competitor, the VoIP Wi-Fi handset. Below is a list of just a few of the advantages of the DECT solutions:

• Greater Mobility and flexibility- users are not tied down to their desks or the workspace where their traditional phone or VoIP Phone may sit. With DECT, users can freely move about the office or home, make and receive calls, and improve productivity. With all DECT solutions, you have ability to pair additional handsets to the solutions. These could be individual SIP extensions or each could be same as part of a ring group. Also, with DECT each handset paired to the DECT base has the ability to easily intercom any other handset paired to that same base.
• DECT 1.9 GHz Frequency- since DECT facilitates the wireless communication link between base and handsets on the 1.9 GHz frequency; you won’t have to worry about any interference from other Wi-Fi devices as these predominantly use the 2.4 GHz range. Also, the DECT frequency is fully secured so you won’t have to worry about Wi-Fi encryption, security measures, or hassles presented on SIP Wi-Fi handsets when trying to connect to secure Wi-Fi Access Points or Hot-Spots.
  
• Seem less Roaming- in most Wi-Fi environments, the Wi-Fi network may consist of many Wireless Access Points or AP’s that may contain unique SSID’s or many AP’s may share 1 SSID such as in a mesh wireless setup. In both setups, traditionally, Wi-Fi handsets have a tough time negotiating AP signal hand-offs. This occurs when a user physically moves between each Wi-Fi AP’s signal ranges. In most cases, if you are on a call, it may drop, essentially because the handset can’t seamlessly carry over its Wi-Fi connection which is facilitating its SIP registration to the PBX or VoIP Provider. Another shortfall is that these handsets may lose registration to the PBX because of this hand-off issue or the user may simply be out of Wi-Fi coverage area. The bigger issue is that the handset doesn’t signify any problems and user has no idea that their handset is not registered any longer. This causes huge issues in mission critical environments such as medical. With DECT solutions, you don’t have any hand-off or roaming issues because the DECT base and any additional DECT repeaters are all on the same 1.9 GHz frequency and no unique SSID’s are needed. The handsets simply pair to the base and inherit the frequency broadcasted by both the base and additional repeaters. Also when a DECT handset reaches its limits, that being its DECT frequency range, it will signify to the user by beeping loudly to let them know that they are moving out of DECT frequency.
• Better Voice Quality or Quality of Service (QOS) – In my experience with Wi-Fi handsets on a local Wireless network or public hotspots, the voice quality observed is mediocre at best. While many end users come to expect “cell-phone” like voice quality, the common misconception, obviously is to blame the Wi-Fi Handset. However, in actuality, it’s the Wireless network or AP these handsets are connected to that cause Voice quality issues. Let’s assume you are using a wireless LAN in an office environment, and you have both SIP VoIP Wi-Fi handsets connected to the network as well as laptops. So you have voice and data traffic on this network. While there are suggested ways to segment voice and data, ultimately what happens is, bandwidth on the WLAN gets depleted by data devices, not leaving enough for voice calls. When a user attempts to make a VoIP call, they are presented with very poor voice quality as voice packets are being dropped, packets are being delayed causing latency, and scrambled causing jitter. All of this equates to poor voice quality and you know as much as I do, this cannot happen. The same is true on Wi-Fi public hotspots, if not worse than the private WLAN. Most hot-spots where intended for data, not voice, and most hot-spots can handle a large number of users. Take an airport for instance, while you may experience slow internet speeds on your laptop, this is feasible as the website page still loads, it just takes longer than normal, and you still have access to your precious email. This slow speed is attributed from the amount of bandwidth available on the wireless network and the amount of data users on the network. This same latency (website pages loading slower than normal) is also seen and heard on SIP Wi-Fi Handsets causing very poor voice quality. Now enter in DECT, since it runs on its own frequency, there is no so called bandwidth allocations like Wi-Fi networks need to accompany voice. DECT voice quality cannot be affected by any data intensive applications on the network since it’s on its own frequency. In all, DECT solutions prove to have much more reliable voice quality than Wi-Fi solution mainly due to its architecture and its own designated frequency.
• Longer Battery Life- This is kind of a no-brainer. In most Wi-Fi environments, Batteries have a tendency to drain quickly because the handset is constantly looking for a wireless signal or AP, causing more power and resources from the handset, thus draining the battery quicker. With most DECT solutions, users enjoy longer talk time and stand-by times as it relates to battery life. The handsets are paired once to the DECT frequency and that’s it, no more searching for signal, unless you move outside of the DECT signal coverage.

Now that I have presented you with a few advantages of an IP DECT solution, stay tuned for my next   post which I will describe how to design a DECT solution from the ground up.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

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However, before people go out and purchase all the equipment they need to deploy a system, they need to consider several factors which will help guide them in their purchasing decision.  Listed below are some important aspects of any video conferencing project that need to be considered prior to installation.

1. System Type
   1. What type of system is appropriate for the organization?
   2. How many people will be participating in the video conferences?
   3. Will PowerPoint presentations or other information need to be shared during the meetings?
   4. Will multiple sites need to be involved?
   5. What is the size of the room where conferences will be held?
   6. How much bandwidth does the network provide?
   7. Will the video conference calls only take place within the network or outside the network as well?
2. Future Considerations
   1. What are your needs going to be in the future?
   2. How might meeting needs change in the next 3-5 years?
   3. Will the number of people involved in the meetings increase?
   4. Will the type of meeting and technology requirements change?
   5. Will more locations be added?
3. Budget
   1. What funds are available for the upfront costs of the project?
   2. Will network infrastructure need to be upgraded?
   3. What funds are available for training, service contracts, technical support and upgrades?
4. Choosing a Vendor
   1. Don’t make a decision on price alone.
   2. Look for completeness and professionalism in vendor proposals.
   3. Insist that vendors and installers can meet the required timeline.

By following these simple guidelines and considering all the specific needs and requirements of your video conferencing project, selecting the system that is appropriate for your organization will be much easier.   Taking the time to analyze every aspect of the project will make the deployment run more smoothly, be more cost effective and will make everyone in the organization happier in the long run.

For more information and assistance with selecting the right video conferencing system for you, please contact me at 716-250-3873 or send an email to jshanahan@voipsupply.com.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

Open source telephony applications have opened many opportunities in the VoIP industry and many companies such as trixbox, elastix, freepbx, pbxinaflash, and rhino, which are just a few, have taken the asterisk source code (licensed under the GNU GPL) and rounded it to their own business applications. Since the topic is “open-source”, the source code of Asterisk is distributed freely among companies, users, administrators, developers, and integrators alike and together have produced the world’s most powerful telephony engine and what that means to you, the VoIP customer is, a freely distributed source code or compiled ISO of a feature rich IP Phone system better termed as the IP PBX.

In the sections below, I will highlight some benefits and pros to using an open-sourced based phone system, also note some of the downsides or struggles you may have if you are not completely familiar with open-sourced telephony solutions.

Open Source Phone System Benefits and Upsides

Here are a few of the benefits/up-sides of open sourced telephony applications.

• The solutions are free – Well not completely free…You still need a server or hardware to run your software on and may require the use of telephony PSTN or Digital T1 cards to connect to the outside world. The software ISO or asterisk source code however, is completely free. You can obtain a downloadable version of asterisk/Linux or any other open source ISO from the leading players in the market such as trixbox CE, elastix, FreePBX, PBXinaflash, etc. Now you may be asking, what is the difference between Asterisk as just source code, and a software ISO? A Software ISO has been developed by a company such as the ones listed below, which have already compiled a version of Linux on top of a version of source code Asterisk, and also added a nice and easy to manage web GUI interface so administrators don’t need to rely on asterisk command line to administer their phone system. If you are novice to PBX software and asterisk, I would suggest downloading one of these ISO’s that can be found on each manufacturer’s website respectively and also mentioned in my previous post. Free also goes beyond the costs of the software. Most commercialized VoIP solutions require a per user license fee, concurrent call license fee, phone license fee, etc, and on top that may require the purchase of maintenance contracts and support contracts. With open-sourced applications, none of these fees apply and you are free to do as you please with your system, but also keep in mind, if you do need assistance, support is right around the corner, both free and paid options.
• Customizations – Customizability is a big deal breaker when it comes to phone systems. Since our phone systems are IP based, we can now integrate other applications such as databases, CRM tools, email, click to dial, presence applications such as HUD-Lite, and really any application or program you wish to integrate with Asterisk. In a typical open source distribution, administrators have access to the asterisk command line interface where most of this customizability is configured. In relation to this, most proprietary solutions don’t provide you with this access and rely solely on administering the PBX through a web GUI. Now don’t be mistaken here, commercialized VoIP applications still have most of these third party applications built in such as CRM integration, Google maps integration, database query retrievals, and everyone has outlook integration in the form of VM to email etc… but most of these applications are developed by the manufacturer of that system and developers within their particular dev groups. With open source, if you are a company that needs full customization and integration with very unique tools, that maybe even you, yourself have developed, open-source is the route to take.
• Resources available to you…and once again are free -  Open-source lives through it users, administrators, and developers. Information is shared everyday with the public in the form of online WIKI’s, forums, documentation, chat, and the Asterisk IRQ. That just names a few. WiKI’s and Forums pack a huge punch when it comes to information that is user related. Information on fixes, how to’s, issues that arise, and feature requests are all shared, and I always like to think, “If you have a problem or a request, 98 percent of the time, the answer is out there”, you just need to know where to look so below is a few links to a wealth of information on open-sourced VoIP applications.
  • www.asterisk.org
  • www.trixbox.org
  • www.elastix.org
  • www.freepbx.org
  • www.pbxinaflash.org
• Open source + open standards = interoperability – Interoperability with almost every VoIP endpoint in the market, including IP Phones, ATA’s, Gateways, PCI cards, WiFI Phones, SIP DECT solutions, etc… All interoperability is based upon SIP protocol and SIP standards. What this means to you is that, when using your open-sourced solution, you are not tied down to a specific phone model or manufacturer, you can use anything that is SIP standards based, and can easily mix and match phone models and manufacturers to meet end users needs and preferences. For instance, a company may be using Aastra phones for their desktop clients, but need a fully robust conference phone for their training room, no problem; Manufacturers such as Polycom, Snom, and Konftel can easily satisfy their conferencing needs with their conference phone offerings, as Aastra currently does not make a conferencing unit. In another situation, the same company may need a few mobile SIP DECT solutions for their warehouse employees, no problem, any of the Snom M3, Aastra MBU-400, or Siemens Gigaset DECT solutions will also work on their open-sourced based PBX. So as you can see, not only do you have a wide variety of endpoints to choose from, you also have the flexibility to mix and match SIP endpoints to meet every one of your users needs.
• Longevity – Asterisk was created in 1999 by Mark Spencer who later founded Digium. Since 1999, Asterisk has never looked back. It is constantly being updated with the latest feature sets, refined for better performance, and fixed for issues that may be found in earlier releases.  Major releases are constantly being updated and delivered to end users and administrators worldwide. Since the source code of asterisk is always under heavy development, and does rely a lot on field developers and system administrators, it is constantly being updated with the latest and greatest features and bug fixes from sources that have fully tested the solution and are committed 100 percent to its future. At this time, Asterisk has plenty of gas left in the tank to continuously bring us the best to offer if the IP telephony world. Since asterisk as a source code is always being updated, companies like the ones mentioned above are also releasing bigger and better solutions and if you are customer already running an asterisk based open-sourced solution, obtaining these updates on your current system is very easy and you guessed it, free of charge. This simply negates your required update and maintenance packages often times required on commercial and proprietary VoIP solutions.
• Professional Support services are available – So if you are not one of those people that likes to spend a lot of time researching an issue you may be having, or need a fix ASAP to guard against system downtime, professional Asterisk services are available from Digium and respective open-source manufacturers to help get the problem solved quickly, so you are 100 percent covered.

Potential downsides to Open Source Phone System Solutions

While there are plenty of upsides to using an open-source based phone system compared to a commercial or proprietary VoIP solution, there are some downsides to using these types of solutions. Below, we will detail out a few:

• Personal Knowledge – If you are person that is new to the whole asterisk, open source thing, I strongly suggest doing your research and be prepared to research information on your own. If you are not that kind of person, you may want to look at a commercial VoIP solution such as 3CX or Switchvox. If you are not familiar with the asterisk source code, and command line interface better known as the CLI, get used to it. If you need professional assistance in learning this information, Digium offers great hands on training classes all over the world that will help you succeed at this. Once you are satisfied with your knowledge, you can take the Digium DCAP exam and become a Digium Certified Asterisk Professional. More details on these trainings can be found here. This will help you immensely in your personal knowledge as well as assist you in administering your asterisk or open-source IP PBX.
• Testing (in general) – Test the solution, before you implement the new phone system in a production environment. It is often suggested to setup a small lab and use this as a test “sandbox” per say. Test the features of asterisk, its functionality, get used to administering it both from the CLI and Web GUI if applicable. This way if you run into requests down the road, you know exactly where to look. Even after fully testing a system, bugs can arise… hey not everybody is perfect. The problem with this is you may have to wait till a new distribution and patch is released for a fix, whereas on a commercial VoIP solution, you usually don’t run into issues like these.
• Testing your hardware – See my previous post for recommended hardware to run your asterisk or open source deployment. With commercial VoIP applications, in most cases, you purchase a known tested server already preloaded with software, and is a known given that everything is going to run smoothly. If you are building your own server and plan on installing asterisk or an open-source ISO, you need to ensure that the server is meeting your needs. Once again, see my previous post that explains most of these needs as it relates to hardware requirements as well as compatible motherboards and chipsets for your software to function correctly.  Once again, if you are not comfortable with doing this, give VoIP Supply a call and we can suggest a known compatible server for your open sourced asterisk software and we can even pre-install that load or ISO for you. No need to compile, burn to CD, then install.
• Getting your hands dirty…per say – Open source solutions do require a good amount of know-how as you can see from above, time which is spent on learning the code and how to administer the system, and also time spent on the hardware build, software download and compilation if you wish to choose the asterisk command line distribution. There may be some bumps in the road during all this and you will need to keep an open-mind towards it. Yes, even I get frustrated with solutions, but you need to know where to look to solve your problems, and learn from any mistakes or mishaps along the way. This inadvertently makes you a better Asterisk administrator, so leave your egos at the door and plan to dig in and expect issues.  If you simply just want a phone system, and don’t really care to know all of the ins and outs of asterisk, then open source is not for you, and you should go with a commercial VoIP solution which will offer you the same feature sets as Asterisk as in an open source world, without some of the hassle.

Stay tuned for my next installment where I will explain some of the pros and cons to a commercial VoIP solution, as well as speak about Proprietary solutions and how these compare to open-sourced solutions.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

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