Office telephone system...

[Muppit]

I'm currently setting up a small office in New York and am a bit of a loss when it comes to the telephone system.

I have ordered the installation of thre lines. One data (fax/internet) which is fine. I have plenty to plug into that! The other two are a main line and a rollover line.

I intend to have 6 workstations, each with phone. Each phone must be capable of answering any incoming call, transferring, holding and obviously making outgoing calls. Intercom is not vital - but I asume that that comes part and parcel with being able to transfer a call (do correct me if I'm wrong!!).

I have found many phones available that seem to offer all of the feature that I need (and many many more!) but I do not know if I need any other hardware - do I need a switch board / box?

Please advise! Two main problems are that I'd like to be up and running by monday, so must order equipment today / tomorrow and the other problem is that I'm on a budget!! (Who isn't?!).

Many thanks in advance for any help!

[ACtheTROLL]

no point asking here ... the american telephone system has some fundamental differences to ours ... get homegrown advice ...
but the basic kit is
control box wired out to sockets
sockets connected to phones.

this applies HERE - I have no idea what the regs are over there
over here there are regulations about the number of power fail phones
many of the new systems use VOip (generally a good thing) ... makes wiring standard
don't be intimidated by facilities ... they generally come as standard (far too many for normal people) ....just don't use them

and finally you need flexibility - so easy to reconfigure

[ChuckFickens]

you have left it late!!!

for six users I'd be looking at a decent workstation/ low end server computer with asterisk/freePBX installed to be the phone exchange a TDM card with 3 FXO ports to accommodate the outgoing lines and 6 VOIP telephones... Simple.

Realistically you are not going to get it installed in time! but consider googling "asterisk" it will do want you want for a fairly minimal hardware cost.

if you were the other end of the country I'd say look to these guys

http://www.linux-sp.com/

but they may be worth a call anyhow

[Muppit]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll be back on here on Monday to let you know that I got it up and running..... I thrive on a challenge!

If only the telephone system was teh least of my worries!!! Not only am I setting up the new office (or trying) I'm moving the staff residence (we're all Brits out here in NY) and trying to keep the company operating to make the money to pay for the move!

[Muppit]

As is so often the way, I took the challenge and got a result, not ideal, but a result all the same!

I managed to pick up a second hand PBX system and installed it....

It works a treat, unfortunately it was previously used at a russian hotel or something and a lot of the extensions personalised settings are passwrod protected (of course I don't know the passwords and neither does the vendor!). It's quite amusing, but not too professional when clients call!

Any advice ona master reset for a BizFon system appreciated! (I've downloaded all user guides, but no luck yet!).

[elsieconcord]

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[brentpain]

Apparently you can set up several phone lines without buying any additional hardware. Use RingCentral virtual phone system then use your existing phone numbers as your extension.

[stevcide]

Transforming your traditional phone lines to VOIP would be great solution to empower your phone system capable of those mention features.

[joshuareil]

There are lots of PBX system information you can search online. But you can start with this link to help you get to know more about these systems first:
http://virtualphonesy...ess.com/category/pbx/

[joshuareil]

Have you check the Virtual PBX Compare website?

http://www.virtualpbxcompare.com/

[brentpain]

PBX system is the answer for what you need. Be sure you choose the pbx service provider with option that suite your needs to avoid paying unused features.