DID lines with mutiple channels or IVM?

[Alpha_A(]

Hello

 

My name is Ben from Australia and I will tell you what im after and you could suggest something good.

 

I am starting up a new small VOIP based call centre business with no pbx at the moment. I have a adsl connection.

There will be a 1300 number my customers can dial. The system must be able to support multiple lines

on the one number. I would like 1 for sales, 2 for service, 3 for accounts. During launch, I will have two

to three people answering calls, two people from australia and the other from new zealand.

So ExpressTalk VOIP softphone looks like answer for that (SIP to SIP calls)

 

I now need Axon and IVM. Now If i am on the phone then the call is to be transfered through to the next available operator

which may be the person in australia or the person in new zealand depending if they are logged in or not.

 

I have gone to a few sites and some have mentioned DID numbers with multiple channels which i believe means more people

can call the line at once right? yes or no? then i come across IVM which says it can handle multiple line support up to 64 lines.

is that the same thing?

 

So do i need to have three DID lines? or do i just need one DID line and IVM Enterprise?? or both

Any recommendations would be great!

 

Ben

[pythonpoole]

A DID is essentially just an incoming phone number that is routed through the internet rather than traditional analogue telephony systems.

 

So basically any VoIP provider out there (using SIP) will be able to provide you with DID incoming numbers for your VoIP system.

 

Now just because you're using VoIP doesn't mean you can have multiple simultaneous calls. The provider of the DID number will have control over how many concurrent channels or 'lines' are allocated to each DID number you purchase. So if you have a DID line that allows 10 concurrent channels, it means you could have up to 10 calls in progress at any given moment. Typically most providers will give you two channels by default so you can have call waiting enabled (but you can also use the second channel to take more than 1 call). Depending on the provider they may charge extra for each channel or charge you per minute on incoming (instead of free unlimited inbound) with the benefit of having 'unlimited' channels. Note: Many providers won't even have the option of purchasing additional channels, make sure you check with them first.

 

As for IVM's limit, technically it is 64 lines. I have yet to actually determine whether this limit is just for modem/telephony board hardware or if it also applies to any VoIP DIDs set-up with IVM as well, in any case I highly doubt you'll need to handle more than 64 calls at a time.

[Alpha_A(]

Thanks that really does help.

 

A DID is essentially just an incoming phone number that is routed through the internet rather than traditional analogue telephony systems.

 

So basically any VoIP provider out there (using SIP) will be able to provide you with DID incoming numbers for your VoIP system.

 

Now just because you're using VoIP doesn't mean you can have multiple simultaneous calls. The provider of the DID number will have control over how many concurrent channels or 'lines' are allocated to each DID number you purchase. So if you have a DID line that allows 10 concurrent channels, it means you could have up to 10 calls in progress at any given moment. Typically most providers will give you two channels by default so you can have call waiting enabled (but you can also use the second channel to take more than 1 call). Depending on the provider they may charge extra for each channel or charge you per minute on incoming (instead of free unlimited inbound) with the benefit of having 'unlimited' channels. Note: Many providers won't even have the option of purchasing additional channels, make sure you check with them first.

 

As for IVM's limit, technically it is 64 lines. I have yet to actually determine whether this limit is just for modem/telephony board hardware or if it also applies to any VoIP DIDs set-up with IVM as well, in any case I highly doubt you'll need to handle more than 64 calls at a time.

[charlesclemens]

DID is where Internet protocol communications companies buy and sell DID (Direct Inward Dialing) phone numbers. The DIDX sellers make money not just from the DID rental but also from the APC charges that the other CLEC pays to complete calls.