Consolidation Of Your Business Phone System (PBX) With An Asterisk VoIP Solution
Note: This is an informative article talking ways Asterisk can help your business with multiple office through consolidation.
Here's the scenario.......
You're planning planning ahead for a consolidation of your business phone systems including a potential move of your headquarters to a new building.
Currently your company has 300 employees and operates in 15 locations:
- 6 warehouse locations with business offices (~30 - 50 employees each)
- 1 small warehouse (5 employees)
- 2 business offices (~10 employees each)
- 7 small stores (3-4 employees each) - 2 share space with warehouse locations
You also have some outside sale folks that work from home most of the time.
Currently you run several disconnected phone systems and some Centrex (store locations). You'd like to standardize on one platform with integrated voicemail for the company. The plan is to do this in the next 1-2 years, whether or not you move to a new building.
When and if you move to a new facility your boss is considering outsourcing the mainframe and server systems such that all of the equipment is hosted by a separate company. This would relieve you of the considerations of building a server room in the new place. You do currently have a raised-floor server room, where your current phone system is located.
Of course with no server room (if you go that route), this limits your ability to host a PBX (you currently use a ROLM 9751).
Here's the questions you should like ask....and ensure answers for:
1. In a hosted PBX or VoIP solution, or even with a centralized on-site PBX can you still keep local numbers for each location?
2. If your equipment is centrally located, how do local calls work? e.g. - if your phone system is located in Maryland and someone in New Jersey needs to make a local call, is that really a long-distance call since the equipment is in Maryland? How is this typically handled?
3. What about DID numbers? Can you keep these? How are they routed?
4. What would a company do in terms of having a local operator at larger locations? Is there a sort of gatekeeper in place at these locations, or would it all be centralized at one site?
5. Currently you use a different automated attendant setup at a few of your locations. Would this still be possible or even recommended?
6. What is the usual way of connecting multiple sites to a centralized telephone system? What type of backup links are typically used?
7. You figure moving to a completely new system would cost around $1,000 per user (phone equipment, initial setup, new phones, training). Much less for a hosted system, but a high MRC you suppose. Is this estimate in the ballpark?
8. What recommendations can you expect on what type of systems may "fit the bill"? Some features you're looking for are below:
- Outside sales would like to be able to forward their lines to a home/cell phone.
- Internet access to change user settings would be nice (web-based user management).
- You have several Inside Sales queues, so you'd need good ACD capabilities.
- Ability to dial by extension to anyone at another location.
- Distribution lists for voicemail.
- Custom on-hold messages by location (different or store locations).
- Local paging at your warehouse locations (page over intercom).
- Local directions to your supplier truck drivers.
- After-hours/emergency messages need to be customized by location. (For example, if your Pittsburgh office is closed due to snow).
9. What about backup analog lines? Since you have a large inside sales presence, the ability to receive phone calls is critical. What is a good number of lines (percentage of total trunks, perhaps?) that are required and how are they usually setup?
Written by Dal on January 1st, 1970 with
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