[olug] Asterisk consultants and local voip providers

[Ryan Stille]

Jaymz Ringler wrote:
> what are you trying to do with asterisk..   what's the scope of the
> project. ?? 
>
>   

Small business, 10-15 extensions.  I have been working on setting up an 
Asterisk server in house here, which we will want to hook up to a 
provider and port our existing phone number to.  Currently we use IP 
phones with virtual PBX service from Teliax.

> As far as providers..  I have a bunch of viatalk trunks.   I've had no
> problems with them in 6 months.  Great quality. ====== www.viatalk.com
>
> We're on the Bring Your Own Device Business plan.   It gives you 2
> trunks with 2 different numbers.  Each trunk is good for 2 concurrent
> calls.     One of the lines is supposed to be a fax line but we use it
> as a second line.    Faxing over viatalk sip => Asterisk is flawless.  
> Another nice thing about viatalk is that they don't put a "softcap" on
> your usage.  Most VOIP providers limit you to about 2500 minutes per
> month.   Viatalk doesn't.   They're absolutely wide open.    
>
> I installed viatalk trunks and asterisk servers in 4 small businesses I
> consult here in Lincoln.
>
>   

On their website, for the BYOD plans page, under requirements it says 
"To take advantage of the savings offered by our VT_Unlimited plan, you 
must have *Residential* Broadband Ethernet Internet Access (Cable Modem 
or DSL)" - so are these plans not for businesses?  I don't know why they 
are specifying a *residential* broadband connection as a requirement.

I think 4 concurrent calls would just barely be enough.  I'll have to 
ask them what it takes to get more concurrent calls.  I had heard that 
faxing through Asterisk was very problematic, so I'm pleasantly 
surprised to hear you've had success with it.  At some point we'd like 
to drop our analog fax line.

> I have 2 hangups with viatalk.   1.  They don't allow you to change your
> outbound cid.   and 2. they don't have local numbers in Lincoln.   (the
> Omaha numbers are 402-216-XXXX <http://www.snapanumber.com/> and
> 402-403-XXXX <http://www.snapanumber.com/>)
>
> Hope that helped. 
>   
very much, thanks.

-Ryan