The first step is making sure your internet access is good enough for VoIP. I recommend using both VoIPSpear and Visualware’s tools for checking your internet connection. If both come back good, then you’re ready to proceed, otherwise talk to your VoIP provider or telecom consultant about internet access options.

http://www.voipspear.com/
http://myvoipspeed.visualware.com/

The rest of the shopping should come down to picking plans and making sure the carrier has a good network. Plans typically come in three styles:

• Local lines - these lines include free local calling and inexpensive long distance.
• Unlimited LD lines - these lines include “unlimited” long distance typically in the continental US, sometimes Canada as well. “Unlimited” typically means 5000 minutes.
• Metered plans - these plans have very low base charges, then all calls are charged a low per minute fee.

While most businesses gravitate to the unlimited lines, we find most actually pay less on local or metered plans.

Its important to ask VoIP providers about their POP (point of presence) locations - if you’re in Seattle typically a carrier with a Seattle-area POP is a better bet than an East-Coast POP as the data has to travel less and cross fewer carriers. Its also important they have a redundant infrastructure - multiple POPs and redundant connections to each POP reduces the chances of an outage. Many carriers also offer “disaster recovery” routing so if your internet access goes down, calls can redirect to other numbers.

With a little shopping and planning VoIP can be as good if not better than traditional phone service - and the savings can be amazing.

Headset pickup/hangup: also known as “EHS” or electronic hook switch, this lets you pickup and hangup calls from a cordless headset without a lifter. Unlike many solutions no special cord or box is needed - just plug in most headsets and it just works.

911 Alerts: Allworx can now alert handsets, send emails, and send text messages whenever 911 is dialed from a handset, allowing you to respond internally while waiting for emergency services. This is particularly good for public areas like retail, churches, schools, clubs, etc.

Mobile Link: the new iPhone application to manage presence, voicemail, and conferences all from the iPhone. I believe its the first such solution in the SMB market and absolutely fantastic to use.

Advanced Multi-Site: Previous versions of Allworx had solid multisite abilities, but this release takes it to the next level. Directory and voicemail systems are integrated, call routes can ring handsets at any location, and you can see who’s on the phone at remote sites. Best of all its easier to manage than ever before!

Automatic Call Distribution: most businesses don’t run inbound call centers, but for those that do, Allworx ACD is among the best values I’ve seen and has an incredible richness of features.

Paperless Faxing: the Allworx can now integrate with a Multitech FaxFinder to allow for paperless faxing from the desktop. When used with a PRI on an Allworx 24x you can have personal fax numbers.

Anonymous Call Handling: The Allworx has long supported routing based off caller ID rules, but now there’s a rule just for handling blocked caller ID info.

Improved System Management: integrated filtering makes it easier to manage larger installs, improved import/export, and an easier system upgrade process make Allworx 7.1 easier and more affordable to maintain.

Presence management - presence is where you are or what you’re doing. Depending on presence, calls can be routed differently and receive a different voicemail greeting. So when you’re out of the office but want to get calls forwarded to your iPhone, just go into iAllworx and set your presence to “Away.”

The new visual voicemail is a huge step up from voicemail to email, as you can delete messages from the Allworx, forward them, reply to voicemails, and even create a new voicemail to send to other staff.

Conferences is another nice element as you can see upcoming meeting information including bridge number and passwords. Needless to say a nice reference when you’re out and about but need to call in for a conference.

You can download iAllworx and run it in demo mode now to give it a try, it will be functional at the release of 7.1 in January 2010 with the Mobile Link license. Given that Mobile Link is just $200 for a site license, I’m very pleased with the value for offices with iPhones. Word is we’ll see iAllworx on other platforms such as Android in the near future.

Coverage is the only downside if applicable, while 3G blankets most of the populous areas of the US, 4G is still being rolled out and is only in a few cities. Seattle-Metro coverage is quite strong - everywhere I’ve been between Everett to Tacoma has been covered and running 6-10Mb (DSL is commonly 3-6). For those that travel outside the area Clear also offers a 3G/4G combo card which picks the fastest network available.

As for cost, Clear mobile costs at worst $45/mo for unlimited transfer, while 3G services typically cost $60/mo for 5GB of transfer. Clear also has a number of bundle packages offering better pricing as well as business packages with pools of transfer.

My favorite part of all this is VoIP is now easy and reliable over Clear’s network. In particular we like to use softphones (software phones) which connect across the internet back to the office.

If you’re thinking mobile internet, I’d strongly recommend looking at the new Clear service for more speed and better value than 3G.

These phones are Talkswitch’s second generation IP phones and definitely improved from the quite good first generation. Both phones are a step up in ergonomics, audio quality, and value.

350i
The 350i is the new standard desk phone featuring six programmable multicolored buttons, speakerphone, headset jack, a nicely sized LCD. The phone is PoE powered for $149 or with AC adapter for $174.

The 350i is a great successor to the 9133i - it actually has more functional buttons, a larger screen, better sound and feel, and a lower price point especially when PoE powered.

550i
The 550i is a great phone for receptionists and those accustomed to key system unit style phones (older generation systems like the Merlin, Partner, Comdials, etc). The 550i features 22 programmable multicolored buttons built-in and can add 2 12 button sidecars for up to 46 buttons. Like the 350i it has speakerphone, headset jack, and a larger LCD. The phone is PoE powered for $249 or with AC adapter for $264.

The 550i in many ways in a new class of phone for Talkswitch and is fairly unique in the IP telephony world as few IP phones include 22 programmable buttons without a sidecar. Businesses with a receptionist or accustomed to older KSU systems will truly appreciate this phone and its incredible value.

Talkswitch 6.12
With new phones comes new Talkswitch software - as always a free upgrade. Labeling phones is now a snap as the new Talkswitch Configuration 6.12 software can print custom labels for both phones. Its a nice change from either being stuck with the default printed template, writing them in, or ordering DESI sheets.

Bottom Line
After spending some time with both phones I must say I really like them. The phones have a good solid feel, a nice handset shape, good button layout, and excellent acoustics. Both phones are a great value and really nicely fit the needs of the small business market.

Picking a great handset is a big part of picking a phone system - its the part of the system you’ll be seeing and using for years to come. So far I’m very pleased - these new phones definitely raise the appeal of the Talkswitch system.

Even if your office is up out of the valley floor you may have disruptions due to phone/internet services which route through flood areas, power outages, or simply have trouble getting to your office.

Power
Short power outages can of course be resolved by a battery backup, its just a matter of figuring out the power consumption of your phone system along with handsets. Modern systems from Allworx and Talkswitch consume less than 10 watts, making it easy to stay online during an outage. Keeping handsets online typically requires a PoE switch, which will draw a varied load depending on how many handsets are being powered - I recommend limiting the battery backup to only high priority handsets.

Phone Service
Traditional phone lines are highly reliable however falling trees can take down overhead lines and buried lines can become saturated during a flood. A few cheap and easy solutions for a small office include getting a voicemail box from your phone service provider and adding remote access call forwarding so you can forward lines to a home or cell phone during an outage.

SIP based phone services can often automatically reroute to a backup PBX or external phone number in an outage. This works particularly well for companies with branch offices - if one branch goes offline all calls can automatically reroute to another branch.

Internet Service
For businesses highly dependent upon internet access a backup internet connection can make a lot of sense. One mistake many businesses make is thinking two T1s from two different carriers is a backup - it doesn’t protect against problems like flooded lines, flooded central offices, or down utility lines/poles. Fixed wireless services offer true diversity and are often less expensive than a second T1.

Inaccessible Office
The most common problem is just that the office is inaccessible - down trees, closed roads, excess snow on roads, etc can leave you with the situation of a perfectly operational office that is unreachable. Having a phone system which can be remotely reconfigured to route calls to cell phones or having remote IP phones enables staff to continue to work from home as though they were in the office.

Background
AastraLink Pro 160 is a newer phone system, it came out in May 2008. Aastra however has been around since the 80s, making it a safe bet for long term support. The system is based off the open-source Asterisk platform, but with a simplified configuration interface and some beneficial new features. We’re using the 1.21 software which is based on the Asterisk 1.4 release.

Hardware
The AastraLink Pro 160 hardware is quite impressive for the price. Its enclosed in a metal case with hardware included for desk, wall, or rack mounting. The system has 6 PSTN phone line ports, two analog extension ports, a LAN port, WAN port (currently unused), audio in jack for music on hold, audio out for paging, and relay connectors for door controls. On the front is an ample 1GB flash drive for voicemail storage. The AastraLink Pro 160 only supports Aastra IP phones as primary extensions - an extension can however have a secondary handset of any make, so you can use a softphone on the road.

General Features
The AastraLink Pro 160 has the standard feature set I’d expect of a modern PBX. The system has one auto-attendant with day/night mode routing - though I’d like to see multiple. The system supports intercom, handset paging by group, and overhead paging. Standard call routing like transfers, park, etc are all there. I was even happily surprised to find not just 3 way conferencing but impromptu conference rooms of greater capacity.

Voicemail
The voicemail is quite impressive - there’s more ways to access voicemail on the AastraLink Pro 160 than any small business phone system I’ve seen. The traditional method of listening from your desk phone or calling in from cell works as expected. One of the more advanced methods is “visual voicemail” where you can see the inbox from your phone’s screen and play/save/delete from the screen - this is best from the 6755i and 6757i as they have large screens. Voicemail can also be accessed from the user web portal or voicemail to email.

VoIP
Also impressive for the price is the VoIP capabilities - it supports SIP phone lines, multisite dialing (calling between offices), and teleworker (remote IP phones). These features work well but are a bit basic in implementation - there’s no least cost routing to pick local or VoIP line automatically based on cost and the VoIP lines have a different dial prefix (8 for VoIP, 9 for PSTN) - other systems more smoothly integrate VoIP and PSTN. Site to site calling is dialed by the prefix 7, the site code, and the destination extension - so 72218 would dial extension 218 at site 2. Other systems like the Allworx do this easier - just dial the destination extension.

Call Routing
One of the major jobs of a phone system is call routing. The AastraLink Pro 160 has an okay but not great set of options. The standards are there plus find-me-follow me and direct inward dial on SIP lines. What’s lacking is making a group cascade - say first two rings go do Tom and Valerie, but the next two rings you add in Bob and Susan - and integrating cell phones into a ring group isn’t possible. What’s most surprising is extension call routing can’t be changed by day/night mode, the only thing that changes is the autoattendant greeting. Call queueing and round robin ACD aren’t available, though I wouldn’t consider them must have features for a system of this capacity and price point. Bottom line is many small businesses will be okay with the capabilities but some will find it lacking.

Capacity
One of the main limitations to the AastraLink Pro 160 is the CPU - while the system has a hard-coded cap of 50 extensions, the CPU will only support 12 host routed sessions. That means 12 simultaneous SIP trunks, multi-site calls, conference calls, voicemail access, or auto-attendant use. Heavy phone use offices of a moderate size will overwhelm the system, but for small offices or large offices with light use it will be fine.

User Web Interface
Each user has access to a web portal to control their own settings. Users can enable/disable do-not-disturb, forwarding and find-me-follow-me, see their call list, manage voicemail, modify the directory, and even change phone button configuration on their extension. The interface is quite easy to use and is a boon as it reduces dependance on technical staff for common changes.

Issues
My biggest knocks on the AastraLink Pro 160 are refinement issues due to its newness - I found two bugs in my first day of testing, along with a few typos. All were reported to Aastra support - one resolved, the other is being addressed by development. The installation manual is fairly through but I couldn’t help sometimes not understanding the implications of some features or and even found some items missing from the manual - for example does “lock service admin” disable that account, prevent changes, or something else entirely? My biggest hope is they introduce inline support into the web interface.

The teleworker support (having remote IP phones) isn’t the easiest setup I’ve seen. It wants specific model uPNP routers on both ends, or manual port forwarding - most systems just require that on the PBX end.

Bottom Line
Overall I like the AastraLink Pro 160, though its definitely not a fit for every small business. If it works for your business needs its certainly a great value - its by no means as capable as an Allworx 6x, but at just $999 some businesses won’t mind.

The GN1900 is clearly well designed and built, though definitely minimalist compared to their higher end units. I found the unit extremely comfortable to wear - its exceptionally lightweight, you can easily forget you have it on. The headset features noise cancellation, the feedback I received was the GN1900 clearly sounded better compared to another common budget headset.

The GN1900 uses the QD (quick disconnect) plug, most modern phones feature a dedicated RJ9 headset jack, my preference is the GN1200 direct connect cable to connect the headset to the phone. The GN1200 is a thumb-sized adapter which is compatible with nearly all modern desk phones - no more need for separate amplifier boxes.

I’m not sure if the packaging is intentionally green but I was pleased it was packed in a properly sized unbleached corrugated box, just enough bubble wrap to surround the headset, and one page of documentation. The GN1900 wasn’t designed for retail shelves, rather they sell through distribution in 24 packs to phone vendors - your local phone guy is the best way to get a few. Expect to pay ~$100 for a monaural headset with direct connect cable, a binaural headset is available for a bit more.

VoIP quality services like VisualWare VoIP test are great, but only helpful for consistently bad connections. In many cases the quality can fluctuate which requires consistent monitoring to diagnose.

VoIP Spear is an amazing tool as it requires no client-side software installation and runs quality tests every 5 minutes from a west coast, central, and east coast server. The results can be displayed in a table or easy to understand charts.

So far VoIP Spear helped us isolate an inconsistent ISP connection. When we tested with VisualWare we got great scores because it was only sometimes problematic. Having VoIP Spear run tests every 5 minutes gave us results we could take to the ISP.

VoIP Spear has a free account option for a single endpoint, as well as affordable packages for multiple endpoints.

VoIP Spear example result

What you may not know is many PRI services like Qwest OneFlex is they use IP voice (VoIP) to deliver service - then use a converter to make it PRI compatible. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but PRI converters and PRI cards for your phone system cost money - and its money you don’t need to spend.

You may be wondering if this is VoIP like Vonage or MagicJack but that’s completely different. Consumer VoIP services go across the public internet with no controls over voice quality. Business VoIP services go across private carrier networks with strict controls over voice quality.

With an Allworx 6x phone system we can connect directly to the native IP voice service without PRI converters or PRI cards. This is a huge advantage for a business looking at purchasing a new phone system - eliminating the need for a PRI card will save on average $1000-2000. This benefits monthly cost as well - depending on location we’ve been able to get SIP/T1 service for under $400/mo, far less than Dynamic Integrated PRI services.