Setting up VOIP - providers, telephone etc...

johnniegif

Please help me, my mind is being warped due to my lack of VoIP knowledge.
I have read this forum and the main VOIP one but am still confused.

I’m a newbie to VoIP. I tried it a few years ago with a Linksys PAP-2T, which was easy and worked. I even got a free local dial in number from Sipgate but that is long gone. I gave up as what I really wanted was a solution where we could still receive calls to our landline number on our 5 DECT ‘phones and make calls from our DECT ‘phones via the cheapest route, whether that be via landline or 1/many VoIP providers. The PAP-2T couldn’t do this for us so it was archived to the back of a cupboard.

Currently we have a Talktalk landline and have used our own customised “non-BT” version of the “Heinz ‘s Program” with our Orchid Dialler. This “magically” sends all calls to the least cost landline provider according to the programmed rules. I can change it depending on whether we get unlimited calls or otherwise. I’m very savvy at making changes to the Orchid Dialler.

We’re on the Plus TV package at the moment, which includes anytime calls to landlines and 0845/0870 but are looking to change to Talktalk’s Simply Broadband which has no call allowance, just unlimited broadband. We don’t want the TV package. Yes, we could add anytime calls for £5 or £5.50/month, but we don’t make enough calls to justify that … and after all this is a money saving forum

Our download speed is 20Mbps and 1Mbps upload, so fine for VoIP.

Without a monthly package, the main two issues with landline calls via any landline provider are the connection fee and the per minute charges. They quickly add up when dialling directly with over the landline. With Talktalk, we need to use 18185 via their Freephone number, which costs 5p connection fee then 1p/minute to 01/02/03 numbers, instead of 0p/minute directly via 18185 for such calls if we were with BT. 18185 is way cheaper than using Talktalk but we are in the 21st century and these things can be done for less money without compromising on call quality.

My goal is to make the change family friendly, so we can all make calls by dialling the same numbers we currently dial for UK/abroad and the calls made via the least cost route(ish) without the family having to change their habits or dialling different number combinations.

I bought a new Siemens Gigaset N300A IP DECT/VOIP base station which arrived yesterday. It can receive calls from and to our landline on our DECT handsets, just like a normal base station. It can also login to up to 6 VoIP providers at a time, which is great but is leaving me extremely confused.

At the moment, we’re using our existing GAP compatible DECT ‘phones … well I’m using 2 on a pilot test while the rest are connected to our old DECT system whilst I’m fiddling. I think we might get more options with Gigaset handsets, such as being able to choose which VoIP provider to route the call through, but I need this to be automated, not down to the user. I’m fine with buying Gigaset handsets IF it makes the end user process easier, otherwise we’ll stick with our current handsets.

I have signed up to DIDLogic with a miserly $5 payment. The advantages are no connection fees and $0.0057 per minute calls to UK landlines (0.33p at current exchange rates) $0.0286 per minute to UK mobiles (1.7p/min at current exchange rates) Unfortunately 0845 is $0.1094, 0870 is $0.1485 and other NGNs are $0.2727+ p/min … so I don’t want to use DIDLogic’s NGN 0845/0870 etc. numbers. Therefore I cannot simply route ALL our calls through DIDLogic alone.

I now realise that DIDLogic expect us to make calls in E164 format, so we’d need to dial 44207nnnnnnn for a central London number instead of 0207nnnnnnn or just 7nnnnnnn. I can train the family to dial 0207nnnnnnn but not 44207nnnnnnn. While it might be correct, it is anathema to them. So I need to make this work automatically for whatever they normally dial on a UK landline.

I have heard of PBXs but have no personal experience of them. I do understand that once the call is sent to the PBX, it will not be possible to route the call directly over my landline.

To start with, I’d like to keep it simple with calls going over just one VoIP provider – DIDLogic - and our landline. Is it possible to program the Gigaset N300A IP do this?

My plan is:

All 01/02/03 numbers go over DIDLogic (IP carrier 1)
All international calls go over DIDLogic (IP carrier 1) [we generally call central Europe and US/Canada/Australia/New Zealand only]
055 numbers go over DIDLogic (IP carrier 1) [don’t really use these but cheap with DIDLogic]
All 07 numbers go over DIDLogic (IP carrier 1) - perhaps not 070 numbers, my Orchid dialler hangs up on those!
All other numbers route over the landline, which the Orchid Dialler will deal with.
In the event of VoIP unavailability, revert to landline, which the Orchid dialler will deal with – I have this option set in the N300A IP already but haven’t tested it.

Is there a way to do all of this on the Gigaset N300A IP with its dialling rules? I’m completely new to VoIP dialling rules, they are like a foreign language that I really want to learn.

I looked at the last 12 months of our Talktalk calls and the “worst” month was 350 minutes of landline calls. With DIDLogic, this could cost us just £1.99, so definitely worth pursuing.

When I know what I’m doing and why, I might consider using other VoIP providers for their individual benefits and perhaps a DID number, but for now, please help me to keep it simple and retain my sanity.

Thanks very much reading this and for your help and guidance.

Johnnie

littleboo

Useful thread, I'm looking at a Gigaset N300A. Can you tell me if you can screen calls on the handsets ? ie, on my existing Panasonic DECT set, when the answering phone kicks in, the message is heard on all the handsets as its being left and you can decide to pick up or not.

CaptainHaddock_2

CaptainHaddock wrote: »

The Gigaset has a page where you tell it what country and area code you are in and how to treat/add "00" etc - but that settings page is common to all trunks. Then there is a settings page where you can direct calls to different trunks depending on what number they start with, so e.g. US calls to Localpphone and calls to Spain to DIDLogic. What I haven't figured out is how you can have a number stored in your phone book in one format (either "0049xxxx.." or "49xxx") and then have the Gigaset send the right number sequence to each trunk provider.

Doh! I have discovered I can solve this without PBXes. DIDLogic offers the option on their SIP account setup to add or remove digits from the dialled string. Under "SIP", your can edit your account and there you get the option of "Custom Dialplan". Tick this and then add rules as required. I have kept my Gigaset set to dial "0044..." so that it works well with Localphone, but then I have told DIDLogic to strip any leading "00" so it also works with DIDLogic.

Great stuff!

anon_ymous

CaptainHaddock wrote: »

Doh! I have discovered I can solve this without PBXes. DIDLogic offers the option on their SIP account setup to add or remove digits from the dialled string. Under "SIP", your can edit your account and there you get the option of "Custom Dialplan". Tick this and then add rules as required. I have kept my Gigaset set to dial "0044..." so that it works well with Localphone, but then I have told DIDLogic to strip any leading "00" so it also works with DIDLogic.

Great stuff!

Ah not too bad. Im happy with making it work with pbxes.com

Still partially through my project of FreePBX and a Raspberry Pi