[asterisk-biz] consultant questions : glad to pay for email reply

[Andrew Joakimsen]

On 9/26/07, Miles Keaton <mileskeaton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> - Each work-at-home person should only need a headset + softphone
> software on their PC, right?   (Is the software audio quality as good
> as separate hardware SIP phones now, if run on a modern-speed PC?
> Recommendation for best?)
>

When you say "modem-speed PC" Do you mean you are using a dial-up
modem? Do not expect to be in a call and use the connection for any
other sort of data transfer at the same time.


> - To have land-line (incoming) phone numbers in a country, should we
> have an Asterisk server in that country?  A rack-mount server in a
> telco/colo center, that receives the calls in on a Digium card then
> SIP-routes them out to the work-at-home SIP phones?   (I'm assuming it
> shouldn't be all-one-central server, since calls from Australia to
> Australia would actually be crossing the ocean twice, reducing call
> quality.)

If it was my setup I would get a dedicated server and an E1 line for
your phone needs. You can use some VoIP calling to save money on
calling costs, but don't put all your eggs in one basket.


> - Can Asterisk report-back IAX-softphone availability, without needing
> to pass a call?   So our website can say how many agents are available
> (in which countries) to take their call now?

Yes. Expect to write the code, however.

> - Is there a better way you'd recommend setting up phones for the
> "SITUATION" described, above?   Since there is no legacy phone number
> or contract, it could be 100% VoIP.

Contract with a provider that can give you broadband connections to
all the locations all within their private networks -- to avoid NAT
and latency issues. Multinational I doubt you can find that and if you
do I doubt it will be cheap. Here in the US I have a provider that can
do it for $10-20 more than what the telco's normally charge for their
ADSL or SDSL products.