What Are You Doing Right Now
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
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@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
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@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
When I presented this option (in leu of the ability to put a call onto someone's phone on hold) many complained about the potential of the wrong person grabbing the call then that person not being able to put the call back in the same spot - so now the intended person can't find the call or the call being forgotten.
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NodeBB 1.7.0 released today!
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@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
Yes, by default 60 seconds. Most commonly users ask for it to be extended to 5 minutes.
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@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
When I presented this option (in leu of the ability to put a call onto someone's phone on hold) many complained about the potential of the wrong person grabbing the call then that person not being able to put the call back in the same spot - so now the intended person can't find the call or the call being forgotten.
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
And it makes sense to me. I always try to make the new system do the things the old system did, rather than preaching about how they need to change their ways.
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
When I presented this option (in leu of the ability to put a call onto someone's phone on hold) many complained about the potential of the wrong person grabbing the call then that person not being able to put the call back in the same spot - so now the intended person can't find the call or the call being forgotten.
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
And it makes sense to me. I always try to make the new system do the things the old system did, rather than preaching about how they need to change their ways.
There you go again, trying to do what's best for the business. It's like you want to do a good job or something.
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@travisdh1 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
When I presented this option (in leu of the ability to put a call onto someone's phone on hold) many complained about the potential of the wrong person grabbing the call then that person not being able to put the call back in the same spot - so now the intended person can't find the call or the call being forgotten.
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
And it makes sense to me. I always try to make the new system do the things the old system did, rather than preaching about how they need to change their ways.
There you go again, trying to do what's best for the business. It's like you want to do a good job or something.
Eh, sometimes changing processes is what's best for the business. Not saying this is right or wrong but each case should be evaluated.
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
When I presented this option (in leu of the ability to put a call onto someone's phone on hold) many complained about the potential of the wrong person grabbing the call then that person not being able to put the call back in the same spot - so now the intended person can't find the call or the call being forgotten.
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
And it makes sense to me. I always try to make the new system do the things the old system did, rather than preaching about how they need to change their ways.
Oh you and @JaredBusch must get along great at parties. HA
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
OK that makes sense I guess. The company I'm convert has a really old system like that. Luckily there is very little transferring going on, so the desire to keep that type of functionality it gone.
Additionally, the old system they had dialed out only as the assigned POTS line, which meant that callers were calling back directly on those other numbers. This behavior is highly undesired. So they are more willing to get rid of the "line" idea.
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@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
When I presented this option (in leu of the ability to put a call onto someone's phone on hold) many complained about the potential of the wrong person grabbing the call then that person not being able to put the call back in the same spot - so now the intended person can't find the call or the call being forgotten.
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
And it makes sense to me. I always try to make the new system do the things the old system did, rather than preaching about how they need to change their ways.
Oh you and @JaredBusch must get along great at parties. HA
I've just out the parking BLF on every system almost by default. So with zero training you can get a call from one phone to the next.
Sorry didn't mean to go into detail on how directed parking BLFs work, many systems won't do it. You have to transfer to a parking extension then it tells you what parking lot it's on.
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@coliver said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@travisdh1 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
o few business features. And as you add users, their cost goes through the roof, while with other models cost stays nearly fla
Yep, I had a customer on DialPad, at 3 it totally made sense to be there, at 6 it became time to look at hosted FreePBX.
I'm surprised that the number was that low. DialPad is 25% cheaper than RingCentral, I'd expect needing more like 15 people to go to a hosted FreePBX solution at least. DP looks like a pretty nice solution overall. Did you ever compare it to RC?
Nope. I'm not doing this at a full business level like JB is... I'm cutting my teeth on it. So they aren't paying much more than costs, so FreePBX comes in very cheap.
Plus I said look at FreePBX - but again, because low costs + me learning.. AND we know they will be adding another 6+ extensions in the next 6 months... avoiding the porting issues would be good (took 5 weeks to port the number this time).
What kind of phones are you using?
And I have another big question: Am I the only one that gives small offices under 50 phones 2 to 3 directed parking buttons? To give that key system-like feature of "Hey theres a call on 2 for you"
Yealink T46S phones.
I have zero parking buttons at this time.
We're not a car dealership - putting a call on hold and then telling someone - hey go get it.. I guess some businesses need that. We don't in my day job, nor does this client. Instead they just transfer the calls directly to the person, after making sure they are there to take it.
I have replaced hundreds of key systems over the years, and early on I started with directed parking and they loved it. But I notice in my circles I hang out it some are baffled at why it mattered.
I feel like BLF and directed parking buttons was a major factor in beating RingCentral and 8x8 for years.
BLF - as in a button blinking to know when your boss was on the phone or not?
What exactly is directed parking - perhaps there is some benefit I'm just not understanding.
I assign Park 1, Park 2 and Park 3 BLF keys on each phone.
Someone is on a call. They need to give the call to someone else and dont want to transfer because they dont know if Jimbo is at his desk. They park it by hitting Park 1, 2 or 3 (whatever lot is not in use and not green). Now that button is parked the call turns green.
They go to the break room, tell Jimbo they have a call on 3. Jimbo goes to any phone (break room phone, his phone, etc) and presses 3 to pick up the call.
Edit: Sorry for all the edits, trying to be clear as possible
This is why I referenced the car lot - basically you put a caller on hold, then find some way of telling Jimbo there is a call sitting there for him, then forget about the call. Question, does the call ring back to you if Jimbo or whomever doesn't pick up the call after x amount of time?
When I presented this option (in leu of the ability to put a call onto someone's phone on hold) many complained about the potential of the wrong person grabbing the call then that person not being able to put the call back in the same spot - so now the intended person can't find the call or the call being forgotten.
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
And it makes sense to me. I always try to make the new system do the things the old system did, rather than preaching about how they need to change their ways.
There you go again, trying to do what's best for the business. It's like you want to do a good job or something.
Eh, sometimes changing processes is what's best for the business. Not saying this is right or wrong but each case should be evaluated.
Exactly. Being stuck in "that's the way we've always done it" is just a broken way of thinking.
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
Sorry didn't mean to go into detail on how directed parking BLFs work, many systems won't do it. You have to transfer to a parking extension then it tells you what parking lot it's on.
That might be the way that FreePBX works, and if it is, it might be why I pulled the plug right before my first potential deployment - with parking ext you MUST listen for and remember the lot number - that would be pretty much unbearable around here.
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@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
OK that makes sense I guess. The company I'm convert has a really old system like that. Luckily there is very little transferring going on, so the desire to keep that type of functionality it gone.
Additionally, the old system they had dialed out only as the assigned POTS line, which meant that callers were calling back directly on those other numbers. This behavior is highly undesired. So they are more willing to get rid of the "line" idea.
Yeah trunk appearances and the hold button is basically what I'm trying to emulate.
Allworx is the only vendor I've ever known to emulate trunk appearances. Directed parking BLF is more scalable. In a building of 50 people you rarely have more than 3 or 4 parked calls.
Sometimes, even with all the adherence to simulate the old system, people are still unhappy. And I wonder what it would be like to watch over the shoulder of someone else who tells them to get with the program and pound sand.
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@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
Sorry didn't mean to go into detail on how directed parking BLFs work, many systems won't do it. You have to transfer to a parking extension then it tells you what parking lot it's on.
That might be the way that FreePBX works, and if it is, it might be why I pulled the plug right before my first potential deployment - with parking ext you MUST listen for and remember the lot number - that would be pretty much unbearable around here.
You can use *71 etc to get direct parking BLF on FreePBX.
On Freeswitch it's instant, like an old key system, on FreePBX it takes like a second.
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But - I'm once again looking at options.
I really don't want to wholesale convert my 120 phones all at once, but (and I'm waiting on confirmation) I think Mitel is phasing out their old 8622 phones and the A license they run on, and moving to newer phones (don't know model) that require C licenses. This makes replacing one phone cost $500+.
As some around here know, I have a multi-node PBX. Two - Mitel 5000's (VOIP phones) and one - Inter-Tel Axxess (digital phones).
The Axxess went OEL last year. Mitel has an upgrade path that replaces the Axxess with a 5000 and a digital controller so I can keep using my current (old ass) phones.But - if Mitel is going to make me move away from using my current A licenses (as of yet unconfirmed), it might be time to really look at moving away from them before we spend any money what so ever with Mitel.
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So with that in mind - I need to see if there is a way to get ext to ext dialing between a FreePBX and a Mitel system?
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@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dashrender said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@bigbear said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
When you are replacing a key system where they had line 1, 2, 3, 4 on every phones it's met with a lot of resistance in most offices.
OK that makes sense I guess. The company I'm convert has a really old system like that. Luckily there is very little transferring going on, so the desire to keep that type of functionality it gone.
Additionally, the old system they had dialed out only as the assigned POTS line, which meant that callers were calling back directly on those other numbers. This behavior is highly undesired. So they are more willing to get rid of the "line" idea.
Yeah trunk appearances and the hold button is basically what I'm trying to emulate.
Allworx is the only vendor I've ever known to emulate trunk appearances. Directed parking BLF is more scalable. In a building of 50 people you rarely have more than 3 or 4 parked calls.
Sometimes, even with all the adherence to simulate the old system, people are still unhappy. And I wonder what it would be like to watch over the shoulder of someone else who tells them to get with the program and pound sand.
From a vendor stand point, the main people you have to make happy are the buyers/owners. The rest are given tech to use. Sure that doesn't always go over as well as you might like, but this is a business, about doing what's right for the business - if you have staff that can't learn new things.. do you really want them as part of your staff?
It's like pressing the send button on a Cell phone. I'm sure there was push back on that - WHAT I have to hit send to dial my call - FFS, OMFG - really? lol but guess what, everyone does it now.
