Topic: VoIP using external 3rd party and SAIL/SARK (newb alert)

[girkers]

I am curious as I am currently looking at dropping my current ISP and moving to another one and thus an external VoIP provider. Currently I am using a VoIP router to provide telephony service to my standard handset, I am wondering about using SAIL with an external VoIP provider and if the following is possible:

• Route the calls to a mobile device
• Provide externsions to offsite people via either softphone & VPN or using a mobile device
• Only having one DID number but support multiple incoming calls

Thanks for any assistance or advice that people can provide.

[David Harper]

I'll do my best to answer:

Route the calls to a mobile device

Do you mean like a Nokia phone connected to the SAIL server over wireless LAN? If so, yes.

Provide externsions to offsite people via either softphone & VPN or using a mobile device

SAIL supports remote extensions out of the box, with no need for a VPN to be created at the remote location. If you have multiple offices, you can even link two PBX servers together using an Internet SAIL-to-SAIL trunk.

Only having one DID number but support multiple incoming calls

AFAIK this function is actually handled by the VOIP provider, but if it is supported by the provider it will be supported by SAIL.

[girkers]

Thanks David for the reply, pretty much answers what I was after. To extend a little bit I have found provider that does support multiline VoIP and I have a WM6.5 phone with Wifi and 3G.

1. If I go with the VoIP provider I am considering would SAIL perform the functions of a VoIP router?

2. If so would I then need to get IP phones and connect them to my network to enable the use of SAIL if setup as per Q1?

3. How then would remote extensions work without a SAIL server at the other end?

Sorry for all the question just trying to work out the system in my head before I go anywhere with it. Thanks everyone for reading my posts and especially the people that take the time to answer, cheers.

[David Harper]

The best bet is to run SME Server in Server-Gateway mode at the head of your LAN. That way any external VOIP clients (whether another SAIL instance or just IP phones) can easily connect without you having to get your head around a bunch of port forwards. This is a perfectly safe setup because SME Server has a full firewall in place.

To answer your specific questions:

1. If I go with the VoIP provider I am considering would SAIL perform the functions of a VoIP router?

Yes. SAIL has a lot of pre-defined provider templates, so check in the templates area to see whether the one you are evaluating is listed. Personally I would try to stick with a provider that has a template so that if there are issues they can be more easily troubleshooted here in the forums; but that is just my opinion.

2. If so would I then need to get IP phones and connect them to my network to enable the use of SAIL if setup as per Q1?

Ordinary phones won't work, so yes, you will need IP phones. Technically you could run soft-phones on your PCs but IMHO that is not a great idea.

3. How then would remote extensions work without a SAIL server at the other end?

SAIL supports remote extensions out of the box. So long as the remote phone can connect to the public interface of the SAIL server (e.g. no firewalls in the way), you just define the extension as "remote" in the server manager. If you fiddle with the handset and SAIL, you can probably get auto-configuration of the remote handsets via FTP working as well.

[girkers]

You using a VoIP router now to provide telephony service to your standard handset? then what is the difference of using a standard handset and the others?

I am not quiet sure about your question, just that if I transfer the VoIP functionality from my router to SAIL/SARK there is no where to connect a standard handset. You would then have to go to a IP phone.