Moving from PSTN &ADSL broadband to VOIP

I am looking to the experts here for some guidance about moving from PSTN to VOIP.

I'm managing a Bowls club, and we currently have 2 PSTN lines - office and clubhouse - together with ADSL broadband (80 down, 20 up) linked to the office phone. I believe it's Openreach through a reseller. Our current rolling contract for this package hasn't been reviewed for more than 10 years and is eye-wateringly expensive!

I want to replace the whole lot with a cheaper broadband & digital phone solution - the current speed is fine, and I can get this or better from several providers (BT, ZEN, bOnline etc). We definitely need to keep both phone numbers - mostly for incoming calls, although the office phone is used for some outbound as well.

One key aspect is that the provider(s) must accept payment via Direct Debit, so that rules out Voipfone and Voipify among others. Ideally I would like a single contract covering both the phones and broadband, but it's not a deal-breaker if the broadband and VOIP contracts are separate.

Reading about the Gigaset N300 IP DECT/VoIP Base Station, I get the impression that it can cope with multiple VOIP telephone numbers as well as multiple DECT handsets - is that correct? If so, can handsets be associated with just one telephone number? Handsets A & B with one phone number and handset C with a second phone number?

If it is possible to have a single broadband router to which an N300 is connected, providing both the office phone on one phone number (plus an additional office handset) and the clubhouse phone number on a separate handset, that would be perfect.

Would the packages from Zen (broadband with Business Digital Voice) or similar from bOnline be appropriate?

Thanks for any information

Andews & Arnold accept payment by direct debit.

You could do what you want with two N300s.

I use different suppliers for broadband and VOIP.

I am not sure what happens with an N300 if two people want to make a calls each to separate a/cs (voip ISPs)

A&A do also supply broadband but they may well be more expensive

Edited by Michael_Chare (Wed 05-Jun-24 23:35:50)

Personally, as a preference, I would not use the same VOIP provider and broadband provider because when you change broadband provider you do not need to change the phone provider or vice versa.

Also, personally, I would use a card, (credit or debit), instead of direct debit and would pay off the card in full via direct debit but that is your choice.

Regarding the N300: we use an N300a with two separate VOIP providers with two different phone numbers the N300 will work exactly as you want it to. - ie. We since we have two VOIP providers we can set which phone rings for each provider for incoming calls and which provider is used by each phone for outgoing calls.

Therefore, the N300 can easily be set as to which of up to six phones ring and make calls from each of up to six separate VOIP providers but I do not know how to separate which phone is used with separate two lines from the same VOIP provider using one N300.

I suspect that since you plan to have both numbers from the same VOIP provider I suspect that may not be possible but I do not know and I would recommend that you ask one of the VOIP providers that are technically able and who answer their own phone to ask them. - You mentioned Voipify and they should be able to advise you with regard to separating incoming and outgoing calls with two lines from the same VOIP provider.

In reply to a post by Fido:

Therefore, the N300 can easily be set as to which of up to six phones ring and make calls from each of up to six separate VOIP providers but I do not know how to separate which phone is used with separate two lines from the same VOIP provider using one N300.

I suspect that since you plan to have both numbers from the same VOIP provider I suspect that may not be possible but I do not know and I would recommend that you ask one of the VOIP providers that are technically able and who answer their own phone to ask them. - You mentioned Voipify and they should be able to advise you with regard to separating incoming and outgoing calls with two lines from the same VOIP provider.

It shouldn't make difference if its the same provider or not, seeing as each has its own login credentials.

I have two Sipgate accounts on my N300 and a single AAISP. Its just like any other account system.

The N300 lets you choose which account is used for incoming and which for outgoing, per handset. If you have multiple outgoing set for a single handset, is asks you which to use when you try to make a call.

Just beware that Gigaset handsets have a pretty huge flaw, in that their AAA batteries die after 6-12 months, no matter how good a brand of battery you use. There's some fundamental flaw with their charging circuit I think. I continue to use them anyway as they work so well otherwise.

Edited by alexatkin (Thu 06-Jun-24 04:24:30)

You are best ordering a new SoGEA connection then moving the phones to VOIP once the new connection is in.
I might be able to help you with this if needed, I know a telecoms guy and can pass on his details.
He's organised a few migrations like this for me

Thanks
Dan

In reply to a post by alexatkin:

Just beware that Gigaset handsets have a pretty huge flaw, in that their AAA batteries die after 6-12 months, no matter how good a brand of battery you use. There's some fundamental flaw with their charging circuit I think. I continue to use them anyway as they work so well otherwise.

I have four Gigaset handsets - three types and no battery issues. All handsets are coming up four years old and still hold charge - one of my desk has been out pf teh charger for almost a day and still showing 100%.

Same here. I use Energizer 800 mAh rechargeables in all 5 Gigaset C57xx phones, with no problems. The phones all sit in their charger bases when not in use.

In reply to a post by MHC:

I have four Gigaset handsets - three types and no battery issues. All handsets are coming up four years old and still hold charge - one of my desk has been out pf teh charger for almost a day and still showing 100%.

Which models? Mine are the C430HX bought in 2021.

One appears to be working great still, the least used one I had to replace once, the most used handset I had to replace twice already. It managed to completely kill Eneloops in a year.

Edited by alexatkin (Thu 06-Jun-24 16:13:44)

From memory - 620, 450 and 85

The 85 is probably 6+ years old and I believe I changed the batteries probably 2+ years back and those are Engergiser 800mA (I had the back off recently).

The problem with the batteries and gigaset is that when you put new batteries in you must must must let the phone completely discharge the batteries out of the cradle. Once that is done (and that might take several days because they use a very low power in standby) then you can put it on charge. The problem is that the charging circuitry doesn't know when the battery is full. I did this after getting through 2 sets of batteries and didn't have a problem after that.