Setup New VoIP Network

We are planning to use AsteriskNow. With the number of incoming and outgoing calls we are expecting will it work ok?

The number of Outbound calls are expected to be around 7000/ day and around 500 Incoming calls everyday. Calls are expected to be of 15 mins on average.

The way we want it to be setup is, we want some DID numbers and use them as the direct incoming numbers or Fax for some staff members. We will also be forwarding calls to mobiles or other number if a staff member is not available (no answer).

What hardware (router, server etc) would you suggest we should use? We need to connect the two locations (Australia and India) together through VPN with constant communication between the two locations.

What internet connection do you recommend, based on the number of calls we are expecting?

How can we use IVR with the DID, what will you recommend for this?

I am still trying to find out a provider for Voip, can you recommend any?

Hi

Ok what level of customer service are you expecting to give, and how many hours perday are you going to be making calls.

Based on a 9 hour day and the average call being 10 minutes I know how many lines and agents you will need, I am interested to see if you have put any thought to this ?

What do you think you will need ?

To help you have a look at a very simple calculator I wrote some years ago yo work out these details

http://cyber-cottage.co.uk/site/index.p ... ;Itemid=47


Ian

Thanks for your reply.

The working hours will be 12 hours a day initially and then will be increased to 24 hours (for customer service).

Customer Service and Call Clarity is very important for us and that is the main reason we have decided to open our own call center because we tried a few call centers here but were totally disappointed by all.

At the moment we are planning to set it up in the following way:

Put an AsteriskNow server and install IVR using DID to allow area selection to customer and based on that their calls will be transferred to Australia or India (We will also need to limin the number of calls being transferred as we do not want all calls to be transferred to one location). Not sure which IVR system to use, can you please suggest any? Can we use multiple IVR's?

We will also need to keep track of where the call is being transferred to (which agent), to generate agent reports. I believe and hope Asterisk will allow this.

We will then install another server where we will host the eCommerce solution. At the moment we are planning to use the Netgear Prosafe Router FWG114P on both locations and then connect them through VPN. Not sure if we can host the same computer to host Asterisk and the eCommerce system. Is it possible?


What hardware (router, server etc) would you suggest we should use? We need to connect the two locations (Australia and India) together through VPN with constant communication between the two locations.

What internet connection do you recommend, based on the number of calls we are expecting?

How can we use IVR with the DID, what will you recommend for this?

I am still trying to find out a provider for Voip, can you recommend any?

I am sorry for all the trouble guys, i don't have any experience in VoIP and i am trying to work out all this myself. We had tried other companies etc but it was a total disappointment. We are very close to our deadline. I will appreciste any and all advice and help from your side.

Thanks

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The working hours will be 12 hours a day initially and then will be increased to 24 hours (for customer service).

Based on the call volume you stated and the call duration you need 140 agents.

Quote:

Customer Service and Call Clarity is very important for us and that is the main reason we have decided to open our own call center because we tried a few call centers here but were totally disappointed by all.

Why ?

Quote:

At the moment we are planning to set it up in the following way:

Quote:

Put an AsteriskNow server and install IVR using DID to allow area selection to customer and based on that their calls will be transferred to Australia or India (We will also need to limin the number of calls being transferred as we do not want all calls to be transferred to one location). Not sure which IVR system to use, can you please suggest any? Can we use multiple IVR's?

Asterisk can support multiple IVRs

Quote:

We will also need to keep track of where the call is being transferred to (which agent), to generate agent reports. I believe and hope Asterisk will allow this.

As it stands no, But there are packages avalible that will.

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We will then install another server where we will host the eCommerce solution. At the moment we are planning to use the Netgear Prosafe Router FWG114P on both locations and then connect them through VPN. Not sure if we can host the same computer to host Asterisk and the eCommerce system. Is it possible?

Not a good idea but possible.

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What hardware (router, server etc) would you suggest we should use? We need to connect the two locations (Australia and India) together through VPN with constant communication between the two locations.

The Best you can afford.

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What internet connection do you recommend, based on the number of calls we are expecting?

10meg at least.

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How can we use IVR with the DID, what will you recommend for this?

See Last comment

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I am still trying to find out a provider for Voip, can you recommend any?

As already said in a earlier post we try not to recommend ITSPS here.

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I am sorry for all the trouble guys, i don't have any experience in VoIP and i am trying to work out all this myself. We had tried other companies etc but it was a total disappointment. We are very close to our deadline. I will appreciste any and all advice and help from your side.

OK You should hire a consultant to do this for you,

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We had tried other companies etc but it was a total disappointment.

Why

Its fairly obvious that this is outside your scope of experience, and this thread could go on and on as you havent even touched upon phones, plasma screens etc. Also unless you can say what your TOTAL BUDGET you have avalible for this we cant see if what you are hoping to do is possible.

For starters are you expecting to employ 140 people ? have you though that the headsets alone will come to about $10000 then we have handsets another $15000.

I dont even know what a 10meg leased line from India to Austraia is going to cost, you would be better to decide on one location and handle all calls there and only route the minimum back to the other site.

vgaurav :

The number of Outbound calls are expected to be around 7000/ day and around 500 Incoming calls everyday. Calls are expected to be of 15 mins on average.

Did I smell telemarketing?

Yes it is kind of telemarketing, upselling products to our clients etc.

We tried a few telemarketing companies here in aus, phillipines and in India but were totally disappointed by the way the campaign was being managed and run. No proper reports etc, no information on what was going on and the agents were not trained properly. We have even tried companies charging AU$100 per hour.

Then we decided that it will be probably better to setup our own call center.

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We will also need to keep track of where the call is being transferred to (which agent), to generate agent reports. I believe and hope Asterisk will allow this. As it stands no, But there are packages avalible that will.

Which package will you recommend? We need a software which allows us to divert calls based on the area of the customer and when they select the area the call should be diverted to the agent we want and we also want to be able to limit the number of incoming calls per agent.

May be we will start low for the moment and hire around 30-50 people and then grow as needed. Don't want to make too big investment and then see it failing.

Initially we will do around 2000 outbound calls and around 500 incoming calls.

The maximum connection we can get here in Aus is 4meg/4meg i think.

Quote:

have you though that the headsets alone will come to about $10000 then we have handsets another $15000.

We are thinking to use SoftFones initially.

OK

So for the "new" call volume you need 65 lines/Agents and a pipe of about 5Meg

Even if you use softphones you will still need headsets so that bill based on 65 agents will be $4000

As I have said before, You NEED to employ a consultant who has deployed call centers in the regions you are expecting to be based, and expect to fund a lot of travel back and forth to start with.


As to software for queue reports queuemetrics is a good example, cost is between $3000 and $4500 for the number of agents you require.

Ian

What do you think about Tribox Pro call center edition or enterprise edition? Do you think we should use that or will it be too expensive? Do they $255 charge per agent/extension?

they have all the reports etc?

i was also looking at the Cisco FL-SRST-MEDIUM.

What do you think? which one do u think is better according to or needs?

I am trying to find and hire a Consultant as well. just need some time to find a good one here in Aus, do you know anyone?

vgaurav :

What do you think about Tribox Pro call center edition or enterprise edition? Do you think we should use that or will it be too expensive? Do they $255 charge per agent/extension?

Have you considered FreeSwitch?

Hi

Quote:

Do you think we should use that or will it be too expensive?

even though we have asked many times whta your Budget is, you havent said. So how can we say its too expensive or not.

Ian

BUDGET

I am trying to keep the costs as low as possible.

Hardware Setup (Router, Server, IP-PBX etc.) - $3000 to $5000)

SoftPhones - Around $5000

Rest on hiring agents and setup etc.

I hope the budget i have set will be enough to do the initial hardware setup. But if we have to spend more we will have to but we just want to try and keep the costs as low as possible and do only required stuff.

Hi

Your Budget is far too low.

So as they say on that famous program "The Dragons Den" Im out.

Ian

vgaurav :

Hardware Setup (Router, Server, IP-PBX etc.) - $3000 to $5000) SoftPhones - Around $5000

I thought softphone is free these days. Why waste $5,000 if you can get it free. As such, you may want to bump up the budget for hardware to $10,000.

Sorry My mistake, the $5000 is for headsets not softphones.

Yeah i can increase the hardware budget to around $10000. As i mentioned earlier, it was just a basic calculation but we will have to spend money whereever required regardless of what the budget is.

Guys,

I tried Asterisk Now and Trixbox Pro Free edition. Here are some problems that i faced today:

1. Trixbox allows us to define IVR but we have to record the voice files using an extension. It does not allow us to accept an input from the user for more than 1 digit.

2. Asterisk allows us to define the IVR step by step and also lets us type the text that we want to be spoken when answering the calls. It allows us to pre-define selections but i could not find an option to take user input, say a 4 digit password or code", and then transfer the call based on the user Input.


What we need is:

1. Customer's should be allowed to select from the predefined IVR menu options and then once the selection is finished they should enter the 4 digit password and then we can transfer the call accordingly. The password option should be optional.

2. We also want to be provide an option where the customer can just enter thrir postcode and we can transfer the call to the mobile of our representative/ employee logged in to be working in that area or if the call is not answered we should then be able to transfer it to the next rep.

I know cost is a very big factor but we are willing to spend the required amount to get a good setup where we can get good call quality etc but we just want to try to keep it as low as possible.

Does Trixbox Call Center Edition allow the cusrtomer input for more than 1 digit and then transfer call based on that?

Can you please recommend any software that will fit our needs?

As per the budget, we are ready to spend around $10000 on the hardware setup. will that be enough?[/list]