Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of damola1
damola1Flag for Nigeria

asked on

8 seater Call Center setup

I am a small business owner and have served over 20,000 customers in the last 4 years, and wish to reconnect with them by email, telephone, sms, and through my website.

I wish to build a strong online presence backed with a strong back end through a dependable contact center, so I am trying to get started with a 8 seater call center. I run a sales company, and hope to be as big as best buy.

I am trying to set up a small 8 seater call center, and need your advise.

I had initially bought this server:

HP ProLiant ML110 G6 Quad Core X3430 Tower Server
Type: Server
Form Factor: Tower
Processor: Intel Xeon X3430 Quad Core 2.40GHz
Cache Memory: 8MB L3 Cache
Memory: 1GB RAM(Installed)/8GB (Max)
Hard Drive: 250Gb Hard Drive
Optical Drive: DVD-ROM
Graphics Controller: Shared Video Memory (UMA)
Networking: Network adapter - PCI Express - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet

Then, I bought this card: http://www.atcom.cn/AX1600P.html#~tab-s ... nterprises,

But I found out that card is giving me too much issues... drivers, etc.manufacturer says I must use elastix 1.6, this driving missing that driver missing, heck, a lot of work. took me a long time to install, and now the calls through the computers are not even clear, always echoing, telephone number begins to appear anonymous, very bad for business really, so am thinking of selling it.

My question is what sort of tools including Headset Phone, Routers, or Telephone card do you recommend for a small business of up to 8 seater call center, to get the best quality. Everything needs to be physically done.

I am thinking digium cards, but very much open. I want the best quality tools out there, and willing to start small. But not wanting to compromise quality.

Already I have my sugarcrm being worked on

Thank you for your answer.

damola.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of jfaubiontx
jfaubiontx
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

Thank you for your feedback.

I Know I have 20,000 customers to call and start with, but it's still starting, and managing is key, that's why I went for the atcom cards in the first place.. I have only 4 analogue lines right now. and only hope to put that to good use first, before I expand to further lines, so the Wildcard 2400, which from this link http://www.digium.com/en/products/analog/24-port/ is for 24port which is way above what we need and also above our budget. Is there any affordable yet very reliable option out there?

A few hours ago, I saw this option: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Digium-TDM400P-PCI-card-2-FXO-modules-Asterisk-VoIP-PBX-UK-/320828893487?pt=UK_Computing_Networking_SM&hash=item4ab2e4692f#ht_500wt_1287  but my fear is about the voice cancellation, What do you think?, is there any other solution you wish to offer?

Also, your suggestions on the switches and routers seems to be for lines up to 100. We are setting up for 4-8, can we get something working for these?.

I really don't mind starting lean and selling later to buy something bigger. I have learnt the tough way not to start big.

Will be very glad if you can give links for the models you suggested for the headsets.

Really, thank you very much.
SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

Thank you very much for your response.

TDM800 it's then. Quick question then, strictly FXO or FXS?.. which works best?

Secondly, is an echo canceller important? check this: Have got two options now Genuine Digium TDM800P w 0 FXO 0 FXS w Echo Canceller  or simply       Digium TDM800P Card, 0 Echo Can Module

Will get the Netgear NETGEAR FS726TP Prosafe Smart Switch With 2 Gigabit Ports And 12 Port PoE 2 SFP slots 8K MAC Address Table 256KB Buffer

Do you also think I should increase the RAM size of the server?

The phones are pretty budget priced.. that's great for the service you said it does..that's really great.
FXO ports are used to connect to the PSTN provider. FXS ports are used to connect analog telephones or fax machines to the system.

As for echo cancellation, try using the software echo canceller before spending the money for ghetto hardware. This will take some tweaking but is well worth the time.
As for RAM, it is cheap right now so going to 4 gig is money well spent.
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

I am sorry to sound naive. But really, I do appreciate all support so far, don't want to miss anything, cost a lot to ship back, and a lot of time too.

Do I buy FXO or FXS cards?.. On my line provider's site, it's clearly stated: ' Analogue lines from our SIEMENS EWSD PSTN switch provide  unparalleled voice quality '

Getting an original FXO. FXS card is also important, these are not originals,  X100M  OR  FXO module for TDM400 TDM800 Digium Asterisk card or       X100M FXO + S100M FXS-100 module: Digium TDM400 TDM800 finally  and am skeptical, do I have any reasons to be?, I don't want another atomcn issues.
For the Echo Cancellation.. don't know much about the software, but will try figure it out, any support there, will definitely be a good go!..

I am not sure the difference btw these NETGEAR FS726TP Prosafe Smart Switch With 2 Gigabit Ports And 12 Port PoE 2 SFP slots 8K MAC Address Table 256KB Buffer and NETGEAR FS726TP Prosafe Smart Switch With 2 Gigabit Ports And 12 Port PoE 2 SFP slots 8K MAC Address Table 256KB Buffer

The first one is obviously cheaper, but will like to be clear as the models are slightly different.

Thanks, will take the server to 8GB ram.. really not that expensive.
FXO to connect to the provider. FXS to connect a phone or fax. Those FXO/FXS modules look to be knock offs. Who knows what the quality is. As to the switches, the first one looks to be a FS726T and the second one a FS726TP. The P Indicates Power over Ethernet which is used to power the phones.
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

Thank you for your feedback.

Could you please send me direct links as to which FXO/FXS to buy or where to buy?.. ebay has been of no use on this, and not sure of which of them to buy also. A link just like the GE Hands free.

Will buy the FS726TP.

Will also buy this Digium TDM800P Card unless, you've got a better option with a link for me.

You are the best!
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

I have the option of buying a digium card right now with strictly FXO cards; TDM400 with FXO card, or simply TDM400P 2FXO 2FXS card  or finally, with simply FXS card TDM400 FXS card only

Please advise, which one should I buy?... I will buy these TDM400P for now, and buy another one later when I get bigger. I hope it'll do the job well. classify urgent, since ebay sales can be for anybody really.
Again, FXqO connects to analog telephone lines from your provider. FXS is used to add telephones and fax machines. Unless you need to connect a fax machine or an analog phone you need FXO ports.
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

Thank you very much for the swift response. I buy now the FXO ones. I will keep you posted. You are great!
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

Thank you for your feedback. I received all the ordered items few days back. So, now to work. I have FREE PBX from asterisk already on, but having issues with it connecting to 3CX. Any advise please?
Avatar of damola1

ASKER

The only reason why I started paying on EE is because this guy solved a problem I had been battling for 4 years, thank you very much sir!.. I have now started the call center with 4 seater. Future advise will really be appreciated.