VigorIPPBX 2820 - Integrated IP-PBX & ADSL Firewall

The VigorIPPBX 2820 is an IPPBX integrated with DrayTek's fully-featured Vigor 2820 ADSL Router. If you want to understand what a PBX is,

The VigorIPPBX 2820 offers a complete replacement to the traditional office phone system and analogue or ISDN lines. An IP-PBX uses your existing network and the Internet to provide company-wide telephony, using VoIP technology instead of regular phone lines or a traditional PBX. This can save hugely on line rental, provides vast flexibility, reduces call costs, maintenance and increases efficiency. IP Phones (such as the VigorPhone 350) can be placed anywhere in your office, or remotely around the world to provide one seamless phone network for your business. Wherever you have an Internet connection, you can have an extension on your PBX. All pure IP calls are free of charge; for calls to the conventional phone network (PSTN) you route via an ITSP 'Trunk' for low cost calls (for example DrayTEL).

In a pure IP environment, the VigorIPPBX2820 is installed onto your LAN together with IP telephones, such as the VigorPhone 350. All devices are connected over your LAN using your existing Ethernet network connections. The Vigor 2820 PBX can support up to 50 extensions - local or remote. As it uses your regular network, you don't need special extension wiring - just your existing Ethernet switch with adequate ports (assuming you are using IP phones). A traditional PBX with 50 extensions would take up a whole cabinet and need a lot of wiring!

Once installed, all extensions call call each other of course and calls can be transferred, diverted and all other normal features of a PBX. Extensions do not have to be local (in the same office as the iPBX) - they can be anywhere in the world, and still be seamless so that calls can be made between to transferred to extensions whether they are local or remote. Similarly, incoming calls can be routed to any extensions, whether they are local or distributed in many remote locations - anywhere with an Internet connection.

If you require analogue extensions (regular non-IP telephones or equipment) then the VigorIPPBX 2820 provides one port into which you can plug a phone, fax or PDQ machine and in the event of your broadband failing, it can failover onto your regular analogue line. That analogue phone is then another extension on the PBX, able to receive, transfer and make calls. You can add an 24 additional analogue extensions with the DrayTek VigorTalk ATA-24SH. Analogue extensions are useful for legacy equipment, lower cost extensions or where you don't want the risk of loss or damage to an IP phone.

Voicemail can be enabled on any extensions to take messages when the phone is not answered or busy. The message can be emailed to the extension owner, or they can pick it up from their phone when they return. Other features include an IVR (Automated Voice Response) attendant so that your incoming calls can be answered by a recorded voice and the caller can choose their department or person by entering the menu items you have set up (e.g. press '2' for sales). You can also use it to provide automated information such as opening hours or travel directions.

For calls to and from the regular PSTN - the public telephone network, you need an ITSP (Internet Telephone Service Provider) who can provide you with a SIP Trunk, such as DrayTEL. Then, when your users need to make an external call, the iPBX routes automatically via the ITSP gateway on the Internet. The ITSP will also provide you with incoming phone numbers to receive calls. Those calls are routed into your VigorIPPBX 2820 which then passes to the appropriate telephones (extensions).

The VigorIPPBX 2820 is also an ADSL Firewall/Router but even if you are not using ADSL or you already have other firewall equipment, you can still use the VigorIPPBX 2820 for your VoIP telephony; the unit's second WAN port is standard Ethernet which can connect into your existing WAN connection, instead of using the ADSL port.

The Vigor IPPBX also supports broadband failover to 3G, ISDN or a second broadband connection in the event of your primary broadband connection failing. This keeps your phone communications online. The diagram shows the primary ADSL line with alternative failover connectivity of ISDN or 3G or a secondary ADSL line:

Also by the use of a secondary Internet access method, you can set up Load Balancing whereby speciifc traffic types are routed down one particular connection. This is the optimum configuration for the very best quality, where your Voice traffic can be sent down one connection and your regular web traffic send down the other:

Virtual Fax Facility

Although Email overtook fax as the standard business written communication tool some years ago, a lot of companies still do use fax. For sending something that is a physical printed sheet, it is still useful, however once digitized, it's more useful to stay in electronic form. The DrayTek virtual fax facility lets you dedicate one of your incoming numbers (DDIs), whether it's via the PSTN (ISDN or FXO port) or through your VoIP/ISP provider and that becomes your fax number. Any faxes received are emails directly to your allocated user (set up on the PBX). You can also send faxes, by transferring them to the Vigor IP PBX using the 'Smart Fax Agent' which lets you write a cover note and enter the recipient's fax number. The PBX stores the fax (up to 50 pages) on a USB memory stick/key and then transits it to the recipient's fax machine.