Blueface and VoIP - A few basic questions.

milltown

It might just be because it's too early to be up on a Saturday morning but I haven't been able to find certain info in plain english so maybe someone can help me out.
I'm moving into a new house next month and plan to leave Eircom behind and go VoIP in the new house, definitely with NTL BB and probably with Bluface for the phone.

1. Blueface will allow me to keep my current 01 number, yes? Would I be better off getting the number ported before I move house so that Eircom no longer have it tied to an address?

2. If I keep my 01 number, what do I need an 076 number for? Is this to reduce the cost of calling me from outside Dublin?

3. It's on pretty much 24/7 anyway but does my PC have to be on for the phone to work? In other words does the VoIP use PC software or does it just need an internet connection?

Thanks.

Cabaal

milltown wrote:

1. Blueface will allow me to keep my current 01 number, yes? Would I be better off getting the number ported before I move house so that Eircom no longer have it tied to an address?

Yes you can port your number from Eircom to Blueface, this normally takes a few weeks and you get the form from Blueface.
Given the time it takes to port a number I'd personally start now....obviously you'll need a Blueface subscribtion account to start off with.

2. If I keep my 01 number, what do I need an 076 number for? Is this to reduce the cost of calling me from outside Dublin?

Yes and No,
You can use your ported 01 number without any problems BUT you will still be assigned a 076 non-geoprahpic number regardless of the 01 number you are already using.
But of course you don't have to use it, but you are right its cheaper for people to call it outside Dublin as 076 numbers are charged a local rates nationawide.

3. It's on pretty much 24/7 anyway but does my PC have to be on for the phone to work? In other words does the VoIP use PC software or does it just need an internet connection?Thanks.

You ahve two options in this respect.

Option 1: You can use the software on your PC with a headset, but you would have to leave your PC on 24/7 to make or receive calls.

or

Option 2: You could purchase either a Grandstream Budgettone 102 or Sipura SPA-2100 ATA which would connect to your router/switch and would then connect to your net connection, so as long as your router/switch/modem is powered on and connected to the net you'd be able to make/receieve calls (both devices are available directly from Blueface)

The Grandstream Budgettone 102 is a VoIP phone
The Sipura SPA-2100 ATA is a VoIP adaptor that allows you to connect a standard handset of your choice (anything you'd buy in Argos) to it and you can simply make/recieve calls using it

http://www.blueface.ie/support/support.aspx Has graphics to illustrate your available options.

I personally have the Sipura SPA-2100 ATA as I wanted to choose the type of phone I use with Blueface.

causal

milltown wrote:

Would I be better off getting the number ported before I move house so that Eircom no longer have it tied to an address?

That's what I would do. Make sure you don't cancel your eircom phoneline until the port to blueface has completed successfully.

The only question I would have is whether there will be a gap in your service between having your number ported and you being able to logon to blueface. i.e. do you have BB at your current address; when will you have ntl BB at your new address. Did you maker certain NTL is available at your new address, and what is the lead time in getting it installed?

In the next few weeks, while waiting for the port, you can source your equipment - Cabaal has already pointed you in the right direction for this.

2. If I keep my 01 number, what do I need an 076 number for? Is this to reduce the cost of calling me from outside Dublin?

Yes, but also because calls between 076 numbers are likely to be free (but this is down to providers); this whole area is with ComReg - have a peek at the 076 number part of the blueface FAQ. It hasn't been fully decided what way the tariffs will work.

3. It's on pretty much 24/7 anyway but does my PC have to be on for the phone to work? In other words does the VoIP use PC software or does it just need an internet connection?

No, you don't have to leave your PC on 24/7; but if you use a softphone then it has to run on something...imho hardware (ATA or IP phone) is the better option.
I leave my cable modem, ATA and gateway/router on 24/7 - at first it felt a bit weird leaving them on all the time - but now it feels weird if I switch them off.
Also have a look at the http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=250581 thread to see what setup other people have.

hth,
causal

WillieFlynn

I am thinking of porting my eircom number to blueface so that I can avoid having to change it when moving to smart. However I still need to keep a normal phone line in operation with minimal downtime (for an alarm system).

Does anyone know what the effect of porting a number to blueface would have on an existing eircom phone line...

Would it close your eircom account and cut your normal phone line off (or would eircom give your line a new number?)

If porting closes your eircom account, would they also cut off your broadband as part of the process?

Regards
Willie.

Cabaal

WillieFlynn wrote:

Would it close your eircom account and cut your normal phone line off (or would eircom give your line a new number?)

If porting closes your eircom account, would they also cut off your broadband as part of the process?.

I ran ionto problems in this respect
In my situtation I have broadband on the line....I'm assuming your the same?

Basically Eircom use your current phone number as their line identifier, moving this number will result in Eircom removing all services from the line...this includes Broadband (even if its by another provider)

Comreg are apparently in court with Eircom about this matter as Comreg want Eircom to introduce a new system for identifying lines so customers can freely port exisiting line numbers to providers/locartions without affectiong services on the line..ala ADSL.

If Comreg win you'd still be looking at a 6+ month delay on this new system being introduced by Eircom

The above info was told to me by Esat provisions dept.


I'm unsure of the exact affects on your eircom account when you port a number, causal did it so I'm sure he'll have a answer
or somebody will anyway...

causal

After my number was ported I had to specifically request the terminate my account - so this isn't done as part of the port.

After the port I no longer had dial tone but I still had (and still do have) a tone on the line (sounds like engaged/subscriber-busy tone) so the line is still connnected to the exchange.

My bb is with ntl so I don't know what effect the porting of your phone number will have on your bb. It might be affected by who your bb provider is - eircom/reseller or smart.

causal

WillieFlynn

Thanks Cabaal,

Cabaal wrote:

Basically Eircom use your current phone number as their line identifier, moving this number will result in Eircom removing all services from the line...this includes Broadband (even if its by another provider)

I suspected as much as my broadband is a bitstream product (with netsource).

If Comreg win their court case against Eircom I'll just go straing to Smart.

Willie.

Blaster99

Cabaal wrote:

Yes you can port your number from Eircom to Blueface, this normally takes a few weeks and you get the form from Blueface.

Isn't it pretty strange that you can port a number to Blueface but you can port a number to a Smart LLU'd line? I wonder if you can port back a number from Blueface to Smart. That might be an oddball workaround.

causal

You transfer your call management functions to Smart to use their services, but significantly you're still using the PSTN.

On the other hand VoIP uses your internet connection (i.e. dial-up, DSL, cable, wireless, satellite) and that's why your number needs to be ported from the PSTN network to the IP network.

That's how I understand it, but maybe Aaron can explain porting more clearly than I...

causal

aaronc

causal wrote:

You transfer your call management functions to Smart to use their services, but significantly you're still using the PSTN.

On the other hand VoIP uses your internet connection (i.e. dial-up, DSL, cable, wireless, satellite) and that's why your number needs to be ported from the PSTN network to the IP network.

That's how I understand it, but maybe Aaron can explain porting more clearly than I...

causal

No the number still stays on the PSTN network and always will, at least until Eircom provide an IP interconnect gateway.

You can port a number to any Publicly Available Telephone Service (PATS) supplier. Exmaples of these providers in Ireland are Eircom, BT, Smart, NTL, Colt, MCI etc. The problem is that unlike in the Irish mobile arena where a number port takes an hour for some reason landline ports in Ireland take weeks or months! This causes big problems for operators who are trying to switch customers over from Eircom such as Blue Face and Smart, customers don't like hearing they'll have to wait two days for something let alone two weeks!

I don't know the exact details behind Smart's situation but it is probably along the lines that if you want to keep your old number when you switch to them you'll need to go through the lengthy number port process. If on the other hand you don't care about your old number Smart can just allocate you a new number from their existing range which is already being routed to them and does not reuqire any further action by Eircom. This is essentially the same situation Blue Face is in, a new number can be allocated in 5 minutes but to port an old number you're talking weeks.

The Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) process is a different process and needs Eircom to physically take the twisted pair belonging to your line off their switch and connect it to Smart's switch. This is what's in court at the moment with Eircom arguing against providing access or the terms of access to their exchanges. The LLU and the number port are two separate things. A PATS can port your number to their service but only telcos who are rolling out switches in Eircom exchanges can provide you with LLU.

There would definitely be no benefit porting from Eircom to Blue Face to Smart. If everything went right you'd just double the time the port took. If something went wrong, like a mismatched account number somewhere, you could be waiting much longer.

Aaron

causal

aaronc wrote:

No the number still stays on the PSTN network and always will, at least until Eircom provide an IP interconnect gateway.

Ahh my apolagies , I just assumed they had gateway. I did a little work on MGCP (Media Gateway Control Protocol) in the late 1990's and assumed it had long been rolled out, I suppose that was for a US company, but this is quagmIreland.

causal