Rheid Communications

This scenario can be implemented by residential users, home offices and SME's that want to lower telephony costs and to take advantage of new and exciting hosted VoIP services.

Deployment Details

The deployment of this scenario includes:

• Required hardware and/or software
• Interconnection with the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)
• Interconnection with Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) provider, such as Rheid Communications

Required hardware and/or software

In order to take advantage of Voice over IP, you will need to have fast Broadband internet access and a SIP device, used to make and receive calls. SIP devices come in various forms. A software phone, or soft phone, is software that runs on your PC or laptop which acts much like a regular telephone, allowing you to make and receive calls. An adapter, or ATA, is a device that can IP enable your current telephone, transforming it into a VoIP phone. An IP phone, or hard phone, is a stand-alone telephone device, which looks like a regular phone and is designed specifically for use with VoIP.

We include a free soft phone with all our accounts. This let's you start using VoIP right away, using your PC or laptop. We do, however, recommend that you get an ATA or IP phone, since they have proven more reliable and also don't keep you tethered to your PC or laptop for making and receiving VoIP calls.

Interconnect with PSTN

The home or small office is probably using a phone line. You can either throw away the line or you can keep it for the following reasons:

• Avoid confusing your callers with new phone numbers
• Even if you interconnect with a new SIP provider, the traditional phone line will provide a good back-up strategy.

To keep your existing landline and connect it to an ATA or IP phone, you need to make sure that your deivce has a FXS RJ45 connection, allowing you to use the landline.

Interconnection with SIP provider

To benefit from the low cost VoIP calls, you must connect your soft phone, ATA or IP phone to one or more SIP providers. The process of connecting your SIP device to your Rheid Communications SIP account is as follows:

• From the VoIP control panel, confirm your SIP username and password. Your username will always start with 0014* and will contain your unique extension number.
• If you intend on using the free Rheid Communications soft phone, simply follow our free soft phone setup instructions
• If you intend on using a third party SIP soft phone, ATA adapter or IP phone, please see our VoIP configuration guides when configuring your soft phone or SIP device.

When configuting your third party SIP soft phone, ATA adapter or IP phone, you will need to consult the device specific setup instructions to register it with your SIP account. Since there are so many manufacturers out there, each one has its own setup interface and options.

Tips

There are many advanced features that can be used by residential or small office users. Some of the features included with Rheid Communications are outlined below.

Online Voicemail - When on vacation, you can verify your voice messages online. Rheid Communications can forward all new voice messages to your email address. Therefore, you no longer have to call home to check for messages; all you need is an Internet connection.

Extension Group Functions - If you want incoming calls to follow you throughout your house, you can configure the system to ring the phones based on received events, time of day or even Caller-ID.

Fax Center - Rheid Communications allows you to receive faxes without a fax machine. You simply have to enable the Fax center feature of any phone terminal extension and set the response time.

Call Feature Codes - Rheid Communications allows extension users to activate and deactivate a number of call features by dialing a simple code on their phones. For example, they can:

• Activate the "Do Not Disturb" function by dialing *78
• Deactivate the "Do Not Disturb" function by dialing *79
• Listen to your Voicemail messages by dialing *95

The complete list of feature codes can be found in the Extension User Guide