In order to use the Conversant service, you will need the following:
To start using the Conversant service you need to:
You don't need any particular system, software or hardware to use the Conversant service. However there are different requirements depending on how you will access the service.
If you use a softphone then you need a computer to run the softphone on. The specific requirements for the computer depend on the softphone you use. There are softphones for most commonly-used computer platforms including Windows, Linux and Mac.
If you use a VOIP phone or an ATA then there are no system requirements. You can connect the phone or ATA directly to a router provided the router is connected to the internet.
Alternatively you can connect the VOIP phone or ATA to your computer and have your computer connected to the internet. This alternative is useful if you have an ADSL modem that doesn't have an Ethernet connection e.g. a USB modem, or if you have a wireless connection to your network. To achieve this you would use internet connection sharing or network bridging.
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You don't need to keep your existing phone line to use the Conversant service. However you may want to keep your phone line for the following reasons:
There are a large number of softphones available that will work with the Conversant service. Provided the softphone supports the SIP protocol, it should work. Please refer to our configuration page for details of the phones we support.
There are a large number of VOIP phones and Analogue Telephone Adaptors (ATAs) that will work with the Conversant service. Provided the phone or ATA supports the SIP protocol, it should work. Please refer to our configuration page for details of the phones we support.
Your ISP is probably the most important factor in determining call quality - if there is a significant degree of latency or packet loss then call quality will diminish.
Typically, fixed-line based services such as DSL, ADSL or cable provide excellent call quality. Results on other services e.g. satellite or wireless WAN technology varies from satisfactory to unacceptable. Note that this does not include wireless LAN technologies (e.g. 802.11).
The best way to find out is to try the service. You can do so for free and with no obligation.
Yes we automatically provision some phones including Cisco and Gigaset devices. Details of how to auto provision these devices is available on our configuration page.
We support G711, G729, GSM and, on request iLBC (30ms frames) for our PSTN interconnect. For direct SIP calling between customers (not involving the PSTN) then codec support is limited only by the devices being used.
A channel is a measure of concurrent phone calling capacity and may also be known as a "line". Our standard telephone numbers include 5 channels inbound and unlimited channels outbound. This means that 5 people can call your phone number at once and the calls will connect. If you need more than 5 channels it's easy to increase the capacity. Note that there is no limitation on internal calling so you can have lots of inbound, outbound and internal calls all going on at once.
An extension is a number associated with a person or department. Each extension is assigned a 4 digit dialing code which enables that person or department to be called directly or calls to be transferred to that person. Multiple phones (or devices, including soft phones on a laptop or mobile) may be connected to an extension. All phones connected to an extension number will ring when an extension number is called. Multiple simultaneous calls can occur on one extension at one time. A user can easily associate an individual phone with a different extension number to allow "hot desking".