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Knowledgebase Categories |
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| The knowledgebase is organized into different categories; please select a category that you are interested in. You can also search the entire knowledgebase by entering keywords in the navigation bar beside this text. |
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 | Scenario 1 - Client has nothing |  |
| Scenario 1 - Client has nothing
How do you sell to him
>> these are your most profitable clients. You first check whether his nearest Telkom exchange can provide an ADSL connection.
If yes, then order an ADSL line either through O-Tel or Telkom. Th |
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| Scenario 2 - Client has ADSL & Telkom lines | |
| How do you sell to him
>> He can save considerably off his phone bill. He can call and receive calls digitally whilst keeping his analog number.
What does he need
>>The ADSL he has is probably being used for his internet use. If the client |
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| Scenario 3 - Homeowner | |
| How do you sell to him
>>If home owner already has a DSL line, then it is worth his while joining the O-Tel network. He will save money and also be able to talk to his family members and friend also on the O-Tel network at a much lower rate. Internat |
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| Single Line Requirements | |
| Q: A client simply wants a line via 3G. Only one person making calls. He needs a 3G router – yes/no? What else aside from a line and “talk” package?
A: Recommended option for a single line application is to apply for a 384k ADSL line. If client alrea |
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| Client has 3 Telkom Analog lines-Has PBX | |
| Q. A client has 3 Telkom lines – Has an analogue PABX and wants to keep Telkom for incoming as customers know the numbers. Wants to use O-Tel for outgoing. Are we correct in saying we need to give him a 4 port gateway to link through his analogue PBX? |
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| Client has 3 Telkom Analog lines-No PBX | |
| Q. A client has 3 Telkom Analog lines-Has no PBX just 3 to 4 lines in one office. Wants to use us to save on call charges. We give him a gateway – I assume that cannot programme all outgoing calls to go via O-Tel? He will require a simple PBX.
A. An |
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| Service via PCMCIA 3G Card | |
| Q. Client has no Telkom line but has 3G coverage in her office connected with a 3G card in her laptop. What’s the solution for her?
A. Depending on what use she has for telephony:
Personal use
Her laptop has 3G internet connection. She can purchase |
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| Fax over O-tel network | |
| Q. We’ve had a query or two concerning fax lines. Does O-tel support fax over digital line.
A. Fax is still an analog technology. Thus the advent of Fax-2-email (which O-Tel will offer during 3rd quarter of 2009).
O-Tel is primarily a Voice network, |
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| Directory listing of O-Tel numbers | |
| Q. If a client changes all his lines to O-Tel, can he still obtain a directory listing?
A. A directory listing is a Telkom initiative as they have been mandated by the South African Government to provide telecom service to South Africans in the past. E |
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| Difference between a Gateway and an O-Box | |
| Q. What are the differences between Gateways and O-Boxes
A. A gateway is an appliance which takes analog voice and converts it into digital voice, thereafter it points it to a digital voice server and transmits the (now newly converted) digital voice o |
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| Setup of IP Phone on I-Burst modem | |
| This procedure is to connect an IP Phone directly into an I-Burst modem, without going through a router.
-Choose PPOE setup under WAN configuration, on the IP Phone.
-Put the IBURST detail at the Username and password.
-Keep PPPOE server field blank |
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| Zero Second Calls |  |
| Agents must always check their clients successful calls.
Click on the ‘reports’ icon on the left hand side of your portal, click on 'call costs', and you will see all the calls being made by clients.
Agents must particularly pay attention to the c |
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| What is Silence Suppression | |
| Silence suppression
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term silence suppression is used in telephony to describe the process of not transmitting information over the network when one of the parties involved in a telephone call is not speaking |
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| O-Box Login details | |
| O-Box v.1.35
Default IP address: 192.168.1.254
User: admin
Password: admin
Remember to disable Silence Suppression (VAD) feature!
Advanced Config/VOIP/SIP Parameters/Silence Suppression (VAD) |
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| What services does O-Tel offer? | |
| O-Tel is a Digital Telephony Service Provider. We provide next generation telephony services on a national scale.
Due to Digital Telephony being new to South Africa (albeit well established in Europe), O-Tel has to offer a total solution by providin |
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| Is O-Tel direct competition to Telkom? | |
| For sure. Telkom’s days of being the only National Telecom Operator are numbered. Ohren Telecom aka O-Tel has arrived. |
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| How does the technical side of things work, lines etc? | |
| Simply, using next generation technology, O-Tel requires a digital line to operate. We have a device called O-Box. This device will connect the user via ADSL or 3G to O-tel’s digital telephony network. The O-Box can handle up to 2 telephone lines, two ext |
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| How did O-Tel come about, a short history on the company? | |
| O-Tel’s concept was originally initiated in 1999, however due to South Africa’s telecom network inability to handle digital telephony, Telkom’s policy of not allowing digital telephony in their lines, and high hardware costs, there was little we could do |
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| What is an O-Box, Gateway 200 and IP-PBX? | |
| O-BOX
This is the flagship of O-Tel product range, as it was specifically designed to be used on our network.
The O-box has ADSL facilities for incoming DSL internet connection.
If the client has no DSL or the cables continue to be stolen in the |
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| How does O-Tel determine their rates? | |
| Rates is the main drive force behind O-Tel. We pride ourselves to have low cost telephony.
Please find our latest retail rate sheet here:
http://www.otelafrica.com/o-tel-call-rates
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| What is O-Tel's mission statement, what do they hope to achieve? | |
| O-Tel is a national telecom operator. Taking notes from competitors ‘mistake books’, O-Tel aims to be a top national operator within a short period of time, whilst still maintaining a comprehensive agent network who will ensure that low cost on hardware, |
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| Is O-Tel an independent company? | |
| For sure, O-Tel is debt free, independent, and no hungry shareholders to answer to. O-Tel’s independence is an integral part of its infrastructure to provide it’s core business. O-Tel’s management has sufficient capital to grow the company. However, O-tel |
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| What does the i-ECNS license enable the company to do? | |
| O-Tel has the capacity to setup a national network of cables and wireless with its i-ECNS license. O-Tel will target busy and congested areas and will setup it’s own infrastructure in those places to accommodate the demand and alleviate the pressure on th |
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| O-Box- GSM Calls is unclear. Recipient cannot hear a full sentence. | |
| Some GSM providers in South Africa do not support Silence Suppression (VAD) technology. If you are using an O-Box, and the recipient cannot hear a full sentence clearly then you need to disable this technology from the O-Box in order to support the GSM p |
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| O-Box - 2 concurrent calls on same SIP Account | |
| If you have one SIP account, and have 2 concurrent calls enabled on it, enter the same SIP detail in Phone port 1 and 2. See status screen, it should show as both ports connected.
You may now have two simultaneous calls via one SIP account from the O-B |
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| IP Phone time out | |
| symptom:
SIP on IP Phone keeps flashing , when you log into IP Phone it tells you time out. ( IP Phone was working )
Remedy :
reset IP Phone to factory settings by pressing menu on phone , password 123 enter , press down till you get to system |
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| O-Tel v/s Telkom Supreme Call | |
| Q:
A few clients are on the Telkom Supreme call packages which are already per second billing, have you run into this problem and what do you suggest the selling strategy is for this scenario?
A:
O-Tel recommends that customers examine the options ca |
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| Concurrency on DSL lines | |
| Question:
How many concurrent calls can you have on your DSL lines
Answer:
4meg - 19 concurrent calls
512kb - 10 concurrent calls
384kb - 5 concurrent calls |
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| Update firmware on O-box | |
| Question:
How do I update firmware on O-box
Answer:
Log in to your o-box.
Click on advanced then configuration.
after that you go to system and then to firmware upgrade.
It will say browse file, you look under where you saved firmware file. |
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| Client target | |
| In the early days since acquiring your license:
Q:* Would you say that it’s the Vodacom connections or the Telkom
ADSL that is providing the bulk of your new customers?
A: Most clients are unhappy with their current telecom service provider. |
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| Is the O-Box Free? | |
| Q:* Is the O-Box free? If not, can the customers pay over time on a
bill that you provide?
A: There is nothing 'FREE' in the telecoms industry. 'FREE' means, included in the monthly payment contract on HP.
O-Tel does not sell directly to the co |
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| Which segment O-Tel's clients come from? | |
| Q: * Does O-Tel appear to be drawing customers mainly from the
cost-conscious segment, and is the O-Tel phone they use generally their only comms device or a supplemental one?
A: O-Tel draws clientele from all segments.
Our primary focus is o |
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| Dealership Qualification | |
| Q: * What can you tell me about the dealerships you have been advertising for on the website? What sort of person signs up, someone who works full time now for O-Tel or a person who plugs in your line to other, similar products he or she is already |
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| What are O-Tel's advantages to the competition? | |
| Q:* Where in the calling plan would you say is O-Tel’s advantage
over the competition? How much of a discount is 45 rand cents for a domestic call, and how much can they conceivably save (best case) when making international calls?
A: Depending |
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| Does O-Tel provide support? | |
| Q:* Does O-Tel own and operate other elements of the service provider function on its own or lease them from another operator, such as customer care center, billing, data center, etc.? Do you generally use Vodacom for support, or another operator?
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| Number Block Service | |
| Q:We need to be able to offer a service to clients that is exactly like telkoms block call service. Many conventional PABX units offer the same service.
I.E. You can block certain types of number from being called , we know we can do this from the contr |
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| Need more info on selling the VOIP | |
| Q:Need some marketing info for me to push voip. I need to educate mayself and the client.
A:You could visit service.otelafrica.com and browse through the knowledgebase. Very informative. We will be releasing marketing material soon. We also host train |
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| Concurrency on extension | |
| Q: If I can only put 2 concurrent calls per extension do I set up additional extensions using the same no.?
A: In premium server each extension is a line.. ensure you allow only 1 concurrent call per extension. Make all the extensions multi user aware (h |
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| Trunk per Extension on PBX | |
| Q:What are the ramifications in respect of the PBX? If ext has dialed “0” and obtained a line and is calling how does one programme the PBX such that the next person also picks up our Otel line surely the PBX is going to move to the next available port a |
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| Incoming line | |
| Q: if client wants to use lines as incoming and outgoing is one number sufficient?
A: yes, setup phone terminal setup, ensure the caller id shows as the main line…
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| DID is like Gold | |
| Q: Is there a scarcity of lines?
A: The lines are not scarce, the numbers/DIDs are. A client with 5 lines only needs 1 number. the rest are on hunting using the same caller id as the main line (see phone terminal setup)
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| What is concurrency? | |
| Q: We understand maximum no of concurrent calls on a number is 2, does this mean
a. That 2 outgoing calls can be made simultaneously
b. That an incoming call can be received whilst an outgoing call is being made
c. Or both of the above
A: Answer i |
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| Grandstream 502 | |
| Login details of Granstream 2 port FXS gateway
IP: 192.168.2.100
Pwd: admin |
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| O-Tel PBX Incoming Trunk | |
| For a Premium Server trunk, you need to go to
Trunks/Advanced/contact/
and input your username.
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| Setting up off-site PBX | |
| Hi
We're connecting Multiple IP Phones to the O-Tel Premium Server. These phones are situated at various sites. We're creating a unified PBX Offsite.
• Each IP Phone connects via static IP to a network switch
• The network switch connects to DSL ro |
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| Unstable and slow DSL | |
| Q: Clients ADSL is very unstable, often goes down, and is very slow.
A:
Telkom provides ADSL in a ‘best effort’ package ONLY.
Thus, if a client is in an area and there are many more ADSL sharing the DSL Exchange cake, you will find that the client |
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| Clients calls are faint | |
| Q:
The biggest single problem is calls that are faint in a PBX environment.
A:
One of the main reasons for faint calls is that the DSL line tunnel is either too narrow to let the data go through, or the sound is being ‘de-amplified’ between the PBX a |
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| Management of extensions call access on IPPBX | |
| Step by step to manage extensions call access with password before dialing out:
Step1: Create a dialing rule for the number you would like to have a password on 08X XXX XXXX. (example)
Step2: Go to System , and then to management ( menu on left hand |
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| Recommended Retail Price on Airtime | |
| Q:
Please indicate recommended retail pricing per call tariff and also value added services.
A:
Different agents have different offerings, however most match Telkom rates, but bill Pure per second, so there is 30% to 40% savings. Other services RRP y |
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| O-Tels Offering to Resellers | |
| Q:
What solutions can the reseller look forward to with regards O-Tel's offering?
A:
O-Tel provides the reseller with every option possible in the telecom industry. It is up to the reseller to package the deals and make it attractive to your clients. |
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| O-Tel's Mobile offerings | |
| Q:
What solutions can the reseller look forward to with regards O-Tel's mobile offering?
A:
O-Tel has been undergoing mobile testing for the past 8 months. We’re currently testing a solution and hoping to release a product into the market as soon as |
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| What protocol O-Tel uses? | |
| Q:
What protocol and Compression algorithm is used in the O-Tel platform
A:
SIP, G.729. We stick to the most common protocols for compatibility issues. We have other protocols available too, for out of ordinary services. |
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| Does O-Tel use G.722 Protocol? | |
| No, and this is why...
G.722 ranges from 48kbps to 64kbps one way, that is 96kbps and 128kbps
G.722.1 ranges from 16kbps to 32kbps one way, that is 32kbps and 64kbps
G.729 is 8kbps one way, that is 16kbps both ways.
Seeing that South Africa h |
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| O-Box with DynDNS | |
| Firstly, using the DynDNS dynamic DNS service does not give you a 'fixed IP' as such, what it does is link the public IP which you receive from your ISP every 24 hours to a FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) such as 'mohammad.dyndns.org' for example, once |
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| Sip Account unregisters using D-Link Router | |
| D-link routers need to have SIP ALG feature enabled. |
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| What is Shaped Bandwidth? | |
| When the DSL account accesses the ISP server, some port are shaped to allow sharing with other users. This reduces costs for the client.
Shaped bandwidth is recommended for businesses and users who use the internet purely for browsing and e-mail as we |
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| What is Unshaped bandwidth? | |
| Unshaped accounts are not restricted nor share ports. They have dedicated ports which allows them to have fast throughput for gaming and VOIP.
Although the monthly fee is higher, these accounts are recommended for home users who are into gaming and do |
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| O-Box Home Setup | |
| Ideal setup of O-Box for home use. Interconnect call charges apply.
Current Digit Map : (x.T|##S|*69S|*[28]0S|*74x.#S|*90x.TS|x#S|011x.T|||086x.T)
Rule Name Delete
x.T
011x.T
0 |
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| 0800 Numbers | |
| Q: Do you offer 0800 numbers, if not who do we speak to?
A: 0800 are an on-net Telkom Service. You can do same by adjusting your billing, only that it will remain an 087 number at free calling. |
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| IVR and other special features | |
| Q: I want to offer the following features, voice mail, IVR and Music on hold and in future follow me. Are these features available and want do I need to purchase per subscriber or extension to offer these services. For argument sake I tried to load music |
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| Agent Bandwidth Sales | |
| Q: Can I start selling you’re bandwidth rate incl my mark up as listed in the price list. When will the international (data) bandwidth be available.
A: All available already and being sold by other agents. |
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| I need a headset | |
| Q: What headset would you advise with soft phone, have used (cheap) Skype phone but experience jitter call quality not good.
A: We do not have headsets, we suggest you speak to Evenflow. |
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| Achievements in 2009 | |
| Highlights of 2009 include the
• official launch of O-Tel’s SIP01 server,
• the release of the O-Box,
• upgraded version of the IP-PBX,
• launch of the Super Server SIP05,
• Promotion of Agents to Super Agents
• Establishment of Master Agents an |
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| Services offered by O-Tel | |
| O-Tel Services
O-Tel has various service offerings, and more to come.
Currently these are the services we have on offer:
VOICE Service-
Our most popular service. O-Tel provides Interconnection between carriers. Using the current infrastructure of t |
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| Last Mile Connectivity | |
| Last Mile Connectivity
Most fault reports coming in are of: Bad call quality, and calls cutting.
O-Tel servers are monitored 24/7/365. We have preventative measures on it too. Should something happen at server level, we always have other servers to forw |
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| Fault Reporting | |
| Fault Reporting
Agents should do internal fault reporting prior logging in a fault. Much time can be saved if the correct fault report is logged. Below are a few things to do before calling in the fault. You may also test line speeds at these two websit |
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| Business Hours | |
| Business Hours
O-Tel staff and myself have faced some unpleasant situations during the year. Keeping in mind that our official trading hours are as follows:
Mon-Thu: 9am – 4pm
Fri: 9am – 12pm
Weekends and public holidays- closed
Kindly refrain from |
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| Caller ID not showing | |
| Caller ID:
There are two types of cellular calling services from O-Tel
1- LCR (Least Cost Routing)
In this service, the caller’s call reaches O-Tel switches. The switches will select the cheapest method to transfer this call using O-Tel’s GSM hardw |
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| Free International Calling from Cell | |
| There is a service out there which claims that you can call internationally at loca rates.
This is called Digital Calling Card. We have this facility as well, but we do not use it as it is not our focus. We’re a national Telecoms Service Provider focus |
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| Who is O-Tel? | |
| The website explains a lot about the History of O-Tel. By GOD's grace, the company has a very good history and the growth has been gradual with a solid financial foundation thus resulting in carrier grade infrastructure.
O-Tel has been designed to be |
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