You may have noticed that we have added Music on Hold (MoH) features to the OnSIP Admin interface. These additions are in preparation for a full roll-out of MoH in 30 to 60 days. We have added the features to the WWW site to enable us to alpha-test it in-house. We've already made a few changes as we've worked through setting up our own PBX with MoH.
Here's What You Can Do to Get Ready
MoH will not work on all phones. The phones must support a "MoH Server." If you are using a Polycom phone, you're in good shape as long as you are using our boot server. If you are not using our boot server, please see this Knowledgebase (KB) article to add boot.onsip.com to your phone and to add your phone as a 'Resource.' The Polycom boot server is already handing out your domain's MoH address so all you need to do is reboot your phone (Menu-3-1-5) and it will be ready when MoH is launched.
We have confirmed that Linksys (SPA) phones support a MoH server and have added the appropriate instructions to the SPA KB phone setup article. We can also confirm that Counterpath phones like the x-lite, Eyebeam and Bria do not support a MoH server and therefore will not support MoH. If you can confirm your phone either does or does not support a MoH server, please let us know and we will add it to our KB.
Here's How It Will Work
In order to use MoH with the OnSIP Hosted PBX, you must subscribe to one of our packages: either the SoHo, Small Business or Medimum Business Package. MoH is not available a la carte. OK MoH is available a la carte, but with the cost of $4.95/stream it makes sense to get a package. Each package affords you a certain number of simultaneous MoH streams for free.
This means that if you are a SoHo subscriber, you can place up to 5 people simultaneously on hold company-wide (which equates to either one user with 5 calls on hold or five users each with one person on hold or anywhere in-between). The sixth simultaneous on-hold call will not receive music, but will just hear silence. Each additional stream above the allotted amount is $4.95/mth per stream.
Can I Upload My Own Stream
The MoH feature is powered by Shoutcast, an Internet Radio service that offers thousands of free MP3 and AAC Radio Stations. The "Enhanced" MoH edition for $19.95/mth allows you to use any of the over 100,000 Shoutcast/Icecast streams currently available. Additionally, you will be able to add your own Shoutcast URL and choose that as your MoH stream. In order to do this, however, you will need to have your own Shoutcast stream from a third-party Shoutcast provider and upload your MoH recording (MP3 file typically) to them. If you aren't familiar with Shoutcast, don't worry. By the time we launch, we'll try to make that part easier.
We will continue to tweak the interface as the launch approaches. In the near future - not yet - we will be requesting beta testers via our Twitter feed. So, please make sure you follow us @OnSIP if you are interested.
As always, thank you for supporting Junction Networks, and we look forward to the launch of Music on Hold for OnSIP.