[TriLUG] Asterisk for the office

Brian Henning brian at strutmasters.com
Mon Nov 13 17:22:57 EST 2006


Does your phone system have paging?  If so, do you know how it's 
implemented?

~B

Cristobal Palmer wrote:
> I have a Polycom 501 on my desk. My coworkers have the same phone.
> Asterisk plays nice with SIP, so it works fine on that front.
> 
> The webmin is a bit clunky, but otherwise it's a great phone. The
> speakerphone on it is _fantastic_, and it's cheaper than the
> competition.
> 
> -CMP
> 
> On 11/13/06, Brian Henning <brian at strutmasters.com> wrote:
>> I've been in touch with people at CDW, where we buy some of our
>> enterprise-grade stuff (when we do buy such things).  They don't seem to
>> offer the Cisco 79x0 phones, but their "telephony expert" suggested the
>> Polycom 501/601 phones, as units that are reasonably easy to use and
>> work well with Asterisk.  Does anyone have comments to make in favor or
>> against the Polycom models?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> ~Brian
>>
>> jonc at nc.rr.com wrote:
>> > Brian,
>> >
>> > Asterisk is definitely enterprise ready but you have identified some of
>> > the weak points below. Still, if you have a fairly static phone config
>> > and just need basic phone apps, then Asterisk is easily do-able for the
>> > average office.
>> >
>> > Paging is best done using an analog speaker system - which looks to
>> > Asterisk like a simple Analog phone line. Other than that, you can use
>> > the intercom feature available with Cisco 7940 or 7960 phones and just
>> > setup a "conferencing" group that uses the intercom feature on all your
>> > phones. It won't work perfectly, but it will work.
>> >
>> > If you think you need 24 lines then a PRI is the way to go. You'll get
>> > CallerID and the cost is much cheaper for the setup and maintenance.
>> >
>> > If you go with POE switches, that will be more expensive than buying
>> > power bricks for each phone, but you will get some nice honking Cisco
>> > switching power that will vlan out your Voice traffic from your Data.
>> > The cheaper solution is to get a Cisco 2924 XL-EN (that "EN" part is
>> > *very* important) and bunch of power bricks. It cost would be about 
>> half
>> > of that of going with a Cisco 3524-PWR
>> >
>> > The advantages of VoIP are tremendous, and installation is about half
>> > the cost of a traditional service, but... it still ain't cheap.
>> >
>> > If you guys want an interrum solution (hosted VoIP), then look us 
>> up. We
>> > would be happy to help you take you guys off your old PBX and move you
>> > over to the world of VoIP. And if you need any Asterisk help, let me 
>> know.
>> >
>> > BTW: I've gotten several Kick-butt Asterisk servers from Cerient (Jason
>> > Tower). The costs have all been around $2k (plus the Digium hardware),
>> > and they would work great as and Enterprise Asterisk server for an
>> > office of your size or larger.
>> >
>> > Jon Carnes
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: Brian Henning <brian at strutmasters.com>
>> > Date: Thursday, November 9, 2006 12:20 pm
>> > Subject: [TriLUG] Asterisk for the office
>> > To: TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
>> >
>> >> Hi Y'all,
>> >>   Coming back around to the Asterisk topic again..  Now that we're
>> >> looking at the possibility of expanding off-site operations, having
>> >> a
>> >> completely-VoIP office telephony solution is seeming more and more
>> >> prudent.  So I'm looking for some advice from folks who have
>> >> deployed
>> >> whole-office systems using Asterisk (as well as input from folks
>> >> that
>> >> have used non-Open-Source software).  I've already thought of the
>> >> following points:
>> >>
>> >> - Need a real butt-kicking server to handle as many as 24 inbound
>> >> lines
>> >> (using a Digium TDM2400), plus however many inter-office calls may
>> >> be
>> >> occurring (plus room for expansion).  Right now I'm contemplating a
>> >> Core
>> >> 2 Extreme-based system.
>> >>
>> >> - In the absence of intelligent managed switchgear, need separate
>> >> switchgear for 100bT for the phones.  Possibly with PoE.
>> >>
>> >> - Need to have all the features of our existing PBX.  General
>> >> call-handling features are a cinch with * dialplan and
>> >> applications, but
>> >> I'm finding, in particular, the "page" or "intercom" feature seems
>> >> to be
>> >> more of a challenge in the VoIP world.  Paging ability is essential.
>> >>
>> >> - Phones need to be simple enough that our folks can use them, but
>> >> complex enough to handle things like paging.  I've seen
>> >> recommendations
>> >> for the Cisco 7960 set.  Price is a consideration, as our initial
>> >> investment will be 30 phones.
>> >>
>> >> I'm also all-ears for other options.  It'd be fantastic in $boss's
>> >> eyes,
>> >> I'm sure, if we didn't have to abandon the investment we've already
>> >> made
>> >> in our current Nortel MICS system.  Unfortunately, so far the only
>> >> way
>> >> I've found to interface the PBX with an Asterisk system is via
>> >> analog
>> >> adapters.  Icky, because of course then you lose a lot of the PBX
>> >> features for the Asterisk users.
>> >>
>> >> Also, if there's anyone that would like to come visit our facility,
>> >> evaluate our current system and our needs and make a quote, I'd be
>> >> very
>> >> happy to entertain it.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks a lot!
>> >>
>> >> Cheers,
>> >> ~Brian
>> >> --
>> >> ----------------
>> >> Brian A. Henning
>> >> strutmasters.com
>> >> 336.597.2397x238
>> >> ----------------
>> >> --
>> >> TriLUG mailing list        :
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>> >> FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
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>> >>
>>
>> -- 
>> ----------------
>> Brian A. Henning
>> strutmasters.com
>> 336.597.2397x238
>> ----------------
>> -- 
>> TriLUG mailing list        : 
>> http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
>> TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
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>>
> 
> 

-- 
----------------
Brian A. Henning
strutmasters.com
336.597.2397x238
----------------



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