asterisk users - Oct 2003 - System layout

Hi,
   I'm a bit new to phone systems technology, so sorry if this question may 
sound uninformed.

   I want to put together a system of about 20 stations.  What I'm 
invisioning is a system where about 16 users have a inexpensive handset 
hooked up to their computer via some sort of modem and the computer would 
run their usual Windows apps with a client that serves as a more complex 
interface to voice mail and extended dialing features.  I would like the 
handset to behave as a normal phone as long as the computer is turned on.

   The other 4 stations would be "stand alone" handsets so that a 
receptionist could answer and forward calls to either the user or his/her 
voicemail.

   Is something like this possible using asterisk software/digicom hardware? 
  Would it be reliable for 20 stations/16 users, 6 phone lines?

   Also I'd like to have worldwide users appear to be on the local phone 
system through voice over ip.  Is that possible?  Our local network is 100 
mb/s and our internet connection is 768kb/s in both directions.  Would that 
be enough?

Thanks,

Jake

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>Hi,
>   I'm a bit new to phone systems technology, so sorry if this 
>question may sound uninformed.
>
>   I want to put together a system of about 20 stations.  What I'm 
>invisioning is a system where about 16 users have a inexpensive 
>handset hooked up to their computer via some sort of modem and the 
>computer would run their usual Windows apps with a client that 
>serves as a more complex interface to voice mail and extended 
>dialing features.  I would like the handset to behave as a normal 
>phone as long as the computer is turned on.
>
>   The other 4 stations would be "stand alone" handsets so that a 
>receptionist could answer and forward calls to either the user or 
>his/her voicemail.
>
>   Is something like this possible using asterisk software/digicom 
>hardware?  Would it be reliable for 20 stations/16 users, 6 phone 
>lines?
>
>   Also I'd like to have worldwide users appear to be on the local 
>phone system through voice over ip.  Is that possible?  Our local 
>network is 100 mb/s and our internet connection is 768kb/s in both 
>directions.  Would that be enough?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jake
Yes, Asterisk can do everything you've listed.

  - www.xten.com for Windows SIP voice clients
  - ? for USB handsets - xten supports some, I think - look on their 
website for vendors
  - www.cisco.com for 7960 "nice" operator stations
  - 768kbps is fine for 6 simultaneous calls (preferably something 
other than the g.711 codec, which is the highest quality sound by a 
slim margin but at least double the bandwidth of the nearest 
comparable codec)  as long as it's not saturated with other traffic 
already.

JT