Hello,
I have been retained by a Building Management Company to install a
combined Voice/Data solution for a Tennated Office Space. This space will
rent offices, with telephone and internet service to inviduals or small
groups of individuals. As fate would have it, the service will be
provided in a building where we have a major Pop, with a DS-3 worth of
ISDN PRI circuits, 345 megs of upstream bandwidth and diesel generator
backup. We are providing everything for the solution, from the initial
wiring to the ongoing maintenance of the PBX and Internet service.
I have arranged for a single PRI to be broken out of our DS-3 w/
100 inbound DID numbers assigned to it and have PICd it to the LD provider
of our choice. I intend to plug this PRI into an Asterisk server w/ a
Digium TE410P card, and deploy SNOM 200 IP phones to the desktops. We will
be using a RedHawk power-injector system to provide power to the phones.
Now.. This is our first deployment of Asterisk, and I need a head
check here. Am I making the right decision? :)
Sepcifically...
1. Are the SNOM 200 IP phones a good choice for standard users? Or should
I consider Cisco? Price of the phone is not the important thing.. What is
important is ease of use with minimal training and reliability!
2. Does anyone have reccomendations for a solid motherboard to use as the
basis for the Asterisk server? Again, reliability and stability are the
important issues here. I'm looking for a Dual CPU board (Athlon MP or P4)
that will work flawlessly with the TE410P. I've used the Tyan Tiger MPX
(2466) http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tigermpx.html with Dual MP
processors with incredible success in the future. I'm considering building
the box on that platform.
3. I am also responsible for delivering inbound faxes to the DID numbers
via Email. I.E. customer has a document faxed to them and they get it in
Email as a tiff. I'm considering using Hylfax with a Multitech DID capable
modem, but other suggestions are welcomed!
4. I have built some cost for support from Digium and/or other Asterisk
experts into the budget. Does Digium have paid support plans? What about
other consultants out there?
I'm just trying to make sure that I cover all the bases. This is got to be
a bulletproof solution, and I'm departing from my comfort level with
Altigen to give Asterisk a run for the money. We've got TONS of Linux
experience here, and comfort with customizing code, so I am happy with
what Asterisk gives me.. What else should I be worried about?
--
Vice President of N2Net, a New Age Consulting Service, Inc. Company
http://www.n2net.net Where everything clicks into place!
KP-216-121-ST
Greg Boehnlein wrote:>Hello, > I have been retained by a Building Management Company to install a >combined Voice/Data solution for a Tennated Office Space. This space will >rent offices, with telephone and internet service to inviduals or small >groups of individuals. As fate would have it, the service will be >provided in a building where we have a major Pop, with a DS-3 worth of >ISDN PRI circuits, 345 megs of upstream bandwidth and diesel generator >backup. We are providing everything for the solution, from the initial >wiring to the ongoing maintenance of the PBX and Internet service. > I have arranged for a single PRI to be broken out of our DS-3 w/ >100 inbound DID numbers assigned to it and have PICd it to the LD provider >of our choice. I intend to plug this PRI into an Asterisk server w/ a >Digium TE410P card, and deploy SNOM 200 IP phones to the desktops. We will >be using a RedHawk power-injector system to provide power to the phones. > Now.. This is our first deployment of Asterisk, and I need a head >check here. Am I making the right decision? :) > >Sepcifically... > >1. Are the SNOM 200 IP phones a good choice for standard users? Or should >I consider Cisco? Price of the phone is not the important thing.. What is >important is ease of use with minimal training and reliability! >IMO Snom 200's are great, I have never had an issue with them and they are simple enough for a standard user while being feature packed enought from power users at the same time.. GS phones have been fine but may be a little too basic for an office and I have not tried the cisco's (Cant afford them).> >2. Does anyone have reccomendations for a solid motherboard to use as the >basis for the Asterisk server? Again, reliability and stability are the >important issues here. I'm looking for a Dual CPU board (Athlon MP or P4) >that will work flawlessly with the TE410P. I've used the Tyan Tiger MPX >(2466) http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tigermpx.html with Dual MP >processors with incredible success in the future. I'm considering building >the box on that platform. >My Advice would be to stick with intel processors (no flames please I know some of your love AMD's) becasue I have never heard of compatibility issues with Asterisk and Intel proc's and chipsets but I have heard some weird issues with VIA chipsets and AMD procs.. Also AFAIK you can't use the Athlon optimised kernel with Asterisk on an AMD which will probably mean you have to use the i386 kernel where on a P4/Xeon you can happily use the i686 kernel.. Not sure exactly what that means in terms of Asterisk performance but I will stay with the P4/Xeon.> >3. I am also responsible for delivering inbound faxes to the DID numbers >via Email. I.E. customer has a document faxed to them and they get it in >Email as a tiff. I'm considering using Hylfax with a Multitech DID capable >modem, but other suggestions are welcomed! >My initail thought would be Hylafax but havent had enough experience in this area to comment.> >4. I have built some cost for support from Digium and/or other Asterisk >experts into the budget. Does Digium have paid support plans? What about >other consultants out there? > >I'm just trying to make sure that I cover all the bases. This is got to be >a bulletproof solution, and I'm departing from my comfort level with >Altigen to give Asterisk a run for the money. We've got TONS of Linux >experience here, and comfort with customizing code, so I am happy with >what Asterisk gives me.. What else should I be worried about? > > >Good luck.. Later..
On Tue, 2003-12-30 at 23:47, Greg Boehnlein wrote:> Hello, > I have been retained by a Building Management Company to install a > combined Voice/Data solution for a Tennated Office Space. This space will > rent offices, with telephone and internet service to inviduals or small > groups of individuals. As fate would have it, the service will be > provided in a building where we have a major Pop, with a DS-3 worth of > ISDN PRI circuits, 345 megs of upstream bandwidth and diesel generator > backup. We are providing everything for the solution, from the initial > wiring to the ongoing maintenance of the PBX and Internet service. > I have arranged for a single PRI to be broken out of our DS-3 w/ > 100 inbound DID numbers assigned to it and have PICd it to the LD provider > of our choice. I intend to plug this PRI into an Asterisk server w/ a > Digium TE410P card, and deploy SNOM 200 IP phones to the desktops. We will > be using a RedHawk power-injector system to provide power to the phones. > Now.. This is our first deployment of Asterisk, and I need a head > check here. Am I making the right decision? :) > > Sepcifically... > > 1. Are the SNOM 200 IP phones a good choice for standard users? Or should > I consider Cisco? Price of the phone is not the important thing.. What is > important is ease of use with minimal training and reliability! > > 2. Does anyone have reccomendations for a solid motherboard to use as the > basis for the Asterisk server? Again, reliability and stability are the > important issues here. I'm looking for a Dual CPU board (Athlon MP or P4) > that will work flawlessly with the TE410P. I've used the Tyan Tiger MPX > (2466) http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tigermpx.html with Dual MP > processors with incredible success in the future. I'm considering building > the box on that platform.Oddly enough, any decent motherboard should be okay given that you will provide it appropriate cooling and proper power. I have a couple of abit boards with multiple 1+ year up times. One currently approaching 2 years. I also have 2 dells 2450s that exceeded a year with one approaching 2 years. We have a few supermicros, one of which is over a year of uptime now. I have had a couple other otherwise unremarkable machines make it past a year of uptime. All of those have been on huge powerware UPS with diesel backup to them and all the other tier 1 level colo facility amenities. So, while I am partial to the supermicros and dells, I have experience with no name systems being just as stable long term.> 3. I am also responsible for delivering inbound faxes to the DID numbers > via Email. I.E. customer has a document faxed to them and they get it in > Email as a tiff. I'm considering using Hylfax with a Multitech DID capable > modem, but other suggestions are welcomed!It has been mentioned here before that you can pick up a device that accepts a PRI and will do your fax reception for you. If you get one of those and hook it to a empty port of the TE410P then it will be better as you could accept several faxes at once.> 4. I have built some cost for support from Digium and/or other Asterisk > experts into the budget. Does Digium have paid support plans? What about > other consultants out there?Digium has support, and there are several companies around here that will no doubt be contacting you shortly.> I'm just trying to make sure that I cover all the bases. This is got to be > a bulletproof solution, and I'm departing from my comfort level with > Altigen to give Asterisk a run for the money. We've got TONS of Linux > experience here, and comfort with customizing code, so I am happy with > what Asterisk gives me.. What else should I be worried about?Maybe you should look into a couple of machines. One that does actual connections to the PSTN, and a couple of separate systems that then support the VoIP phones. I suggest this so that you can then have a very stable core machine that just routes calls, and several other machines that may need to be brought down from time to time for updates. This is the current method we use in my office. One super stable machine at the core that is rarely updated. A few machines to the side that any one may be downed and upgraded without affecting the others. This may be especially of interest to you if you are concerned with the sip phones functionality you may need to do somewhat regular updates. -- Steven Critchfield <critch@basesys.com>
Greg,> I have been retained by a Building Management Company to install a > combined Voice/Data solution for a Tennated Office Space. This space will > rent offices, with telephone and internet service to inviduals or small<snip>> Now.. This is our first deployment of Asterisk, and I need a head > check here. Am I making the right decision? :) > > Sepcifically... > > 1. Are the SNOM 200 IP phones a good choice for standard users? Or should > I consider Cisco? Price of the phone is not the important thing.. What is > important is ease of use with minimal training and reliability!I'd be careful with assumptions on the Snom 200. I've been trying to properly define "two" extns on this phone (with visual indication as to which extn is ringing) and have not been successful as yet. Have an open problem with snom right now. Same issues with v2.02t and v2.03e. Not sure what the problem is as yet, but three symptoms are highly visible: a. when a second (or more) extn is defined to the second (or more) button, the phone goes into a loop involving Register, 100 Trying, and 407 Proxy Authentication Required. Generates 1,000's of never- ending packets. (Two different snom support people are trying to replicate the issue, and both have initially been finger-pointing towards asterisk. Too early to know where the issue is. All other SIP phones function as expected with multiple extns.) b. when multiple lines are defined (with Key Mapping as suggested by the snom folks), the LED's for those keys remain lite at all times. No way to know which extension is actually ringing. c. distinctive ringing on a per-extn basis is apparently broken. Hopefully will know more about these issues by the end of this week. As with many other SIP components, documentation is below industry standards. The phone works fine with a single extn definition. Given the business environment you're talking about, there is a very high probability your customers will want two or more lines per phone. Bottom line: no way to visually "see" which extn is ringing, and therefore no way to answer the phone with a prearranged business greating. I've had 100% solid success/luck using the C7960 v6.0 code with lots of not-so-common addon funtions that may have value-add implications in your proposed implementation. (My past 20-year experience working for a telephone company and full understanding of shared-tennat services, I'd have to go with the Cisco phones if the decision had to be made today.) I've used the snom 200 for the better part of two months with several versions of their software. Snom seems to have a software quality control issue. It's likely due to lacking a structured software test plan, but don't know that for sure. I'd also be careful with assumptions regarding plugging PC's into the RJ45 switch jack on the back of various phones. There seems to be several unusual symptoms that have appeared on this list and I'm not sure which are still open (verses knowledge/skill level to identify the root-cause and associated resolutions). Given the relatively small percentage of folks using the jack, the only valid assumption is "don't count on it in production".> 3. I am also responsible for delivering inbound faxes to the DID numbers > via Email. I.E. customer has a document faxed to them and they get it in > Email as a tiff. I'm considering using Hylfax with a Multitech DID capable > modem, but other suggestions are welcomed!Be careful with fax assumptions in terms of routing analog fax calls through T1's and asterisk, etc. It's certainly doable; just don't make any assumptions before hand. (Read: may require some additional implementation and/or testing hours to obtain exactly what you want from reliability perspective.)> 4. I have built some cost for support from Digium and/or other Asterisk > experts into the budget. Does Digium have paid support plans? > What about other consultants out there?Their web site mentions such support. However, since asterisk has not matured to the point of supporting "stable software releases (etc)", support from a high-availability business perspective will require more then a Digium support contract (i.e, no published 24x7 plan today). (There are several people lurking on this list that can offer remote support. A contract with service-level penalities is probably worthy of consideration.)> I'm just trying to make sure that I cover all the bases. This is got to be > a bulletproof solution, and I'm departing from my comfort level with > Altigen to give Asterisk a run for the money. We've got TONS of Linux > experience here, and comfort with customizing code, so I am happy with > what Asterisk gives me.. What else should I be worried about?I'd strongly recommend implementing two asterisk boxes "on site"; one as a primary production box and the second as a hot-spare "identical" backup (or some such combination). Obviously, the hot-spare backup could also be used to stage upgrades, etc, with a very quick back out plan when needed. Five-9's will be tough. If there are any objectives to route any calls via the Internet (for any reason, including off-prem extns), give serious consideration to another production asterisk box with a registered IP, etc. Think through a solid plan (and backup plans) for things like 911 calls, the callerid's expected at the 911 center, legal implications if the system happens to be down, potential customer requirements to "not" provide callerid's and how that gets implemented, shared LD trunks, etc, etc. If you're considering any special shared-tennate operator functions, research those functions and associated operator phone requirments carefully. There have been some comments on the list relative to the accuracy or completeness of CDR records under some circumstances. I've not paid that much attention, but if memory serves, seems like was related to how phones were channeled into asterisk, asterisk not receiving call-termination notifications, or something along those lines. Others can comment on that better then I. Rich