Hello! Several of my customers would like to add a backup to their Internet connection. ISDN is a good solution: decently fast for a dial-up-type connection, yet still faily affordable. While I was at it, I decided to look at a couple of more creative telephone service options to possibly improve their service or lower costs at the same time. These customers range from having just a couple of POTS lines without a key system up to as many as 18 POTS lines into systems such as AT&T Merlin or Nortel Norstar systems. My first thought on the higher end was a PRI line. However, the cost seems *very* prohibitive. The average cost for a PRI line was $550/month, just for "dial tone"! I've heard others say that PRI becomes cost effective in the 8 line range, but the cost for the office with 14 lines ($25/line * 14 lines) is only $350. It would take 22 lines before the PRI would equal the cost of individual POTS lines! As an aside, I did a survey of several of my customers with 10-30 employees. Most of them have POTS lines only (from between 4 and 10) fed into some sort of PBX. Only one of them has a PRI line, and they wish they hadn't gone that way: they thought they would need more lines than they do, and now they feel that they're way over-buying. Am I missing something? When is a PRI competitive with POTS? And if I'm not missing something, is there an alternative between POTS and a PRI, particularly for 5-15 lines? None of the telephone companies I called offered channelized T1 options for local service (let alone frac-T1), only PRI. Are there other options? Finally, any alternatives for smaller companies? I tried to get a simple BRI ISDN line for Internet backup for the company with 18 POTS lines. #$@%@ Ameritech (excuse me, SBC) charges $10/month more if you don't sign a 36-month contract and wouldn't give it to them without a credit check, several pieces of company information, the names and telephone numbers of at least two officers of the company and a personal guarantee from an officer! This for a customer who has had 18 POTS lines for *15* YEARS! I hate SBC... Thank you for reading my rant. I would greatly appreciate any information or suggestions you might be able to give me. Tim Massey
I can't talk to prices, but I would also look at the "extras" that you get with PRI that you don't get with POTS lines: 1) You almost always get Caller-ID information passed on for free; with POTS lines, they charge you extra for that; 2) You do get better quality and flexibility, at least in my experience. Also, if this meant anything to you, you'd need a digital line coming in before you could do stuff like server 56K modems and whatnot. 3) The PRI service might include DID service, while getting standard "POTS" service might not. I can't think of others, but unless you're comparing all the services you get with one kind of line to another, you're kinda comparing apples and oranges. Of course, if none of that matters to you, then you shouldn't count it :) -SteveK On Sun, Mar 02, 2003 at 06:40:32AM -0500, tmassey at obscorp.com wrote:> Hello! > > Several of my customers would like to add a backup to their Internet > connection. ISDN is a good solution: decently fast for a dial-up-type > connection, yet still faily affordable. While I was at it, I decided to > look at a couple of more creative telephone service options to possibly > improve their service or lower costs at the same time. These customers > range from having just a couple of POTS lines without a key system up to > as many as 18 POTS lines into systems such as AT&T Merlin or Nortel > Norstar systems. > > My first thought on the higher end was a PRI line. However, the cost > seems *very* prohibitive. The average cost for a PRI line was $550/month, > just for "dial tone"! I've heard others say that PRI becomes cost > effective in the 8 line range, but the cost for the office with 14 lines > ($25/line * 14 lines) is only $350. It would take 22 lines before the PRI > would equal the cost of individual POTS lines! > > As an aside, I did a survey of several of my customers with 10-30 > employees. Most of them have POTS lines only (from between 4 and 10) fed > into some sort of PBX. Only one of them has a PRI line, and they wish > they hadn't gone that way: they thought they would need more lines than > they do, and now they feel that they're way over-buying. > > Am I missing something? When is a PRI competitive with POTS? And if I'm > not missing something, is there an alternative between POTS and a PRI, > particularly for 5-15 lines? None of the telephone companies I called > offered channelized T1 options for local service (let alone frac-T1), only > PRI. Are there other options? > > Finally, any alternatives for smaller companies? I tried to get a simple > BRI ISDN line for Internet backup for the company with 18 POTS lines. > #$@%@ Ameritech (excuse me, SBC) charges $10/month more if you don't sign > a 36-month contract and wouldn't give it to them without a credit check, > several pieces of company information, the names and telephone numbers of > at least two officers of the company and a personal guarantee from an > officer! This for a customer who has had 18 POTS lines for *15* YEARS! > > I hate SBC... > > Thank you for reading my rant. I would greatly appreciate any information > or suggestions you might be able to give me. > > Tim Massey > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users-- Steve Kann - Chief Engineer - 520 8th Ave #2300 NY 10018 - (212) 533-1775 HorizonLive.com - collaborate . interact . learn "The box said 'Requires Windows 95, NT, or better,' so I installed Linux."
Hey I hear ya, I am in much the same situation. PRI or channelized T1 is not really a cost effective solution until you are over at least 10 lines, and need features like the DID or callerid, hunt, etc. that you would pay a few bucks more each per line so the per line analog cost would have been driven up over $50/line. My thoughts were BRI's as well since they work out to about $40/B channel, and you can add and delete in fairly inexpensive groups of 2. You get all the CLASS features of the PRI, but without having to buy a ton of lines to get them. BRI channel bank is one option I guess, but fairly rare and expensive. I would love to find a bri to pri T1 multiplexer at a reasonable cost. I have seen a few for sale minus the BRI cards so no deal on them. The ones I have seen do much more than is actually needed here so likely the cost is excessive when bought new. I am still not really clear why the isdn modems that seem so common can't/won't work in this situation. Is it simply an issue of software does not exist ? Does the modem do something other than simply dump the composite digital datastream into the serial port ? I am familar with how a channelized T1 can be output/input via a v35 HSSI port - Does this same concept not extend to the BRI isdn and a regular speed serial port ? Is the issue that a conventional serial port is topped out at 115k and bri would be 64+64+16 ? If so, how does the modem work in bonded bearer channel mode for data ? Anyone got answers ? At 06:40 AM 3/2/2003 -0500, you wrote:>Hello! > >Several of my customers would like to add a backup to their Internet >connection. ISDN is a good solution: decently fast for a dial-up-type >connection, yet still faily affordable. While I was at it, I decided to >look at a couple of more creative telephone service options to possibly >improve their service or lower costs at the same time. These customers >range from having just a couple of POTS lines without a key system up to >as many as 18 POTS lines into systems such as AT&T Merlin or Nortel >Norstar systems. > >My first thought on the higher end was a PRI line. However, the cost >seems *very* prohibitive. The average cost for a PRI line was $550/month, >just for "dial tone"! I've heard others say that PRI becomes cost >effective in the 8 line range, but the cost for the office with 14 lines >($25/line * 14 lines) is only $350. It would take 22 lines before the PRI >would equal the cost of individual POTS lines! > >As an aside, I did a survey of several of my customers with 10-30 >employees. Most of them have POTS lines only (from between 4 and 10) fed >into some sort of PBX. Only one of them has a PRI line, and they wish >they hadn't gone that way: they thought they would need more lines than >they do, and now they feel that they're way over-buying. > >Am I missing something? When is a PRI competitive with POTS? And if I'm >not missing something, is there an alternative between POTS and a PRI, >particularly for 5-15 lines? None of the telephone companies I called >offered channelized T1 options for local service (let alone frac-T1), only >PRI. Are there other options? > >Finally, any alternatives for smaller companies? I tried to get a simple >BRI ISDN line for Internet backup for the company with 18 POTS lines. >#$@%@ Ameritech (excuse me, SBC) charges $10/month more if you don't sign >a 36-month contract and wouldn't give it to them without a credit check, >several pieces of company information, the names and telephone numbers of >at least two officers of the company and a personal guarantee from an >officer! This for a customer who has had 18 POTS lines for *15* YEARS! > >I hate SBC... > >Thank you for reading my rant. I would greatly appreciate any information >or suggestions you might be able to give me. > >Tim Massey >_______________________________________________ >Asterisk-Users mailing list >Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
On Sun, 2003-03-02 at 05:40, tmassey at obscorp.com wrote:> Hello! > > Several of my customers would like to add a backup to their Internet > connection. ISDN is a good solution: decently fast for a dial-up-type > connection, yet still faily affordable. While I was at it, I decided to > look at a couple of more creative telephone service options to possibly > improve their service or lower costs at the same time. These customers > range from having just a couple of POTS lines without a key system up to > as many as 18 POTS lines into systems such as AT&T Merlin or Nortel > Norstar systems. > > My first thought on the higher end was a PRI line. However, the cost > seems *very* prohibitive. The average cost for a PRI line was $550/month, > just for "dial tone"! I've heard others say that PRI becomes cost > effective in the 8 line range, but the cost for the office with 14 lines > ($25/line * 14 lines) is only $350. It would take 22 lines before the PRI > would equal the cost of individual POTS lines!My guess is you have some steeply discounted analog lines already. The rule of thumb in my area is business lines are ~2x more than residential lines. Residential lines here start around $18, business around $36, home ISDN $50, business ISDN $90. The company I used to work for had 24 lines of analog with 2 hunt groups. This setup when moved to a CLEC on a T1 with channel bank breakout saved us ~$300 a month after equipment rental.> As an aside, I did a survey of several of my customers with 10-30 > employees. Most of them have POTS lines only (from between 4 and 10) fed > into some sort of PBX. Only one of them has a PRI line, and they wish > they hadn't gone that way: they thought they would need more lines than > they do, and now they feel that they're way over-buying. > > Am I missing something? When is a PRI competitive with POTS? And if I'm > not missing something, is there an alternative between POTS and a PRI, > particularly for 5-15 lines? None of the telephone companies I called > offered channelized T1 options for local service (let alone frac-T1), only > PRI. Are there other options?Out of curiosity, what area are you located, and who are your CLECs? Our last installed line was for 24 lines of channelized T1 in 2 12 line hunts and one hunt is DID with 20 numbers. This config is currently running us ~$900 a month. We have a quote in from Adelphia now for ~$600 as a PRI. They can offer this drop in cost due to having a fiber leg already in our building that is only being used for a T1 and a ISDN line.> Finally, any alternatives for smaller companies? I tried to get a simple > BRI ISDN line for Internet backup for the company with 18 POTS lines. > #$@%@ Ameritech (excuse me, SBC) charges $10/month more if you don't sign > a 36-month contract and wouldn't give it to them without a credit check, > several pieces of company information, the names and telephone numbers of > at least two officers of the company and a personal guarantee from an > officer! This for a customer who has had 18 POTS lines for *15* YEARS! > > I hate SBC...You and probably most of it's subscribers especially after they went to the regulators and said they wouldn't spend money upgrading their network unless they could stop selling their services to CLECS. I have yet to hear a good review of SBC unless you have spent in excess of 3 months of letter writing to regulatory officials, elected officials, and coping those letters to C?O level members of SBC. -- Steven Critchfield <critch at basesys.com>
>>>>> "Tim" == tmassey <tmassey at obscorp.com> writes:TIm> My first thought on the higher end was a PRI line. However, the TIm> cost seems *very* prohibitive. The average cost for a PRI line TIm> was $550/month, just for "dial tone"! I've heard others say that TIm> PRI becomes cost effective in the 8 line range, but the cost for TIm> the office with 14 lines ($25/line * 14 lines) is only $350. It TIm> would take 22 lines before the PRI would equal the cost of TIm> individual POTS lines! Prices vary widely by region. I've not priced pri vs channelized t1 vs analog business trunks in a while, but when I last did I saw prices for the non-residential analog trunks from as little as $20 to as much as $80. And I didn't look at all that many cities. The lower a state's per-minute fees, the larger their monthly fees. And in most places business lines were substantially more than residential. Until you started buying in large quantities, of course. IIRC, most of the places had chann. t1 costs that were about the same as 24 analog lines. PRIs were generall half that in those cases. But there were also places where the PRIs were twice as expensive as the chann. t1s. I'm sure things have changed in the mean time in most places, but I expect there are still wide variations in the relative costs. One thing to look into, though, is CLECs. I've seen some vary favourable pricing advertized, especially if you contract for both voice and ip. You might find a deal with a CLEC that fits the budget better than the rboc's offer. -JimC
I don't think I'd be stepping on toes if I told you guys we're paying about $35/month per analog line with callerid, line hunting, call waiting, etc, etc (basically the works minus voice mail) through AT&T That's Canadian so you'll have to work out the currency conversion ie $1 USD = $1.65 CND Jon Pounder (JonP at inline.net) wrote*:> > >Hey I hear ya, I am in much the same situation. > >PRI or channelized T1 is not really a cost effective solution until you are >over at least 10 lines, and need features like the DID or callerid, hunt, >etc. that you would pay a few bucks more each per line so the per line >analog cost would have been driven up over $50/line. > >My thoughts were BRI's as well since they work out to about $40/B channel, >and you can add and delete in fairly inexpensive groups of 2. You get all >the CLASS features of the PRI, but without having to buy a ton of lines to >get them. > >BRI channel bank is one option I guess, but fairly rare and expensive. > >I would love to find a bri to pri T1 multiplexer at a reasonable cost. I >have seen a few for sale minus the BRI cards so no deal on them. > >The ones I have seen do much more than is actually needed here so likely >the cost is excessive when bought new. > >I am still not really clear why the isdn modems that seem so common >can't/won't work in this situation. Is it simply an issue of software does >not exist ? Does the modem do something other than simply dump the >composite digital datastream into the serial port ? I am familar with how a >channelized T1 can be output/input via a v35 HSSI port - Does this same >concept not extend to the BRI isdn and a regular speed serial port ? Is the >issue that a conventional serial port is topped out at 115k and bri would >be 64+64+16 ? If so, how does the modem work in bonded bearer channel mode >for data ? > >Anyone got answers ? > > >At 06:40 AM 3/2/2003 -0500, you wrote: >>Hello! >> >>Several of my customers would like to add a backup to their Internet >>connection. ISDN is a good solution: decently fast for a dial-up-type >>connection, yet still faily affordable. While I was at it, I decided to >>look at a couple of more creative telephone service options to possibly >>improve their service or lower costs at the same time. These customers >>range from having just a couple of POTS lines without a key system up to >>as many as 18 POTS lines into systems such as AT&T Merlin or Nortel >>Norstar systems. >> >>My first thought on the higher end was a PRI line. However, the cost >>seems *very* prohibitive. The average cost for a PRI line was $550/month, >>just for "dial tone"! I've heard others say that PRI becomes cost >>effective in the 8 line range, but the cost for the office with 14 lines >>($25/line * 14 lines) is only $350. It would take 22 lines before the PRI >>would equal the cost of individual POTS lines! >> >>As an aside, I did a survey of several of my customers with 10-30 >>employees. Most of them have POTS lines only (from between 4 and 10) fed >>into some sort of PBX. Only one of them has a PRI line, and they wish >>they hadn't gone that way: they thought they would need more lines than >>they do, and now they feel that they're way over-buying. >> >>Am I missing something? When is a PRI competitive with POTS? And if I'm >>not missing something, is there an alternative between POTS and a PRI, >>particularly for 5-15 lines? None of the telephone companies I called >>offered channelized T1 options for local service (let alone frac-T1), only >>PRI. Are there other options? >> >>Finally, any alternatives for smaller companies? I tried to get a simple >>BRI ISDN line for Internet backup for the company with 18 POTS lines. >>#$@%@ Ameritech (excuse me, SBC) charges $10/month more if you don't sign >>a 36-month contract and wouldn't give it to them without a credit check, >>several pieces of company information, the names and telephone numbers of >>at least two officers of the company and a personal guarantee from an >>officer! This for a customer who has had 18 POTS lines for *15* YEARS! >> >>I hate SBC... >> >>Thank you for reading my rant. I would greatly appreciate any information >>or suggestions you might be able to give me. >> >>Tim Massey >>_______________________________________________ >>Asterisk-Users mailing list >>Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >>http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > >_______________________________________________ >Asterisk-Users mailing list >Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
In general, I find that most items are available in Canada for about the same price as available in US locations - at a one to one exchange rate (ie cost for restaurants, consumer tech hardware, natural gas, lumber, electricity, gasoline) Actually, I think we've had cheaper gasoline for a couple of years now but we just had a big increase so I don't know if that is still true (when you convert volumes and currencies ... currently $0.825/Litre where I am = $1.80/USGal) I don't know economics but we seem to be able to get pretty much everything that is available elsewhere and a lot of it cheaper than it's available in the source country - go figure It seems to be harder to find tech items on the net from Canada though - unless it's mainstream consumer items Wade Weppler (weppler at wwworks-inc.com) wrote*:> >I can confirm Canadian pricing. I pay Ma Bell just over $40CAN per line, >and I've got a 512K dedicated/1Mb burstable fiber for $395CAN. $1000CAN for >3Mb sounds about right. > >-wade > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- >> admin at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of tmassey at obscorp.com >> Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 9:37 PM >> To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com >> Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] OT: PRI costs in US >> >> asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com wrote on 03/03/2003 09:02:52 AM: >> >> > I don't think I'd be stepping on toes if I told you guys we're paying >> about >> > $35/month per analog line with callerid, line hunting, call waiting, >> etc, etc >> > (basically the works minus voice mail) through AT&T >> > >> > That's Canadian so you'll have to work out the currency conversion >> > ie $1 USD = $1.65 CND >> >> I've noticed that telco costs seem to be dramatically lower in Canada. For >> example, one of my clients has a 3Mbit FIBER Internet connection from AT&T >> for $1000/month CAD, and this is not that unusual. They had to pay about >> $5000 to get the fiber run, but for that price, so would I! >> >> Is this consistent? If so, I'm moving: living in Detroit, Michigan, I'm >> just a few miles from the border already! I love our neighbor to the >> south... :) >> >> Tim Massey >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Asterisk-Users mailing list >> Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > >_______________________________________________ >Asterisk-Users mailing list >Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
Perhaps I am associating you with the wrong company ... there is a Storm Communication in the Ottawa area that is an ISP It was recommended by users on a LUG mailing list I subscribe to but if I remember correctly, they didn't provide service in my area Storm3 Communications (admin at stormserver.net) wrote*:> > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Brian Johnson" <bjohnson at jecinc.on.ca> >To: <asterisk-users at lists.digium.com> >Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 11:46 AM >Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] OT: PRI costs in US > > >> I'm right here ... where are you? > >Right about here.. >> >> Just kidding, I'm in Stratford, Ontario, Canada > >I'm in Lethbridge Alberta. >> >> As an aside, I looked at switching to your company for internet access >from >> Bell HSE but switched to istop.com instead. > >My company? What made you choose istop.com? > >> >> We have a branch office in Kemptville (currently using Bell HSE - but only >> until I get time to get them switched to something else) that I'd like to >> connect to here via VoIP > > >> >> I have ordered two digium dev lite kits to try to connect the two (with >> asterisk) > >I'm looking at doing something similar, but I can't my asterisk box to work >right. >> >> For two small offices, it's questionable whether it's worth the effort ... >> but it's a learning experience that will hopefully pay off by easing the >> opening of additional branch offices and providing an integrated whole > >It might be. Let me know how that goes. > > > >_____________________________ >Kris Cote >Director of Internet Engineering >StormServer Internet / Storm3 Communications >admin at stormserver.net > >> >> >> >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com >> > [mailto:asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com]On Behalf Of Storm3 >> > Communications >> > Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 22:39 >> > To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com >> > Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] OT: PRI costs in US >> > >> > >> > Brian, where are you? >> > >> > >> > _____________________________ >> > Kris Cote >> > Director of Internet Engineering >> > StormServer Internet / Storm3 Communications >> > admin at stormserver.net >> > >> > ----- Original Message ----- >> > From: "Brian Johnson" <bjohnson at jecinc.on.ca> >> > To: <asterisk-users at lists.digium.com> >> > Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 7:02 AM >> > Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] OT: PRI costs in US >> > >> > >> > > I don't think I'd be stepping on toes if I told you guys we're paying >> > about >> > > $35/month per analog line with callerid, line hunting, call >> > waiting, etc, >> > etc >> > > (basically the works minus voice mail) through AT&T >> > > >> > > That's Canadian so you'll have to work out the currency conversion >> > > ie $1 USD = $1.65 CND >> > > >> > > >> > > Jon Pounder (JonP at inline.net) wrote*: >> > > > >> > > > >> > > >Hey I hear ya, I am in much the same situation. >> > > > >> > > >PRI or channelized T1 is not really a cost effective solution until >you >> > are >> > > >over at least 10 lines, and need features like the DID or >> > callerid, hunt, >> > > >etc. that you would pay a few bucks more each per line so the per >line >> > > >analog cost would have been driven up over $50/line. >> > > > >> > > >My thoughts were BRI's as well since they work out to about $40/B >> > channel, >> > > >and you can add and delete in fairly inexpensive groups of 2. >> > You get all >> > > >the CLASS features of the PRI, but without having to buy a ton of >lines >> > to >> > > >get them. >> > > > >> > > >BRI channel bank is one option I guess, but fairly rare and >expensive. >> > > > >> > > >I would love to find a bri to pri T1 multiplexer at a >> > reasonable cost. I >> > > >have seen a few for sale minus the BRI cards so no deal on them. >> > > > >> > > >The ones I have seen do much more than is actually needed here >> > so likely >> > > >the cost is excessive when bought new. >> > > > >> > > >I am still not really clear why the isdn modems that seem so common >> > > >can't/won't work in this situation. Is it simply an issue of software >> > does >> > > >not exist ? Does the modem do something other than simply dump the >> > > >composite digital datastream into the serial port ? I am >> > familar with how >> > a >> > > >channelized T1 can be output/input via a v35 HSSI port - Does this >same >> > > >concept not extend to the BRI isdn and a regular speed serial port ? >Is >> > the >> > > >issue that a conventional serial port is topped out at 115k >> > and bri would >> > > >be 64+64+16 ? If so, how does the modem work in bonded bearer channel >> > mode >> > > >for data ? >> > > > >> > > >Anyone got answers ? >> > > > >> > > > >> > > >At 06:40 AM 3/2/2003 -0500, you wrote: >> > > >>Hello! >> > > >> >> > > >>Several of my customers would like to add a backup to their Internet >> > > >>connection. ISDN is a good solution: decently fast for a >> > dial-up-type >> > > >>connection, yet still faily affordable. While I was at it, I >> > decided to >> > > >>look at a couple of more creative telephone service options >> > to possibly >> > > >>improve their service or lower costs at the same time. These >> > customers >> > > >>range from having just a couple of POTS lines without a key >> > system up to >> > > >>as many as 18 POTS lines into systems such as AT&T Merlin or Nortel >> > > >>Norstar systems. >> > > >> >> > > >>My first thought on the higher end was a PRI line. However, the >cost >> > > >>seems *very* prohibitive. The average cost for a PRI line was >> > $550/month, >> > > >>just for "dial tone"! I've heard others say that PRI becomes cost >> > > >>effective in the 8 line range, but the cost for the office >> > with 14 lines >> > > >>($25/line * 14 lines) is only $350. It would take 22 lines before >the >> > PRI >> > > >>would equal the cost of individual POTS lines! >> > > >> >> > > >>As an aside, I did a survey of several of my customers with 10-30 >> > > >>employees. Most of them have POTS lines only (from between 4 and >10) >> > fed >> > > >>into some sort of PBX. Only one of them has a PRI line, and they >wish >> > > >>they hadn't gone that way: they thought they would need more >> > lines than >> > > >>they do, and now they feel that they're way over-buying. >> > > >> >> > > >>Am I missing something? When is a PRI competitive with POTS? And >if >> > I'm >> > > >>not missing something, is there an alternative between POTS and a >PRI, >> > > >>particularly for 5-15 lines? None of the telephone companies I >called >> > > >>offered channelized T1 options for local service (let alone >frac-T1), >> > only >> > > >>PRI. Are there other options? >> > > >> >> > > >>Finally, any alternatives for smaller companies? I tried to get a >> > simple >> > > >>BRI ISDN line for Internet backup for the company with 18 POTS >lines. >> > > >>#$@%@ Ameritech (excuse me, SBC) charges $10/month more if you don't >> > sign >> > > >>a 36-month contract and wouldn't give it to them without a >> > credit check, >> > > >>several pieces of company information, the names and telephone >numbers >> > of >> > > >>at least two officers of the company and a personal guarantee from >an >> > > >>officer! This for a customer who has had 18 POTS lines for >> > *15* YEARS! >> > > >> >> > > >>I hate SBC... >> > > >> >> > > >>Thank you for reading my rant. I would greatly appreciate any >> > information >> > > >>or suggestions you might be able to give me. >> > > >> >> > > >>Tim Massey >> > > >>_______________________________________________ >> > > >>Asterisk-Users mailing list >> > > >>Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >> > > >>http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >> > > > >> > > > >> > > >_______________________________________________ >> > > >Asterisk-Users mailing list >> > > >Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >> > > >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >> > > > >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > Asterisk-Users mailing list >> > > Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >> > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >> > > >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Asterisk-Users mailing list >> > Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >> > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >> > >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Asterisk-Users mailing list >> Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > >_______________________________________________ >Asterisk-Users mailing list >Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
Storm3 Communications (admin at stormserver.net) wrote*:> >Right, I was reading about them a few months back. >I was really excited there for a second.. 'WOW! three provinces away, ..I'm >famous! > >So, how are you finding Asterisk? I may be building a toll bypass circuit >with it in a few weeks. While I'm talking about it, is there a gui with >asterisk? >I think it has a lot of potential (in a usability sense). I wish it were easier to install but I realize that is likely largely due to moving target syndrome (they keep upgrading it to add features) I am really impressed at the knowledge and helpfulness of the mailing list = huge asset I think gastman is the name of the gui you might want to look into. I don't know if it's complete yet - you should check with others on the list