asterisk users - Jun 2003 - Test System?

Is it possible to set up Asterisk without any of the cards? I'm
interested in setting it up for the company I work for, but I would like
to set it up and see how difficult it will be before I start having the
company spend a chunk on equipment. 
 
Additionally, what phones can be used with Asterisk? we currently use a
NEC Nitsuko phone system with phones, but I have been confused as how to
set up the entire thing.... I really would like more information on the
setup procedures, including the interface between the telco's lines and
the server system, and how to wire the phone equipment (they're not
going to use the computers to take calls) to the server.
 
Thanks,
Sherwood McGowan
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On 17/06/2003 at 10:23 Rushowr wrote:
>Is it possible to set up Asterisk without any of the cards? I'm
>interested in setting it up for the company I work for, but I would like
>to set it up and see how difficult it will be before I start having the
>company spend a chunk on equipment. 
Yes, you can set up asterisk without adding any cards. You could
use SIP and download a client such as SJPhone - http://www.sjlabs.com
to test with 
> 
>Additionally, what phones can be used with Asterisk? we currently use a
>NEC Nitsuko phone system with phones, but I have been confused as how to
>set up the entire thing.... I really would like more information on the
>setup procedures, including the interface between the telco's lines and
>the server system, and how to wire the phone equipment (they're not
>going to use the computers to take calls) to the server.
Unless you buy some cards the only phones you can use are softphones
and hardphones (eg, snom or cisco). If the NEC phones are analog then
you can either use a Channel bank (see
http://www.digium.com/index.php?menu=developerskit_fxs )
or you could try the TDM400P cards with options of 2 X 4, 2 X 8, 3 X 8 ports..
( http://www.digium.com/index.php?menu=wildcard_tdm400p ). Unless the
company is very small shelling out for a developer kit isn't going to break
the
bank.. for simple testing you could go for the Asterisk Developer's Kit
(TDM)
but add another 3 ports on the TDM card, giving you a connection to the PSTN
and connectivity for 4 analog phones.

As an alternative you could connect your existing PBX to an * box for testing
but we'd need to know what interfaces your pbx has... 

and now I'll stop acting like an advert for Digium... :)

HTH

Andy

Rushowr wrote:
> Is it possible to set up Asterisk without any of the cards?
Absolutely.  Use IP Phones and a VoIP termination provider...  Hell, you 
may not even need your own Asterisk box if your just looking to see how 
simple it is to make an IP phone work.


Jeremy McNamara