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John Todd

2003-Jun-29 11:51 UTC

[Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...

>I've tried to figure out from the web site the minimum hardware cost to
run a
>small office Asterix solution but I'm afraid I miss something:
>
>Let's say that I want to connect four/five analogic extension to the
PBX.
>
>I have:
>
>	- 1 computer as the server (with linux and Asterisk on it)
>	- 1 dummy patch panel to connect all the analogic phones 
>around the office
>
>What (and how many) cards should I need to connect the analogic phones to
the
>patch panel and then to Asterix for a minimum functionality?
>In short, from a commercial point of view: having a computer and four/five
>analogic phones, what is the minimum hardware cost to have Asterisk up and
>running, connecting four/five extension, calling and receiving?
>
>Stefano
Stefano -

   To connect four analog phones to an Asterisk server, you would need 
the TDM400P, made by Digium.  That card is available for $305.00 
(USD) and details can be found on 
http://www.digium.com/?menu=wildcard_tdm400p  .

   Add to that the cost of a computer, probably at least a 700mhz 
machine, but I'm sure you can find the price for that on eBay or some 
other well-known marketplace for computers.  Then, whatever patch 
panel you want (though you would need a patch panel only if you were 
moving phones around on a regular basis - there are four jacks on the 
back of the TDM400P)

   That's it for what you describe.  If you want to then connect that 
PBX to an external line coming from your phone company, you would 
need a $100 X100P card (also from Digium) for each line.

JT

Stefano Corsi

2003-Jun-29 12:32 UTC

head link

[Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...

I've tried to figure out from the web site the minimum hardware cost to run
a
small office Asterix solution but I'm afraid I miss something:

Let's say that I want to connect four/five analogic extension to the PBX.

I have:

	- 1 computer as the server (with linux and Asterisk on it)
	- 1 dummy patch panel to connect all the analogic phones around the office

What (and how many) cards should I need to connect the analogic phones to the
patch panel and then to Asterix for a minimum functionality?
In short, from a commercial point of view: having a computer and four/five
analogic phones, what is the minimum hardware cost to have Asterisk up and
running, connecting four/five extension, calling and receiving?

Stefano

tim.mcqueen@qualisys.biz

2003-Jun-30 08:55 UTC

head link

[Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...

If this is for commercial use, especially if you are going to be selling
this solution, I would suggest that you don't even offer the choice of
analog lines except in the smallest of offices.  Unless you like to
spend a lot of unbillable time supporting them :)
 
Most businesses of more than 8 to 10 people should be able to afford T1
service.  Depending on your area, business analog lines can cost more
than $70 a month per line.  This can quickly add up.  A channelized T1
with local phone service runs about $400-$500 in my area, with the added
benefit of getting DIDs and less of a headache.
 
I agree with the person who responded below: low budget minimum
configuration will screw you and your customer.  They are probably going
to take out a line of credit to pay for your labor (billable and
included in the total price that you quote; you do have a contract,
don't you?) and the cost of hardware.  You might as well quote them good
hardware that is reliable and dependable, and will suit their needs for
a few years to come.  Buy commercial with a support contract, or be
prepared to keep spares of everything.
 
It seems to me that a lot of people using Open Source software (I
disdain the term Free, because nothing is) are in the "Cheap Cheap
Cheap!" mindset.  This is great if you are doing it for yourself, but
it's not a good idea at all if youare trying to sell the solution to
customers.
 
Now that I have that off my chest, here's what I reccomend for a
business package:
 
Server: Dell 600SC with 2.4 Ghz proc, 512 MB RAM, 2x Hard Drives in RAID
1, 3 years 24x7 4 hour response on-site support for hardware - $1550
 
Two T100P T1 Cards: One for the local T1, one for a channel bank.  -
$990 or you can get a quad span T400P for $1495
 
From the archives it seems like the zhone channel banks are kind of
crappy, so I would go with a Adtran Total Access 750 which will run you
about $2500
 
The phones - Don't forget the phones! - Pick one you like and stick to
it.  Don't go to WalMart of CostCo and buy phones.  I like the Aastra
PowerTouch 390, which I think are about $99 each.  It sounds like a lot,
but I've had good luck with these phones.
 
So the total hardware will be somewhere around $5000 for a phone system
that can handle up to 24 users.  When you compare it to other commercial
products that go for about $1000-$1500 per user, that's a considerable
savings, plus you get a better product.
 
Don't forget to add in your cost for building the system
 
Reocurring charges will be:
 
$400-$500 per month for local phone service, maybe more or less
depending on who the LEC is and if they have a package allows you buy
less than a T1 of service (just a few channels).
 
Long Distance - who knows?  I've seen businesses pay as little as 1.7
cents and as much as 12.  Shop around for your customer and make a good
recomendation.
 
Maintainence which should be a percentage of the total sale, billed
annually, unless you (or they) want to charge for support on an hourly
basis.
 
And don't forget to contribute a bit to keep the project going ;)
 
-Tim
 

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Stefano Corsi 
	Sent: Mon 6/30/2003 11:35 AM 
	To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com 
	Cc: Steven Critchfield 
	Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...
	
	


	> Minimum budget usually screws you for future expandability. If
you buy a
	> 3 cylinder car for less than a full size car you can't go
towing a
	> moving trailer.
	
	It's not for my personal use: I'm trying to tailor some
commercial offer for
	differents kind of customers. So I need to find the competitive
advantage (if
	there is one... but I'm pretty sure of this...) not only in
terms of
	functionalities and versatility, but also in terms of costs, in
respect to
	traditional PBX solutions.
	
	> Of course if you have 11 phones, you probably have nearing 6-8
lines and
	> need to start thinking of when you will need to switch to T1
from the
	> Telco to cut the cost of all those analog circuits and to get
the added
	> benefit of the DIDs and other T1 call features. So you would
then be
	> looking at either adding another $500 T100P card, or you could
have went
	> ahead and bought the $1500 card in the beginning and have
enough ports
	> and channels in your machine to take you past where your
company will
	> expand in the next couple of years.
	
	Thank you! Your answer was very useful for me!
	
	Stefano
	
	_______________________________________________
	Asterisk-Users mailing list
	Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	

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tim.mcqueen@qualisys.biz

2003-Jun-30 13:56 UTC

head link

[Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...

That reminds me, Cisco has a new device out, the IAD2430 that has T1
ports VWIC, and FXS ports.  It will proably cost a bundle, though.
Looks like the IAD2432 will handle 24 analog ports, up to two Data T1s
and a voice T1 using the VWIC port.  Supports SIP and MGCP.

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Michael Kane 
	Sent: Mon 6/30/2003 2:38 PM 
	To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com 
	Cc: 
	Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...
	
	

	The Cisco 242x (20 or 21), has a 24 port analog interface that
supports 16
	FXS and 8 FXO.  I've delpoyed hundreds of these IAD's signaling
with MGCP.
	Not sure if it supports SIP yet.  Hope this helps...
	
	Mike
	
	Michael Kane
	To-Talk Communications LLC.
	37 Sandusky Dr.
	Wareham, Ma. 02571
	508-295-2826
	----- Original Message -----
	From: "Andy Powell" <andy@beagles-den.demon.co.uk>
	To: <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com>
	Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 2:51 PM
	Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...
	
	
	> Hi Tan,
	>
	> Thanks for the reply. I'll end up asking a load more questions
now...
	>
	> What sort of prices are we talking about for the 24 port
	> VoIP gateway?
	>
	> I assume that each port is individually addresable by *?
	>
	> As I recall the 24 port gateways tend to be terminated at the
FXS side
	> as some 'wierd' connector (wierd in that it's not rj45/11) do
you just
	> wire this to a patch panel?
	>
	> What codec is in use to get all 24 ports 'running' at the same
time..G729?
	> Does this cause problems since iirc * needs to run in console
mode for
	> the G729 codec to work properly
	>
	> Thanks for the info... interesting site too :D
	>
	> Andy
	>
	>
	>
	> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
	>
	> On 30/06/2003 at 19:21 Tan Aks wrote:
	>
	> >Hi,
	> >
	> >We provide asterisk-based solutions to customers based in the
uk. One of
	> >our
	> >customers (9 users) is trialling our low-end solution which
comprises of
	a
	> >box with 2 x X100P (analogue line) cards installed, and a
voip carrier
	for
	> >outgoing calls. This customer intends to have 13 extensions
in his "live"
	> >scenario. The way to use multiple analogue phones is:
	> >
	> >        1) get a T100P card and use a T1 channel bank sourced
from the US
	> >        2) use a couple of TDM400P cards to give 8
extensions, and use IP
	> >phones for the other extensions
	> >        3) use a voip gateway to provide up to 24 x analogue
extensions
	per
	> >IP address. VoIP gateways are commonly available and convert
analogue
	lines
	> >into a SIP/H323 VoIP stream.
	> >
	> >You can get an E1 terminated with an RJ45. If you have a coax
	termination
	> >then you can use a balun to get rj45 connectivity.
	> >
	> >Hope that helps.
	> >Tan (telappliant.com)
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >----- Original Message -----
	> >From: "Andy Powell" <andy@beagles-den.demon.co.uk>
	> >To: <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com>
	> >Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 5:26 PM
	> >Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...
	> >
	> >
	> >Tim,
	> >
	> >a good comprehensive answer to the question...certainly gave
me a few
	> >things
	> >to think about. I do have a few questions though, since I'm
in Europe.
	> >
	> >Has anyone in Europe set up something equivalent to what Tim
suggested?
	> >
	> >What sort of prices did it work out at?
	> >
	> >How did you solve the channel bank 'issue' in Europe?
	> >
	> >I keep reading that E1 lines are coax terminated, is this
correct or do
	you
	> >usually get a choice from your teleco?
	> >
	> >Were there any other issues to contend with?
	> >
	> >I'd certainly be interested in the experiences of anyone in
Europe...
	> >
	> >Thanks
	> >
	> >Andy
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >On 30/06/2003 at 10:55 tim.mcqueen@qualisys.biz wrote:
	> >
	> >>If this is for commercial use, especially if you are going
to be selling
	> >>this solution, I would suggest that you don't even offer the
choice of
	> >>analog lines except in the smallest of offices.  Unless you
like to
	> >>spend a lot of unbillable time supporting them :)
	> >>
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >_______________________________________________
	> >Asterisk-Users mailing list
	> >Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	> > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	> >
	> >
	> >_______________________________________________
	> >Asterisk-Users mailing list
	> >Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	> > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	>
	>
	>
	> _______________________________________________
	> Asterisk-Users mailing list
	> Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	>
	
	_______________________________________________
	Asterisk-Users mailing list
	Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	

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tim.mcqueen@qualisys.biz

2003-Jun-30 13:59 UTC

head link

[Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...

Ah, I'm wrong.  It only the 2432 only supports data WICs and the 4 port
FXO VWIC.  The IAD2431 supports digital voice, though.

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Michael Kane 
	Sent: Mon 6/30/2003 2:38 PM 
	To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com 
	Cc: 
	Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...
	
	

	The Cisco 242x (20 or 21), has a 24 port analog interface that
supports 16
	FXS and 8 FXO.  I've delpoyed hundreds of these IAD's signaling
with MGCP.
	Not sure if it supports SIP yet.  Hope this helps...
	
	Mike
	
	Michael Kane
	To-Talk Communications LLC.
	37 Sandusky Dr.
	Wareham, Ma. 02571
	508-295-2826
	----- Original Message -----
	From: "Andy Powell" <andy@beagles-den.demon.co.uk>
	To: <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com>
	Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 2:51 PM
	Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...
	
	
	> Hi Tan,
	>
	> Thanks for the reply. I'll end up asking a load more questions
now...
	>
	> What sort of prices are we talking about for the 24 port
	> VoIP gateway?
	>
	> I assume that each port is individually addresable by *?
	>
	> As I recall the 24 port gateways tend to be terminated at the
FXS side
	> as some 'wierd' connector (wierd in that it's not rj45/11) do
you just
	> wire this to a patch panel?
	>
	> What codec is in use to get all 24 ports 'running' at the same
time..G729?
	> Does this cause problems since iirc * needs to run in console
mode for
	> the G729 codec to work properly
	>
	> Thanks for the info... interesting site too :D
	>
	> Andy
	>
	>
	>
	> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
	>
	> On 30/06/2003 at 19:21 Tan Aks wrote:
	>
	> >Hi,
	> >
	> >We provide asterisk-based solutions to customers based in the
uk. One of
	> >our
	> >customers (9 users) is trialling our low-end solution which
comprises of
	a
	> >box with 2 x X100P (analogue line) cards installed, and a
voip carrier
	for
	> >outgoing calls. This customer intends to have 13 extensions
in his "live"
	> >scenario. The way to use multiple analogue phones is:
	> >
	> >        1) get a T100P card and use a T1 channel bank sourced
from the US
	> >        2) use a couple of TDM400P cards to give 8
extensions, and use IP
	> >phones for the other extensions
	> >        3) use a voip gateway to provide up to 24 x analogue
extensions
	per
	> >IP address. VoIP gateways are commonly available and convert
analogue
	lines
	> >into a SIP/H323 VoIP stream.
	> >
	> >You can get an E1 terminated with an RJ45. If you have a coax
	termination
	> >then you can use a balun to get rj45 connectivity.
	> >
	> >Hope that helps.
	> >Tan (telappliant.com)
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >----- Original Message -----
	> >From: "Andy Powell" <andy@beagles-den.demon.co.uk>
	> >To: <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com>
	> >Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 5:26 PM
	> >Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Minimum budget question ...
	> >
	> >
	> >Tim,
	> >
	> >a good comprehensive answer to the question...certainly gave
me a few
	> >things
	> >to think about. I do have a few questions though, since I'm
in Europe.
	> >
	> >Has anyone in Europe set up something equivalent to what Tim
suggested?
	> >
	> >What sort of prices did it work out at?
	> >
	> >How did you solve the channel bank 'issue' in Europe?
	> >
	> >I keep reading that E1 lines are coax terminated, is this
correct or do
	you
	> >usually get a choice from your teleco?
	> >
	> >Were there any other issues to contend with?
	> >
	> >I'd certainly be interested in the experiences of anyone in
Europe...
	> >
	> >Thanks
	> >
	> >Andy
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >On 30/06/2003 at 10:55 tim.mcqueen@qualisys.biz wrote:
	> >
	> >>If this is for commercial use, especially if you are going
to be selling
	> >>this solution, I would suggest that you don't even offer the
choice of
	> >>analog lines except in the smallest of offices.  Unless you
like to
	> >>spend a lot of unbillable time supporting them :)
	> >>
	> >
	> >
	> >
	> >_______________________________________________
	> >Asterisk-Users mailing list
	> >Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	> > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	> >
	> >
	> >_______________________________________________
	> >Asterisk-Users mailing list
	> >Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	> > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	>
	>
	>
	> _______________________________________________
	> Asterisk-Users mailing list
	> Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	>
	
	_______________________________________________
	Asterisk-Users mailing list
	Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
	http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
	

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