Hi :) My employer is looking to move a call centre to a new office, and has been increasingly frustrated with their legacy PBX (call-logging licensing and hardware upgrade costs). So I've stepped forth as the Open Source Pedant and suggested Asterisk so we can do all our own CallerID / call logging / analyses, and make use of IP Phones / teleworking, etc. The problem begins in that I only have a very loose grasp of the telco world. Has anyone used ISDN30e in the UK with the Digium E1 cards? What options are there to stick on a couple of ISDN2's on top of that should we require some 'backup lines'. Do BT terminate the ISDN30e in a format that I can literally just plug into the Digium cards, or will I need some kind of adapter (whether electronics or even just a simple socket/plug changer)? I'm trying to gather some tangibility for the project - I see the first mailing list post in November 1999... when did the project start, and when was it first usable as a simple PBX? Finally, are my options for handsets limited to IP phones via Ethernet, or analogue phones via a channel bank (and then to another Digium E1/T1 card), or is there the possibilty to re-use proprietary handsets from a previous PBX? Cheers, Gavin.
Gavin Hamill wrote:>Hi :) > >My employer is looking to move a call centre to a new office, and has >been increasingly frustrated with their legacy PBX (call-logging >licensing and hardware upgrade costs). So I've stepped forth as the >Open Source Pedant and suggested Asterisk so we can do all our own >CallerID / call logging / analyses, and make use of IP Phones / >teleworking, etc. > >The problem begins in that I only have a very loose grasp of the telco >world. Has anyone used ISDN30e in the UK with the Digium E1 cards? What >options are there to stick on a couple of ISDN2's on top of that should >we require some 'backup lines'. > >Do BT terminate the ISDN30e in a format that I can literally just plug >into the Digium cards, or will I need some kind of adapter (whether >electronics or even just a simple socket/plug changer)? > >I'm trying to gather some tangibility for the project - I see the first >mailing list post in November 1999... when did the project start, and >when was it first usable as a simple PBX? > >Finally, are my options for handsets limited to IP phones via Ethernet, >or analogue phones via a channel bank (and then to another Digium E1/T1 >card), or is there the possibilty to re-use proprietary handsets from a >previous PBX? > >Cheers, >Gavin. > > >AFAIK ISDN30 is the right thing.. BT will provide an RJ45 port for you to connect the Digium card to.. As for the ISDN2's I don't know if its a good idea, especially since the 2 and 4 port BRI cards are very expensive.. Can't help you on the handset question.. Later..
On 30/10/03 14:38, Gavin Hamill wrote:> Has anyone used ISDN30e in the UK with the Digium E1 cards?Many people.> What options are there to stick on a couple of ISDN2's on top of that > should we require some 'backup lines'.It's more a question of how to implement the backup lines - they're fine for outbound calls, but it's backup for inbound lines that you really want. This is difficult to achieve, but you might be able to get BT to give you a hunt group that hits a pair of ISDN2s after looking through the E1 bank and failing to connect. It's only worth doing if you're going to route them directly to some other kit, though, so Asterisk support for ISDN2 hardware is largely irrelevant here.> Do BT terminate the ISDN30e in a format that I can literally just plug > into the Digium cards, or will I need some kind of adapter (whether > electronics or even just a simple socket/plug changer)?You will be able to just plug it straight in (standard RJ45 termination).> I'm trying to gather some tangibility for the project - I see the first > mailing list post in November 1999... when did the project start, and > when was it first usable as a simple PBX?Can't answer this one, others? Many people/organizations have successfully deployed it, though. Be aware that it's currently not as easy to configure as many commercial PBXs, but it tends to be cheaper and more flexible. FAX support is also coming soon. :)> Finally, are my options for handsets limited to IP phones via Ethernet, > or analogue phones via a channel bank (and then to another Digium E1/T1 > card), or is there the possibilty to re-use proprietary handsets from a > previous PBX?I doubt you can reuse proprietary handsets. Please provide more details (model/make). -- Alastair Maw MX Telecom www.mxtelecom.com
> > Finally, are my options for handsets limited to IP phones via Ethernet, > or analogue phones via a channel bank (and then to another Digium E1/T1 > card), or is there the possibilty to re-use proprietary handsets from a > previous PBX?One option you might not have considered is connect your existing PBX to the back of Asterisk and thereby use it as a channel bank itself. Linus Magrathea Telecommunications (provider of IAX termination and origination services in the UK!)
At 14:38 +0000 30/10/03, Gavin Hamill wrote:> >The problem begins in that I only have a very loose grasp of the telco >world. Has anyone used ISDN30e in the UK with the Digium E1 cards? What >options are there to stick on a couple of ISDN2's on top of that should >we require some 'backup lines'.I would just get another ISDN30 and enable extra circuits as required, rather than add a couple lines here and there with ISDN2/BRI. You can of course get ISDN30 from other suppliers than BT. Some may try and present as DASS rather than Q931. You want Q931 otherwise you need to get a convertor box. Q931 is the RJ45 version that you just plug in to the line card. You could probably reuse the handsets from the proprietory pbx, but it may be cheaper to save the time and complexity by justgetting new handsets, that would need an analysis. HTH f
On Thu, Oct 30, 2003 at 03:10:09PM -0000, Linus Surguy wrote:> > > > Finally, are my options for handsets limited to IP phones via Ethernet, > > or analogue phones via a channel bank (and then to another Digium E1/T1 > > card), or is there the possibilty to re-use proprietary handsets from a > > previous PBX? > > One option you might not have considered is connect your existing PBX to the > back of Asterisk and thereby use it as a channel bank itself.And the reverse is possible too, if you buy 2 E100 cards, you can plug your old PABX into the Asterisk server and set up with very minimal config so each proprietry handset can be used with Asterisk. Of course you only get 30 simultaneous connections between the Asterisk and the old PABX per E1 If you are going this route, you should consider a TE410P which will give you future options of T1 channel banks, extra E1 lines etc. -- Woody
WipeOut
2003-Nov-03 04:12 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] High Availability and Mass Deployment for Asterisk
Alastair Maw wrote:> On 31/10/03 12:11, Senad Jordanovic wrote: > >> You are right, but what if each * server had a single source for all >> of its configuration files from a file server over NFS or similar. > > > Single point of failure at the file server. Better to rsynch all the > machines config files or similar. >Sharing the config files is the smallest problem.. its sharing SIP session and reistration information that is more of an issue.. And managing the data flows..