Hi All, We recently had an old office building burn down. The office housed maybe 20-30 people. Only about 10 or so of those had their own extensions. We had a standard pbx from an area communications company, and I'm not quite sure about what kind of phone lines were there, I only know that their were actually 3 phone numbers, but everyone could get an outside line if they needed to. We're looking at moving to a new building, and I would like to use Asterisk, because I feel it would be cheaper than purchasing a pbx. Is there any reccomendations as to how I might set this up??? Keep in mind that I know next to nothing about pbx's and phone systems. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks! -Mike Wagner MCCESC
Mike Wagner wrote:> Is > there any reccomendations as to how I might set this up??? Keep in > mind that I know next to nothing about pbx's and phone systems.What is your asterisk knowledge level? Have you set it up in your home/office? Have you fiddled with meetme, call parking, call transfer, DISA? (your users WILL want some if not all of these) Have you connected your box to FWD, IAXTEL? Have you made outbound voip calls through voicepulse, nufone, iconnecthere or some other provider? I think once you've done that, you'll be ready to ask better questions. The first few that come to mind are soft versus hard phones, T1 or ISDN or not, channel bank or not, etc. ----- Andrew Thompson http://aktzero.com/ http://www.retirequickly.com/43653
First , you need to see what your insurance policy covered. If it covered replacement, then the easist thing for you to do is make the claim and replace your old pbx through a local service provider(asterisk or not). Second if you know next to nothing about pbx's and phone, then the time it takes you to learn asterisk, or whatever you choose, means no phones for your company's employees which in turn could equal more lost revenue, etc. Depending on your familiarity with linux, the learning curve could be steep and prove frustrating considering everything else you'll be dealing with (new network infrastructure, new computers, new servers, new telco/data circuits). Less expensive components does not always equal cheaper. Before I installed my system I knew tip/ring and some T-1 stuff on the telco side. It took me 3-4 months to get completely comfortable with asterisk and all the other telco things before I deployed my asterisk system, which replaced a working legacy pbx. The most difficult thing was the telco side. There are many ways to get dialtone, and telco engineers aren't always forthcoming with information. They are used to dealing with vendors that know what they know. my $0.02 -sb -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com]On Behalf Of Mike Wagner Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 9:35 AM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New PBX Help Hi All, We recently had an old office building burn down. The office housed maybe 20-30 people. Only about 10 or so of those had their own extensions. We had a standard pbx from an area communications company, and I'm not quite sure about what kind of phone lines were there, I only know that their were actually 3 phone numbers, but everyone could get an outside line if they needed to. We're looking at moving to a new building, and I would like to use Asterisk, because I feel it would be cheaper than purchasing a pbx. Is there any reccomendations as to how I might set this up??? Keep in mind that I know next to nothing about pbx's and phone systems. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks! -Mike Wagner MCCESC _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
It sounds like you probably had a fractional t-1 with 3 DIDs (probably more that you didnt use). Did your data also go through this pipe? Get a copy of your bill from the phone company. Get a decent server. The beefier and more redundant the better. Get a single span t-1 card. As soon as you decide on a location, contact the Telco of your choice and initiate the T-1 installation process. It can sometimems take months. Ask them to extend the demarc to your suite if it isnt already. Make sure you have cat5e cabling to all the locations where phones are desired. Decide what phones you would like to ring when a call comes in, full autoattendant or auto-attendant backup after some time of ringing extensions. Extension range. IVR options (menu) If you need additional info you can contact me off-list stotaro@totaroREMOVEtechnologies.com Thanks, Steve ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Wagner" <mike@woco-k12.org> To: <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 9:34 AM Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New PBX Help> Hi All, > > We recently had an old office building burn down. The office housed > maybe 20-30 people. Only about 10 or so of those had their own > extensions. We had a standard pbx from an area communications company, > and I'm not quite sure about what kind of phone lines were there, I only > know that their were actually 3 phone numbers, but everyone could get an > outside line if they needed to. > > We're looking at moving to a new building, and I would like to use > Asterisk, because I feel it would be cheaper than purchasing a pbx. Is > there any reccomendations as to how I might set this up??? Keep in > mind that I know next to nothing about pbx's and phone systems. > > Any help is greatly appreciated. > > Thanks! > > -Mike Wagner > MCCESC > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
On Wed, 2004-07-07 at 09:34, Mike Wagner wrote:> Hi All, > > We recently had an old office building burn down. The office housed > maybe 20-30 people. Only about 10 or so of those had their own > extensions. We had a standard pbx from an area communications company, > and I'm not quite sure about what kind of phone lines were there, I only > know that their were actually 3 phone numbers, but everyone could get an > outside line if they needed to. > > We're looking at moving to a new building, and I would like to use > Asterisk, because I feel it would be cheaper than purchasing a pbx. Is > there any reccomendations as to how I might set this up??? Keep in > mind that I know next to nothing about pbx's and phone systems. > > Any help is greatly appreciated.Asterisk has a very steep learning curve, so you need to be prepared to do a fair amount of research on your part. The best places are Google and the Wiki (http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk). Also check out the links on the bottom of the page at http://www.asterisk.org/index.php?menu=support For a small implementation, you can use the 4-port FXO module (http://www.digium.com/index.php?menu=wildcard_tdm400p2) to get to 4 outside lines (FXO -- Foreign Exchange Office). While it will cost a bit more I think you will find SIP phones to be the best for use as phones -- assuming you have a good office network to plug everything into. Note that your mileage may vary (YMMV) when asking newbee questions on the mailing list. The folks who are most knowledgeable tend to be a little burned out on answering questions. Make sure you have done your research before asking a question. In many cases the archives *will* already have the same question and answer(s) in it and many responses will tend to push you towards them. Good luck. Asterisk can handle your problem assuming you put the right amount of effort into it.
Mike, My requirements were similar -- a small-scale, fully featured PBX. If you have a reliable, high-speed internet connection in the new building (business-class DSL or better, full-T1), you may want to go with all-digital phone lines. For your extensions you could either use IP-Phones (from $100 up, depending on features), or FXS devices such as the Sipura SPA-2000, which offers two analog phone ports on each $100 device. The phones you connect to it would be regular analog phones (even cordless), so they shouldn't be too expensive. If you need fancy screen-phones like a $100 Aastra 390, you might want to take a second look at $150+ IP Phones. I spent less than $300 on the server: $110ish for a CPU/Mobo combo with a Celeron 2.7GHz, $30 for a small case and power supply, $40 for 256MB RAM, $100 for an FXO card from Digium (for my one analog line), and a freebie 10MB harddrive I had sitting around -- or get a new 30MB for $50. I spent another $300 for three Sipura SPA-2000s giving me six extensions, and I already had all my phones. Cash cost was under $600. What I got was a "transparent" phone system -- the wife doesn't know it's there, as long as she dials all 11-digit numbers (this makes re-dial easy, because you don't care about the area code!) for outgoing calls. It automatically uses the least expensive line based on the area code (properly configured), and knows to use the PSTN line for 911 calls. Conferencing, call-parking, CDR, Voicemail and MOH are of course included and limited only by your hardware. We also have six incoming lines -- two Broadvoice "unlimited state" lines as well as one "BYOD light" plan; one Vonage "hardline" which is not connected, but rings on a Vonage Softline right into our phone system. Plus the old PSTN line for emergencies. So, if you compare cash-based value, the Asterisk system is clearly a winner -- but cash is only part of the cost. Be prepared to spend the better part of a week configuring everything for the first time. If you're not too well-versed in Linux, add a week. If you don't understand VOIP or PBX talk, add a week. (I had a working system, including building the hardware, in about 6 hours, but spent at least another 40 hours getting everything to work just right) But hey, considering your email address, maybe you could make it a class-project! -JM> -----Original Message----- > From: Mike Wagner [mailto:mike@woco-k12.org] > Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 8:35 AM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New PBX Help > > > Hi All, > > We recently had an old office building burn down. The office housed > maybe 20-30 people. Only about 10 or so of those had their own > extensions. We had a standard pbx from an area > communications company, > and I'm not quite sure about what kind of phone lines were > there, I only > know that their were actually 3 phone numbers, but everyone > could get an > outside line if they needed to. > > We're looking at moving to a new building, and I would like to use > Asterisk, because I feel it would be cheaper than purchasing > a pbx. Is > there any reccomendations as to how I might set this up??? Keep in > mind that I know next to nothing about pbx's and phone systems. > > Any help is greatly appreciated. > > Thanks! > > -Mike Wagner > MCCESC > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/aster> isk-users > To > UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 09:34:42 -0400 > From: Mike Wagner <mike@woco-k12.org> > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New PBX Help > Reply-To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > > Hi All, > > We recently had an old office building burn down. The office housed > maybe 20-30 people. Only about 10 or so of those had their own > extensions. We had a standard pbx from an area communications company, > and I'm not quite sure about what kind of phone lines were there, I only > know that their were actually 3 phone numbers, but everyone could get an > outside line if they needed to. > > We're looking at moving to a new building, and I would like to use > Asterisk, because I feel it would be cheaper than purchasing a pbx. Is > there any reccomendations as to how I might set this up??? Keep in > mind that I know next to nothing about pbx's and phone systems.Asterisk is a great low cost solution to small office telephone communictions if you are interested in doing something different or special for your phones. After 10+ years in the telecom world this really is the first system that could be called the last phone system you will ever need to buy. I would never put anything but Asterisk in any business that I had control of. That being said, if your old system was set up 'square', meaning you had line appearances on your phones and keys that represented features etc., Asterisk may not be the best choice from a user perspective or a cost perspective. Small KSU's like panasonic or comdial are inexpensive enough to buy and get the feature set you need for about the same cost of server/digium hardware. Then there is the installation and maintenance of the new system. you state that you know nothing about phone systems, what about Linux? do you want to keep it that way? If so, Asterisk probably isn't the best choice for you. Good luck Jason Kawakami Optellabs> > Any help is greatly appreciated. > > Thanks! > > -Mike Wagner > MCCESC
Mike, Also note that the wiki and google might also yield BAD/Wrong/not necessarily the way to do it, answers, so do not stop with the first one you find addressing your particular problem. Chances are if its a bad answer, someone will come in screaming a few posts later and rectify the problem, or offer a "clue-by-four". (I love that quote) Then it will be hashed for a week, and a consensus will emerge, and the next poor soul who inadvertently wanders in and asks that same question will have his head dented by someone screaming to "consult the wiki"...or "We just discussed that", RTFM or whatever... So it might be there, or it might not, or it might be wrong, or it might be right, or it might be wrong, and then made right a bit further down...oh and expect some rudeness from some as well.. And YES, your effort at surmounting these obstacles will pay off...even IF we cant get rid of the damned echo... Its a trip, any way you cut it.... ;) Marc>Note that your mileage may vary (YMMV) when asking newbee questions on >the mailing list. The folks who are most knowledgeable tend to be a >little burned out on answering questions. Make sure you have done your >research before asking a question. In many cases the archives *will* >already have the same question and answer(s) in it and many responses >will tend to push you towards them. > >Good luck. Asterisk can handle your problem assuming you put the right >amount of effort into it. > >_______________________________________________ >Asterisk-Users mailing list >Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users