Hi- Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite used to working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in the USA (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would cost to install a BRI here. Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. Their comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. They said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, as most of past usage was modem related. I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability going down in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned that I couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a built-in feature. Thanks Scott Stingel Scott M. Stingel President, Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. Palo Alto California & London England www.evtmedia.com
Scott Stingel wrote:> Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite used to > working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my > customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in the USA > (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would cost to > install a BRI here.So why is the subject of your message "PRI dead in USA"? <G>> What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned that I > couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a built-in > feature.I have a client who had 8 BRI lines (just recently turned off) used as trunk service for a Nortel MICS system. They worked fine, delivered calling number _and_ name (in QWest territory), service was excellent and voice quality was too (duh, it's digital :-)). I suspect that BRI is going to go away in the next couple of years, since it has never really taken off and now there are other alternatives for high-speed data-only usage.
Well they fail to realize that ISDN is used for more than data. I just wanna scream at them and say "IT DOES VOICE TO YOU NINNY!".. Rates are far from reasonable. 167/mth here is what I would have to pay for ISDN-BRI. SBC is lame. bkw> -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- > admin@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Scott Stingel > Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 10:37 AM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [Asterisk-Users] PRI dead in USA? > > Hi- > > Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite used > to > working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my > customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in the > USA > (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would cost > to > install a BRI here. > > Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the > distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. Their > comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. They > said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, as > most > of past usage was modem related. > > I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability going > down > in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. > > What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned that > I > couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a built- > in > feature. > > Thanks > Scott Stingel > > > > Scott M. Stingel > President, > Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. > Palo Alto California & London England > www.evtmedia.com > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
Hi Scott, Local ISDN BRI service is definitely on it's way out. We recently have canceled several ISDN BRI accounts and replaced them with ADSL lines. More bandwidth and less cost. If you intend on using the lines for voice only, then FXO is the better option. If you looking to use voice&data the I would suggest 1 FXO line with ADSL over it. We believe the Digium cards with Asterisk in a small Linux box will provide a best combination of flexibility and services. Doug, Voippages.com Scott Stingel wrote:>Hi- > >Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite used to >working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my >customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in the USA >(California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would cost to >install a BRI here. > >Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the >distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. Their >comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. They >said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, as most >of past usage was modem related. > >I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability going down >in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. > >What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned that I >couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a built-in >feature. > >Thanks >Scott Stingel > > > >Scott M. Stingel >President, >Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. >Palo Alto California & London England >www.evtmedia.com > > >_______________________________________________ >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 > > > >
BTW - the title of this was supposed to be "BRI dead in USA?"! (too early!) -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Scott Stingel Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 8:37 AM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [Asterisk-Users] PRI dead in USA? Hi- Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite used to working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in the USA (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would cost to install a BRI here. Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. Their comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. They said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, as most of past usage was modem related. I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability going down in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned that I couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a built-in feature. Thanks Scott Stingel Scott M. Stingel President, Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. Palo Alto California & London England www.evtmedia.com _______________________________________________ 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
i work for a local telco and BRI is avoided due to the amount of hardware it can take to get to an end user. DSL is simply easier and cheaper to provide. Not sure why you can't get caller id, i know when can add that feature to BRI - hcir On Jul 20, 2004, at 7:36 AM, Scott Stingel wrote:> Hi- > > Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite > used to > working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my > customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in > the USA > (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would > cost to > install a BRI here. > > Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the > distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. > Their > comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. > They > said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, as > most > of past usage was modem related. > > I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability > going down > in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. > > What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned > that I > couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a > built-in > feature.
Never rely on a telco for correct information, they will very often be wrong... unless you luck out and actually talk to someone who knows something... Both PRI and BRI are capable of ANI (Caller ID) by using their D-Channel to send/receive this information digitally... A regular T1 (read non-ISDN) can also receive Caller ID if it is done in-band (I.E. Between the first and second rings like an analog line does...) This is the old-school way of doing it, but you get the benefit of not losing that last channel... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Stingel" <scott@evtmedia.com> To: <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 8:36 AM Subject: [Asterisk-Users] PRI dead in USA?> Hi- > > Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite usedto> working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my > customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in theUSA> (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would costto> install a BRI here. > > Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the > distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. Their > comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. They > said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, asmost> of past usage was modem related. > > I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability goingdown> in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. > > What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned thatI> couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was abuilt-in> feature. > > Thanks > Scott Stingel > > > > Scott M. Stingel > President, > Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. > Palo Alto California & London England > www.evtmedia.com > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
Scott, I have an SBC BRI in California. I would not worry about them going away anytime soon. SBC just does not like to sell them because they want you to buy a PRI instead. The main thing to worry about is getting that BRI working with *. There are only a couple of cards that work the National ISDN, one of which is the Eicon Diva Sever cards. I tried hooking my BRI up to * a while ago, but was not successful. I was using a cheapo card, so I'm sure that was part of the problem. As far as callerid, I don't know if mine supports it. My BRI is connected to a portmaster, so I am not looking at callerid. Anyway, Good luck! Scott Stingel wrote:>Hi- > >Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite used to >working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my >customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in the USA >(California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would cost to >install a BRI here. > >Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the >distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. Their >comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. They >said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, as most >of past usage was modem related. > >I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability going down >in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. > >What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned that I >couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a built-in >feature. > >Thanks >Scott Stingel > > > >Scott M. Stingel >President, >Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. >Palo Alto California & London England >www.evtmedia.com > > >_______________________________________________ >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 > > >
brian wrote:> Well they fail to realize that ISDN is used for more than data. I just > wanna scream at them and say "IT DOES VOICE TO YOU NINNY!".. Rates are far > from reasonable. 167/mth here is what I would have to pay for ISDN-BRI. > > SBC is lame.Back in the day, Pacbell was pretty lame also. I worked at a place that made isdn routers. We had a cheat sheet we used to give customers so they could tell pacbell how to provision their line. I had several BRI lines at just $28 per month. I would stack up the B channels and run MLPPP. We allowed users to cheat and make data calls look like voice calls. I think the speed went down from 64 to 56 when you did this, but you saved some per minute phone charges. The good old days. The phone company never seemed to really want to deal with isdn back when it was cool. Now with dsl, they must really ignore it. -- Bob Knight [-w] the work option bk@minusw.com 925-449-9163
If one is using BRI primarily for voice, POTS lines while they will work are not a great replacement for many reasons: No reliable disconnect Slower call setup times Slower and less reliable number delivery (CallerID vs. ANI) Lower voice quality While no one seems to actually support it, it should be possible to support DID over BRI, which would make small BRI installations very cost effective. Fractional PRI might be something to consider as well, but it really depends on how many lines you need and what SBC's gouge rates are these days. I'd also check with the CLECs there. /carmi On 20 Jul, 2004, at 12:46, Doug Shubert wrote:> Hi Scott, > Local ISDN BRI service is definitely on it's way out. > We recently have canceled several ISDN BRI accounts > and replaced them with ADSL lines. More bandwidth and > less cost. If you intend on using the lines for voice only, then > FXO is the better option. If you looking to use voice&data the > I would suggest 1 FXO line with ADSL over it. We believe the Digium > cards with Asterisk in a small Linux box will provide a best > combination > of flexibility and services. > > Doug, > Voippages.com > > > Scott Stingel wrote: > >> Hi- >> >> Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite >> used to >> working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of >> my >> customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in >> the USA >> (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would >> cost to >> install a BRI here. >> >> Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got >> the >> distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. >> Their >> comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. >> They >> said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, >> as most >> of past usage was modem related. >> >> I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability >> going down >> in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. >> >> What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned >> that I >> couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a >> built-in >> feature. >> >> Thanks >> Scott Stingel >> Scott M. Stingel >> President, >> Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. >> Palo Alto California & London England >> www.evtmedia.com >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > 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
SBC never was overly enthusiastic about BRI circuits; when it was a popular technolgy 7-10 years ago they priced it too high, and it languished in limbo since it was too expensive for residential, but too cheap to interest the corporate sales force, who didn't want to undercut T1 sales. I helped a customer order a few for a videoconferencing project recently, and it was such a nightmare that the project was shelved and an IP-based solution was put in. You can't order CID service on the circuit because the provisioning system only knows about CID on POTS lines, but AFAIK, it's an inherent part of the BRI specification, and it's always worked on every BRI I've tried it on, though the sales rep is always confused by the "it's-there-but-it's-not-there" syndrome. On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 08:36:59 -0700, Scott Stingel <scott@evtmedia.com> wrote:> Hi- > > Because a majority of my customers are in Europe, I've gotten quite used to > working with ISDN (PRI) and BRI on a regular basis. Recently one of my > customers asked me if I could terminate a few lines locally here in the USA > (California), so I called up SBC to enquire as to how much it would cost to > install a BRI here. > > Although the rates were reasonable (except the installation), I got the > distinct impression that they really didn't want to install BRI's. Their > comments were "well, BRI is getting quite antiquated", and the like. They > said with the advent of ADSL, there's not much of a market anymore, as most > of past usage was modem related. > > I'm a little worried about the pricing going up, and availability going down > in the near future. I don't have the volume yet to justify PRI. > > What are other's experience in the US with BRI? Also, they mentioned that I > couldn't get caller ID with the BRI service, which I thought was a built-in > feature. > > Thanks > Scott Stingel > > Scott M. Stingel > President, > Emerging Voice Technology, Inc. > Palo Alto California & London England > www.evtmedia.com > > _______________________________________________ > 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 >