asterisk users - Jul 2004 - Upgrade from Altigen

Hi Everyone.

I have a client that uses an Altigen system.  I am really new to PBX systems
so all this is totally foreign to me.

They currently have 5 inbound trunk lines and about 20 analog phones.
>From what I can gather they are using the Altigen Quantum cards that support
8 extensions and 4 trunks.
>From what I can gather the solution is a TDM04B and TDM01B to bring in the
lines from the CO.  A T100P to connect to a channel bank for the analog
phones.

I am looking to do this as cheap as possible since the main reason we want
to upgrade is to take advantage of the VOIP functionality in Asterisk.  We
also want to use IAX to connect another small office that doesn't have a PBX
yet.

Are there any comments on this solution?

Thanks,

Geoff

----- Original Message ----- >
> Hi Everyone.
>
> I have a client that uses an Altigen system.  I am really new to PBX
systems
> so all this is totally foreign to me.
>
> They currently have 5 inbound trunk lines and about 20 analog phones.
>
> >From what I can gather they are using the Altigen Quantum cards that
support
> 8 extensions and 4 trunks.
>
> >From what I can gather the solution is a TDM04B and TDM01B to bring in
the
> lines from the CO.  A T100P to connect to a channel bank for the analog
> phones.
that should cover it.  You could also skip the 04 and just build another
group with the open 4 channels on the channel bank and set them up as FXO
ports.

would kill any station expansion though.  I have just heard rumblings of
problems if there are more than three cards in a box (something with IRQ
conflicts.)

think about gettting the T400 and doing everything through channel banks.
that single card would give you up to 96 ports of FX(x), much more flexible
etc.

good luck

Jason Kawakami

Open Telephony Labs

>
> I am looking to do this as cheap as possible since the main reason we want
> to upgrade is to take advantage of the VOIP functionality in Asterisk.  We
> also want to use IAX to connect another small office that doesn't have
a
PBX
> yet.
>
> Are there any comments on this solution?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Geoff

> ----- Original Message ----- >
> 
> > Hi Everyone.
> >
> > I have a client that uses an Altigen system.  I am really new to PBX
> systems
> > so all this is totally foreign to me.
> >
> > They currently have 5 inbound trunk lines and about 20 
> analog phones.
> >
> > >From what I can gather they are using the Altigen Quantum 
> cards that
> support
> > 8 extensions and 4 trunks.
> >
> > >From what I can gather the solution is a TDM04B and TDM01B 
> to bring in
> the
> > lines from the CO.  A T100P to connect to a channel bank 
> for the analog
> > phones.
> 
> that should cover it.  You could also skip the 04 and just 
> build another
> group with the open 4 channels on the channel bank and set 
> them up as FXO
> ports.
> 
> would kill any station expansion though.  I have just heard 
> rumblings of
> problems if there are more than three cards in a box 
> (something with IRQ
> conflicts.)
> 
> think about gettting the T400 and doing everything through 
> channel banks.
> that single card would give you up to 96 ports of FX(x), much 
> more flexible
> etc.
> 
> good luck
> 
> Jason Kawakami
> 
> Open Telephony Labs
> 
Any suggestions on an inexpensive channel bank that can handle this
configuration?

Currently with Altigen if their PBX goes down then calls will automatically
route to some dedicated phones.  Is there a way to configure this with
Asterisk and the channel bank?

Altigen also has this feature called "boomerang" that allows a user to
listen to the voicemail, put the voicemail on hold (almost sounds like
parking), call the user that left the vm, and then return to the same point
within the message.  I got this information second hand so I am not sure how
accurate it is.  Can we do this with Asterisk?

Thanks,

Geoff

> Currently with Altigen if their PBX goes down then calls will automatically
> route to some dedicated phones.  Is there a way to configure this with
> Asterisk and the channel bank?
You can use power fail transfer switches to do this.

For example see:

    http://www.vikingelectronics.com/

Look at product: PF-6A Power Fail Bypass

Jim

James H. Thompson
jht@lava.net

> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com 
> [mailto:asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of 
> James H. Thompson
> Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 9:37 PM
> To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com
> Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Re: Upgrade from Altigen
> 
> > Currently with Altigen if their PBX goes down then calls 
> will automatically
> > route to some dedicated phones.  Is there a way to 
> configure this with
> > Asterisk and the channel bank?
> 
> You can use power fail transfer switches to do this.
> 
> For example see:
> 
>     http://www.vikingelectronics.com/
> 
> Look at product: PF-6A Power Fail Bypass
> 
> Jim
> 
> James H. Thompson
> jht@lava.net
Thanks Jim.

Does anyone think that the Altigen has this feature built-in or might they
have a device similar to the Power Fail Bypass installed?

Geoff

> 
> Thanks Jim.
> 
> Does anyone think that the Altigen has this feature built-in or might they
> have a device similar to the Power Fail Bypass installed?
> 
The Altigen web site has technical manuals online.
    http://www.altigen.com/customer_tech-manuals.html
It would appear that the power failure transfer feature is part of their
hardware.
I believe that in some places there are legal requirements that some ability to
call emergency
services remain during a power failure.


Jim

James H. Thompson
jht@lava.net