Hello, Background: Old to UNIX & Linus, New to list. A techie Dad that supports local k-8 school that my kids go to. More background: Recently the school wanted to put phones in all the classrooms for teacher communications to/from the office. Another Dad in the telecom business spec'ed out a standard PBX with wiring, etc. Needless to say it was Expensive with a Captitol "E". Anyway I started looking around at open source and found Asterisk. We currently have a complete switched network within the school (jsut replaced all hubs with switches) and have multiple PC's in each classroom as well as the front office. We also run RH Linux for our webserver, email server, file server, Websense server, and library software server. Question: If I just want to provide IP Telephony within the school and have no outside connections to the local phone system I suspect I can install Asterisk on a RH Linux server and plug in a bunch of IP Telephones on the network, config it all and it will work. The only cost to the school would be the IP Telephones. Correct?? I know it would involve a bit more configuration and planning as I have stated but basically is the idea correct?? Question: What phones or types of phones should I be looking at. I suspect there are new ones coming out every day. I'm just interested in the most basic phone to plug into the network. Nothing fancy, basic, basic, basic. I also know I can use soft phones but do not want to go there as it makes just another application we have to be responsible for on the desktop. Many thanks in advance. BTW, the school is: www.sainttheresaschool.org stew>> >> Stewart M. Ives >> SofTEC USA >> WebSite: www.softecusa.com
See comments inline...> -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- > bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Stewart M. Ives > Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 12:05 PM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New Project - IP Phone Sources > > Question: If I just want to provide IP Telephony within the school and > have no > outside connections to the local phone system I suspect I can install > Asterisk > on a RH Linux server and plug in a bunch of IP Telephones on thenetwork,> config it all and it will work. The only cost to the school would bethe> IP > Telephones. Correct?? I know it would involve a bit moreconfiguration> and > planning as I have stated but basically is the idea correct??Stew, Asterisk is definitely the perfect application for which you are trying to accomplish. You could even integrate asterisk into the current PBX if you wanted. But simply putting up an asterisk server and some sort of IP hardphone would work perfect for your scenario.> Question: What phones or types of phones should I be looking at. I > suspect > there are new ones coming out every day. I'm just interested in themost> basic phone to plug into the network. Nothing fancy, basic, basic,basic.> I > also know I can use soft phones but do not want to go there as itmakes> just > another application we have to be responsible for on the desktop.The most basic phones, I think many will agree, are Grandstreams. From what I have read they seem to have pretty good integration with *. I have never used these, but have used Polycom IP 500's. For a business, in my case a law firm, these phones have worked pretty reliably. Best regards, - Brent
You have more options than you know. You could go with a channel bank if you want to keep support for the analog phones in the classrooms now(my school had them) or you could goto the next step with the sip phones. I have looked around and found a couple vendors to be fairly inexpensive. Check this link out: http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-VOIP+Phones Check under hardphones. It's a very good resource for the information your looking for. As far as the dialplan. It would take no time to build what your looking for and get everything setup. Got any questions feel free to drop me a email .o-------------------------------------------------------o. Brian Fertig Network Engineer Planet Telecom, Inc. Tampa, FL Office 813.864.3161x107 Office 813.864.3164 Direct 813.817.9961 Cellular 813.881.9762 Fax Web: www.planet-telecom.com email: brian@planet-telecom.com -------------------------->IM's<--------------------------- MSN: brian@planet-telecom.com AIM: ptelebrian Yahoo: ptele_brian -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Stewart M. Ives Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 12:05 PM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New Project - IP Phone Sources Hello, Background: Old to UNIX & Linus, New to list. A techie Dad that supports local k-8 school that my kids go to. More background: Recently the school wanted to put phones in all the classrooms for teacher communications to/from the office. Another Dad in the telecom business spec'ed out a standard PBX with wiring, etc. Needless to say it was Expensive with a Captitol "E". Anyway I started looking around at open source and found Asterisk. We currently have a complete switched network within the school (jsut replaced all hubs with switches) and have multiple PC's in each classroom as well as the front office. We also run RH Linux for our webserver, email server, file server, Websense server, and library software server. Question: If I just want to provide IP Telephony within the school and have no outside connections to the local phone system I suspect I can install Asterisk on a RH Linux server and plug in a bunch of IP Telephones on the network, config it all and it will work. The only cost to the school would be the IP Telephones. Correct?? I know it would involve a bit more configuration and planning as I have stated but basically is the idea correct?? Question: What phones or types of phones should I be looking at. I suspect there are new ones coming out every day. I'm just interested in the most basic phone to plug into the network. Nothing fancy, basic, basic, basic. I also know I can use soft phones but do not want to go there as it makes just another application we have to be responsible for on the desktop. Many thanks in advance. BTW, the school is: www.sainttheresaschool.org stew>> >> Stewart M. Ives >> SofTEC USA >> WebSite: www.softecusa.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
-----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com]On Behalf Of Stewart M. Ives Sent: 15 October 2004 17:05 To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New Project - IP Phone Sources Hello, Background: Old to UNIX & Linus, New to list. A techie Dad that supports local k-8 school that my kids go to. More background: Recently the school wanted to put phones in all the classrooms for teacher communications to/from the office. Another Dad in the telecom business spec'ed out a standard PBX with wiring, etc. Needless to say it was Expensive with a Captitol "E". Anyway I started looking around at open source and found Asterisk. We currently have a complete switched network within the school (jsut replaced all hubs with switches) and have multiple PC's in each classroom as well as the front office. We also run RH Linux for our webserver, email server, file server, Websense server, and library software server. Question: If I just want to provide IP Telephony within the school and have no outside connections to the local phone system I suspect I can install Asterisk on a RH Linux server and plug in a bunch of IP Telephones on the network, config it all and it will work. The only cost to the school would be the IP Telephones. Correct?? I know it would involve a bit more configuration and planning as I have stated but basically is the idea correct?? -Correct! Question: What phones or types of phones should I be looking at. I suspect there are new ones coming out every day. I'm just interested in the most basic phone to plug into the network. Nothing fancy, basic, basic, basic. I also know I can use soft phones but do not want to go there as it makes just another application we have to be responsible for on the desktop. -I don't think you can get any less basic than the Grandstream Budgetone 101. The do still have features though. Yiannis.
>Question: If I just want to provide IP Telephony within the school and have >no >outside connections to the local phone system I suspect I can install >Asterisk >on a RH Linux server and plug in a bunch of IP Telephones on the network, >config it all and it will work. The only cost to the school would be the >IP >Telephones. Correct?? I know it would involve a bit more configuration >and >planning as I have stated but basically is the idea correct??Yes. You will spend some time configuring stuff, but it should work just fine. Between the list and #asterisk on irc.freenode.net you shouldn't have too much trouble.>Question: What phones or types of phones should I be looking at. I >suspect >there are new ones coming out every day. I'm just interested in the most >basic phone to plug into the network. Nothing fancy, basic, basic, basic. >I >also know I can use soft phones but do not want to go there as it makes >just >another application we have to be responsible for on the desktop.Check out: http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-VOIP+Phones I think the Grandstream BudgeTones are the cheapest ones you'll find. You could also use an adapter to use existing analog phones, but I don't think that'll save much money. -Michael
Hi Stewart, Nice project! Something I'd certainly love to be doing myself. Anyway, the following replies I've made to your questions are based on my experience and past research. There may be better/cheaper alternatives. In any case, I hope it helps: On Fri, 2004-10-15 at 12:05 -0400, Stewart M. Ives wrote:> Hello,[snip]> > Question: If I just want to provide IP Telephony within the school and have no > outside connections to the local phone system I suspect I can install Asterisk > on a RH Linux server and plug in a bunch of IP Telephones on the network, > config it all and it will work. The only cost to the school would be the IP > Telephones. Correct?? I know it would involve a bit more configuration and > planning as I have stated but basically is the idea correct?? > > Question: What phones or types of phones should I be looking at. I suspect > there are new ones coming out every day. I'm just interested in the most > basic phone to plug into the network. Nothing fancy, basic, basic, basic. I > also know I can use soft phones but do not want to go there as it makes just > another application we have to be responsible for on the desktop. > > Many thanks in advance.Pretty much. You have the following options as far as I can see (and I'm sure there's more): 1) FXS Adapter - The IAXy[1] is a nice (and cute) device which allows you to connect a single analog telephone and provide VoIP connectivity using IAX to your Asterisk server. Buying the device helps support Asterisk. The only catch is that it only supports one analog phone. Keeping price in consideration, the only other device I would recommend is the Sipura SPA-2000 which supports 2 analog telephones per device (you would need one SPA-2000 per 2 classrooms (one analog phone per classroom)) 2) Digium TDM40B[2] (includes the TDM400P card plus the 4 FXS modules): This configuration provides 4 x FXS (analog telephone) ports on a single half-length PCI card. I just checked the Digium site and they're selling the TDM40B for $305 (works out to be around $76 per telephone). Certainly the best way of doing it, IMHO. Keep in mind with this solution you would need telephone wiring FROM the Asterisk server where the TDM40B lives to all the classrooms. With the IAXy or the SPA-2000 you just need telephone wiring from the unit itself to each classroom it's providing VoIP to. Great thing about this solution is that you can mix and match. If, for instance, the school decided to get a telephone line hooked up to the system, you can buy a FXO module and swap it for an unused FXS module, or configure it however you want. 3) VoIP Telephones: Cheapest is the infamous Grandstream[3] BudgeTone (AKA BarbieTone). Well, actually, I shouldn't say infamous since I've not had a problem with them myself, but you'll find many reports from other users on the mailing list archives about the myriad of problems you can have with them. If you already have a network connection going into each classroom, this (or the FXS adapters) may be the best option. Hope this helps! Best regards, Gonzalo [1] http://www.digium.com/index.php?menu=iaxy [2] http://www.digium.com/index.php?menu=wildcard_tdm400p2 [3] http://www.grandstream.com/y-bt100.htm