Hello, I've been planning to replace my aging CENTREX switch with a new PBX and am seriously considering Asterisk as my solution. I work at a college, and we currently support just under 300 regular analog lines to the offices and whatnot. I was wondering.. Is asterisk ready for such a job? Would I be making a mistake to deploy this across the campus at this time? It seems that Asterisk is extremely powerful and I absoultly love the way it appears to integrate into almost any existing system, so it would be fantastic if I could deploy it successfully. I do understand that I would need to replace all of my existing telephones with VoIP-capable phones, and that I'll need to re-wire most of the campus telephone infrastructure (it's still all cat-3) -- these arent problems. I just want to be sure that it's possible to do this, and that im not wasting my time. Thanks for any insight provided! - Don Brearley HCC Computer Services
look at ser projects: asterisk is limited to 250 channels You need cat 5e and manage qos if you setup ip phones Harry --- Don Brearley <donbrearley@hcc.mnscu.edu> a ?crit :> > Hello, > > I've been planning to replace my aging CENTREX > switch with a new PBX and am seriously > considering Asterisk as my solution. > > I work at a college, and we currently support just > under 300 regular analog lines to > the offices and whatnot. > > I was wondering.. Is asterisk ready for such a job? > Would I be making a mistake > to deploy this across the campus at this time? > > It seems that Asterisk is extremely powerful and I > absoultly love the way it appears > to integrate into almost any existing system, so it > would be fantastic if I could > deploy it successfully. > > I do understand that I would need to replace all of > my existing telephones with VoIP-capable > phones, and that I'll need to re-wire most of the > campus telephone infrastructure (it's still > all cat-3) -- these arent problems. > > I just want to be sure that it's possible to do > this, and that im not wasting my time. > > Thanks for any insight provided! > > - Don Brearley > HCC Computer Services > > _______________________________________________ > 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>___________________________________________________________________________ Appel audio GRATUIT partout dans le monde avec le nouveau Yahoo! Messenger T?l?chargez cette version sur http://fr.messenger.yahoo.com
On Wed, Jun 22, 2005 at 09:50:42AM -0500, Don Brearley wrote:> I've been planning to replace my aging CENTREX switch with a new PBX and am seriously > considering Asterisk as my solution.You have a CENTREX switch? I'm confused. Do you have a PBX? Do you pay for Centrex services from your phone company? Do you have a Class 5 swith with Centrex features? Why not take a cautious approach? Leave what you have in place. Install Asterisk and investigate the various line interface options. Enlist early adopters on your campus to participate in the trial. Connect Asterisk to your existing system with PRI. Gradually ramp up the Asterisk system and ramp down the existing system. -- Mike
300 phones should not be a problem if you design the system correctly. If they are all analog sets with no transcoding your should fine.> -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com > [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of > Don Brearley > Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 10:51 AM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New Asterisk Implementation > > > Hello, > > I've been planning to replace my aging CENTREX switch with a > new PBX and am seriously considering Asterisk as my solution. > > I work at a college, and we currently support just under 300 > regular analog lines to > the offices and whatnot. > > I was wondering.. Is asterisk ready for such a job? Would I > be making a mistake to deploy this across the campus at this time? > > It seems that Asterisk is extremely powerful and I absoultly > love the way it appears to integrate into almost any existing > system, so it would be fantastic if I could deploy it successfully. > > I do understand that I would need to replace all of my > existing telephones with VoIP-capable phones, and that I'll > need to re-wire most of the campus telephone infrastructure > (it's still > all cat-3) -- these arent problems. > > I just want to be sure that it's possible to do this, and > that im not wasting my time. > > Thanks for any insight provided! > > - Don Brearley > HCC Computer Services > > _______________________________________________ > 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, Jun 22, 2005 at 05:32:22PM +0200, harry gaillac wrote:> look at ser projects: > asterisk is limited to 250 channelsWhat kind of crack are you smoking? There are people that have set up more than 250 channel systems. Matthew Fredrickson
Don Brearley wrote:> I do understand that I would need to replace all [300] of my existing telephones with VoIP-capable > phones, and that I'll need to re-wire most of the campus telephone infrastructure (it's still > all cat-3) -- these arent problems.dear Don & the rest, Imagine: *replacing all that wiring *buying 300 first-generation VoIP hardphones at $100 each *(regularly?) updating the firmware on each one. Why not get VoIP<->analog gateways? That way *centralizes administration* and lets users keep their (higher quality) analog phones. The Patton Smartnode 4900 ($4500) should allow this: (diagram only makes sense in a monospaced font) ISDN SIP FXS PSTN <----> Asterisk <---> Smartnode <----> analog phone T1 eth cat3 I'm working on a telephony upgrade for my office too and this approach makes more sense to me -- please comment! (also, Don, there are probably gateways with more FXS ports -- say 60 instead of 32 -- that would make this more cost-effective for your 300 phones) -- Seamus Abshere Isthmus Group
> I've been planning to replace my aging CENTREX switch with a new PBX and am seriously > considering Asterisk as my solution.Great> I work at a college, and we currently support just under 300 regular analog lines to > the offices and whatnot.Free help then....> I was wondering.. Is asterisk ready for such a job? Would I be making a mistake > to deploy this across the campus at this time?Asterisk is a solution, one of many, one of the "right solutions" group too....> It seems that Asterisk is extremely powerful and I absoultly love the way it appears > to integrate into almost any existing system, so it would be fantastic if I could > deploy it successfully.Yep> I do understand that I would need to replace all of my existing telephones with VoIP-capable > phones, and that I'll need to re-wire most of the campus telephone infrastructure (it's still > all cat-3) -- these arent problems.No you don't, you can use channel banks and run back out to analog and add some VOIP phones if you want.> I just want to be sure that it's possible to do this, and that im not wasting my time.No time wasting. This is a great fit for you. Stay away from some of the Dell servers until you know that they work well. (interupt and ACPI issues)> Thanks for any insight provided!> - Don Brearley > HCC Computer Services > > _______________________________________________ > 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 >-- <sig> Andrew Latham - AKA: LATHAMA (lay-th-ham-eh) WWW: http://lathama.com Email: lathama@lathama.com - lathama@yahoo.com - lathama@gmail.com If any of the above are down we have bigger problems than my email! </sig>
On Wed, Jun 22, 2005 at 03:56:55PM -0500, Andrew Latham wrote:> He is talking about ZAP channels. This is correct. No one should want > to use that many ZAP channels.You can use more than 250 zap channels. That limitation has been removed a long time ago. chan_zap.c doesn't have to use the device files directly for channels above the limit of /dev/zap/ device entries.> > On 6/22/05, Matt Fredrickson <creslin@digium.com> wrote: > > On Wed, Jun 22, 2005 at 05:32:22PM +0200, harry gaillac wrote: > > > look at ser projects: > > > asterisk is limited to 250 channels > > > > What kind of crack are you smoking? There are people that have set > > up more than 250 channel systems. > > > > Matthew Fredrickson > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > > > > -- > <sig> > Andrew Latham - AKA: LATHAMA (lay-th-ham-eh) > WWW: http://lathama.com > Email: lathama@lathama.com - lathama@yahoo.com - lathama@gmail.com > If any of the above are down we have bigger problems than my email! > </sig>
Leave what you have in place. Install Asterisk and investigate the various line interface options. Enlist early adopters on your campus to participate in the trial. Connect Asterisk to your existing system with PRI. Gradually ramp up the Asterisk system and ramp down the existing system. Mike, That's exactly what I plan on doing. Initially I will roll it out in my office only, then to a department that's already expressed interest in being my guinea pig. Thanks for the advice. -Don
> I just want to be sure that it's possible to do this, and that im not wasting my time.No time wasting. This is a great fit for you. Stay away from some of the Dell servers until you know that they work well. (interupt and ACPI issues) -- Thanks for the advice on staying away from Dell servers.. I have three Sun Ultra Enterprise 450's (Quad CPU, gigs of RAM) that I want to use for this project. I would like one to be a primary asterisk box, and have the other two as backups. Have you, or anyone else heard of similar problems with this kind of gear? Thanks again! - Don
>>> trclark@shaw.ca 06/22/05 12:55PM >>> > > I do understand that I would need to replace all of > > my existing telephones with VoIP-capable > > phones, and that I'll need to re-wire most of the > > campus telephone infrastructure (it's still > > all cat-3) -- these arent problems.why do you think that you need to do that ? you could just install 2 *boxs with 2 4 port t1 cards in each (sangoma or digium) and (4 * 1500 - $6K) 300+ analog ports (7 * 1K ~ 7K) 13 x 24 port channel banks (adtran ta-750) or 7 48 port channel banks(adit 600) feels less expensive than 300 voip hand sets say 300 * 80 = 24K vs 13K That's sweet! Saving that much cash will only help me get the administration to approve this project. Thanks again! -Don _______________________________________________ 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