asterisk users - Nov 2006 - Newbie Questions . . .

Hello all.

My company currently has an older Executone PBX system that we are outgrowing.  
Rather than wait until the last minute to make a hasty decision, I thought it 
would be a good idea to do some research and compare options first.  My 
expertise is in computers and networking, and telephony systems are mostly 
foreign to me.

What we currently have are 5 incoming POTS lines and 25 stations and are 
wanting to add 1 or 2 more stations.  I think we might have added at least 
one more incoming line, except that the phones we have only support 5 lines 
(so I'm told).  Our PBX system has room for 5 more stations, then it's
time
to buy a new one.

I'm assuming I need to add some hardware in order to make Asterisk work with
our existing setup, but I'm not entirely sure what.  Based on the reading 
I've done so far and my limited understanding, if we wanted to use it in 
place of our existing PBX system, I would need to get an "analog interface 
card" (several, actually), like Digium's TDM400P, like so:

2 - Wildcard TDM04B cards for FXO and
7 - Wildcard TDM40B cards for FXS

-or-

1 - Wildcard TDM04B card for FXO and
1 - Wildcard TDM22B card for FXO & FXS and
7 - Wildcard TDM40B cards for FXS

I might as well use the top configuration for future expansion.

If I am correct, that is 9 PCI cards in a PC.  I don't know of any
motherboard
that supports that many cards, so either I'm wrong, or I'll need
different
cards, or I'll need to utilize 2 or more PCs in conjunction with each other.
I haven't yet found any mention on the last two options, so I'm assuming
I'm
wrong and I need a little enlightenment.

Thank you for any information that will help me better understand this.


-- 
Jason Flatt
Father of Six:  flattfamily.com (Joseph, 13; Cramer, 11; Travis, 
9; Angela; Harry, 5; and William, 12:04 am, 12-29-2005)
Linux User:     sourcemage.org
Drupal Fanatic: drupal.org

Maybe you should try this
digium.com/en/products/hardware/aadk.php .
Is very heavy loaded if 9PCI cards at a server. But is possible but not
encourge. Maybe you can consider to have digital extension with IP phone.
THis is my opinion.

:-) good luck

On 11/14/06, Jason Flatt <jason@flattfamily.com>
wrote:
>
> Hello all.
>
> My company currently has an older Executone PBX system that we are
> outgrowing.
> Rather than wait until the last minute to make a hasty decision, I thought
> it
> would be a good idea to do some research and compare options first.  My
> expertise is in computers and networking, and telephony systems are mostly
> foreign to me.
>
> What we currently have are 5 incoming POTS lines and 25 stations and are
> wanting to add 1 or 2 more stations.  I think we might have added at least
> one more incoming line, except that the phones we have only support 5
> lines
> (so I'm told).  Our PBX system has room for 5 more stations, then
it's
> time
> to buy a new one.
>
> I'm assuming I need to add some hardware in order to make Asterisk work
> with
> our existing setup, but I'm not entirely sure what.  Based on the
reading
> I've done so far and my limited understanding, if we wanted to use it
in
> place of our existing PBX system, I would need to get an "analog
interface
> card" (several, actually), like Digium's TDM400P, like so:
>
> 2 - Wildcard TDM04B cards for FXO and
> 7 - Wildcard TDM40B cards for FXS
>
> -or-
>
> 1 - Wildcard TDM04B card for FXO and
> 1 - Wildcard TDM22B card for FXO & FXS and
> 7 - Wildcard TDM40B cards for FXS
>
> I might as well use the top configuration for future expansion.
>
> If I am correct, that is 9 PCI cards in a PC.  I don't know of any
> motherboard
> that supports that many cards, so either I'm wrong, or I'll need
different
> cards, or I'll need to utilize 2 or more PCs in conjunction with each
> other.
> I haven't yet found any mention on the last two options, so I'm
assuming
> I'm
> wrong and I need a little enlightenment.
>
> Thank you for any information that will help me better understand this.
>
>
> --
> Jason Flatt
> Father of Six:  flattfamily.com (Joseph, 13; Cramer, 11;
> Travis,
> 9; Angela; Harry, 5; and William, 12:04 am, 12-29-2005)
> Linux User:     sourcemage.org
> Drupal Fanatic: drupal.org
> _______________________________________________
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>
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-- 
Regards,
Sharon Lim

*Good memories are to be folded neatly and tucked away into the back pocket
*
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