Re: [MLUG] Asterisk continued

[Shawn Parker <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Yea.  People I spoke with on the Asterisk list said the Cisco phones 
were great.  And, that they worked nicely with the system.  Dunno.  I'm 
looking at Planet IP phones currently.  They support the same standards 
as most other VoIP phones.

As far as quality, this office has 11 employees, 10 phones and 5 
workstations.  I don't need much, and as long as they can make calls, 
sell ads and talk to each other about their publications..."quality" can 
be less than that of a medium-large organization.  It is a tiny 3 room 
office space.  They don't need much.  Which is what started this whole 
adventure in the first place.  4500 for a Towner ADIX system is a little 
out of their budget.  They have just enough to pay for hardware and my 
time on the project...the rest is wrapped up in the business. 

Thanks, I'll check out those phones as well.

Johann Luebbering wrote:

> If it's of any help, I've heard that Grandstream 
> (http://www.grandstream.com/) has good IP phones for extremely 
> reasonable prices.  I've heard from other soruces, though that the 
> phones are less-than-stellar quality, so I guess you have to take it 
> with a grain of salt.  Also, Quintum (http://www.quintum.com) is 
> supposed to have top-notch products, but they're a lot more 
> expensive.  I haven't heard many people who aren't Cisco-freaks to 
> begin with say much in the way of good things about Cisco's VOIP line.
>
> This is all second hand, though...  I have yet to use any of them 
> personally.
>
> Shawn Parker wrote:
>
>> My Asterisk saga is now unfolding into a bit of a drama.  I got a 
>> call back from Integrated Solutions about ordering Cisco 7905G IP 
>> phones and they told me that they can't sell me just the phones.  I 
>> needed to have a Cisco phone system in place and Cisco hardware, like 
>> L3 switches.
>>
>> Everyone I've talked to on the Asterisk mailing list says that is 
>> utter crap.  I agree, I think ISG is just pissed because I said I was 
>> going with an Open-Source solutions that obviously will undercut 
>> their business.  I can see the point of wanting a nice, L3 switch in 
>> place for the pure fact of better networking.  But, it's not "needed" 
>> to make the phones work.  Especially since I will be using SIP.
>>
>> I talked to one guy using Cisco 7960 IP phones and an old Netgear 
>> fast ethernet switch and reported no problems with that set up.
>>
>> It disappoints me to be haggled by someone I was nice enough to 
>> consider for business.
>>
>> I still think we're moving forward with the Asterisk solution, I just 
>> don't know what to do phone wise now.
>>
>> The basic gist of the call was that if my "ethernet isn't exactly to 
>> spec..." the phones will absolutely not work.  That is nearly 
>> verbatim what the Integrates Solutions Group rep and "tech" guy told 
>> me.  Then, they proceeded to offer me a Cisco phone system and a 
>> switch or router to "make" it work.
>>
>> I'll see what happens, and report back when I have more info.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Russell Horn wrote:
>>
>>> I've put a bit more work into this. Yesterday I added two FXO cards 
>>> that
>>> cost me about $25 each - that's a Foreign Exchange Office which 
>>> connects my
>>> asterisk box to two standard phone lines. I can now route calls at 
>>> will. The
>>> asterisk box can spot if I am dialling the USA and route calls there 
>>> through
>>> Broadvoice VOIP and if I'm dialling locally route them through the 
>>> PSTN.
>>>
>>> Incoming calls can be moved between extensions and voicemail works.
>>>
>>> The configuration system is quite messy, but I think they are 
>>> working on
>>> that. It has a system for passing call information to another 
>>> program so you
>>> can run compiled C programs or even call a PHP script on the basis of
>>> telephone input.
>>>
>>> All in all, this is a neat system. For a few hundred quid of 
>>> hardware you
>>> could easily have a PBX that would cost thousands from a big name 
>>> vendor. Of
>>> course what you don't get is the support line and technicians. That,
>>> however, was where I was pointing in my initial thread. If someone 
>>> wanted to
>>> make money through Linux, this has to be an opportunity. You can 
>>> provide
>>> better, more flexible systems than almost any other vendor, and 
>>> undercut
>>> them on cost every time because you have no licensing fees.
>>>
>>> On the other hand, you could just set things up at home so you have the
>>> geekiest house in MO. Is the university covered by Wi-Fi? If there 
>>> was a way
>>> to get the phones to log in, you could even get a Wi-Fi phone and 
>>> have an
>>> extension of your home PBX in your pocket anywhere on campus!
>>>
>>> Asterisk is definitely one to watch...
>>>
>>> Russell.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> members mailing list
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>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>
>>
>
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-- 
Shawn Parker
Network Administrator
Cumulus Broadcasting, LLC.
Columbia-Jefferson City, Missouri
1.573.449.4141
EMAIL:PROTECTED


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