[TriLUG] Asterisk for the office

Mon Nov 13 18:56:23 EST 2006

Polycoms are awesome. I highly recommend them.

On Mon, 2006-11-13 at 17:17, Cristobal Palmer wrote:
> I have a Polycom 501 on my desk. My coworkers have the same phone.
> Asterisk plays nice with SIP, so it works fine on that front.
> 
> The webmin is a bit clunky, but otherwise it's a great phone. The
> speakerphone on it is _fantastic_, and it's cheaper than the
> competition.
> 
> -CMP
> 
> On 11/13/06, Brian Henning <brian at strutmasters.com> wrote:
> > I've been in touch with people at CDW, where we buy some of our
> > enterprise-grade stuff (when we do buy such things).  They don't seem to
> > offer the Cisco 79x0 phones, but their "telephony expert" suggested the
> > Polycom 501/601 phones, as units that are reasonably easy to use and
> > work well with Asterisk.  Does anyone have comments to make in favor or
> > against the Polycom models?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > ~Brian
> >
> > jonc at nc.rr.com wrote:
> > > Brian,
> > >
> > > Asterisk is definitely enterprise ready but you have identified some of
> > > the weak points below. Still, if you have a fairly static phone config
> > > and just need basic phone apps, then Asterisk is easily do-able for the
> > > average office.
> > >
> > > Paging is best done using an analog speaker system - which looks to
> > > Asterisk like a simple Analog phone line. Other than that, you can use
> > > the intercom feature available with Cisco 7940 or 7960 phones and just
> > > setup a "conferencing" group that uses the intercom feature on all your
> > > phones. It won't work perfectly, but it will work.
> > >
> > > If you think you need 24 lines then a PRI is the way to go. You'll get
> > > CallerID and the cost is much cheaper for the setup and maintenance.
> > >
> > > If you go with POE switches, that will be more expensive than buying
> > > power bricks for each phone, but you will get some nice honking Cisco
> > > switching power that will vlan out your Voice traffic from your Data.
> > > The cheaper solution is to get a Cisco 2924 XL-EN (that "EN" part is
> > > *very* important) and bunch of power bricks. It cost would be about half
> > > of that of going with a Cisco 3524-PWR
> > >
> > > The advantages of VoIP are tremendous, and installation is about half
> > > the cost of a traditional service, but... it still ain't cheap.
> > >
> > > If you guys want an interrum solution (hosted VoIP), then look us up. We
> > > would be happy to help you take you guys off your old PBX and move you
> > > over to the world of VoIP. And if you need any Asterisk help, let me know.
> > >
> > > BTW: I've gotten several Kick-butt Asterisk servers from Cerient (Jason
> > > Tower). The costs have all been around $2k (plus the Digium hardware),
> > > and they would work great as and Enterprise Asterisk server for an
> > > office of your size or larger.
> > >
> > > Jon Carnes
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Brian Henning <brian at strutmasters.com>
> > > Date: Thursday, November 9, 2006 12:20 pm
> > > Subject: [TriLUG] Asterisk for the office
> > > To: TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
> > >
> > >> Hi Y'all,
> > >>   Coming back around to the Asterisk topic again..  Now that we're
> > >> looking at the possibility of expanding off-site operations, having
> > >> a
> > >> completely-VoIP office telephony solution is seeming more and more
> > >> prudent.  So I'm looking for some advice from folks who have
> > >> deployed
> > >> whole-office systems using Asterisk (as well as input from folks
> > >> that
> > >> have used non-Open-Source software).  I've already thought of the
> > >> following points:
> > >>
> > >> - Need a real butt-kicking server to handle as many as 24 inbound
> > >> lines
> > >> (using a Digium TDM2400), plus however many inter-office calls may
> > >> be
> > >> occurring (plus room for expansion).  Right now I'm contemplating a
> > >> Core
> > >> 2 Extreme-based system.
> > >>
> > >> - In the absence of intelligent managed switchgear, need separate
> > >> switchgear for 100bT for the phones.  Possibly with PoE.
> > >>
> > >> - Need to have all the features of our existing PBX.  General
> > >> call-handling features are a cinch with * dialplan and
> > >> applications, but
> > >> I'm finding, in particular, the "page" or "intercom" feature seems
> > >> to be
> > >> more of a challenge in the VoIP world.  Paging ability is essential.
> > >>
> > >> - Phones need to be simple enough that our folks can use them, but
> > >> complex enough to handle things like paging.  I've seen
> > >> recommendations
> > >> for the Cisco 7960 set.  Price is a consideration, as our initial
> > >> investment will be 30 phones.
> > >>
> > >> I'm also all-ears for other options.  It'd be fantastic in $boss's
> > >> eyes,
> > >> I'm sure, if we didn't have to abandon the investment we've already
> > >> made
> > >> in our current Nortel MICS system.  Unfortunately, so far the only
> > >> way
> > >> I've found to interface the PBX with an Asterisk system is via
> > >> analog
> > >> adapters.  Icky, because of course then you lose a lot of the PBX
> > >> features for the Asterisk users.
> > >>
> > >> Also, if there's anyone that would like to come visit our facility,
> > >> evaluate our current system and our needs and make a quote, I'd be
> > >> very
> > >> happy to entertain it.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks a lot!
> > >>
> > >> Cheers,
> > >> ~Brian
> > >> --
> > >> ----------------
> > >> Brian A. Henning
> > >> strutmasters.com
> > >> 336.597.2397x238
> > >> ----------------
> > >> --
> > >> TriLUG mailing list        :
> > >> http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilugTriLUG Organizational
> > >> FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
> > >> TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
> > >>
> >
> > --
> > ----------------
> > Brian A. Henning
> > strutmasters.com
> > 336.597.2397x238
> > ----------------
> > --
> > TriLUG mailing list        : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> > TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
> > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cristobal M. Palmer
> UNC-CH SILS Student -- ils.unc.edu/~cmpalmer
> TriLUG Vice Chair
> "There are many roads to enlightenment, and thus many roads back to
> the One True Debian" --crimsun