[TriLUG] so what does a 10 phone Asterisk system cost thesedays?
Jim Ray
jim at neuse.net
Sun Dec 30 10:49:46 EST 2007
When it comes to VoIP and Asterisk, I trust Jon's judgment and am
looking forward to using the system we loaded on Thursday at our
Triangle Open Source Lab meeting:
http://www.triangleopensource.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view
&id=59&Itemid=2
Folks are welcome to join us at our next meeting if you want to
participate. I'm probably going to donate my Polycom 301 and try to get
a softphone working as well.
The real deal with VoIP is that it requires an embedded system on the
handset end and pukes hard over public networks where users are unable
to control latency (works great on LAN). Embedded systems are cool yet
cost money. 48V analog POTS handsets are ubiquitous and available at the
local drug store. There are broad ranges of quality and features on the
handset side.
I don't really care for my Polycom 301 because it won't run off my power
over ethernet switch and requires a wall wart. I've got my Talkswitch on
a battery back up and use standard analog phones that are line powered
and cheap.
>From a time study point of view (as long as no one gets too bent out of
shape over running a Windows program), you can configure a new
Talkswitch system in an hour without editing a single line of code.
I'd rely on your own ability to load 'er up, source components and make
it work if going with any of the flavors of pre-built or roll yer own
Asterisk. That's where the rubber hits the road...
-----Original Message-----
From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
Behalf Of Kevin J.
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2007 10:16 AM
To: Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] so what does a 10 phone Asterisk system cost
thesedays?
On Trixbox, I've heard both good (e.g., easy to setup and use,
asterisk-based, decent support, one person I know just moved his entire
office over to Trixbox and has had no problems outside of
poor/unavailable FoIP fax capability which is less of a problem with
Trixbox than FoIP I think), and bad (e.g., uses a fork of asterisk which
may not be completely supportable if Trixbox goes out of business, many
VoIP phones are not well-supported and the phone/appliance setup is
"buggy" unless using the right VoIP phones, a couple of PBX/VoIP vendors
I spoke with mentioned that a number of them come back after customers
try them and become disappointed).
The folks at voipsupply.com sell a lot of them and the salesman I spoke
with tried to steer me towards the Rhino setup (the same one Jon
mentioned) over the Trixbox (we ended up going with hosted VoIP through
Spirit Telecom in the end). Rhino makes the Trixbox appliance for
Trixbox and also sells a non-branded bundle for resellers. Supposedly
their support is better than the support provided by Trixbox, but this
was several months ago and things may have improved. I'd recommend
talking to voipsupply.com and others for as many "real world" opinions
as you can find.
The voipsupply salesman also recommended Switchvox (another
Asterisk-based appliance) and said they seemed to have a very well-built
system overall. Switchvox and several others (e.g., Evolution PBX)
provide the same "hybrid-hosted" model as Trixbox which basically means
they will monitor the system remotely for a monthly fee and proactively
fix any issues.
You need to find the right mix of ingredients for your budget and needs
(phones, features, appliance, and support) and ask a LOT of questions.
Voipsupply also sells the Talkswitch bundle so it might be a good idea
to ask them what customer feedback has been on that as well.
Kevin
----- Original Message ----
From: "jonc at nc.rr.com" <jonc at nc.rr.com>
To: Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 9:58:07 PM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] so what does a 10 phone Asterisk system cost these
days?
Lookup pricing on Voipsupply.com. They sell a Trixbox that would work
just fine for your friends. Very easy to setup. Very easy to maintain.
Full of features that you will never find on a cheapo Analog PBX.
I recommend model CEROSR4XO-EC (advertised price: $1,335.99)
Note: if they plan on growing, you might want the more pricey TB-01...
This would use the 4 incoming lines from Sprint for connection to the
PSTN and let them use VoIP phones for connections to the PBX.
Cerient (Cerient.net) has experience with similar installs. So far they
have a great on-site track record for VoIP/hybrid pbx installs.
Now for the interesting part of a phone system - the clients will judge
the new system almost completely on the handsets that are put in with
the system... No matter how good the features and sound quality, crappy
handsets == crappy phone system.
I recommend you get Polycomm (or Cisco)phones for the system. These
will cost from $100 to $200 each depending on the functions you need
for
the phones. Of course you could go with Softphones like the VT-GO from
IPBlue. These are about half the cost of Hardware phones and generally
work very well - as long as the computer workstations are decent.
Good Luck!
Jon Carnes
FeatureTel
---- Jim Ray <jim at neuse.net> wrote:
> Go to hellodirect.com and order a Talkswitch. Use regular analog
phones. Your per phone cost for VoIP is something like $300 and for
POTS
something like $5 from the Walmart check out line. The head unit is a
grand or two.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jim
>
> Jim Ray, President
> Neuse River Networks
> tel: 919-838-1672 cell: 919-606-1772
> http://www.NeuseRiverNetworks.com
>
> Connecting You to the World since 1997
>
> We specialize in managed services, IT outsourcing and installation of
network communications systems for voice, video and data. Our
expertise has evolved from small, local businesses to large businesses
with
locations scattered across the globe.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
Behalf Of Greg Brown
> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 7:17 PM
> To: Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion
> Subject: [TriLUG] so what does a 10 phone Asterisk system cost these
days?
>
> My friends who run the campground at the outer banks are looking to
upgrade
> their phone system - but what does it cost? They have 10 phones now,
all
> are multi-line ancient things. They have four incoming lines from
> Sprint/Embark (the only provider on the Island) and they'd like to
keep
> their lines.
>
> So what they are looking for is a new phone system, naturally, I
thought
> Asterisk. I'd be interested in getting some a quote or two for
installation
> and support of the system. The good news is whoever is maintaining
the
> system will have inbound ssh (with Squid if you need it) access so
the
> system can be maintained over the Internet.
>
> Also I can be utilized if you need to replace a handset, etc as I am
present
> in the area MOST WEEKENDS. I can also help with the physical
installation
> of the hardware if required.
>
> Requirements are as follows: 10 phones, all IP all with an internal
> switch. The existing wiring isn't pretty I'm sorry to say but most
rooms
> have at least one 100 meg cat 5 drop. The computers in each room
will have
> to be connected via the phone switch port. Voicemail is a big thing.
If
> you can believe it there is no voicemail in the current system.
>
> That's about it - what would a system like this cost?
>
> Greg
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