jjk16
asked on
Asterisk PBX Setup With 4 Analog Lines For Small Business Infrastructure
I have a project that I am trying to acomplish.
Three Main Goals
1. Enable a small business to have a full featured Asterisk PBX for 4-6 lines (analog from verizon, sbc, etc)
many extensions
2. Cheap as Possible
3. Enable Advanced IP features and Learn more about Vo/IP and PBX's
Customer has an old comdial PBX. 4 phones and 8 comdial phones. Its Old. Customer Balks at high price of pbx.
I was thinking that i could get a 4 port fxo card from digium or something Equivalent. I could then Plug in the 4 analog lines from CO into the 4 ports in the back of the asterisk PBX. Some problems I forsee are:
How do I connect the asterisk PBX to a 66 punch down Block?
Do I need to buy new Phones?
Do I need FXS modules to send the digitial signal to these phones?
What other Hardware do I need?
Any other suggestions?
If I went with a t1 (pri?) would that be better?
Any sound quality issues?
Thanks for reading and I look forward to the responses.
Three Main Goals
1. Enable a small business to have a full featured Asterisk PBX for 4-6 lines (analog from verizon, sbc, etc)
many extensions
2. Cheap as Possible
3. Enable Advanced IP features and Learn more about Vo/IP and PBX's
Customer has an old comdial PBX. 4 phones and 8 comdial phones. Its Old. Customer Balks at high price of pbx.
I was thinking that i could get a 4 port fxo card from digium or something Equivalent. I could then Plug in the 4 analog lines from CO into the 4 ports in the back of the asterisk PBX. Some problems I forsee are:
How do I connect the asterisk PBX to a 66 punch down Block?
Do I need to buy new Phones?
Do I need FXS modules to send the digitial signal to these phones?
What other Hardware do I need?
Any other suggestions?
If I went with a t1 (pri?) would that be better?
Any sound quality issues?
Thanks for reading and I look forward to the responses.
ASKER
Q. Any sound quality issues?
A. If you use a cheap server, yes
explain?
Q. If I went with a t1 (pri?) would that be better?
A. Depends on how many concurrent calls you need to support
Why is a pri better for voice over IP. Can I use a fractional t1? Only 4-6 lines are in use. So please reference that for any answers please.
Q. Do I need FXS modules to send the digitial signal to these phones?
A. No, it goes over IP over the network to the phones.
What is the purpose of an FXS module then? Interact with an old fashioned PBX?
A. If you use a cheap server, yes
explain?
Q. If I went with a t1 (pri?) would that be better?
A. Depends on how many concurrent calls you need to support
Why is a pri better for voice over IP. Can I use a fractional t1? Only 4-6 lines are in use. So please reference that for any answers please.
Q. Do I need FXS modules to send the digitial signal to these phones?
A. No, it goes over IP over the network to the phones.
What is the purpose of an FXS module then? Interact with an old fashioned PBX?
Q. Any sound quality issues?
A. If you use a cheap server, yes
explain?
- Low end servers such as the Dell SC420 ($299) do not handle interupts properly and you will get stuttering, pops, clicks, and drop-offs.
Q. If I went with a t1 (pri?) would that be better?
A. Depends on how many concurrent calls you need to support
Why is a pri better for voice over IP. Can I use a fractional t1? Only 4-6 lines are in use. So please reference that for any answers please.
- If you are only using 4-6 lines, then the cost of the PRI is probably not worth it. You could use a dedicated DSL circuit for only that many concurrent calls or a fractional T1. The advantage of using a PRI is more about reliability right now. PRI's rarely go down.
Q. Do I need FXS modules to send the digitial signal to these phones?
A. No, it goes over IP over the network to the phones.
What is the purpose of an FXS module then? Interact with an old fashioned PBX?
- The FXS is typically used to connect to legacy systems, yes.
A. If you use a cheap server, yes
explain?
- Low end servers such as the Dell SC420 ($299) do not handle interupts properly and you will get stuttering, pops, clicks, and drop-offs.
Q. If I went with a t1 (pri?) would that be better?
A. Depends on how many concurrent calls you need to support
Why is a pri better for voice over IP. Can I use a fractional t1? Only 4-6 lines are in use. So please reference that for any answers please.
- If you are only using 4-6 lines, then the cost of the PRI is probably not worth it. You could use a dedicated DSL circuit for only that many concurrent calls or a fractional T1. The advantage of using a PRI is more about reliability right now. PRI's rarely go down.
Q. Do I need FXS modules to send the digitial signal to these phones?
A. No, it goes over IP over the network to the phones.
What is the purpose of an FXS module then? Interact with an old fashioned PBX?
- The FXS is typically used to connect to legacy systems, yes.
ASKER
OKay so far so good. Please do not spare the keyboard when explaining answers. The keyboard likes it.
ok so fractional t1, would 256kb suffice? or do i need more.
And finally,
How does the FXS work with a pbx. So say I get an incoming call on the asterisk, i want to send it through the old PBX to the extention on the comdial. Does the FXS package the call and send to the comdial pbx and the comdial routes it to the proper extention? I want to intergrate the asterisk with the old comdial. Can you explain how the FXS works with the the old??
Any motherboards that you recommend?
Thanks
ok so fractional t1, would 256kb suffice? or do i need more.
And finally,
How does the FXS work with a pbx. So say I get an incoming call on the asterisk, i want to send it through the old PBX to the extention on the comdial. Does the FXS package the call and send to the comdial pbx and the comdial routes it to the proper extention? I want to intergrate the asterisk with the old comdial. Can you explain how the FXS works with the the old??
Any motherboards that you recommend?
Thanks
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Q. How do I connect the asterisk PBX to a 66 punch down Block?
A. You dont, you would connect to the phones over the existing Cat5 cable in your office
Q. Do I need to buy new Phones?
A. Yes, you need SIP compatible phones
Q. Do I need FXS modules to send the digitial signal to these phones?
A. No, it goes over IP over the network to the phones.
Q. What other Hardware do I need?
A. A server and phones, thats about it
Q. Any other suggestions?
A. Look at existing solutions such as the products from Zultys
Q. If I went with a t1 (pri?) would that be better?
A. Depends on how many concurrent calls you need to support
Q. Any sound quality issues?
A. If you use a cheap server, yes