[Asterisk-biz] PBX Requirements Document

[Nick Bachmann]

Ed Greenberg wrote:

> Can anybody share a checklist or document used to gather requirements 
> for office  PBX systems?
>
> I have a client who is heavily invested in VoIP and Asterisk for 
> external business use, and he's asked me to guide them on bringing up 
> Asterisk in-house as well.  I can certainly make Asterisk do all the 
> basics, but I don't want to miss anything as far as esoteric 
> requirements.

A good way to find things like this is to get an RFP or ("request for 
bids") from a local government agency (particularly colleges and school 
districts, which will usually have multiple systems of multiple ages and 
thus have fairly continual needs as the oldest ones need replacement or 
upgrade).  Most RFPs will have very detailed requirements, and good ones 
have actual checklists.  You can probably Google around and find one 
easily; if not, your local equivalent FOIA[0] should get you answers 
within a week's time.

Nick

[0] You may also see the submitted bids, of course, after they're 
opened, to get a sense of what vendors are actually offering.  Depending 
on who's sending out the RFPs, the "requirements" may be flexible, or 
they may be (as they were during my brief public service) enforced and 
result in your bid being disqualified if there is failure to meet stated 
any requirements.  It's also a fun exercise in transparent government to 
see if you can spot any bidding irregularities, inconsistencies, or abuses.