[asterisk-biz] Renting PRI gateways

[Chris Bagnall]

Greetings list,

I don't know if anyone out there already offers this service, or whether it's even a service others might be interested in.

Quite often when performing Asterisk installations, we need to port numbers from their existing telco. I don't know about elsewhere in the world, but here in the UK, that process usually takes around 3 weeks at best.

As most clients don't want to wait 3 weeks for their new system to be installed, and our reluctance to port numbers in advance of installation of the new system (because something usually goes wrong with porting - often the customer not providing all the required information, or providing inaccurate info), we usually end up with a scenario where calls continue to come in on their ISDN BRIs or PRIs until the porting date.

This leaves us with 2 options:
1) get the telco to forward calls that would have gone to the BRIs/PRIs to a temporary number we set up for the client
2) install a BRI/PRI card as appropriate into their server, assuming there is even a local server on-site

It occurred to me that in these situations, the ideal scenario would be to have a PRI->SIP/IAX gateway that could be "loaned" to the customer for the 3 week period whilst numbers are being ported, thus ensuring continuity of service without either having to pay for an ISDN card (which would be unused after 3 weeks), or paying for call diverts at their old telco's prevailing rate.

Any thoughts? Anyone already offering this sort of service?

Regards,

Chris