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<body><div style="text-align: left;">Once I get a better idea of what the telecom here provides in their contract it might be easier to see what I should include in the Asterisk based system.<br><br>Is switchvox a proprietary system? Or are they based on Asterisk? They don't mention asterisk on the site anywhere. I've also noticed Digium offers<br>a support service plan. Perhaps this with an estimated initial setup cost would be a good comparison to the telecom offering.<br><br>I really want to highlight the flexibility and also feature set of Asterisk.<br><br>Thanks again for your comments!<br></div><br><br><br><hr id="stopSpelling">> Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:34:22 -0400<br>> From: stotaro@totarotechnologies.com<br>> To: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>> <br>> The bottom line is that you will save money or at the very least, over <br>> the course of a year or two, break even. Considering some proposals I <br>> did on NEC IPK systems several years ago, an eight port conference <br>> bridge card was $5,000, another $5,000 for an eight port VoIP card MGCP, <br>> $3,000 for a four port voicemail card, add some other feature and you <br>> get the point. Also, support contracts were something to the tune of $4 <br>> per port per month, that includes all ports (concurrent voicemail access <br>> + phones + PSTN + conference bridges). So lets say that "whatever" <br>> company has 4 FXO, 16 FXS, and 4 voicemail, that is a total of 24 ports <br>> X $4 = $96/mo X 12mo = $1,152 and that only included very specific limits.<br>> <br>> This is all free in Asterisk. You could purchase a Switchvox (or some <br>> other turnkey) system pretty cheaply, have all of those costly add-on <br>> features included, they offer support via SSH and over the phone, and <br>> with IP, MACs are a breeze. A low level A+ tech can do it, unlike a <br>> traditional system where a telephone guy has to come out with a butt <br>> set, toner, and punch down tool. Most proprietary systems are not <br>> exactly easy to program even in a "Turnkey" solution.<br>> <br>> You have many variables to look at but I think that your paper will be a <br>> very interesting look into a paradigm shift. <br>> <br>> Thanks,<br>> Steve<br>> <br>> Byron Pile wrote:<br>> > I was going to assume that yes, there are Linux people on staff and <br>> > that they could be taken away to set up and support asterisk. But <br>> > because I was comparing it to a turnkey solution that most likely is <br>> > including service as part of the contract, comparing it to a similar <br>> > contract based asterisk setup makes more sense. However, I guess when <br>> > starting this I was hoping to eliminate "license" fees from the open <br>> > source solution, but if I'm using a small company, I think its more <br>> > realistic to assume they don't have a support department ready to <br>> > devote man hours to an asterisk system when they were using a turnkey <br>> > solution before.<br>> ><br>> > Thanks for clarifying the handsets, I was considering using SIP phones <br>> > in the case study, but thought it might be possible to "reuse" some <br>> > existing equipment. This is also a technology upgrade in this case.<br>> ><br>> > I was going to assume that the workers were just as productive as <br>> > before, but the ROI would come mostly from reduction in operating <br>> > costs (hopefully). If they don't have any "linux people" on staff, <br>> > this makes it harder to include some of the open source benefits like, <br>> > fixing bugs, adding features and the other flexibility that Asterisk <br>> > would provide over using the Norstar.<br>> ><br>> > Thanks for the response Steve, I have more research to do obviously!<br>> ><br>> ><br>> ><br>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>> > Subject: RE: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>> > Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:59:03 -0500<br>> > From: stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com<br>> > To: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>> ><br>> > For several varying quotes, one could go to www.buyerzone.com<br>> > <http://www.buyerzone.com/> and put in exactly what you<br>> > specified. You will get several vendors proposing different<br>> > systems, prices, and most importantly, service contracts. It does<br>> > cost each vendor about $25 dollars to buy your “lead” so be aware<br>> > that you are costing them money by doing this. Whether or not<br>> > that is ethical, is your decision. I am just pointing out that<br>> > “one could do it”. Make sure to include that you need a<br>> > conference bridge that can handle unlimited callers, also<br>> > unlimited voicemail ports, support SIP, and also consider<br>> > scaling. That should freak them out.<br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> > Does “whatever” company have people on staff that know Linux and<br>> > have time to learn and support Asterisk? What is the cost of<br>> > taking them from what they usually would be doing to work on the<br>> > Asterisk system?<br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> > I would suggest going with SIP phones and a four port FXO board. <br>> > You could run both systems side by side until you are ready to cut<br>> > over and then just switch your four POTs lines. <br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> > Most proprietary systems use digital sets so you cannot use a<br>> > mutiport FXS board. I have used proprietary handset gateways such<br>> > as Citel and my person experience was very very poor. <br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> > How much ROI is going to depend on increased worker productivity<br>> > which is fairly hard to figure out and also ongoing average costs<br>> > of MACs (cost of Moves Adds Changes) as well as support contracts. <br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> > Thanks,<br>> > Steve Totaro<br>> > http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com<br>> > KB3OPB<br>> > <br>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>> ><br>> > *From:* asterisk-biz-bounces@lists.digium.com<br>> > [mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces@lists.digium.com] *On Behalf Of<br>> > *Byron Pile<br>> > *Sent:* Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:28 PM<br>> > *To:* asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>> > *Subject:* [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> > I thought the biz list was most appropriate for this. Hope I'm not<br>> > wrong!<br>> ><br>> > I'm trying to write a term paper on adopting an open source<br>> > solution over a commercial solution and comparing the cost.<br>> > Specifically if a legacy system is in use already, when will the<br>> > initial investment of hardware for an asterisk based system pay<br>> > off against the licensing fees of a proprietary system. After<br>> > reading a good chunk of the free Asterisk book "Asterisk:The<br>> > Future of Telephony" I think that Asterisk is an excellent topic<br>> > for the paper. <br>> ><br>> > I'm new to telephony stuff so bear with me if my questions are a<br>> > bit dumb, I've tried to do quite a bit of research and reading<br>> > before posting to the mail lists. So my idea was to use the fake<br>> > company "whatever" and they have 15 telephones and are currently<br>> > using a Norstar ICS with 4 incoming lines and 15 internal lines<br>> > and I would like to switch this over to an asterisk based system.<br>> ><br>> > The reason for choosing the Norstar as this is a turnkey solution<br>> > provided by a large local telecom so I will be able to get some<br>> > pricing information for them fairly easily and I think it does<br>> > what a 15 telephone small office might need...I'm open to a better<br>> > suggestion if the Norstar is a poor choice.<br>> ><br>> > My quick questions are...is it possible that the handsets being<br>> > used with a Norstar could be converted and used with the Asterisk<br>> > system? (a bit of asset recovery)<br>> ><br>> > A system consisting of a suitable linux server running Asterisk<br>> > and a Digium TDM2441B PCI Card 16FXS / 4FXO would be a suitable<br>> > replacement and could deliver the same performance/functions as<br>> > the Norstar system?<br>> ><br>> > I'm going to try and be as thorough as possible in assessing the<br>> > costs in switching to this system. The most obvious being some new<br>> > hardware, but also, downtime, training, support costs, contract<br>> > penalties (if there are any) etc....But this is a term paper and a<br>> > highly hypothetical situation. And I know my questions are a bit<br>> > general, but the paper will probably be kept quite general. I hope<br>> > I can learn more about this cool app!<br>> ><br>> > Thanks!<br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>> ><br>> > Live Search Maps – find all the local information you need, right<br>> > when you need it. Find it!<br>> > <http://maps.live.com/?icid=wlmtag2&FORM=MGAC01><br>> ><br>> > <br>> ><br>> ><br>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>> > i'm making a difference. Make every IM count for the cause of your <br>> > choice. Join now! <br>> > <http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwme0080000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=wlmailtagline> <br>> ><br>> > <br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com --<br>> <br>> asterisk-biz mailing list<br>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:<br>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz<br><br /><hr />Your friends are close to you. <a href='http://spaces.live.com/signup.aspx
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