[Asterisk-Users] some questions...

[Steven Critchfield]

On Tue, 2003-02-18 at 05:40, Roy Sigurd Karlsbakk wrote:
> hi
> 
> - What excactly is _needed_ to attach analog phones to asterisk? Can I do with 
> a card, or do I need a channel bank?

Digium is getting closer to releasing their card that will let you
connect up to 4 phones via a PCI card. Other option is a line/phonejack
card, but it is 1 phone per pci slot. A channel bank requires purchasing
a T1 card. The last option is to use a VoIP to analog adapter like the
Cisco ATA186. The ATA186 is a ethernet to 2 analog port adapter that is
supported by asterisk.

> - What is a channel bank?

A channel bank is a T1 de/multiplexor. It takes analog channels and
encodes/decodes them to a digital T1 signal. This gives you the ability
to convert the 24 timeslots of a T1 line to any number up to 24 channels
of analog service. 

> - Are any digital phones supported?

There are a few VoIP phones, but not digital like you would find in a
key system. VoIP gives you the benefit of being able to move them from
system to system as long as the standards are followed. Several Cisco
VoIP phones are supported. 

-- 
Steven Critchfield  <critch at basesys.com>