[Asterisk-Users] FAQ...FXS...LAN...FXO

[Stefano Finetti Lynx Automotive srl]

From: "Jim Fleming" <JimFleming at ameritech.net>
>


> ...to summarize, you have to have some idea of the market or application
you are addressing...
> ...the C at T Litter boxes are for the home (SOHO) market...not for a major
call center...
>

First of all, I've to thank you for your BIG patience and your REALLY clear
explanations ;-)

Basically, I'm trying to put asterisk as the "official" PBX for my office, a
little office with 8 internal extensions actually without a PBX managing
them

We use, at the moment, an external service provided by a telephon carrier
(Albacom italy) that make phones ring in sequence when a customer calls our
unique number (the unique number is just an artifact - each phone has its
own number and is reachable from outside directly if anyone knows the
number).

Probably the best solution for me should be simply to buy an active ISDN
card like AVM c4 in order to attach all the four ISDN BRI (8 channels in
total) and then use in the office some IP Phone - software ore h/ware ip
phone like the Snom Phone or a Cisco one.

Anyway, my boss asked quite strongly to me to "learn quick and well" how to
manage the use of analog phones, Frame Relay (using E400P from digium) and
so on, in order to have another service for our customers (my company is an
application service provider for Car Dealers in Italy, we give them
connectivity, firewalling and so on via Linux boxes).

At the moment, I'm able with asterisk to call from my home pc the Asterisk
Machine, that answer, play vocal menus, and let me reach some extension
configured, on another PC with the same Soft SIP Phone (eStara SoftPhone).
It works well.

Until we remain in an IP context, I'm quite sure I can afford it and manage
well the situations. But i need (because, according to Murphy's Law it WILL
surely happens) to understand how to use analog phones with asterisk:
assuming that i obviously cannot attach 30 FXS card on the Asterisk Linux
Box... probably I need a motherboard long as the cabling between New York
and Paris with a bunch of PCI slots ;-)

This is the reason for my asking about a FXS PCI Card capable to manage MORE
than 1 extension (i.e. conneting 3 or 4 rj11 cables directly from the
telephony patch panel)

--
Stefano Finetti
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System Consultant
BlueBox Project Coordinator
Lynx Automotive srl
email: ssfinetti at lynxautomotive.it
tel: +39 199 79 79 30
fax: +39 (0)6 233 227 934
Linux Registered User #271978
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