[Asterisk-Users] Lucent Phones

Mon Apr 12 08:28:42 MST 2004

Greg,

You're going through what I went through last year, and I feel your pain.

I started by mixing * with Lucent, but that turned into a nightmare.  It was
a twisted and convoluted setup to transfer calls to more than a couple VOIP
extensions, or for callers to dial anyone's extension directly.  At one
time, I think I had a call pass through * three times and the lucent twice.
What a mess.

At this point, I'm using straight Asterisk, with a a PSTN gateway at a data
POP passing calls via IAX to my PBX here in the office.  From there, I have
a mix of SIP and POTS (cordless) extensions.

FWIW, you should be able to completely eliminate the Connectreach and bring
your T1 directly into *.  You just need to find out what channels on the T1
are used for voice, and which are used for data.  Using a T400 or TE405, you
can cross connect the data channels out to another T1 to go into your
router.

I agree that it would be cool as hell to reverse engineer Lucent's phones.
Having an 18D on everyone's desk would be the coolest damned thing ever.
The problem, of course, is not only reversing the protocols, but also
developing the hardware interface (a regular channel bank will not do the
trick).

--
  Troy Settle
  Pulaski Networks
  http://www.psknet.com
  540.994.4254 ~ 866.477.5638

> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com 
> [mailto:asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of 
> Gregory Junker
> Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2004 7:28 PM
> To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
> Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Lucent Phones
> 
> Right, I know that the voice part is POTS because I have a standard
> cordless phone plugged into our Partner system. 
> 
> Hmm, wouldn't ETR be covered under a patent and not a 
> copyright? And has
> 17 years been up yet?
> 
> And if someone is selling devices that convert to/from ETR, then the
> protocol spec is available in some form (even if it's some draconian
> Avaya licensing scheme). I agree that Avaya has a vested interest in
> keeping the spec out of the public eye (sell phone upgrades, 
> sell Merlin
> adapter modules), but this technology is definitely getting 
> long in the
> tooth....which doesn't mean that my users exactly want to give up the
> familiarity of the Partner phones just yet. ;) And since I 
> already have
> Partner phones, and don't really care to spend $200-$300 a pop to
> replace them with Snom or Cisco phones (good as they may be)...
> 
> My goal is to get rid of that box on my wall. I already got rid of one
> (Cisco 1720 that was our router, replaced by a Linux 
> server/router), now
> I have two to go (Lucent ConnectReach for our Time Warner Telecom IBL,
> and the Partner ACS phone system). Hell, Lucent Technologies ought to
> pay me rent for the amount of space they occupy on my walls. 
> 
> [rant=on]
> 
> It is completely obnoxious to me that I have to take an incoming
> channelized T1 and have it broken out into physical copper 
> wire so that
> I can insert it into my Partner system for voice. If I had 
> then to take
> that copper, spend beaucoup more bucks to be able to put it back INTO
> digital form so that it can work with an Asterisk PBX...that's
> borderline surreal to me. Everyone is so vested in making 
> sure that none
> of their damned equipment interoperates with anyone else's 
> (yet all the
> while paying serious lip service to the holy grail of 
> "standards") that
> I am to the point where DCMA be damned, if I can measure it I 
> can figure
> it out. It pisses me off no end that TWTC can't simply send a 
> normal T1
> into my business (and therefore allow me to use a simple T100P), and
> I'll bet that when they start offering VoIP in this area (SW 
> Ohio) it'll
> also involve some absurd piece of proprietary equipment further to
> clutter up my wall or rack. 
> 
> [rant=off]
> 
> At any rate, yes, I could pick up a TDM400 and have Asterisk act like
> Partner ACS analog extensions, or pick up 3 X100's and use it directly
> for the incoming lines (and then deal with the user fallout regarding
> adaptation to X-Lite or something similar), but I just can't bring
> myself to do it, honestly. Ultimately, I want those boxes off my wall
> because technologically, they do not need to be there. 
> 
> Guess I'm stuck with finding 7960's on eBay as cheap as I can. *sigh*
> 
> Anyone want an outmoded Partner ACS R1.0 analog phone system? ;)
> 
> Greg
> 
> On Wed, 2004-04-07 at 17:46 -0500, Steven Sokol wrote:
> > > On Wed, 2004-04-07 at 15:44 -0500, Eric Wieling wrote:
> > > > Don't expect the fancy function buttons to
> > > > work, however.
> > > >
> > > 
> > > That's specifically what I was asking about...
> > > 
> > > Has anyone tried to decipher the ETR signaling protocol? 
> Or is it such a
> > > closely guarded Lucent/Avaya secret as to make the 
> formula for Coca-Cola
> > > look like an open-source recipe?
> > > 
> > 
> > ETR (Enhanced Tip/Ring) supposedly uses some variety of 
> serial protocol over
> > two lines to provide the screen functionality.  The voice 
> channel is still
> > POTS.  These phones are sold with the Partner system and 
> can be added to the
> > Magix systems using an ETR blade.
> > 
> > Here in the states we could be jailed for trying to reverse 
> engineer the
> > serial display protocol (at least, in theory -- I don't 
> know if it's been
> > tested yet) as a violation of the evil DCMA.
> > 
> > Anybody know about the other core Avaya protocols: 
> specifically DCP and its
> > cousin TDL.  DCP (Digital Communications Protocol) has been 
> used for years
> > on the Definity line.  Somewhere in the mid 1990s they cut 
> it from 4 wires
> > to two wires.  The two wire version was ported to the 
> Merlin Magix platform
> > and is called "TDL" which I have been told means "Two wire 
> DigitaL"??
> > 
> > If you have a large investment in the Avaya sets, it might 
> be nice to have a
> > bridge device to convert to SIP or H323 or whatever.  I saw 
> somebody at VON
> > who offered a device that they claimed did just that.  
> Don't remember who
> > just now.
> > 
> > Regs,
> > 
> > -S
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Asterisk-Users mailing list
> > Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com
> > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
> >    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Asterisk-Users mailing list
> Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com
> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> 