[Asterisk-Users] Lucent Phones

[Andrew Kohlsmith]

> If you are already using Asterisk for VoIP then you've already made the
> decision and sorted the phones out - you wouldn't buy a handset gateway. 
> But if you were a legacy phone user now, and you were considering VoIP,
> then you wouldn't have to be tied to the same legacy PBX vendor.  Using a
> handset gateway gives you the choice of going with various IP-PBX
> solutions.

Well I am still very interested in using our digital phones -- the investment 
in them was not trivial and I'm in no way interested in exchanging one 
proprietary telephone solution for another proprietary VOIP solution (the 
3com NBX) -- Your card looks like a great way to use my existing digital 
phones but it seems that I'm tied to 3Com's VOIP solution now.

I don't suppose there are any plans on a gateway PCI card with Linux drivers 
that Asterisk can use?  That would be ideal -- let me use my digital phones 
iwth all the line indication and display and so on but just present them as 
Norstar channels for Asterisk...  :-)

> The question originally asked was whether legacy phones could be supported
> from Asterisk - the answer is yes.  If the solution suits a particular
> requirement then fine, if it doesn't then you have to look elsewhere, but
> there are plenty of legacy PBX users out there who are intending to take
> advantage of IP telephony, but who want to keep the huge investment they've
> made in their handsets.

I totally agree, and I'm one of them, although at the present I feel that a 
PRI and clocking card for the ICS is perhaps a better way for us to go -- 
just present all trunk lines from the ICS to Asterisk and let it route.  
Voicemail is still stuck in the ICS unless I can trick it into thinking it's 
on a centrex system, but I'm getting the heebie-jeebies thinking about 
purchasing an NBX and learning all its foibles.

But yeah if your company is at all looking at a PCI solution that will play 
nicely with Asterisk -- please let me know!

Regards,
Andrew