[Asterisk-Users] Centrex

[Joe Greco]

> Centrex is a type of line and I do not believe there is a compatible card
> for *.
> 
> FXS isn't going to cut it.  Centrex is a digital type line.

No, it isn't.

Centrex is a virtual PBX service Ma Bell is willing to sell you.  All
it is is a custom service, like Caller-ID, just a bit more "meta" scale.

In the old days, we routinely had large Centrex pools of POTS lines for
smaller ISP's and BBS's.  Centrex was nice because you could manage the
hunt system without intervention from Ma Bell - you just dial up into
their nice CentrexMate system and you can place orders to your heart's
content.

People also used Centrex ISDN BRI lines in the days before DSL.  You'd
get a Centrex BRI with your ISP and a Centrex BRI at your location
(usually had to be on the same exchange), and you suddenly had a massive
128Kbps pipe which wasn't billed per-call or per-minute.

The only way you'd immediately be able to tell a Centrex POTS line from a
standard one, around here, is that it was a "dial 9 first" type of line.

That all being said, Centrex lines were occasionally delivered over T1 and
a channel bank, with said channel bank being the most likely source for a
wide range of bizarre issues, such as the charger for the batteries
crapping out, or the batteries leaking all over.

This is, of course, not necessarily helpful to the original poster, but
hopefully will clear up a little confusion over what "Centrex" is.

... JG
-- 
Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net
"We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I
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