[Asterisk-Users] New Project - IP Phone Sources

[Gonzalo Servat]

Hi Stewart,

Nice project! Something I'd certainly love to be doing myself. Anyway,
the following replies I've made to your questions are based on my
experience and past research. There may be better/cheaper alternatives.
In any case, I hope it helps:

On Fri, 2004-10-15 at 12:05 -0400, Stewart M. Ives wrote:
> Hello,
[snip]
> 
> Question: If I just want to provide IP Telephony within the school and have no
> outside connections to the local phone system I suspect I can install Asterisk
> on a RH Linux server and plug in a bunch of IP Telephones on the network,
> config it all and it will work.  The only cost to the school would be the IP
> Telephones.  Correct??  I know it would involve a bit more configuration and
> planning as I have stated but basically is the idea correct??
>
> Question:  What phones or types of phones should I be looking at.  I suspect
> there are new ones coming out every day.  I'm just interested in the most
> basic phone to plug into the network.  Nothing fancy, basic, basic, basic.  I
> also know I can use soft phones but do not want to go there as it makes just
> another application we have to be responsible for on the desktop.
> 
> Many thanks in advance.

Pretty much. You have the following options as far as I can see (and I'm
sure there's more):

1) FXS Adapter - The IAXy[1] is a nice (and cute) device which allows
you to connect a single analog telephone and provide VoIP connectivity
using IAX to your Asterisk server. Buying the device helps support
Asterisk. The only catch is that it only supports one analog phone.
Keeping price in consideration, the only other device I would recommend
is the Sipura SPA-2000 which supports 2 analog telephones per device
(you would need one SPA-2000 per 2 classrooms (one analog phone per
classroom))

2) Digium TDM40B[2] (includes the TDM400P card plus the 4 FXS modules):
This configuration provides 4 x FXS (analog telephone) ports on a single
half-length PCI card. I just checked the Digium site and they're selling
the TDM40B for $305 (works out to be around $76 per telephone).
Certainly the best way of doing it, IMHO. Keep in mind with this
solution you would need telephone wiring FROM the Asterisk server where
the TDM40B lives to all the classrooms. With the IAXy or the SPA-2000
you just need telephone wiring from the unit itself to each classroom
it's providing VoIP to.
Great thing about this solution is that you can mix and match. If, for
instance, the school decided to get a telephone line hooked up to the
system, you can buy a FXO module and swap it for an unused FXS module,
or configure it however you want.

3) VoIP Telephones: Cheapest is the infamous Grandstream[3] BudgeTone
(AKA BarbieTone). Well, actually, I shouldn't say infamous since I've
not had a problem with them myself, but you'll find many reports from
other users on the mailing list archives about the myriad of problems
you can have with them. If you already have a network connection going
into each classroom, this (or the FXS adapters) may be the best option.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Gonzalo

[1] http://www.digium.com/index.php?menu=iaxy
[2] http://www.digium.com/index.php?menu=wildcard_tdm400p2
[3] http://www.grandstream.com/y-bt100.htm