[Asterisk-Users] Newbie Question: Building an Asterisk system to replace an old PBX but using existing phone

[Tom Rymes]

On Aug 11, 2005, at 11:49 AM, Sean Rima wrote:

> Tom Rymes wrote:
>
>> On Aug 11, 2005, at 10:35 AM, Sean Rima wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Andrew Kohlsmith wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Thursday 11 August 2005 09:31, Sean Rima wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> They are standard phones but I also want them to have all the   
>>>>> features
>>>>> that Asterisk does provide, so I may build a bos for my house  
>>>>> and  show
>>>>> them that as well

Sean,

The client has a good idea in keeping the basic analog phones, since  
all of their guests know how to use them. If you put a SPA-841 or a  
Polycom IP301, you will likely intimidate the guests. This might  
sound silly to most of us techies, but picture a 74 year old guest  
just trying to call and let his children know he arrived safely. He  
might very well look at the Polycom and be confused, especially if he  
dials and has to press send, etc.

Also, if they already have the phones, the per channel cost of using  
a T1 card and a channel bank is reasonably low, compared to a decent  
SIP hardphone. Not to mention that if you don't spend the extra money  
for a good hardphone, you are likely to have quality issues, as I  
have heard many quality complaints about many of the cheaper phones.

Finally, sticking with the analog phones means you won't have to re- 
wire the whole place.

Tom
Cascade Link Systems