[Asterisk-Users] Forklift a 2000 phone PBX

[C F]

> I'm staring at an RFP--this company wants to replace a 2000 position PBX
> (at eight locations) with a new system.  Their mindset is Nortel/Avaya
> because they talk about 28-button digital sets.  The do specify a few IP
> phones for just one location, so they are aware of VoIP.
> 
> I'm going to bid on this--there's nothing to lose except the time it
> takes to write the proposal.  I'll bid an off site Asterisk system with

When bidding on this also explain to them the benefit of running
copletely sip, and the flexibility with this (voip providers and the
like). I would realy love to hear a success story based on running
Asterisk in such an environment.

> SIP telephones.  Using the metric of 100 SIP phones/box, I'll bid twenty
> Asterisk boxes with ten boxes at each of two hosting locations.  Each
> phone will have registrations to both sites.

I disagree on this one, I think you can safely do 250 phones to a box,
which will allow you to have just 8 boxes (of course don't use Pentium
3 from eBay, use at least dual Xeon), if you will not be using zap on
every box (which you shouldn't), or if you will be using external
channel banks to transcod from tdm/pots to voip, then you can safely
do upto 500 to a box. Then use just one or 2 boxes to do the Zap
channles and transcoding from DTM/POTS to voip. Take a look on the
wiki (don't remember the URL now, and lazy to google).
 
> The big unknown is wiring.  I'm going to assume the worst, that the
> existing LAN is overloaded.  I would a) have to make LAN wiring out of
> existing Cat3 wiring, or b) install a new voice-only LAN.

Don't know much what to tell you, but what the others said sounds about right.

> Does anyone know how to qualify existing Cat3 wiring for use as a LAN?
> 
> Has anyone does an Asterisk system on this scale?

I'm in the process of writing a proposal, for a 500 phone system (not
on *this* scale, but in a higher than avarage scale). If you want you
can contact me off list (I would actualy appricate it, we can work out
lots of the details together).

> Thanks for your help,
> Mike
> 
> P.S.  Sorry for the cross post, but I would like everyone to see this.
> 
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