[asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk

Tue Mar 20 18:22:08 MST 2007

Once I get a better idea of what the telecom here provides in their contract it might be easier to see what I should include in the Asterisk based system.Is switchvox a proprietary system? Or are they based on Asterisk? They don't mention asterisk on the site anywhere. I've also noticed Digium offersa support service plan. Perhaps this with an estimated initial setup cost would be a good comparison to the telecom offering.I really want to highlight the flexibility and also feature set of Asterisk.Thanks again for your comments!> Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:34:22 -0400> From: stotaro at totarotechnologies.com> To: asterisk-biz at lists.digium.com> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk> > The bottom line is that you will save money or at the very least, over > the course of a year or two, break even.  Considering some proposals I > did on NEC IPK systems several years ago, an eight port conference > bridge card was $5,000, another $5,000 for an eight port VoIP card MGCP, > $3,000 for a four port voicemail card, add some other feature and you > get the point.  Also, support contracts were something to the tune of $4 > per port per month, that includes all ports (concurrent voicemail access > + phones + PSTN + conference bridges).  So lets say that "whatever" > company has 4 FXO, 16 FXS, and 4 voicemail, that is a total of 24 ports > X $4 = $96/mo X 12mo = $1,152 and that only included very specific limits.> > This is all free in Asterisk.  You could purchase a Switchvox (or some > other turnkey) system pretty cheaply, have all of those costly add-on > features included, they offer support via SSH and over the phone, and > with IP, MACs are a breeze.  A low level A+ tech can do it, unlike a > traditional system where a telephone guy has to come out with a butt > set, toner, and punch down tool.  Most proprietary systems are not > exactly easy to program even in a "Turnkey" solution.> > You have many variables to look at but I think that your paper will be a > very interesting look into a paradigm shift. > > Thanks,> Steve> > Byron Pile wrote:> > I was going to assume that yes, there are Linux people on staff and > > that they could be taken away to set up and support asterisk. But > > because I was comparing it to a turnkey solution that most likely is > > including service as part of the contract, comparing it to a similar > > contract based asterisk setup makes more sense. However, I guess when > > starting this I was hoping to eliminate "license" fees from the open > > source solution, but if I'm using a small company, I think its more > > realistic to assume they don't have a support department ready to > > devote man hours to an asterisk system when they were using a turnkey > > solution before.> >> > Thanks for clarifying the handsets, I was considering using SIP phones > > in the case study, but thought it might be possible to "reuse" some > > existing equipment. This is also a technology upgrade in this case.> >> > I was going to assume that the workers were just as productive as > > before, but the ROI would come mostly from reduction in operating > > costs (hopefully). If they don't have any "linux people" on staff, > > this makes it harder to include some of the open source benefits like, > > fixing bugs, adding features and the other flexibility that Asterisk > > would provide over using the Norstar.> >> > Thanks for the response Steve, I have more research to do obviously!> >> >> >> >     ------------------------------------------------------------------------> >     Subject: RE: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk> >     Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:59:03 -0500> >     From: stotaro at asteriskhelpdesk.com> >     To: asterisk-biz at lists.digium.com> >> >     For several varying quotes, one could go to www.buyerzone.com> >     <http://www.buyerzone.com/> and put in exactly what you> >     specified.  You will get several vendors proposing different> >     systems, prices, and most importantly, service contracts.  It does> >     cost each vendor about $25 dollars to buy your “lead” so be aware> >     that you are costing them money by doing this.  Whether or not> >     that is ethical, is your decision.  I am just pointing out that> >     “one could do it”.  Make sure to include that you need a> >     conference bridge that can handle unlimited callers, also> >     unlimited voicemail ports, support SIP, and also consider> >     scaling.  That should freak them out.> >> >      > >> >     Does “whatever” company have people on staff that know Linux and> >     have time to learn and support Asterisk?  What is the cost of> >     taking them from what they usually would be doing to work on the> >     Asterisk system?> >> >      > >> >     I would suggest going with SIP phones and a four port FXO board. > >     You could run both systems side by side until you are ready to cut> >     over and then just switch your four POTs lines. > >> >      > >> >     Most proprietary systems use digital sets so you cannot use a> >     mutiport FXS board.  I have used proprietary handset gateways such> >     as Citel and my person experience was very very poor. > >> >      > >> >     How much ROI is going to depend on increased worker productivity> >     which is fairly hard to figure out and also ongoing average costs> >     of MACs (cost of Moves Adds Changes) as well as support contracts. > >> >      > >> >     Thanks,> >     Steve Totaro> >     http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com> >     KB3OPB> >      > >     ------------------------------------------------------------------------> >> >     *From:* asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com> >     [mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com] *On Behalf Of> >     *Byron Pile> >     *Sent:* Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:28 PM> >     *To:* asterisk-biz at lists.digium.com> >     *Subject:* [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk> >> >      > >> >     I thought the biz list was most appropriate for this. Hope I'm not> >     wrong!> >> >     I'm trying to write a term paper on adopting an open source> >     solution over a commercial solution and comparing the cost.> >     Specifically if a legacy system is in use already,  when will the> >     initial investment of hardware for an asterisk based system  pay> >     off against the licensing fees of a proprietary system. After> >     reading a good chunk of the free Asterisk book "Asterisk:The> >     Future of Telephony" I think that Asterisk is an excellent topic> >     for the paper. > >> >     I'm new to telephony stuff so bear with me if my questions are a> >     bit dumb, I've tried to do quite a bit of research and reading> >     before posting to the mail lists.  So my idea was to use the fake> >     company "whatever" and they have 15 telephones and are currently> >     using a  Norstar ICS with 4 incoming lines and 15 internal lines> >     and I would like to switch this over to an asterisk based system.> >> >     The reason for choosing the Norstar as this is a turnkey solution> >     provided by a large local telecom so I will be able to get some> >     pricing information for them fairly easily and I think it does> >     what a 15 telephone small office might need...I'm open to a better> >     suggestion if the Norstar is a poor choice.> >> >     My quick questions are...is it possible that the handsets being> >     used with a Norstar could be converted and used with the Asterisk> >     system? (a bit of asset recovery)> >> >     A system consisting of a suitable linux server running Asterisk> >     and a Digium TDM2441B PCI Card 16FXS / 4FXO  would be a suitable> >     replacement and could deliver the same performance/functions as> >     the Norstar system?> >> >     I'm going to try and be as thorough as possible in assessing the> >     costs in switching to this system. The most obvious being some new> >     hardware, but also, downtime, training, support costs, contract> >     penalties (if there are any) etc....But this is a term paper and a> >     highly hypothetical situation. And I know my questions are a bit> >     general, but the paper will probably be kept quite general. I hope> >     I can learn more about this cool app!> >> >     Thanks!> >> >      > >> >     ------------------------------------------------------------------------> >> >     Live Search Maps – find all the local information you need, right> >     when you need it. Find it!> >     <http://maps.live.com/?icid=wlmtag2&FORM=MGAC01>> >> >      > >> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------> > i'm making a difference. Make every IM count for the cause of your > > choice. Join now! > > <http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwme0080000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=wlmailtagline> > >> >   > > _______________________________________________> --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com --> > asterisk-biz mailing list> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz
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