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<body><div style="text-align: left;">The replies have been great. I'm curious what the reponse would be if I asked Nortel or Cisco for help in comparing their options to an opensource one :) . Unfortunately I'm at work in the morning and can't call long distance, but thank you for the offer Alex.<br><br>Byron<br></div><br><br><br><blockquote style="border-left: #008080 2px solid; padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;"><hr id="EC_stopSpelling">From: alex@thirdlane.com<br>To: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>Subject: RE: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:14:07 -0800<br><br>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Hey Byron,</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">It looks like you’ve got the
attention of this list </span></font><font color="navy" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings; color: navy;">J</span></font><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">. I would also be happy to share my thoughts about all the advantages,
issues and the continuum of options if you’d like. Feel free to give me a
call tomorrow (preferably morning PST).</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Best regards,</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Alex</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Alex Epshteyn</span></font><font color="navy"><span style="color: navy;"></span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Third Lane</span></font><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> Technologies, LLC</span></font><font color="navy"><span style="color: navy;"></span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><a href="http://www.thirdlane.com" target="_blank">http://www.thirdlane.com</a></span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">1 415 721 7717</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
</div>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">
asterisk-biz-bounces@lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces@lists.digium.com] <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Behalf Of </span></b>Byron Pile<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:00
PM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Commercial and
Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> RE: [asterisk-biz] case
study on switching to Asterisk</span></font></p>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">I guess I'm a bit naive... but holy crap some of those
systems are expensive. Thanks for the link, I'll be data mining the site for
more info tomorrow!<br>
<br>
Byron</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"><br>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">From: shadowym@hotmail.com<br>
To: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>
Subject: RE: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:50:32 -0700</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><span class="EC_ec703464702-21032007"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">This site has a comparison chart
which includes Asterisk Business Edition, Fonality, SwitchVOX as well as
proprietary solutions. It's not exactly apples to apples and I question
the prices they came up with but it's the best I've found so far. They
have 2 or 3 other comparison charts and some good whitepapers as well.</span></font></span><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"></span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><span class="EC_ec703464702-21032007"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"><a href="http://www.voip-news.com/whitepaper/pdf/small-business-cpe-pbx.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.voip-news.com/whitepaper/pdf/small-business-cpe-pbx.pdf</a></span></font></span><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"></span></font></p>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"> Byron
Pile [mailto:bpile@hotmail.com] <br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, March 20, 2007 6:22
PM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Commercial and
Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> RE: [asterisk-biz] case
study on switching to Asterisk</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">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.<br>
<br>
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 offers<br>
a support service plan. Perhaps this with an estimated initial setup cost would
be a good comparison to the telecom offering.<br>
<br>
I really want to highlight the flexibility and also feature set of Asterisk.<br>
<br>
Thanks again for your comments!</span></font></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"><br>
<br>
</span></font></p>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">> Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007
20:34:22 -0400<br>
> From: stotaro@totarotechnologies.com<br>
> To: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>
> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>
> <br>
> The bottom line is that you will save money or at the very least, over <br>
> the course of a year or two, break even. Considering some proposals I <br>
> did on NEC IPK systems several years ago, an eight port conference <br>
> bridge card was $5,000, another $5,000 for an eight port VoIP card MGCP, <br>
> $3,000 for a four port voicemail card, add some other feature and you <br>
> get the point. Also, support contracts were something to the tune of $4 <br>
> per port per month, that includes all ports (concurrent voicemail access <br>
> + phones + PSTN + conference bridges). So lets say that
"whatever" <br>
> company has 4 FXO, 16 FXS, and 4 voicemail, that is a total of 24 ports <br>
> X $4 = $96/mo X 12mo = $1,152 and that only included very specific limits.<br>
> <br>
> This is all free in Asterisk. You could purchase a Switchvox (or some <br>
> other turnkey) system pretty cheaply, have all of those costly add-on <br>
> features included, they offer support via SSH and over the phone, and <br>
> with IP, MACs are a breeze. A low level A+ tech can do it, unlike a <br>
> traditional system where a telephone guy has to come out with a butt <br>
> set, toner, and punch down tool. Most proprietary systems are not <br>
> exactly easy to program even in a "Turnkey" solution.<br>
> <br>
> You have many variables to look at but I think that your paper will be a <br>
> very interesting look into a paradigm shift. <br>
> <br>
> Thanks,<br>
> Steve<br>
> <br>
> Byron Pile wrote:<br>
> > I was going to assume that yes, there are Linux people on staff and <br>
> > that they could be taken away to set up and support asterisk. But <br>
> > because I was comparing it to a turnkey solution that most likely is <br>
> > including service as part of the contract, comparing it to a similar <br>
> > contract based asterisk setup makes more sense. However, I guess when
<br>
> > starting this I was hoping to eliminate "license" fees from
the open <br>
> > source solution, but if I'm using a small company, I think its more <br>
> > realistic to assume they don't have a support department ready to <br>
> > devote man hours to an asterisk system when they were using a turnkey
<br>
> > solution before.<br>
> ><br>
> > Thanks for clarifying the handsets, I was considering using SIP
phones <br>
> > in the case study, but thought it might be possible to "reuse"
some <br>
> > existing equipment. This is also a technology upgrade in this case.<br>
> ><br>
> > I was going to assume that the workers were just as productive as <br>
> > before, but the ROI would come mostly from reduction in operating <br>
> > costs (hopefully). If they don't have any "linux people" on
staff, <br>
> > this makes it harder to include some of the open source benefits
like, <br>
> > fixing bugs, adding features and the other flexibility that Asterisk <br>
> > would provide over using the Norstar.<br>
> ><br>
> > Thanks for the response Steve, I have more research to do obviously!<br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> >
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
> > Subject: RE: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>
> > Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:59:03 -0500<br>
> > From: stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com<br>
> > To: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>
> ><br>
> > For several varying quotes, one could go to www.buyerzone.com<br>
> > <http://www.buyerzone.com/> and put in exactly what you<br>
> > specified. You will get several vendors proposing different<br>
> > systems, prices, and most importantly, service contracts. It does<br>
> > cost each vendor about $25 dollars to buy your “lead” so
be aware<br>
> > that you are costing them money by doing this. Whether or not<br>
> > that is ethical, is your decision. I am just pointing out that<br>
> > “one could do it”. Make sure to include that you need a<br>
> > conference bridge that can handle unlimited callers, also<br>
> > unlimited voicemail ports, support SIP, and also consider<br>
> > scaling. That should freak them out.<br>
> ><br>
> > <br>
> ><br>
> > Does “whatever” company have people on staff that know
Linux and<br>
> > have time to learn and support Asterisk? What is the cost of<br>
> > taking them from what they usually would be doing to work on the<br>
> > Asterisk system?<br>
> ><br>
> > <br>
> ><br>
> > I would suggest going with SIP phones and a four port FXO board. <br>
> > You could run both systems side by side until you are ready to cut<br>
> > over and then just switch your four POTs lines. <br>
> ><br>
> > <br>
> ><br>
> > Most proprietary systems use digital sets so you cannot use a<br>
> > mutiport FXS board. I have used proprietary handset gateways such<br>
> > as Citel and my person experience was very very poor. <br>
> ><br>
> > <br>
> ><br>
> > How much ROI is going to depend on increased worker productivity<br>
> > which is fairly hard to figure out and also ongoing average costs<br>
> > of MACs (cost of Moves Adds Changes) as well as support contracts. <br>
> ><br>
> > <br>
> ><br>
> > Thanks,<br>
> > Steve Totaro<br>
> > http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com<br>
> > KB3OPB<br>
> > <br>
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
> ><br>
> > *From:* asterisk-biz-bounces@lists.digium.com<br>
> > [mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces@lists.digium.com] *On Behalf Of<br>
> > *Byron Pile<br>
> > *Sent:* Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:28 PM<br>
> > *To:* asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com<br>
> > *Subject:* [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk<br>
> ><br>
> > <br>
> ><br>
> > I thought the biz list was most appropriate for this. Hope I'm not<br>
> > wrong!<br>
> ><br>
> > I'm trying to write a term paper on adopting an open source<br>
> > solution over a commercial solution and comparing the cost.<br>
> > Specifically if a legacy system is in use already, when will the<br>
> > initial investment of hardware for an asterisk based system pay<br>
> > off against the licensing fees of a proprietary system. After<br>
> > reading a good chunk of the free Asterisk book "Asterisk:The<br>
> > Future of Telephony" I think that Asterisk is an excellent topic<br>
> > for the paper. <br>
> ><br>
> > I'm new to telephony stuff so bear with me if my questions are a<br>
> > bit dumb, I've tried to do quite a bit of research and reading<br>
> > before posting to the mail lists. So my idea was to use the fake<br>
> > company "whatever" and they have 15 telephones and are
currently<br>
> > using a Norstar ICS with 4 incoming lines and 15 internal lines<br>
> > and I would like to switch this over to an asterisk based system.<br>
> ><br>
> > The reason for choosing the Norstar as this is a turnkey solution<br>
> > provided by a large local telecom so I will be able to get some<br>
> > pricing information for them fairly easily and I think it does<br>
> > what a 15 telephone small office might need...I'm open to a better<br>
> > suggestion if the Norstar is a poor choice.<br>
> ><br>
> > My quick questions are...is it possible that the handsets being<br>
> > used with a Norstar could be converted and used with the Asterisk<br>
> > system? (a bit of asset recovery)<br>
> ><br>
> > A system consisting of a suitable linux server running Asterisk<br>
> > and a Digium TDM2441B PCI Card 16FXS / 4FXO would be a suitable<br>
> > replacement and could deliver the same performance/functions as<br>
> > the Norstar system?<br>
> ><br>
> > I'm going to try and be as thorough as possible in assessing the<br>
> > costs in switching to this system. The most obvious being some new<br>
> > hardware, but also, downtime, training, support costs, contract<br>
> > penalties (if there are any) etc....But this is a term paper and a<br>
> > highly hypothetical situation. And I know my questions are a bit<br>
> > general, but the paper will probably be kept quite general. I hope<br>
> > I can learn more about this cool app!<br>
> ><br>
> > Thanks!<br>
> ><br>
> > <br>
> ><br>
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
> ><br>
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