[Asterisk-Users] VOIP phonesets vs. cheap Analog touch-tone sets with Asterisk

[Howard White]

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On Mon, 2003-11-17 at 08:34, Steve Murphy wrote:
> Hello--
> 
> I've been asked an interesting question, and I'm too ignorant to answer
> it authoritatively (yet). Can anyone help me?
> 
> Question: If I'm going to implement a somewhat small (10-80) phone
> system, and I have a choice of using VOIP phoneset (like SNOM or
> Grandstream or Cisco, etc), vs. cheap analog touch-tone phones, exactly
> what features will I kiss goodbye if I use the cheap analogs?
> 
> In other words, what features will a (more expensive) VOIP phoneset
> provide, that the analog won't?
> 
> I know already that asterisk will give me these features with just plain
> analog phones (&zaptel cards, of course): Voice mail, park & retrieve &
> MOH, transfer, agents, and a few others. And, if you get an analog with
> a CID built in, you could have that, too? (Haven't tried that yet).
> 
> What is the justification for VOIP? just total cost reductions (if the
> phone is cheap enough?)? Or are there some nicenesses that only VOIPs
> can supply?
> 
> murf

Let's approach this question from economics first (tacitly assuming that
the technical issues wash).  This "debate" is central to what most of us
(consultants) are facing just now.  The short answer is that the mission
may be accomplished either way.

Start out by lining up the quantities, types and costs of the equipment
required.  

With an analog phone deployment, anything beyond four desksets is best
accomplished with T1 card(s) in the Asterisk PC and channel banks to
connect the phones (and probably the PSTN).  Whereas the phones could be
as little as $10 each, you have to budget the price of the channel
bank(s).  If the customer is uncomfortable with eBay, used hardware,
channel banks could be north of $3000 each.

With a net-phone deployment, channel banks are out but more and better
ethernet switches _may_ be chosen (specifically taking advantage of
QoS/ToS) or separate voice-IP networks installed alongside data-IP
networks.  For ten desksets, probably not but for eighty???

I have to admit to being quite agnostic to leaning toward analog,
myself.  If Jeff Pulver's demand (at VON this September) that SIP phone
costs be brought down to the $20 per deskset level is met, the economics
change quickly.

Howard White
president - VCCH, Inc.