[Asterisk-Users] Lucent Phones

[Gregory Junker]

Right, I know that the voice part is POTS because I have a standard
cordless phone plugged into our Partner system. 

Hmm, wouldn't ETR be covered under a patent and not a copyright? And has
17 years been up yet?

And if someone is selling devices that convert to/from ETR, then the
protocol spec is available in some form (even if it's some draconian
Avaya licensing scheme). I agree that Avaya has a vested interest in
keeping the spec out of the public eye (sell phone upgrades, sell Merlin
adapter modules), but this technology is definitely getting long in the
tooth....which doesn't mean that my users exactly want to give up the
familiarity of the Partner phones just yet. ;) And since I already have
Partner phones, and don't really care to spend $200-$300 a pop to
replace them with Snom or Cisco phones (good as they may be)...

My goal is to get rid of that box on my wall. I already got rid of one
(Cisco 1720 that was our router, replaced by a Linux server/router), now
I have two to go (Lucent ConnectReach for our Time Warner Telecom IBL,
and the Partner ACS phone system). Hell, Lucent Technologies ought to
pay me rent for the amount of space they occupy on my walls. 

[rant=on]

It is completely obnoxious to me that I have to take an incoming
channelized T1 and have it broken out into physical copper wire so that
I can insert it into my Partner system for voice. If I had then to take
that copper, spend beaucoup more bucks to be able to put it back INTO
digital form so that it can work with an Asterisk PBX...that's
borderline surreal to me. Everyone is so vested in making sure that none
of their damned equipment interoperates with anyone else's (yet all the
while paying serious lip service to the holy grail of "standards") that
I am to the point where DCMA be damned, if I can measure it I can figure
it out. It pisses me off no end that TWTC can't simply send a normal T1
into my business (and therefore allow me to use a simple T100P), and
I'll bet that when they start offering VoIP in this area (SW Ohio) it'll
also involve some absurd piece of proprietary equipment further to
clutter up my wall or rack. 

[rant=off]

At any rate, yes, I could pick up a TDM400 and have Asterisk act like
Partner ACS analog extensions, or pick up 3 X100's and use it directly
for the incoming lines (and then deal with the user fallout regarding
adaptation to X-Lite or something similar), but I just can't bring
myself to do it, honestly. Ultimately, I want those boxes off my wall
because technologically, they do not need to be there. 

Guess I'm stuck with finding 7960's on eBay as cheap as I can. *sigh*

Anyone want an outmoded Partner ACS R1.0 analog phone system? ;)

Greg

On Wed, 2004-04-07 at 17:46 -0500, Steven Sokol wrote:
> > On Wed, 2004-04-07 at 15:44 -0500, Eric Wieling wrote:
> > > Don't expect the fancy function buttons to
> > > work, however.
> > >
> > 
> > That's specifically what I was asking about...
> > 
> > Has anyone tried to decipher the ETR signaling protocol? Or is it such a
> > closely guarded Lucent/Avaya secret as to make the formula for Coca-Cola
> > look like an open-source recipe?
> > 
> 
> ETR (Enhanced Tip/Ring) supposedly uses some variety of serial protocol over
> two lines to provide the screen functionality.  The voice channel is still
> POTS.  These phones are sold with the Partner system and can be added to the
> Magix systems using an ETR blade.
> 
> Here in the states we could be jailed for trying to reverse engineer the
> serial display protocol (at least, in theory -- I don't know if it's been
> tested yet) as a violation of the evil DCMA.
> 
> Anybody know about the other core Avaya protocols: specifically DCP and its
> cousin TDL.  DCP (Digital Communications Protocol) has been used for years
> on the Definity line.  Somewhere in the mid 1990s they cut it from 4 wires
> to two wires.  The two wire version was ported to the Merlin Magix platform
> and is called "TDL" which I have been told means "Two wire DigitaL"??
> 
> If you have a large investment in the Avaya sets, it might be nice to have a
> bridge device to convert to SIP or H323 or whatever.  I saw somebody at VON
> who offered a device that they claimed did just that.  Don't remember who
> just now.
> 
> Regs,
> 
> -S
> 
> 
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