[Asterisk-Users] Availability of T400P and E400P

[Mark Spencer]

> A Solution now exists for those of you still looking for the first
> model of Quad T1/E1 Interface Cards - the T400P and E400P. The T400P
> and E400P were manufactured by Digium until a few months ago, and were
> designed and released under the GNU Public License as the Tormenta II
> by Zapata Telephony.

For the record, Digium participated in, and provided 100% of the funding
for the design of the Tormenta II (along with Jim Dixon) not to mention
that we developed much of the driver, not to mention the Asterisk
software, that actually makes the card useful -- unlike GoVarion which
neither participated in the design, nor participates in the Asterisk
development process, nor has done anything but simply take an old released
design and exploit the hard work of others -- notably using the
particularly odious tactic of using the un-moderated Asterisk mailing list
that we pay to host (which is not for selling products -- even we don't
try to sell our products on the -users list) to try to hawk your goods.

In any case, however, our challenge as Digium is to try to develop loyalty
from our user base -- to encourage them to purchase our products as a way
of supporting the continued software development, bug fixes, and to
receive quality, knowledgable support from our staff.  In truth, this is
effectively the only defense we have against companies such as GoVarion
which have no development costs since they're just using the work of other
people.

> Varion, Inc. is now in full production manufacturing these boards.
> With the Tormenta back in production, those with significant
> investments in T400P or E400P designs will no longer be required to
> modify their designs.  New systems that do not require bus-mastering
> (which Digium's new card supports) can of couse also take advantage of
> the more cost effective Tormenta card.

Those with investments in the T400P and E400P designs already can use the
TE405P and TE410P without modification (with or without using Asterisk)
because of the design of both Asterisk and the zaptel hardware driver
interface (either you know this already, or you have no understanding of
the software whatsoever).  The TE410P is *4-5 times* faster than the T400P
and E400P designs due to the original limited slave-only architecture, and
only the TE410P/TE405P are ceritified for use in Australia, Europe, and
the United States.

In fact, the difference in quality and performance is *so* substantial
that Digium is announcing a program that will allow anyone who has
purchased a Digium T400P or E400P (either gray market or directly) to
upgrade their card to a TE405P or TE410P at 50% of the cost of a new card.
Contact sales at digium.com if you're interested in the offer before it's
officially announced.

In any case, this will be the real test of the Digium business model --
whether we can sustain and grow a customer base, while still supporting
Asterisk, in the face of free-loading competitors who simply wish to take
our work and the work of others and make a few bucks by using it against
us.

Mark