[Asterisk-Users] Qs about FXO/FXS cards

[Michael Graves]

On Mon, 3 Jan 2005 15:25:29 -0500, Andrew Kohlsmith wrote:

>On January 3, 2005 03:07 pm, Steven Critchfield wrote:
>> And we come full circle to a comment I made before that TDM cards are
>> more for hobbyist than for real serious installs. A real install is
>> probably going to use a T1/E1 interface and bypasses all the troubles
>> listed in this thread.
>
>Unfortunately that makes Asterisk installs for small businesses more expensive 
>than necessary.  At US$500 for a T100P and US$300ish for a channel bank (FXS 
>only, FXO is significantly more expensive!) plus your time and system for an 
>Asterisk install it raises the bar for the small business to adopt Asterisk.  
>The TDM400P would fit a very nice little niche if it worked reliably.
>
>Let's face it -- most businesses are looking at VOIP to reduce their telephone 
>bills and if the time it takes for the install to pay for itself is raised 
>significantly (like an added $1000 price tag for reliable equipment)... 
>well... the writing on the wall is pretty clear.

I too have struggled with getting reliability out of the common FXO
options. However, we should also keep in mind that BRIs are available,
although not as common as POTS lines in the US. A local CLEC pointed me
to a web site run by the state of Texas that stipulates the tariffs
allowed for PRI and BRI. BRI are actually very cost effective relative
to POTS lines since many bundled options like CID are built in. a BRI
pair is around $57/mo here.

If the TDM400p did not work out for me, which is has to this point,
then switching to a BRI would be my next option. It seems that from
casual monitoring of the list that BRI interfaces are mroe reliable
than FXOs.

Michael
--
Michael Graves                           mgraves at pixelpower.com
Sr. Product Specialist                          www.pixelpower.com
Pixel Power Inc.                                 mgraves at mstvp.com

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