[Asterisk-Users] Systems Admin; Telecom Newbie - What do I need?

[Tom Rymes]

Ed,

1.) I would suggest that you purchase a system from a Vendor, or that  
you use Asterisk at Home. That would allow you a much less steep  
learning curve before you get to a working system, and it would  
provide you with all of the features that you are likely to ever want.
2.) I suggest that you use the existing incoming PSTN lines for your  
asterisk system. However, you might want to work with someone who  
really understands telecom to make sure that you aren't wasting money  
on your phone/data service.
3.) You are mostly right with your assumptions on what you will need.  
You will need a server, correctly sized for your call volume, a good  
network, incoming PSTN service and an interface device to make it work.
4.) VOIP phones or software. Most people on the list seriously  
recommend using hardphones instead of softphones in an office  
environment. There have been numerous complaints about softphones and  
sound quality, etc. on this list.

As for your questions:
- Asterisk is what routes between the PSTN and the internet. However,  
to receive calls from the internet without an incoming phone line,  
you will need an internet phone provider.
- Your network does not need to be VOIP capable, but implementing QOS  
is a good idea, and  POE for hardphones is often a good idea, too.
- For a T1, your needs are very much going to depend on your call  
volume. Your Telco should privide the equipment that will split your  
voice channels from your data channels.
- using an experienced vendor might very well be a good idea, but it  
all depends on your desire to climb the learning curve and deal with  
the mishaps that will inevitably arise. Also, it depends on how  
essential your phone system is and how much you can afford to have  
"Oops" moments, etc.
- you seem to be asking the right questions. For budgeting purposes,  
I would suggest that you seriously plan on using hardphones, and  
budget accordingly. They are far superior when compared to softphones  
(in general), and remember that you most likely will get what you pay  
for. I suggest Cisco 7940G if you can afford them, they are  
excellent. Polycom is good, too, and Snom.

Please drop me a line off-list if you want to chat, I'd be happy to  
provide input.

Tom Rymes

On Jul 12, 2005, at 5:33 PM, Ed Pastore wrote:

> Hi, folks. I am planning on implementing Asterisk in 2006, and need  
> to budget for it now, so I need to know what I'll need to get. My  
> company has about 50 users, and is currently languishing on a very  
> old Comdial PBX. All of our client computers are Macs; our servers  
> are mostly OS X, with a couple Debians and a Red Hat.
>
> I am thoroughly experienced at systems administration, and can  
> figure out most everything I need on the computer hardware and  
> software side, but I am a complete telecom newbie and get lost when  
> trying to figure out what else I will need.
>
> Here's what I think I need:
> - A server, running Debian Linux or OS X (our preferred operating  
> systems here)
> - A good network. We're on switched 100 Base-T, but will move to  
> gigabit next year.
> - A T1 or some dedicated channels of a T1
> - Gateway PCI cards or devices (in the case of OS X, only devices I  
> guess)
> - VOIP phones or phone software (I'd like to use software and USB  
> handsets)
>
> Here's what I don't get:
>
> 1. How do I route between the internet and the telco network? (I  
> said I was a telecom newbie, right?) I mean, if someone dials a  
> phone number, what tells it to route to my gateway device? Do I  
> need service from a telecom company? I need to get the phone  
> numbers from somewhere, right?
>
> 2. Does my network need to be VOIP capable? I see some network  
> switches which route additional layers of ethernet, including in  
> some cases VOIP. Do I really need that? Or will any gigabit  
> switches do the trick? If so, what's up with those VOIP switches?  
> Is that just marketing? They sure cost a lot more.
>
> 3. What do I need in a T1? I currently have one T1 from Sprint,  
> going into a Cisco router, which then goes to my firewall, then to  
> my network. If I want, say 30 channels of another T1 for VOIP...  
> can I just buy another Sprint T1? And where does additional  
> hardware fit into that route in order to split out the VOIP  
> channels from the data channels?
>
> 4. Do I pretty much need a vendor for implementation help, if this  
> is all new to me? Or is there a path I can follow that will help me  
> get through this?
>
> 5. What am I not asking that I should be? :)
>
> Any help, input, suggestions, etc. would be welcome. (But please no  
> vendor calls yet... I'm in early budgeting, and will just ignore  
> vendor input until I know more.)
>
> Thanks!
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