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

[Ed Pastore]

On Jul 14, 2005, at 11:54 AM, Adam Goryachev wrote:

> Use a phone like the polycom IP301/501/600 which has a built-in 2 port
> 10/100 switch. ie, take the existing cable and plug it into the phone,
> then take a second cable, connect one end to the phone, and the  
> other to
> your PC. No need for any additional major investment....

Independent of my telephony overhaul, I am planning on migrating my  
network to gigabit to speed up some core file services (we do a lot  
of server-based computing). Are there phones with a gigabit switch in  
them? :)

Or, kludgy though it seems to me, is it realistic to suggest buying  
an el-cheapo unmanaged gigabit switch for every office? Looks like I  
could get away with $50 per node...
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=652855

 From a network admin's perspective, that seems to me like asking for  
trouble. But routing packets really isn't my specialty, so I don't  
know if it would really cause any problems.

> Well, there might be some way you could add a PRI connection from
> asterisk to your comdial system, then configure your comdial system so
> that all 'special' service numbers, and external calls are routed to
> asterisk... Then there is probably a big battle to try and configure
> everything to forward to the right system to support all the features
> you want from asterisk etc.. (ie, there must be a reason you are
> thinking of replacing the existing system?).

Yeah, our ComDial DXP is 1980s technology, has been discontinued for  
years, and most service techs won't even touch it (let alone be able  
to find parts for it). The idea is to get rid of it, not keep it  
lingering. But the phones themselves sure are nice....