[asterisk-users] North American voice BRI - Informal survey

[Joe Greco]

> Has anyone else seen a working hardware solution that didn't cost an arm and
> a leg?  It seems to me that a BRI card should cost less than $100.  I think
> I remember a German friend telling me that they go for around $40 dollars.

I believe that there's no electrical difference.

> I know that I can get a BRI with voice service out of Bell.  I think they
> have to provide it because of the CRTC tariffs.
> 
> The thing that has stopped me from trying it in the past is the uncertainty
> around hardware.  Do I understand correctly that NA (North American?) BRI is
> different from the European version and that European hardware won't work?

The European hardware is supposed to be just fine.  Unfortunately, it is
the European software that is a stumbling point.  US signalling formats
are different, and so your software (drivers) need to be aware of how to
deal with US BRI.

There's supposedly some extremely expensive US BRI ISDN card that works
with Asterisk, but it is pretty damn expensive, and the few situations
where I've heard it has been used were reported to be fairly unstable.
Eicon Diva?  I'm running late or I'd look it up.  Haven't heard of anyone
trying it recently.  YMMV.

> If I could get a card for a few hundred bucks then I'd be willing to give
> this a shot.  Unfortunately, I can't afford a few grand for the Adtran setup
> described, although it does sound cool and the BRI<->PRI conversion approach
> is a clever way of overcoming the hardware scarcity.
> 
> For the number of times that I see people trying to get digital style
> features out of analog lines, and banging their head against the wall, I'd
> love to get a BRI working and be able to tell you all how it worked out.

That was why we ended up spending an arm and a leg, and still didn't end
up perfectly happy.

Really, if you find a solution, post it.  And feel free to mail me about it
too.  I'd love a highly flexible solution that was well-integrated with
Asterisk.  What we have now works, mostly, but is a botch.

... JG
-- 
Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net
"We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I
won't contact you again." - Direct Marketing Ass'n position on e-mail spam(CNN)
With 24 million small businesses in the US alone, that's way too many apples.