[asterisk-users] Re: RE: Digital Phones

[shadowym]

You can use the digital phones with Asterisk.  Just that you need a Citel
Portico external box to convert the proprietary (ie. Digital) non IP
protocol that cannot work on TCP/IP networks to standard IP SIP protocol
that can. At about $120 per port the advantages and "potential" issues may
or not make it feasable.  If there is already a significant investment in
high end digital phones that can cost many hundreds of dollars each and you
want to continue to use the existing wiring it is probably worth considering
IMHO.

My 2 cents. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Bosch [mailto:posting at vodacomm.ca] 
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 9:15 AM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: Re: [asterisk-users] Re: RE: Digital Phones

Tom Lynn wrote:
> Bilal,
> I don't think anyone is telling you that digital phones don't need cards.
> 
> I do think they are telling you that NOBODY makes a card that drives 
> digital phones for use with Asterisk.

bilal ghayyad wrote:
> Hi List;
> 
> As I know from AVAYA (I am AVAYA certified) that digital phones are 
> connected to digital cards and it does not go through ethernet 
> switches at all, digital phones should be independent on the ethernet 
> network, so if the network down, these phones will start working, it 
> will be totally isolated from the data traffic.
> 
> So, how that come the digital phones does not need a card for it?

It is *not* that the digital phones do not need a card. It is that there is
no card on the market that will work with them.

> Also, how it will use ethernet switches!

It will not use ethernet switches.

> It does not work with IP Packets. 

No, it does not, and it will probably never work.

To make it even clearer:

Bilal -- You cannot use your digital phones with Asterisk. Period.

Either:

1 - use a matching digital switch (Nortel Meridian or Norstar, etc.)

2 - sell the phones and replace them with proper IP phones that you can use
over an IP network.

If you are concerned about availability in the event of a power failure:

Purchase an Uninterruptible Power Supply of the appropriate size, Power over
Ethernet injectors, and configure your system such that it will stay up
during a power outage.

-Stephen-