[asterisk-users] PRI Gateway - Worth it?

[Jonathan Thurman]

I try to off-load specific tasks like PRI-to-SIP to dedicated hardware for
the task.  It is also easier to have centralized call processing and easy to
configure/manage devices in our remote locations.  I have colleagues that
use Digium PRI cards just fine.  Just depends on your budget and philosophy.

We currently use the remains of a CallManager system which includes two PRIs
into a Cisco 2811 voice bundle.  While the Cisco does work, I wouldn't
recommend it.  The SIP implementation doesn't play well with others, and
even some of the configuration commands that you can use don't take
effect...

While I haven't used AudioCodes for PRI termination (yet) I have been
pleased with the analog gateways they make.  The cost on a AudioCodes
Mediant 1000 with two PRI ports or two Mediant 600's would probably set you
back less than a Cisco 2801/2811 voice bundle + VWIC-2MFT-T1 and be easier
to configure.

I will say that when I need to replace my other 2800s I will probably go
with a AudioCodes M1000 (PRI and Analog capabilities), but I don't have any
hands on experience with that device at this time.

-Jonathan


On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 4:26 AM, Steve Totaro
<stotaro at asteriskhelpdesk.com>wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 6:25 AM, Shashi Dookhee <sdookhee at fortify.com>wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I was looking to build a SIP-to-PRI gateway using Asterisk (as in my other
>> post), but there is also an alternative of using a Cisco router with
>> something like an NM-HDV module with a T1 VIC module and DSP channel banks.
>>
>> The question is, would it be more reliable to offload all
>> dahdi/zaptel/libpri type stuff to a dedicated gateway device (Asterisk or
>> Cisco) and have the Asterisk PBX only process SIP/IAX?  What prompted all
>> this was terrible call quality/dropped calls over our PRI (which currently
>> has a Wildcard TE207P PCI card) and after two weeks of searching I think
>> I've finally found the issue today (Serial ATA vs Auto mode in the BIOS,
>> would you believe which leads us to believe that offloading duties would be
>> very beneficial performance-wise!).
>>
>> I can think of the gateway allowing us to have multiple PBX's to serve our
>> calls more easily, maybe making it easier to failover PRI's too, etc...
>>  Although we do have an ADTRAN Atlas that allows us to split call volume by
>> DIDs if we wanted to (right now we only have one Asterisk PBX, one
>> electronic FAX server and a couple of standalone FXO devices - all sharing
>> our PRI by the ADTRAN)...
>>
>> Any comments appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> S.
>>
>
> I try to dedicate a box (sometimes HA heartbeat or just a decent server
> like the HP DL360 with dual power supplies and RAID) to a certain task.
>
> The litmus test is when that task is mission critical and can logically be
> drawn out on a whiteboard.
>
> PRI<->SIP is pretty intensive and obviously mission critical and at least
> to me can sit on it's own little square on the whiteboard.
>
> Budget wise, if possible, I would go with two HP DL360s with dual power
> supplies, RAID and a Redfone device or at the least two Sangoma cards, one
> for cold spare (unless Digium now has a lifetime warranty that I am unaware
> of).
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Steve Totaro
> +18887771888 (Toll Free)
> +12409381212 (Cell)
> +12024369784 (Skype)
>
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