[asterisk-users] About Sangoma cards and Asterisk integration with other PBX

[Tim Nelson]

----- "Daniel Bareiro" <daniel-listas at gmx.net> wrote:
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> Hi all!

Greetings!

> 
> I had the opportunity to test a Sangoma A200 card and I have some
> doubts
> that I would like to consult:
> 
> I tried to detect the card and I had no success using the wctdm
> module
> with DAHDI. I guess this is because electronics is different because
> the
> TDM400P and OpenVox A400P cards have separate modules for each
> channel,
> while the Sangoma A200 each module operates two channels. I had to
> compile Wanpipe for the card was detected. Is it the only way?

Wanpipe is what interfaces the hardware with Dahdi/Zaptel. Then, Dahdi/Zaptel interfaces with Asterisk. This is normal.

> 
> Another thing I want to try is to connect Asterisk with Siemens PBX
> so
> that the extensions on Asterisk can communicate with the extensions
> on
> the Siemens PBX and vice versa. For this should I connect a FXO
> channel
> on Asterisk with a FXS channel of Siemens PBX?

Personally, if possible, I'd connect one of each(FXO/FXS) on Asterisk to one of each(FXO/FXS) on the Siemens. This allows for proper dialing between systems and passing your ${EXTEN} as expected.

> 
> I noticed that, unlike OpenVox A400P card, RJ connectors on the
> Sangoma
> A200 card are smaller. Apparently, the OpenVox use standard telephone
> connectors.

Sangoma's cards come with a half-height PCI bracket for smaller systems. To ensure the card stays small, they use smaller jacks, RJ14 or 'handset' jacks IIRC. Again, this is something specific to Sangoma and normal.

> 
> Thanks in advance for your replies.
> 
> Regards,
> Daniel
> 

A few last thoughts... While OpenVOX may be tempting due to price, you'll want to think long and hard about quality and support. Sangoma has hands down the best support out of any of the telephony interface card manufacturers. Also, the warranty is hard to beat. You will pay more for this, but it is worth it to me. In your situation this boils down to the importance of the system you're working with. For my personal Asterisk boxen at home, I use OpenVOX. They work as expected and if they die, I'm not concerned about the 'mission critical' nature of my test systems. On the other hand, when we ship telephony appliances to customers domestically and around the world and want to feel 'comfy and cozy' that things will 'just work', we install a Sangoma board.

Please accept my apologies if I sound like I'm on a soapbox trying to hardsell Sangoma to you. Frankly, there are very few companies and products that impress me any more, and even less so in the IT and telephony space. Sangoma happens to be one of these few and I feel I must make you aware of it. :-)

Tim Nelson
Systems/Network Support
Rockbochs Inc.
(218)727-4332 x105