[asterisk-users] How different is implementing Cisco based system than Asterisk based system?

[David Backeberg]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 3:56 PM, Zeeshan Zakaria <zishanov at gmail.com> wrote:
> Now I have no previous experience with Cisco systems and don't want to screw
> up anything. Are they much different than Asterisk based systems?

sometimes. Cisco supports "SIP", but depending on the product,
asterisk inter-networking with call transfers / dials / etc. can be,
ummm, interesting, and you have to do Transfer() rather than Dial() if
you want subsequent transfers / conferencing, etc. to work within
Cisco. Basically, call setup / control and RTP aren't necessarily on
the same device(s) which is the opposite of my asterisk experience.

> I guess the underlying VoIP technology is the same for both the systems so it
> shouldn't be hard to set it up on Cisco.

sometimes. Again, the size of the deployment is relevant here.

> Any ideas, suggestions. I'd appreciate your help as what to look for, where to start from.

Again, at some point you'll need to call a reseller. In the meantime,
if you want to keep them honest, you should get your hands on paper or
digital copies of the Cisco press books about their phone system
products. Can't recommend anything specific without knowing things
about size and purpose of the install.