On Thursday, August 21, 2003 10:21 AM, Mike Ciholas [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Hi all, > > This is a NEWBIE question, so all you experienced types that are > tired of stupid questions can move on... > > I've pretty much given up trying to do my entire phone system > over IP (including local service), so I have to select and > provision my local CO lines. I need about 10-12 lines which can > be POTS lines, of course. But, I thought, why not get something > digital and expandable like a DS1, PRI, T1 or whatever they call > it with 23 or 24 channels of 64 kbps voice. It seems like it > would be simpler for me to deal with this (and better quality) > and it *should* be simpler for the phone company, too. > > However, while everyone can sell me POTS lines, when I ask about > getting these in some sort of digital muxed interface, I seem to > confuse the providers. In one case, I was able to get something > called "channelized T1" which cost a lot and did not actually > include the "phone" service for any of the channels, that was > additional. So the cost to go from POTS lines to something > digital was extreme, so much more than I can't understand why > anyone would have T1 voice interfaces, yet all the PBXes have > this and it seems commonly used. I must be doing this "wrong". > > Okay, so I need help with: > > 1. Understanding terminology so I can ask for the "right thing".
You want either a PRI ISDN which would provide 23 lines or a T1 with DID/DOD trunks. Our local phone company will provide anywhere from 1 to 24 trunks on a T1. We pay a fee for the T1 and then so much per trunk. As for terminology, don't ask for pots lines, ask for trunks or ISDN. > > 2. Advice on when it is reasonable to go POTS versus something > else and what that something else is. > > 3. Feedback on what others are doing with 10-12 lines in the US > that may want to expand to ~20 lines. Definitely go with a T1. The only question is whether it will have trunks or if it will be ISDN. > > 4. Interfacing so many POTS lines to Asterisk. I guess that > means an FXO channel bank to T1 card? Kind of stupid to go > digital/analog/digital in the last 100 feet. No, you would not use a channel bank and POTS lines at all. Run the phone company provided T1 directly into a Digium T100P card in your * server. > > Help? > > -- > Mike Ciholas (812) 476-2721 voice > CIHOLAS Enterprises (812) 476-2881 fax > 2626 Kotter Ave, Unit D [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Evansville, IN 47715 http://www.ciholas.com _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
