Polycoms are awesome. I highly recommend them. On Mon, 2006-11-13 at 17:17, Cristobal Palmer wrote: > I have a Polycom 501 on my desk. My coworkers have the same phone. > Asterisk plays nice with SIP, so it works fine on that front. > > The webmin is a bit clunky, but otherwise it's a great phone. The > speakerphone on it is _fantastic_, and it's cheaper than the > competition. > > -CMP > > On 11/13/06, Brian Henning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I've been in touch with people at CDW, where we buy some of our > > enterprise-grade stuff (when we do buy such things). They don't seem to > > offer the Cisco 79x0 phones, but their "telephony expert" suggested the > > Polycom 501/601 phones, as units that are reasonably easy to use and > > work well with Asterisk. Does anyone have comments to make in favor or > > against the Polycom models? > > > > Cheers, > > ~Brian > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Brian, > > > > > > Asterisk is definitely enterprise ready but you have identified some of > > > the weak points below. Still, if you have a fairly static phone config > > > and just need basic phone apps, then Asterisk is easily do-able for the > > > average office. > > > > > > Paging is best done using an analog speaker system - which looks to > > > Asterisk like a simple Analog phone line. Other than that, you can use > > > the intercom feature available with Cisco 7940 or 7960 phones and just > > > setup a "conferencing" group that uses the intercom feature on all your > > > phones. It won't work perfectly, but it will work. > > > > > > If you think you need 24 lines then a PRI is the way to go. You'll get > > > CallerID and the cost is much cheaper for the setup and maintenance. > > > > > > If you go with POE switches, that will be more expensive than buying > > > power bricks for each phone, but you will get some nice honking Cisco > > > switching power that will vlan out your Voice traffic from your Data. > > > The cheaper solution is to get a Cisco 2924 XL-EN (that "EN" part is > > > *very* important) and bunch of power bricks. It cost would be about half > > > of that of going with a Cisco 3524-PWR > > > > > > The advantages of VoIP are tremendous, and installation is about half > > > the cost of a traditional service, but... it still ain't cheap. > > > > > > If you guys want an interrum solution (hosted VoIP), then look us up. We > > > would be happy to help you take you guys off your old PBX and move you > > > over to the world of VoIP. And if you need any Asterisk help, let me know. > > > > > > BTW: I've gotten several Kick-butt Asterisk servers from Cerient (Jason > > > Tower). The costs have all been around $2k (plus the Digium hardware), > > > and they would work great as and Enterprise Asterisk server for an > > > office of your size or larger. > > > > > > Jon Carnes > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: Brian Henning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Date: Thursday, November 9, 2006 12:20 pm > > > Subject: [TriLUG] Asterisk for the office > > > To: TriLUG <[email protected]> > > > > > >> Hi Y'all, > > >> Coming back around to the Asterisk topic again.. Now that we're > > >> looking at the possibility of expanding off-site operations, having > > >> a > > >> completely-VoIP office telephony solution is seeming more and more > > >> prudent. So I'm looking for some advice from folks who have > > >> deployed > > >> whole-office systems using Asterisk (as well as input from folks > > >> that > > >> have used non-Open-Source software). I've already thought of the > > >> following points: > > >> > > >> - Need a real butt-kicking server to handle as many as 24 inbound > > >> lines > > >> (using a Digium TDM2400), plus however many inter-office calls may > > >> be > > >> occurring (plus room for expansion). Right now I'm contemplating a > > >> Core > > >> 2 Extreme-based system. > > >> > > >> - In the absence of intelligent managed switchgear, need separate > > >> switchgear for 100bT for the phones. Possibly with PoE. > > >> > > >> - Need to have all the features of our existing PBX. General > > >> call-handling features are a cinch with * dialplan and > > >> applications, but > > >> I'm finding, in particular, the "page" or "intercom" feature seems > > >> to be > > >> more of a challenge in the VoIP world. Paging ability is essential. > > >> > > >> - Phones need to be simple enough that our folks can use them, but > > >> complex enough to handle things like paging. I've seen > > >> recommendations > > >> for the Cisco 7960 set. Price is a consideration, as our initial > > >> investment will be 30 phones. > > >> > > >> I'm also all-ears for other options. It'd be fantastic in $boss's > > >> eyes, > > >> I'm sure, if we didn't have to abandon the investment we've already > > >> made > > >> in our current Nortel MICS system. Unfortunately, so far the only > > >> way > > >> I've found to interface the PBX with an Asterisk system is via > > >> analog > > >> adapters. Icky, because of course then you lose a lot of the PBX > > >> features for the Asterisk users. > > >> > > >> Also, if there's anyone that would like to come visit our facility, > > >> evaluate our current system and our needs and make a quote, I'd be > > >> very > > >> happy to entertain it. > > >> > > >> Thanks a lot! > > >> > > >> Cheers, > > >> ~Brian > > >> -- > > >> ---------------- > > >> Brian A. Henning > > >> strutmasters.com > > >> 336.597.2397x238 > > >> ---------------- > > >> -- > > >> TriLUG mailing list : > > >> http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilugTriLUG Organizational > > >> FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ > > >> TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ > > >> > > > > -- > > ---------------- > > Brian A. Henning > > strutmasters.com > > 336.597.2397x238 > > ---------------- > > -- > > TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug > > TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ > > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ > > > > > -- > Cristobal M. Palmer > UNC-CH SILS Student -- ils.unc.edu/~cmpalmer > TriLUG Vice Chair > "There are many roads to enlightenment, and thus many roads back to > the One True Debian" --crimsun
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