I think one thing you may want to remember is that porting numbers to a VoIP provider can make them EXTREMELY hard to ever port back to a normal telco provider. Also, if there is ever a problem with the VoIP provider (which has been common lately) then you are in deep trouble. For a mission critical install, it is highly recommended that you get land lines pulled in via whatever means meets your needs and that you use VoIP providers only as a backup to your hardwired system. Saving bucks on long distance is great but betting the farm on a zystem that provides dial tone from purely VoIP can be highly dangerous.
My $0.02 would be to get a PRI (or 3 or whatever you need) and use VoIP for cost savings on LD as applicable and as a backup to PRI failure. If you want a purely VoIP solution, you should go to an Avaya or other hosted VoIP PBX solution because the model for Asterisk doesn't really support hosted services. Asterisk IS the host of your services. You just need to connect it to all the correct systems. Again, just my $0.02. W -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sahil Gupta Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 11:38 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Systems Admin; Telecom Newbie - What do I need? Why not look at getting a provider that can port your numbers to their network and buying the DID's off them over VoIP? Regards, Sahil Gupta VoiceValley On Wed, 13 Jul 2005, Ed Pastore wrote: > Thanks for all the great replies. I guess I over-asked my question (since so > many kept popping up). > > For now, what I really need to determine is what I need to budget for a full > implementation. Unfortunately, I don't have time now to do testing and > analysis... I just need to get my budget submitted. So I'm trying to figure > out what all I'll need to buy and budget for. Obviously this is pretty hard, > since I understand so little about telecom. > > So that said... Can anyone help me in determining what all I will need? The > only thing I really need is one ballpark figure for a grand total cash > outlay. However, it it is too low, I may be hosed. If it is too big, the > project may be cut out of the budget. So I'd like to get within, say $5K of > the actual expected cost. > > The items I had identified in my original post were: > - A server, running Debian Linux or OS X (our preferred operating systems > here) > - A good network. We're on switched 100 Base-T, but will move to gigabit next > year. > - A T1 or some dedicated channels of a T1 > - Gateway PCI cards or devices (in the case of OS X, only devices I guess) > - VOIP phones or phone software (I'd like to use software and USB handsets) > > Are there more things I need? Or does someone have a rough estimate of what > it costs to implement an Asterisk system in a small business? We have about > 50 users and currently have something like 20 POTS lines coming into our PBX. > > Thanks again. > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users