John, I just switched from an old Merlin system myself! (haven't looked back). I was in the same situation as you (Windows server sysadmin with minimal *nix experience).
Here's the setup I have currently in production: -Custom built server: Gigabyte motherboard with AMD Sempron 2800+ (I think), 1GB ram, 80GB IDE hard drive. Built for around $400. -Digium TDM04B in the server--supports 4 analog POTS lines (regular analog phone lines). If you have more lines, I think the 'preferred method' is to get a T1 or channel bank, then put a Digium T1 card in the server (instead of having a bunch of TDM04B's to connect on the analog lines). -19 Grandstream GXP-2000's (cheap and work well) -2 Polycom 601's (for the executives who think they need fancier _looking_ phones) -2 UTStarCom F1000's (uses WiFi; for myself and the custodian) When we changed phone systems, I made the decision to scrap all the analog phones and just replace them with the GXP-2000's. For ease of administration, I wanted to 'do it right' and not have a mish-mosh of analog and SIP phones. In our situation, it wasn't that much more money (the GXP-2000's are pretty inexpensive) and ensures everyone has the features they need. I have to confess....I have all my stuff running on [EMAIL PROTECTED] I know I'll get flamed for saying this, because I know I should probably use Asterisk a-la-carte, but [EMAIL PROTECTED] is so easy I just couldn't resist!! I setup a system at my house first using this tutorial: http://mundy.org/blog/index.php?p=81 Then Googled and customized from there. Are you looking to get rid of both Merlin systems? I think after you get Asterisk setup at the one location, everyone else on the other Merlin system will get jealous :P The telecommuters love the remote capabilities of VOIP (using a softphone or the like) to work from home just like they're at work. Music on hold and auto-attendants are super easy to setup using [EMAIL PROTECTED] and/or AMP. [EMAIL PROTECTED] comes with music on hold by default. Browse through that tutorial above; it has all the commonly used features spelled out in 1,2,3 steps. I haven't been at this for too terribly long and I'm by no means an expert or anything, but I'd be happy to answer any questions I can. -ross -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Crew Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 10:46 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Asterisk-Users] What setup I am an Asterisk newbie and don't have any telecom experience. I do know some about Linux and Windows as a sysadmin of Windows servers. I need to know what hardware to buy to replace a broken PBX. I have currently: -CBeyond as my carrier -16 port Cisco router with analog "termination" (not sure on terminology) into the building -Broken PBX: analog AT&T Merlin system (not sure on model #, but could get it) -Second PBX: analog AT&T Merlin system -8 extensions (~14 if you include the second AT&T Merlin system serving our other business) -2 DIDs (~4 if you include our second business) -14 analog phones So, what are my options? I am looking for the cheapest/best solution. I could switch to a digital PRI or CAS line from my telco as another option, but I assume I would need to switch both PBXs and all phones to digital as well in that case. I need auto-attendant and music on hold, especially. Are these easy to set up? I installed Asterisk @ Home and it is running, but I need to RTFM to configure it. I could lose 1 DID for the faxing if we did fax-to-email. Please let me know. Thanks in advance! Sent by Go2net Mail! _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
