sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Computer PBX

For any self-contained pc pbx you will have to also purchase some kind of fxo and fxs adapters/boxes if you want to use analog lines and/or sets.
Asterisk is fine, if you don't mind a steep learning curve. If you'd rather stick with a free Windows product you can try the freeware versions of 3cx.com or brekeke.com PBXs. I've tested them, but not in a production setup. In any case, allot yourself some time.

Perry

Re: Computer PBX with "standard" analog phones. Can it be done? Yes. Would I do it in a production environment? DEFINATELY NOT.

I would prefer to stick with a tried-and-true phone system from any reputable vendor. (Personally I favor Toshiba DKs, but that is only because I worked with a vendor to set up 2 DK40's and a DK280 which got expanded to 3 cabinets. - Vendor does major work, I do simple adds/changes). At least with a known brand I have many contacts to help answer questions.

You think the old time installers had a problem with "The Phone Company" insisting "Muss be sumtin wrong with yo' PBX"; Just wait 'till the fingers start pointing between the hardware, PBX software and Operating System software!

Also my experience with computers crashing and losing hard drives has not been all that great, at least the phone systems have been up 24/7 99.99% of the time.

You can have problems between a PRI Card, system firmware version, and the chassis. Sounds like the same issues that a software/computer PBX has. Only difference is there's thousands upon thousands of combinations of computer hardware. Makes knowing what will and wont work together just that much more valuable.

If you realy want to try out software PBXs I requemend that you take a look at the following:

PBX in a Flash (www.pbxinaflash.net). It is a pre
rolled Asterisk system. Download the ISO, burn, toss into a used/cheap pc (wirrr, wirrr, click, click) compleate working Asterisk PBX in 30 min. A great learning tool and can it be used in a production enviornment also).

Nerd Vittles (www.nerdvittles.com) The sponsor of PBX in a Flash has lots of add-ons and projects for Asterisk and PbxF. Great tutorals

Trixbox (www.trixbox.org)Another preconfig Asterisk system, but in additon to the software they sell ready to install hardware too! (Trixbox Appliance).

And yes, Asterisk will work with analog phones if you have the right adapters, but after spending all the money on ATA adapters or FXS boards, you will find that IP phones are a better investment.

later..

Speaking as a computer person, I find it hard to see any advantage in using a pure software PBX with analog lines as the main, or only, delivery for voice. Just remember: in a competitive market, there are no long-term cost advantages in choosing one technology over another. Basically, as in ALL technology, you trade reliability and/or service for features and/or price.
It all comes down to how "adventurous" you are or are allowed to be.

Only scenario I can think of is a large national retail franchise. You have 2-3 local POTS lines delivered that plug into the system, and then the system recieves SIP trunks from the national call center where people call and talk to a fronter who then fronts them to their local store to talk to their local salesman. Imagine calling 1-800-pizza-place, telling the operator "My City, State", and she goes "Ok, sending you to your local store" and then the local store picks up. Or pretend it's an eye-glasses franchise, or insurance franchise, or any other national chain.

Sounds like a good scenario to me. I'm sure there are others but I'm tired and that's the only one I could think of in a pinch.

But for mom-and-pop places, or even small offices, it isn't quite as effective.

Check out a company called Messagelabs. They're a HUUUGE world-wide organization that offers email filtering services. If you call any of their 800 numbers, you'll recognize the voice immediately!

Asterisk!

Btw my opinion is that if you have interest in things like Asterisk, learn a little bit about it now why it's still a young project. There's a learning curve with anything, but the documentation is getting better (www.voip-info.org has a LOT) and the system is very easy to work with once you understand how its organized.