atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX VoIP & Cloud Phones, Hosted PBX, General IP Phones is it right for us (asterisk)

as you guys know my day gig is keeping the phones ringing and computers humming for a small school district. We are looking at going VOIP. We have 3 schools and 1 admin office. All locations have 4-6 POTS lines and 20 or so phones.
what we are looking for is eliminating the aging systems and going with a single VOIP solution. A consultant mentionned AsteriskNow. Ive been looking at it, but i haven't had the chance to play with it yet so im not sure. Would we be better off with a turnkey system like trixbox?

sorry for the newb questions, until now my only experience is IPK and Norstar

Asterisk can certainly work for you - although I'd suggest hiring a company that deals specifically with the product as opposed to rolling it out yourself.

However, don't use Trixbox; development has completely stopped with the CE edition and the "Pro" edition is clunky and pricey.

I'd recommend the FreePBX distro which is very well supported.

thanks for the advice. i will keep you posted as to the final descision!

Since Asterisk is open source, you can download the manual for free. And there are a pile of apps that have been developed to go with it. Google is your friend.

That said, Toner's advice is valid. Do you REALLY have time to learn a whole new phone system? You're probably being hit with the same cut backs that most school systems in the U.S. are and your dept is short-handed. (always wondered who coined that term, my hands reach just fine from my wrists to my fingernails, and I've never known of hands that don't )

I would make sure whatever system you decide on more than one company can service it in the area. You will find that the "open source" stuff is VERY reminiscent of the 80's where everyone had their little custom program for everything.

I would contact Jim James from this board .... he used to work for an ESI reseller then became a channel manager for Ipitomy ... which is open source like asterisk..... he is now out of the telcom industry.

There is a reason why customers use phone systems not software on a computer trying to emulate a phone system!

Me again. upstateny has another valid point. Plain old phone systems CAN be used with VOIP. And many are now VOIP capable as built. You are probably aware of the drawbacks. VOIP depends on bandwith, and RELIABLE internet connections. Broadband failure, even in 1 city/town, and you're down for the count! Failure of 1 link, that school is out of communication. Not a good thing for the public education system. COPPER IS YOUR FRIEND! As are TDM phone systems! Jumping into bed with the latest and greatest isn't always a good idea.

Last summer we installed switched Ethernet service at every school in a large city for their VOIP system. During the school year we have been returning to install 4 copper pots lines at each location for E911 because the PSAP was getting the ALI info for the main building and not the actual school that needed their service.

It may just be a programming thing, but it's something to think about.