Newbie question

Hi,

I’m located in Canada (don’t know if that changes anything…) with Bell as my telco provider.
I want to setup an Asterisk PBS, connected to the POTS system, to receive and send calls.
First, just 1 incoming/outgoing line is fine, but maybe in the future something like 4-5 lines, with call waiting, stuff like that.
To connects phones, well, maybe again 2-3 phones, and maybe VOIP phones (to dial from pc ? of with those IP’s phones).

First question : Is those X100P cards are good to received/send calls ? If I want to have a pool of 4-5 lines, do I have to purchase more and set it up into asterisk ?
Second question : To do so, What do I need from Bell (telco) ? What do I ask for ? Simply 4 telephones lines, and connect them (I imaging big org having thousands of lines, doesn’t make senses… no ?)
Third question : Those Wildcard TDM400P cards, I figured out that I need modules to add (X100M or S110M) How many modules should I connect ? Is this 1 S110M/phone ? and 1 X100M / phone lines ? Or do I need only 1 module / card (there is possibility of 4 modules, so I guess that it’s 1/line, but it’s not clear…)

Thanks a lot

regards
Marc

[quote=“igormrbean”]Hi,

I’m located in Canada (don’t know if that changes anything…)[/quote]

That changes everything.

[quote=“igormrbean”]with Bell as my telco provider.
I want to setup an Asterisk PBS, connected to the POTS system, to receive and send calls.
First, just 1 incoming/outgoing line is fine, but maybe in the future something like 4-5 lines, with call waiting, stuff like that.

To connects phones, well, maybe again 2-3 phones, and maybe VOIP phones (to dial from pc ? of with those IP’s phones).[/quote]

I would recommend a combination of IP Softphones, IP Hardphones and/or IP ATAs (ie - Sipura/Linksys 2000).

The Digium TDM400P would work best for up to 4 lines. To work with this in the first round, you could pick up a Sipura/Linksys 3000 which would give you one FXS/FXO pair to start with.

Yes, you could get four standard analog lines from Bell. Or subscribe to a VoIP provider that will provide this over your broadband connect. Have a look here for info on VoIP/Asterisk/Canada:

voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk+Canadian+Users

Not sure on this one, will have to defer.

Thanks for the fast answer.

Well, I guess this is confusing me more over again ! This Sipura … what is it for exactly ?

Well, let say 2 scenarios :

  1. Traditional POTS
    If I want only IP phones, but tradionnal POTS service (no VoIP service from my telco) and 1 line (maybe more in the future) which hardware is required ?
    I guess 1 X110P to plug the line in, then only a regular network card with hub/switch and plug IP phones directly ?
    To add a second line, then buying an extra X110P ? or going with the TDM400P immediatly ?

  2. VoIP services
    I switch phone services to a VoIP services. What connection will I get ? A DSL/Cable modem, with an ethernet jack ? Where do I plug that ? TDM400P ?

Also, another question.
If my phone number is 555-5555 I guess the second line number will be 555-6666, then to make calls always come on 555-5555 and taking the free line if the other one is busy ?

If you want to start with 1 analog ling and not buy a Digium card right off the bat, the Linksys/Sipura will give you one analog port for your Bell line and one analog port for a standard analog phone. You may then connect these to Asterisk via SIP.

[quote=“igormrbean”]Well, let say 2 scenarios :

  1. Traditional POTS
    If I want only IP phones, but tradionnal POTS service (no VoIP service from my telco) and 1 line (maybe more in the future) which hardware is required ?[/quote]

This you could do with the Sipura/Linksys 3000.

[quote=“igormrbean”]I guess 1 X110P to plug the line in, then only a regular network card with hub/switch and plug IP phones directly ?
To add a second line, then buying an extra X110P ? or going with the TDM400P immediatly ?[/quote]

Deferring.

[quote=“igormrbean”]2) VoIP services
I switch phone services to a VoIP services. What connection will I get ? A DSL/Cable modem, with an ethernet jack ? Where do I plug that ? TDM400P ?[/quote]

All you would need is for you Asterisk to have an ethernet card running on the LAN with access to the WAN/Router in order to obtain what effectively are ‘virtual’ VoIP circuits. No need for any Digium or Linksys/Sipura hardware in that case, as long as you use IP Soft/Hard phones.

[quote=“igormrbean”]Also, another question.
If my phone number is 555-5555 I guess the second line number will be 555-6666, then to make calls always come on 555-5555 and taking the free line if the other one is busy ?[/quote]

This depends on your provider and how they will provide the rollover service.

Ok, now I understand better.

When you say connect these to Astesisk via SIP, you meen plug the Sipura with the ethernet network patch, to a switch, connected to the Asterisk. Then, from asterisk, it will find the IP of the Sipura ?!?!

So the telco offering VoIP telco will provide me with an ethernet connection, which will be connected by regular switch through the Asterisk box ?
And from there, setup Asterisk to VoIP using the telco VoIP service, then plug my Hard/Soft VoIP phones ?

Thanks a lot, it’s really appreciated

Also,

I plan using Asterisk@Home… Is this a good start, or you recommand starting from scratch, and compile/install the whole thing ?
I don’t mind seting a new server for this, so I guess using a distro made for this will save me lot of time …

Another one…
We already have a small internal network for production, with 4-5 servers, and a couple of workstation.
For VoIP, do you recommand setting a dedicated LAN (using another switch or separate VLAN) or simply use the prod network ?
If using a seperate LAN, I can figure out howto todo that, but I’m interested about security/performance. Does the VoIP consume lots of bandwidth (on the LAN, for VoIP soft/hard phones)?

Well, you have to configure everything to make Asterisk aware of the Sipura and the Sipura aware of the Asterisk. All you need is a network hub and each will be connected via ethernet on the network.

Depends on the provider. You my find a broadband provider that also provides VoIP. Otherwise you will need a broadband provider and a VoIP provider who will deliver the calls to you over your internet/broadband connection.

Yes.

[quote=“MuppetMaster”]

Well, you have to configure everything to make Asterisk aware of the Sipura and the Sipura aware of the Asterisk. All you need is a network hub and each will be connected via ethernet on the network.

Depends on the provider. You my find a broadband provider that also provides VoIP. Otherwise you will need a broadband provider and a VoIP provider who will deliver the calls to you over your internet/broadband connection.

Yes.[/quote]

THANKS ! (just one last question, from previous post…)

So, I am looking to do basically exactly what the thread starter describes, but I don’t know what it is I actually ask for from Bell. Do I need a T1 line? I only want a one line in, one line out setup for now, but eventually I’ll want many lines out.

Does my plain old normal phone line give me what I need here for the simple setup?

When I do want to go to multiple lines, do I literally call up Bell and ask for a T1 line? Roughly how much do those cost, and do they have to modify any of my hardware at my house or does the T1 signal actually come down the same wires as my regular plain old phone line.

Thanks in advance.

Stu

Hi,
I’ve not started this, but plan soon.
For Bell, I don’t know.
I don’t think we need a T1, cause of the price first.
You can start with 1 regular phone line, and I assume Bell can then add an extra line on the same copper cable, and do the roll-over.

Marc

[quote=“sadohert”]So, I am looking to do basically exactly what the thread starter describes, but I don’t know what it is I actually ask for from Bell. Do I need a T1 line? I only want a one line in, one line out setup for now, but eventually I’ll want many lines out.

Does my plain old normal phone line give me what I need here for the simple setup?

When I do want to go to multiple lines, do I literally call up Bell and ask for a T1 line? Roughly how much do those cost, and do they have to modify any of my hardware at my house or does the T1 signal actually come down the same wires as my regular plain old phone line.

Thanks in advance.

Stu[/quote]

Hi marc,
Thanks for the reply. Are you going with the Sipura unit for your testing, or are you going for the larger scale Digium cards?

If you’re going Sipura, where did you end up getting it from?

Stu