Re: OGo and Asterisk

> > Where do I plugin my conventional phone? Do I need to buy additional
> > hardware?
> yes you need a piece of hardware for that and you need a peice of hardware to
> connect your server to a land line (ie: copper tel line) but you do not need
> to this as you can route all calls over the internet instead. As not everyone
> has such systems a functional private PBX will need to be integrated in part
> with the local telephone service providers line. (ie: copper line) 
> > >> Some questions:
> > >> - does it integrate somehow with my non-VoIP PBX?
> > > I guess it could. In practice, for my business, it replaces it.

Yes, most traditional PBXs provide for analog extenstons, usually used for fax
machines and the like.  Analog extensions can just as easily be routed to a
telco interface on a PC - this is often used to add voice mail to 'legacy' phone
systems.

> > Hm. So what does a PBX do? 

Provides a call pool and music-on-hold while you wait to talk to someone in
product support!  And usually that lovely message about how much they appreciate
their customers - that repeats every so many minutes while you wait, and wait,
and wait.....

> No, consider the server a bridge between the internet and the land line but 
> its all much more as its also a server for IP based calls. (VOIP systems) To
> do this yes you need hardware as well. Once the system is setup you can route
> incomming calls from Mageburg to your satelite office in Hamburg, at no cost
> as its all over the internet. 

Or just as well over your private WAN, which is what we do.  This also provides
redundancy for when voice line connectivity is lost at a site, you can reroute
over the WAN, or when a facility itself is down (tornado, etc... it happens!)
you can just click a button and have the calls managed by people at another
facility.  Very handy,  and the user's think your a god.

> This is growing so fast in the States that just last week it was decided that
> VOIP suppliers must make their system available for listening by government 
> authorized security services. Encryption on these system will soon be removed
> as well as it will probably become illegal in the States. There is a lot of 
> money invested in NA in these systems as it believed that VOIP are almost 
> ready to supplant traditonal copper line based systems. It may or may not 
> happen but the investment community seems to be selling it as such...:)

In the end they are also cheaper to build, I mean the physical circuitry, etc...
 A 'PBX' capable of handling hundreds of extension is now down to about 2U -
which is a huge improvement over the file-cabinet sized systems of not that long
ago.
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