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[asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good??

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eugen.soare at gmail.com
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:46 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

So this is just a general question, Is Asterisk really good?

Reliability?

Functionality?

Customization's?
I am coming from a Nortel world, were you pay for everything, and you
can't delve into the software. But it seems that customization would be
a great thing.
Like, setting up a war-dialer to customer lists, incoming/outgoing
faxes (that's possible with Asterisk, right?) and making your own cool
voice mail stuff.

But before I delve into it, I thought a question to the community would
be in order.

2 more questions.

1 - Can you really make free outgoing calls from let's say Portland OR,
to Frankfurt Germany?
2 - What would it take to set one up? cards / computer power / pricing
on software? What has your experience been?

Thank you for taking time to look at this post!
Eugen
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Dean at cognation.net
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:51 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

Hi Eugene,
Yes it's that good.

All the functionality you posted is possible.

Regarding your international calls, nothing more is required than two
asterisk servers (one at each location) and a broadband connection -
cards are only used to connect into pstn or isdn.

Why don't you start with a preformatted iso like trixbox or druid and
then jump into coding your own once you know what you are doing.

Regards,

Dean Collins
Cognation Pty Ltd
dean at cognation.net
+1-212-203-4357 Ph
+61-2-9016-5642 (Sydney in-dial).


Quote:
-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-
bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Eugen Soare
Sent: Thursday, 10 April 2008 2:47 PM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good??

So this is just a general question, Is Asterisk really good?

Reliability?

Functionality?

Customization's?


I am coming from a Nortel world, were you pay for everything, and you
can't delve into the software. But it seems that customization would
be
Quote:
a great thing.
Like, setting up a war-dialer to customer lists, incoming/outgoing
faxes (that's possible with Asterisk, right?) and making your own
cool
Quote:
voice mail stuff.

But before I delve into it, I thought a question to the community
would
Quote:
be in order.

2 more questions.

1 - Can you really make free outgoing calls from let's say Portland
OR,
Quote:
to Frankfurt Germany?
2 - What would it take to set one up? cards / computer power /
pricing
Quote:
on software? What has your experience been?

Thank you for taking time to look at this post!
Eugen

_______________________________________________
-- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com --

asterisk-users mailing list
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asterisk.org at sedwar...
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:14 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008, Eugen Soare wrote:

Quote:
1 - Can you really make free outgoing calls from let's say Portland OR,
to Frankfurt Germany?

No. There is no free lunch. It takes electricity, bandwidth, and depending
on who you want to call in Germany, termination.

Thanks in advance,
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Edwards sedwards at sedwards.com Voice: +1-760-468-3867 PST
Newline Fax: +1-760-731-3000
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abalashov at evaristes...
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:28 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

Steve Edwards wrote:
Quote:
On Thu, 10 Apr 2008, Eugen Soare wrote:

Quote:
1 - Can you really make free outgoing calls from let's say Portland OR,
to Frankfurt Germany?

No. There is no free lunch. It takes electricity, bandwidth, and depending
on who you want to call in Germany, termination.

Yep. And if the transport is primarily the public Internet, be very
aware of how call quality can be impacted over that kind of distance /
that many routing hops, depending on what path you ride to Germany.

--
Alex Balashov
Evariste Systems
Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/
Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670
Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671
Mobile : (+1) (706) 338-8599
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Dean at cognation.net
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:33 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

BTW Eugene, was just reading Tom Keatings blog (he's a pretty well known
reporter around here), he was just talking about a new commercial
appliance called CogoBlue that you could send to the person at the other
end if they don't know anything about voip or pabx's to make it even
easier for them to setup calls at their end.

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/asterisk/ispbx-launches-asterisk
-appliances-with-cogoblue-asterisk-gui.asp


Cheers,
Dean


Quote:
-----Original Message-----
From: Dean Collins
Sent: Thursday, 10 April 2008 2:51 PM
To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion'
Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good??

Hi Eugene,
Yes it's that good.

All the functionality you posted is possible.

Regarding your international calls, nothing more is required than two
asterisk servers
Quote:
(one at each location) and a broadband connection - cards are only
used to connect
Quote:
into pstn or isdn.

Why don't you start with a preformatted iso like trixbox or druid and
then jump into
Quote:
coding your own once you know what you are doing.



Regards,

Dean Collins
Cognation Pty Ltd
dean at cognation.net
+1-212-203-4357 Ph
+61-2-9016-5642 (Sydney in-dial).


Quote:
-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-users-
Quote:
Quote:
bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Eugen Soare
Sent: Thursday, 10 April 2008 2:47 PM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good??

So this is just a general question, Is Asterisk really good?

Reliability?

Functionality?

Customization's?


I am coming from a Nortel world, were you pay for everything, and
you
Quote:
Quote:
can't delve into the software. But it seems that customization would
be
Quote:
Quote:
a great thing.
Like, setting up a war-dialer to customer lists, incoming/outgoing
faxes (that's possible with Asterisk, right?) and making your own
cool
Quote:
Quote:
voice mail stuff.

But before I delve into it, I thought a question to the community
would
Quote:
Quote:
be in order.

2 more questions.

1 - Can you really make free outgoing calls from let's say Portland
OR,
Quote:
Quote:
to Frankfurt Germany?
2 - What would it take to set one up? cards / computer power /
pricing
Quote:
Quote:
on software? What has your experience been?

Thank you for taking time to look at this post!
Eugen

_______________________________________________
-- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com
--
Quote:
Quote:

asterisk-users mailing list
To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
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bwentdg at pipeline.com
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:05 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

Remember - True TELCO grade systems simply cannot be compared to
anything else.
You want the reliability , uptime, and all the bells and whistles of
true Carrier Grade Hardware/Software
then you pay for it. If you want something "you" can tinker under the
hood with and do some cool
stuff with, Asterisk is it. BUT - by it need NORTEL PBX reliability or
the power and flexibility
of a big Rockwell ACD, get out your check book. The two are not the same.

Eugen Soare wrote:
Quote:
So this is just a general question, Is Asterisk really good?

Reliability?

Functionality?

Customization's?


I am coming from a Nortel world, were you pay for everything, and you
can't delve into the software. But it seems that customization would be
a great thing.
Like, setting up a war-dialer to customer lists, incoming/outgoing

Back to top
jsignorello at ispbx.com
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:43 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

Asterisk as a PBX is fantastic. It offers the features found in the most
sophisticated traditional

Until now the third party PBX configuration software has not had the
sophistication of
Asterisk product itself. Check out cogoblue.com It is a visual drag and
drop configuration tool that
is powerful yest simple to use.

Eugen Soare wrote:
Quote:
So this is just a general question, Is Asterisk really good?

Reliability?

Functionality?

Customization's?


I am coming from a Nortel world, were you pay for everything, and you
can't delve into the software. But it seems that customization would be
a great thing.
Like, setting up a war-dialer to customer lists, incoming/outgoing
faxes (that's possible with Asterisk, right?) and making your own cool
voice mail stuff.

But before I delve into it, I thought a question to the community would
be in order.

2 more questions.

1 - Can you really make free outgoing calls from let's say Portland OR,
to Frankfurt Germany?
2 - What would it take to set one up? cards / computer power / pricing
on software? What has your experience been?

Thank you for taking time to look at this post!
Eugen

_______________________________________________
-- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com --

asterisk-users mailing list
To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
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tilghman at mail.jeffa...
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:56 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On Thursday 10 April 2008 15:43:33 John Signorello wrote:
Quote:
Asterisk as a PBX is fantastic. It offers the features found in the most
sophisticated traditional

Until now the third party PBX configuration software has not had the
sophistication of
Asterisk product itself. Check out cogoblue.com It is a visual drag and
drop configuration tool that
is powerful yest simple to use.

Common ethics would require you to post a disclaimer that you are behind
cogoblue, not a satisfied independent customer. And again, you are posting
advertising on a non-commercial list.

--
Tilghman
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jra at baylink.com
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:17 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 04:05:47PM -0400, Al Baker wrote:
Quote:
Remember - True TELCO grade systems simply cannot be compared to
anything else. You want the reliability , uptime, and all the bells
and whistles of true Carrier Grade Hardware/Software then you pay for
it. If you want something "you" can tinker under the hood with and
do some cool stuff with, Asterisk is it. BUT - by it need NORTEL PBX
reliability or the power and flexibility of a big Rockwell ACD, get
out your check book. The two are not the same.

Sure. But even commercial PBX/Hybrid stuff is often more robust than
Asterisk-on-a-PC (I don't have enough anecdotes on appliances, though I
expect they'd be better).

Now, yes, carrier-grade equipment can be as complex and still 4-nines
reliable (or 5-nines Smile, but we're now talking NEBS, -48VDC, 23-inch
racks, and 6-digit-plus price tags.

And for what it's worth, at my new job I babysit about a 16-machine
cluster running VICIdial for close to 200 agents, and by and large, it
just runs. It's got about 20 T-1s feeding it.

Cheers,
-- jra
--
Jay R. Ashworth Baylink jra at baylink.com
Designer The Things I Think RFC 2100
Ashworth & Associates http://baylink.pitas.com '87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA http://photo.imageinc.us +1 727 647 1274

Those who cast the vote decide nothing.
Those who count the vote decide everything.
-- (Joseph Stalin)
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hwit at a-domani.nl
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:29 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On Thu, 2008-04-10 at 16:05 -0400, Al Baker wrote:
Quote:
Remember - True TELCO grade systems simply cannot be compared to
anything else.
You want the reliability , uptime, and all the bells and whistles of
true Carrier Grade Hardware/Software
then you pay for it. If you want something "you" can tinker under the
hood with and do some cool
stuff with, Asterisk is it. BUT - by it need NORTEL PBX reliability or
the power and flexibility
of a big Rockwell ACD, get out your check book. The two are not the same.

Eugen Soare wrote:
Quote:
So this is just a general question, Is Asterisk really good?

Reliability?

Functionality?

Customization's?


I am coming from a Nortel world, were you pay for everything, and you
can't delve into the software. But it seems that customization would be
a great thing.
Like, setting up a war-dialer to customer lists, incoming/outgoing
I agree, though be carefull not trying to compare apples and pears..
Think i can provide some extra perspective, as i worked over 18 years
for a telco manufacturer...

Reliability:
With original telco equipment you have hardly any choice to make with
respect to reliability i mean. The differ is size and hence the costs.
You don't hace voip-pbx with a mtbf of "A" or "B".

With Asterisk its your choice. You not only may choose, not you have to
choose! Is it around=the-corner COTS-quality? Commercial-grade?
MIL-specs? fail-over? double? quad? A large farm?
Reliability has it price...


Functionality
Hate to say it, but do you realy know what you/your company/your
customer or clients want and-or-need? What is your budget?

I've been in meetings with customers for more than a year to get on
paper what they realy wanted. teams of engineers can code what ever you
want. At a price. Do you want to choose from existing configurations?
Then your choise will be limited to what previous customers or sleepless
engineers may have imagined. Ofcourse, It may lack some functionaliteis,
or more likely it has some functionalities you don't want. it can be
modified surely.... You decide: Do you want to change existing
equipment, do you want to change your requirements, or do you have no
objections against new equipment having an impact your department..

With asterisk, its the same as with reliability. It's your call. You can
make it exactly how you want it, nothing less, nothing more. But:
A) know exactly what to want for now and the near future.
B) don't under estimate the time and costs


Customization
Same as with functionality. With existing equipment, accepts what a
supplier gives you or be prepared to digg deep in your wallet.

Asterisk: 100%, full stop.


management summary:
1) What ever you decide to, get your requirements on paper.
2) Determine if you can find people to do the job
3) Launch a pilot-project: get to know asterisk
4) re-examine your requirements
5) evaluate your pilot-project
6) check your budget
7) either decide or back to 3) or 4)

It's doesn't matter if its for you own home, small company or a large
firm....
Back to top
bwentdg at pipeline.com
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:49 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

Quote"

And for what it's worth, at my new job I babysit about a 16-machine
cluster running VICIdial for close to 200 agents, and by and large, it
just runs. It's got about 20 T-1s feeding it"

Please share more about this.

What/How are you "clustering" the boxes ?

Is this all VOIP or TDMF front and VOIP for agents in back ?

What kind of Boxes ? What O/S

What tools are you using to monitor this big-azz mother ?

Thx in in advance for sharing !!

Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
Quote:
On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 04:05:47PM -0400, Al Baker wrote:

Quote:
Remember - True TELCO grade systems simply cannot be compared to
anything else. You want the reliability , uptime, and all the bells
and whistles of true Carrier Grade Hardware/Software then you pay for
it. If you want something "you" can tinker under the hood with and
do some cool stuff with, Asterisk is it. BUT - by it need NORTEL PBX
reliability or the power and flexibility of a big Rockwell ACD, get
out your check book. The two are not the same.


Sure. But even commercial PBX/Hybrid stuff is often more robust than
Asterisk-on-a-PC (I don't have enough anecdotes on appliances, though I
expect they'd be better).

Now, yes, carrier-grade equipment can be as complex and still 4-nines
reliable (or 5-nines Smile, but we're now talking NEBS, -48VDC, 23-inch
racks, and 6-digit-plus price tags.

And for what it's worth, at my new job I babysit about a 16-machine
cluster running VICIdial for close to 200 agents, and by and large, it
just runs. It's got about 20 T-1s feeding it.

Cheers,
-- jra
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jra at baylink.com
Guest





PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:05 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 05:49:26PM -0400, Al Baker wrote:
Quote:
Please share more about this.

What/How are you "clustering" the boxes ?

Is this all VOIP or TDMF front and VOIP for agents in back ?

What kind of Boxes ? What O/S

What tools are you using to monitor this big-azz mother ?

What, Matt? You haven't already talked about this here? Smile

My new job is Matt Florell's old job, where VICIdial got started.

I haven't counted the boxes lately, but I think there are 14 with quad-T
cards in them, separate boxes for MySQL and Apache.

Our architecture is FXS T-1 channel banks for the agent phones, usually
1 + 3 IXC spans per box, though we turned up a box a couple weeks ago
with 3 channel banks, and no spans.

All TDM; the only VoIP is the IAX trunks hauling load-balance calls
around.

And just the usual VICIdial tools, mostly, though I'm fixin to deploy
either Big Sister or Nagios.

Cheers,
-- jra

--
Jay R. Ashworth Baylink jra at baylink.com
Designer The Things I Think RFC 2100
Ashworth & Associates http://baylink.pitas.com '87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA http://photo.imageinc.us +1 727 647 1274

Those who cast the vote decide nothing.
Those who count the vote decide everything.
-- (Joseph Stalin)
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vincent.delporte at bi...
Guest





PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:52 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:46:48 -0700, Eugen Soare
<eugen.soare at gmail.com> wrote:
Quote:
So this is just a general question, Is Asterisk really good?

Yes, but you should also look at an alternative that used Asterisk as
a reference (www.freeswitch.org), and make an informed decision.
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astmattf at gmail.com
Guest





PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:43 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On 4/10/08, Jay R. Ashworth <jra at baylink.com> wrote:
Quote:
On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 05:49:26PM -0400, Al Baker wrote:
Quote:
Please share more about this.

What/How are you "clustering" the boxes ?

Is this all VOIP or TDMF front and VOIP for agents in back ?

What kind of Boxes ? What O/S

What tools are you using to monitor this big-azz mother ?


What, Matt? You haven't already talked about this here? Smile

My new job is Matt Florell's old job, where VICIdial got started.

I haven't counted the boxes lately, but I think there are 14 with quad-T
cards in them, separate boxes for MySQL and Apache.

Our architecture is FXS T-1 channel banks for the agent phones, usually
1 + 3 IXC spans per box, though we turned up a box a couple weeks ago
with 3 channel banks, and no spans.

All TDM; the only VoIP is the IAX trunks hauling load-balance calls
around.

And just the usual VICIdial tools, mostly, though I'm fixin to deploy
either Big Sister or Nagios.

Of course I have talked about it here, 3 years ago:)

I even gave a presentation about it at Astricon in 2005:
http://eflo.net/presentations/Astricon2005_matt_florell_PDF.pdf

It is a bit dated(as are some of the servers there) but it is a good
description of how that system was originally set up.

MATT---
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jra at baylink.com
Guest





PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:49 pm    Post subject: [asterisk-users] Is Asterisk really good?? Reply with quote

On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 06:11:45PM -0700, Eugen Soare wrote:
Quote:
That was cool!
thanks for the pdf.

I'm in the midst of rearranging things (which are 2 to 3 times as large
as they were then); I'll update that once I'm done.

Cheers,
-- jra
--
Jay R. Ashworth Baylink jra at baylink.com
Designer The Things I Think RFC 2100
Ashworth & Associates http://baylink.pitas.com '87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA http://photo.imageinc.us +1 727 647 1274

Those who cast the vote decide nothing.
Those who count the vote decide everything.
-- (Joseph Stalin)
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