[Mac-telephony-list] Apple USB modem dongle

[Martin Joseph via List]

On Dec 20, 2006, at 10:03 AM, brody bernardi via List wrote:

> I am amazed at the lack of consensus on what to me seems should be
> elementary.
> Isn't the sweet spot for Asterisk/OpenPBX the replacement of
> proprietary (Comdial, Norstar, Avaya) business phone systems?
> EVERY business has computers, why not use one to run the phone system.
> If a business could pull the copper pairs out of its phone system and
> plug them into a computer, it becomes a no brainer for the CEO.  The
> software is cheaper(free), the hardware is cheaper(price of PC), it
> eliminates the need for a "phone system x" administrator because it
> pulls the phone system into the realm of the computer network/IT  
> staff.
> The next step from Verizon/ATT/whoever (PSTN) to a VoIP vendor would
> be infinitely easier.  Pull out the copper pairs and plug in the VoIP
> device.
>
> Perhaps I have no right to a voice here as my company neither uses
> Asterisk/OpenPBX nor has contributed money to this project.  Perhaps
> I need to do more research on this project to comment.  Maybe this
> mailing list isn't the correct source to form an opinion.
>
> All I want (and I believe I represent a LOT of Mac users) is a way to
> eliminate my dependance on proprietary phone systems.  Let me
> configure my phone system in an easy and user friendly way (GUI).
>
> I am no phone system expert by any stretch of the imagination, but am
> I missing something here?
Your basically correct,  but the technology isn't quite there yet.

1) It's not easy to setup and or run/change.
2) Is it as reliable as a dedicated PBX? Doubtful, with the crappy  
Dell or whitebox systems many people use, or even with Apple hardware  
for that matter.
3) Is it cheaper?  By the time you make it redundant enough to make  
it workable, and hire enough geek talent to make it work and keep  
working, this is questionable.

The real cost savings is for organizations that spend a lot on calls  
between different campuses and already have high quality broadband in  
place.  Suddenly all toll charges disappear for calls within the  
organization.

It is going to get simpler, and more reliable as systems and GUIs are  
designed for this purpose. I think currently we are still in the oh  
so painful early adopter phase.

Still, I use an OSX based Asterisk system, and it does work, it makes  
my phone system mondo flexible, and I wouldn't trade it.

On the other hand, when all the power went off for a 3 days last  
week,  the good old land line and the Cell both still worked, while  
the Voip thing was OUT. Still, my office phones (ATA connected)   
gracefully failed over to the PSTN lines, so it wasn't a huge deal.


Marty