Received-SPF: none
 receiver=mail.stalker.com; client-ip=76.96.30.48; envelope-from=jtrimmer@gvcdirectinc.com
Subject: RE: Communigate PBX/VOIP Questions
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:34:08 -0400
Message-Id: <5164fee3e1723c4ca6ec72a0a41a72e8@gvcdirectinc.com>
In-Reply-To: <list-47528740@mail.stalker.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Thread-Topic: Communigate PBX/VOIP Questions
Priority: Normal
Importance: normal
Sensitivity: Normal
Thread-Index: AckPlr9YbCH4Xe/JT02wuLZ7MHL6/g==
From: "jtrimmer@gvcdirectinc.com" <jtrimmer@gvcdirectinc.com>
To: "CommuniGate Pro Discussions" <CGatePro@mail.stalker.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Thanks for the phone info that is helpful.  I've been looking at the polyco=
m phones aswell, except I've been looking at the higher end models (expensi=
ve!), only because the employees here are not fully in the digital age yet =
and need the soft buttons with labels next to them for quick intercoms/line=
s.  If they have to navigate anything, then I'll never get any work done.  =
So the optimal phone would be one with like 12 softkeys and lights next to =
them to show if someone is on the phone.  If I could find something like th=
at decently built with good audio quality I would be happy, because they wo=
uld be happy.


Jon

-----Original Message-----
From: CommuniGate Pro Discussions [mailto:CGatePro@mail.stalker.com] On Beh=
alf Of Mark Nipper
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 3:27 PM
To: CommuniGate Pro Discussions
Subject: Re: Communigate PBX/VOIP Questions

jtrimmer@gvcdirectinc.com wrote:
> I have a quick question about communigates pbx features.  I'm looking at 
> sip phones trying to decide what we should get here at my work and I'm 
> still pretty new to sip terminology and features so maybe some of you 
> could help me out.

	Like most everything else seemingly nowadays, it's a constant learning 
experience anymore.

> We have 4 analog lines that will be coming into a Mediatrix 1204 4 Port 
> FXO Gateway (Just Ordered) which will then be linked into communigate 
> where communigate will handle call routing for extensions and lines 
> (Correct Thinking?).  Now my question is this that I keep seeing on all 
> the phones where they might have 6-12 soft keys that can be programmed 
> but they all say 2,4,6 lines support.  Since I have 4 lines would I in 
> turn need a 4 line phone or could a single line phone with softkeys be 
> used aswell just programmed to pickup a certain line through communigate?

	I have one Digium Wildcard TDM800P with one quad FXO and one quad FXS 
module along with a Wildcard TE121 (single-span [TEJ]1 card).  I am 
however using Asterisk instead of CommuniGate, so I can't speak directly 
to the integration with CommuniGate itself.  Just wanted you to have 
some background for the next part.

> Next question is quality on these sip phones.  Anyone had experience 
> with some of mid to higher end business grade phones, and know some that 
> compare with traditional business phones?   I'm just afraid of ording a 
> $200 dollar phone and sounding like I'm in a tunnel every time I use it.

	To be honest, I'm not sure you even need to spend this much.  I'm using 
around twenty Polycom SoundPoint IP 320's and one SoundStation 6000. 
The 320's can be found on-line for less than one hundred dollars (USD) 
and support up to eight simultaneous calls or four conference calls, and 
have two physical line buttons.  The physical line buttons don't really 
mean a whole lot with regard to number of calls in the SIP world as much 
as the number of unique registrations (or identities) one can appear to 
be from a single phone.

	Having said that, the Polycom phones also have a fantastic reputation 
for sound quality, and I can certainly agree with that.  They are also 
extremely flexible as you can configure far too many different aspects 
of the phones via their XML configuration files which can be loaded at 
startup from the network.

	I don't mean to sound like a Polycom representative here.  I'm sure 
pretty much any SIP phone will work for you across four analog phone 
lines.  I just don't think you necessarily need to spend so much if 
you're just looking for good, solid phones without too many of the fancy 
frills on the mid-range phones.  I mean, these things even have an 
embedded XHTML mini-browser on them!  The only thing missing possibly 
might be a backlight for the LCD screens, which would be a nice 
additional feature if your coworkers tend to work in cave-like 
conditions like mine.

	Anyway, I can't help too much with the CommuniGate integration 
obviously.  I've wondered about how to maybe integrate Asterisk and 
CommuniGate myself in the past, but haven't really spent any time on it 
myself.  But if you have any SIP related phone questions, feel free to 
drop me a line.

#############################################################
This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to
  the mailing list <CGatePro@mail.stalker.com>.
To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <CGatePro-off@mail.stalker.com>
To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <CGatePro-digest@mail.stalker.com>
To switch to the INDEX mode, E-mail to <CGatePro-index@mail.stalker.com>
Send administrative queries to  <CGatePro-request@mail.stalker.com>
=0A=0A--------------------------------------------------=0A=0AThe informati=
on contained in this message may be =0Aprivileged and confidential and prot=
ected from =0Adisclosure. If the reader of this message is not =0Athe inten=
ded recipient, an associate or agent =0Aresponsible for delivering this mes=
sage to the =0Aintended recipient, you are hereby notified that =0Aany diss=
emination, distribution or copying of =0Athis communication is strictly pro=
hibited. If you =0Ahave received this communication in error, please =0Anot=
ify us immediately by replying to the message =0Aand deleting it from your =
computer. Thank you. =0A=0AG.V.C. Direct, Inc.