We replaced an end of life Lucent Avaya PBX with Asterisk in 2007 for a school district of 4000+ students and 600+ staff.
The first iteration used POTS lines connecting to Audiocodes FXO gateways which then interfaced with our Asterisk server. When not all voltages were consistent, we opted to have the voice lines delivered directly to our administration offices via PRI. Ultimately, we have moved to have our service provided as straight SIP.
We currently have over 350 Polycom IP 430 phones deployed in 9 buildings. Many of these are in classrooms and the intent is to eventually have a phone in every classroom. Asterisk’s SIP Header inclusion allows for auto-answer capability on Polycom phones. We’ve used this in place of traditional failing PA systems. Likewise, we’ve integrated legacy PA systems with Asterisk such that Public Address messages need not use a specialized proprietary handset. PA system can be made from any authorized phone.
In addition, we have over 40 analog lines in one building connecting via FXS gateways.
Every teacher has a voicemail box. Using MySQL, I’ve automated the voicemail box creation process as well as created our own Dial by Name Directory and a student grade reporting system (Cepstral Text-to-Speech Engine). We’ve tied in our environmental reporting to Asterisk as well; once a server registers a temperature above the threshold, Asterisk sends an automated call with the warning, location, and temperature (also using Cepstral). Budgetary cuts eliminated a receptionist; Asterisk allowed me to easily implement an automated attendant that matched our previous voice menus. We have used Asterisk’s call recording features for recording phone conferences as well as threatening callers.
Proposed conventional replacements for the Lucent Avaya system were in excess of $400,000. We were able to put in Asterisk, the FXS and FXS gateways, and the handsets (initially only 275) for less than $90,000. We’ve been running since 2007 and have only added more users and more features.
Any Commentary to dannytechwannabe@gmail.com
Phone System 