Suggested analog telephone adapters?

[murph]

I've gotten some businesses thinking of trying out this New and Amazing PBX. While I have set up the PiaF with IP and soft phones with great results, some would like to use their existing handsets.

Can anyone suggest an analog telephone adapter that has worked well with multi-line business phones? I have no experience with them yet but I'm willing to experiment, and I'd like to hear some opinions to narrow the field. There's probably 4 different kinds of phones that they would be used with.

Does phone manufacturer matter? Should I look for ATAs that are specialized for the particular brands? Anything else to consider?

Thanks!

 

[mtennant]

what kind of phones? standard key system type phones that can take a standard phone line, or proprietary? you might want to think about digital phone replacements. more flexible.

 

[murph]

Standard phones that take standard 2 pair lines, yes. Not sure on the exact brands, but I can get that info if it helps.

As far as switching to digital, the choice isn't up to me. I'll try to make a stronger argument, but this is a trial for these people and they aren't going to go for sinking $200 a phone until they're suitably impressed. I was thinking of starting with the Linksys SPA2102, then eventually getting them on the Aastra 57i that was recently featured on Nerd Vittles, or it's cheaper little brother, the 55i.

Baby steps...

 

[mtennant]

so are you going to have two extensions per phone going to the Asterisk box? How many CO lines (SIP lines maybe)?

 

[jroper]

Hi

I've been down this road before with a company wanting to use their existing phones. It's a pain, and it may be less money in hardware, but more in labour.

Additionally, many analogue phones do not have the same features, such as a transfer button, etc, and getting the users to dial ## to transfer does not endear them to the phone system.

If you can steer them away from using existing handsets and towards Aastra's, your install will be less painful, and the customer will be happier in the long run.



Joe

 

[wardmundy]

Perhaps you can persuade them to try one of the Aastra's and a couple of old phones. A good, reliable ATA is the SPA-2102.

 

[murph]

so are you going to have two extensions per phone going to the Asterisk box? How many CO lines (SIP lines maybe)?

Just one extension per phone, two per ATA if I use the SPA-2102

Two are interested in the features offered by PiaF and want to remain pure PSTN (4 lines for one, 2 for the other), while the other is interested in dropping down from four coppers to one basic copper line forwarded to an ITSP that I've set up (they are emphatic about keeping their # but want the ITSP savings).

I'm thinking about what you and jroper have posited in this thread and seriously trying to push the IP phones. I think I could get away with an ATA for the 2 lines but I can see where ITSP users especially might get a bad impression with their old phones. I'll order a couple Aastra 55i and demo them for the customers. My Budgetone and Swissvoice, while functional, aren't exactly wowing them...

The advice is much appreciated.

 

[Alex728]

Linksys PAP2T provides two independent SIP extensions in one box

 

[mtennant]

The SPA-1001 is an interesting animal. It has one phone port but supports two SIP registrations.

 

[murph]

The SPA-1001 is an interesting animal. It has one phone port but supports two SIP registrations.

How do you get two phones to use one port? I've looked for mention of this in the specs, information pages and data sheets but I couldn't find anything on how it is done.

Edit: So... maybe two 1-line phones (with one wired as inner pair and the other as the outer) in one RJ11 jack? Seems kinda rigged but I guess it might work...

 

[murph]

Perhaps you can persuade them to try one of the Aastra's and a couple of old phones. A good, reliable ATA is the SPA-2102.

In reading more on the SPA-2102 I found the SPA-3102-NA-3, which could give some much needed peace of mind for me and the "volunteers".

 

[mtennant]

each sip registration can be to a different extension. distinctive ring works, and you can select the line you want to use with the pound key. read more on it online.

 

[troycarpenter]

Handytone 386

I personally have used the Grandstream Handytone 386 to connect my home's internal wiring to my Asterisk box. It supports two lines, plus a PBX passthrough (which I never use). With the config file generators available, its relatively easy to provision using a config file. The only provisioning problem is that the boxes do not know how to use the t*f*t*p server in the DHCP offer, so I have to manually tell the device the t*f*t*p server to use for config files and firmware upgrades. Once the config file is downloaded the first time, then there isn't any issues.

Functionally I've only had one time where a power supply went bad. Since you can get the Handytone online for around $30-$40, I just bought a new one for its power supply and keep the unit as a spare.

 

[blanchae]

You can try the Digium IAXy S100i. It's cheap and easy to setup. Or go with TDM400P cards or a channel bank to a TE100 card