Adding a remote site to opt 11c

[chadmiller]

We have an opt11c running rel23 at our main campus location that consists of the main cabinet and a secondary cabinet connected by a fiber card. At the remote site we currently have phone service coming in over 3 pots lines 2 for voice and 1 for fax thru a different provider. The sites are connected for data by fiber using cisco switches, there are dark fibers availaibe still but are about 10 miles apart. We would like to give the people at our remote site the ability to have the same functionalatiy as the people who are on the opt11c. I'm wondering if there is either some type of hardware device or voip device/phones that would allow my remote site to use the phone switch and trunk lines from my main site without having to pay the phone company for the additonal lines. The site primarly is using its lines to call numbers at our main campus. Is this possible at all and if so what equipment / software upgrades might it take. Any help would be great

 

[johnpoole]

if you've got a couple of fibers, look at ip remote for the opt 11.. it looks and programs just like any other shelf

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[chadmiller]

wouldn't that require me to have another cabinet at the remote site? don't supose you would have a part number that i could search on to find more out about that shelf?

Thanks

 

[johnpoole]

yes a ip remote shelf was my recogmendation. with voip you would still need a cab for analog sets

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[telecomnorth]

Nortel's Remote Office 9150 would is an option. Runs on a IP backbone, uses TDM (M2616) sets at the remote site, and supports one fax line. The 9115 supports one digital phone and no fax line. A little pricey for just 2 sets and 1 fax.

Also, I believe Cisco has some gear that will accept analog lines at one site, route them via IP, and make them appear at a remote site. Pricey also I suspect but might have a lower cost per line.

Upgrading and IP enabling your PBX would offer the best solution. VoIP really really shines in applications like supporting remote sites.

Check with your local Telco about the cost of installing and leasing OPX circuits between the two sites allowing for PBX dialtone to be extended to the remote site. Sometimes the cost per month is much lower that POTS lines.

And keep 911 location identification in mind with any solution implemented.

 

[johnpoole]

with voip on the nortel side you can use analog adapters on the ip sets.. the remote ip uses ip trunking to a tdm switch. that cab programs as if it were local. but your talking major denero for a couple of sets

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[chadmiller]

i dont really care if they desk phones stay analog or digiatl only need to have analog for my fax lines. does anyone know rough numbers as to how much it might cost me to upgrade to voip on my option 11c i thought i remember reading somewhere that i would need to upgrade from rel 23 to at least 25 to add the functionality as well as some hardware upgrades? The voip solution might be better as we actually have a few remote sites that consist of only a single user at those sites.

 

[saw164]

Yes you could send it with Cisco, but it might be a little pricey and alittle complacated, you would need 2 routers, we use 3600 series, but anything that can handle a T1 and FXO and FXS ports, and a T1 between the 2 locations..... PBX side will be using the FXO ports, and the phone side would use the FXS port....you wouldn't need to upgrade anything on the PBX! but you will have to do some programming on the routers....

 

[johnpoole]

bad as i hate to admit it, that is the way i would go. the good thing about that is that in the future you can add ip sets to areas less remote.. putting a cab in that site pays for stations for that site, and very little future needs.. cisco voip is a lot more simple then nortel and your network people usually know cisco

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[chadmiller]

Hehe actually I'm a Network guy who got stuck doing phone stuff also. As far as T1's between the sites that would actually be quite slow compared to what is there already. We have a county wide fiber optic network that feeds anywhere from 6 to 24 strands of single mode fiber to over 100 different school buildings in our county. across the fiber we are currently running cisco 3550's and 3750's switches at gigabit speeds. I've not done too much with the 3660 routers what is the fxo and fsx ports are these just something that does a pots style analog to voip conversion and can i run this across my already existing ethernet backbone? The cisco might actually be the cheaper solution for us as we get great discounts from cisco for being k-12 educational. Again thanks for everything

 

[saw164]

The Cisco Foreign Exchange Office (FXO) interface is an RJ-11 connector that allows an analog connection to be directed at the public switched telephone network's (PSTN's) central office or to a station interface on a private branch exchange (PBX). The FXO sits on the switch end of the connection. It plugs directly into the line side of the switch so the switch thinks the FXO interface is a telephone.

A Foreign Exchange Station (FXS) interface connects directly to a standard telephone, fax machine, or similar device and supplies ring, voltage, and dial tone. The Cisco FXS interface is an RJ-11 connector that allows connections to basic telephone service equipment, keysets, and private branch exchanges (PBXes).

Sorry to say they are analog only, we have just started messing with VOIP, so i am know help there.

 

[telecomnorth]

A rough cost assuming 200 digital and analog sets, Enterprise level of software, a new SSC card, one signaling server, one gateway card, and 8 IP telephone seat licenses: $24,000 to $30,000. You'd have a nice system at that point and deploying IP sets at remote sites would be a piece of cake.