Integrated 120 CSU vs. Stand alone CSU

[hartmj]

Hello all,

I am wondering if anyone has swithced their CSU's from stand alone CSU's (such as the Paradyne 3160) to the integrated 120 CSU's from Avaya and what problems, if any you have encountered since? What are the advantages/disadvantages to switching to the 120 CSU or staying with the Paradyne 3160's? Basically I need to know whether its worth it to upgrade them or not.

Thanks in advance,

Josh

 

[RFWatts]

I have migrate numerous for various reasons, however, the primary reasons that I have ran into are space and remote troubleshooting. As you may be aware, the 120 takes up very little space, which is a commodity in many call-center switch rooms, especially when you have 20 to 30 T1s coming in. The ability to do remote troubleshooting is good, but I'm not real impressed with the 120A's abilities, so I would not switch based on that alone. You must run test, then look at the error log, then interpret the error. One product that I really like is the AT&T Comsphere chasis with 3151 CSU cards. This chasis can hold 12? (not sure of the exact number)CSU cards, and all can be controled by the main panel. In addition, multiple chasis can be connected together, and controlled via an IP network connection! The alarm management interface is fairly user friendly. Now here's the catch...you knew there had to be one! The chasis itself is expensive, but the 3151 cards are actually cheaper that the 3150s and 120As. A chasis will run you about $3k. All in all though, it would be a good investment.

Just my $.02 worth!

 

[avgindyguy]

We have no problems other than the price of the 120 CSU's. We still have a few of the Paradyne CSU's, the only down side of those is that they require separate power. Configuration is pretty easy. The integrated CSU's are nice, but they are passive, you will not have any status lights. Also, just so you know, if you have any remote EPN's connected via T-1's you will still need the paradynes.

 

[OldPhoneGuy]

"The integrated CSU's are nice, but they are passive, you will not have any status lights"

The led's on the face of the DS1 card act as the status lights for the CSU. You need the 120 CSU documentation to interpret the lights.