[venkatapilla]

Hi All,

I am trying to integrate Inter-Tel Axxess Telephone system with Asterisk server.
Can any one please tell me what hardware I need and how can I do that ?

Thanks
Venkat

[mberlant]

Your PABX needs to have either of two things. It must have an interface card that can talk either IAX2 or SIP over a TCP/IP (ethernet) link or it must have a suitable number of trunk circuits that talk the same protocol (Loop Start or Ground Start POTS, ISDN BRI, ISDN PRI, T1/E1) as your Asterisk does via its complement of internal interface cards or external ATAs.

[venkatapilla]

Hi mberlant,

Thanks for the fast reply, I have a Loop start card on the Intertel system, what card should I purchase for the Asterisk server and how do I connect them both.. I am a newbee to all of this, so please could you explain me in detail on how to do this.

Thanks
Venkat

[mberlant]

You have many choices, and your selection will be based on the number of trunks you want to interconnect, the number of open slots you have on your Asterisk server and cost efficiency amongst the eligible options.

If you have slots in your Asterisk server you can purchase Digium cards to serve these PABX trunks. They are available in 1-port and 4-port models, if I recall correctly. If you do not have slots available, naturally, this option will not be viable.

The other common interface is with one or more ATAs. I have heard of people interfacing as many as 16 trunks via 8 Sipura SPA-2000s. This is a straightforward process. I have a bank of three trunks from my NorTel PABX interfacing to my Asterisk in this manner.

Now, both of these connection types only provide for calling from the PABX to the Asterisk (and beyond). You need a way to send calls from the Asterisk into the PABX. The best way to do this is to set your bank of G3 ports to be DISA ports, set for no password and a COS as limited as you desire. An alternative to this, if your G3 software will not combine DISA inbound with outbound dialing on the same trunk, is to have these ports ring into your Auto Attendant or Voice Mail system, to allow inbound callers to route to PABX extensions.

That's about all the detail that's available at this stage. You should be studying the Asterisk documentation as you consider embarking on this project. www.asterisk.org is a good place to start. This project is non-trivial, and you may need to engage a consultant if it gets very complicated.