appreciate the input. Here are some thoughts.
ADSI phones are out of the question. This is a business environment, I can't worry about my employees not knowing how to forward calls, answer calls when away from the multiline phone, and no ADSI phone will handle multiple lines that I have found.
I would love to put 6 X100P cards in a case and run asterisk on it. but...
I hate the idea of running a channel bank. It just seems unecessary, and more crap to break, set up, and buy.
DIalogic 4 and 12 port cards are expensive. The 12 port prohibitively so, so I think I would be better off getting 2 of the 4 port cards. I have found them for <900$ apiece on ebay.
That compairs as:
Case 1 Channel bank
Asterisk box: 500$ (provably less than this, as it is a minimal machine)
T100P card: 500$
Channel Bank 600$ (actually, from what I can find, provably more like 1000$ before I am done)
Phones: I am going to go with the Mitel Networks 5055, they are about 400$ apiece.
Total: 1600$ for the setup (to 2000$) + 2000K for 5 phones.
Case 2: FXO cards
Asterisk box 500$ Dialogic 4 port card 900$ Phones: same as the above Total 1400$ plus phones, 2K$ for 5 phones.
Case 3 proprietary system
Mitel 3100 server: 3K Phones: 250$ apiece, 1250$ total. 4250$ total.
Case 1 and 2 are ties in my eyes, except the channel bank would provably be cheaper to upgrade to 8 lines. I am just afraid of the channel bank. I just don't know anything about them. If I buy the wrong crap, it gets really expensive fast, plus adds another layer of complexity.
Michael Rowley MD FP
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