Citel Gateway & Extenders for Norstar 1

[flafoneguy]

I'm looking for a little guidance and/or possibly paid support on a little project here in the Tampa/Clearwater area. I have existing MICS system and client wants to expand back office ops to an office down the street. I'm thinking Citel Pbx Gateway I and Extender pair (12 ports)for the new office. Is there anybody on this site that would be interested in assisting or know anybody in my area? Even a lead for a competent dealer would be appreciated. Does anyone know how to ID the products as to what level of software and/or firmware is installed in any given unit? Is that important as far as a secondary market offering? How is the support channel for the product - are there dealer/support channels in Tampa or Florida - that you know about and are reliable? With that said I have a couple of technical questions. Is it essential to adapt 4 digit extension vs. current 3 digit extension? Will paging thru phone feature pass through? Or voice call feature? CLID? I tried the website chat got a little info as to what equipment could be deployed and then the chat person dissapeared without replying to several questions I asked. Am I suffering from paralysis by over analysis? This seems pretty clear cut as long as the equipment works and maybe having the install CD's. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Mike P.
flafoneguy

Is it close to beer:30 yet?

 

[bmccaw]

Mike

If you haven't already received your info on this:

The MCK extends the phone port over to the 2nd location with all the features and properties as the 1st location. The DN length will be the same as the first location. There is a guy in Fla I used to buy hardware from who was quite knowledgeable on the MCK. Send me your email and I will give you the contact info I have for him.

 

[flafoneguy]

Thanks for the offer bmccaw. I am working thru CITEL after I finally got a reply from them. The client preferred new to used so it all works out since I will learn it while I install. Thanks again for the reply.

Mike P.
flafoneguy

Is it close to beer:30 yet?

 

[flafoneguy]

bmccaw - My Citel install is still a work in progress - call quality is not what we expected. Can you help me with locating that contact of yours in Fla? Thank you in advance.

Mike P.
flafoneguy

Is it close to beer:30 yet?

 

[curlycord]

What is the connect type between the sites and the devices involved? sounds like network issues.
The devices translate, its the connection that provides quality.
Always give priority to voice when can.




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curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

Toronto Canada

http://www.telcopc.ca

 

[flafoneguy]

I believe it is too. The symptoms are chop in voice and occasionally dropped calls. I have heard the chop but never seen a dropped call. I have a new 12 port Gateway I with internet connection to a new 8 port Extender. Both release 3.4 (?) latest direct from Citel. Both are on Brighthouse internet - sites are less than 1/4 mile apart. Gateway site has Firebox Firewall that has been tweaked for recommended port use, the Gateway is on a managed switch connected to the Firebox. Remote site has Motorola Router/Modem connected to another managed switch. Gateway site has the same Motorola Router/Modem I think. We are using G711 compression for both sites vs. adpcm32 originally suggested. Both sites have max bandwidth packages >50Mb/25Mb. Thinking about trying G729. I'm working with the client IT manager to look at some other tweaks and still have Citel support if needed. I don't think it's bandwidth. Probably a QoS issue or hardware that does not have strong QoS management feature. Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks in advance. I will try and nail down the exact hardware in use and post that detail if it helps any analysis.

Mike P.
flafoneguy

Is it close to beer:30 yet?

 

[flafoneguy]

Update - I arrived at site yesterday and all was working perfectly. The voice quality and consistency was as if the remote ext's were in house. By an amazing coincidence the Firebox firewall had about 7-8 subscriptions expire simultaneously yesterday. They were the default programs that you get for free when you purchase a Firebox - the free trial period was over and they disabled themselves. That being said - it proved that the clients software was the major contributor to the service disruption. We also proved that streaming music and video was sucking up huge chunks of bandwidth and increasing latency. The client is now going to analyze the software packages and see if he can determine which one or combination of packages degrade the packets as they are sent upstream. It is very likely that the expired software may be redundant protection that is otherwise available via other LAN devices and the local server embedded protections. My Hail Mary plan was to setup the Gateway and Extender without any firewalls or hardware between the sites and see what happens - at least I know that I was heading in the right direction.

Mike P.
flafoneguy

Is it close to beer:30 yet?

 

[curlycord]

Nice, that's why I said give voice the priority so you don't have to worry about the rest.



=----(((((((((()----=
curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

Toronto Canada

http://www.telcopc.ca

 

[redcarpetmovers]

bmccaw I saw this post and I am going to be installing these at a remote site also. Do you have the info for the seller in FLA? I will need a little hand holding on this since this is my first time installing an extender.