Michigan CAT Implements Own Open Source PBX System, Saves Thousands

Each year, a growing number of telecom providers embrace Asterisk and other open source technologies to create cost-effective and flexible telephony solutions. Free open source models enable small developers and growing PBX vendors to compete with some of the larger telecom manufacturers, such as Cisco, ShoreTel and Avaya (News - Alert).

Due to this recent widespread acceptance of open source models, enterprises and SMBs now have more options to choose from when considering implementing a next-generation telephony solution. They can opt to partner with one of the big boys, or decide to go with an up-and-coming open source-based provider.

Or, as Michigan CAT recently proved, they can completely ignore the commercial vendors and boldly deploy their own Asterisk IP PBX (News - Alert) system.

Scott McCrea, CIO for the Caterpillar dealership, recently sat down with Tim Greene of Network World (News - Alert) to explain how it is possible for a small business to implement its own open source telephony solution and cut its costs in half, compared to what commercial vendors normally charge.

After evaluating IP phone systems from Avaya and other large providers, McCrea soon realized that it would cost between $300,000 and $400,000 to deploy a solution that could support 300 phones across seven sites. So he decided to hire John Laffey, an Asterisk expert, and complete the project without partnering with an outside vendor.

Laffey identified the infrastructure needs to support VoIP, which entailed upgrading to power-over-Ethernet switches and Cisco routers, and dropped in HP ProLiant servers designed to support Asterisk, according to Network World. He also purchased SIP trunks to replace AT&T's (News - Alert) legacy T-1s, individual lines and Centrex services. After doing so, Laffey recognized that Michigan CAT was not using the amount of bandwidth that it was paying for. By making the switch, the company immediately knocked 40 percent off their costs.

When Laffey was finished, McCrea added up the bill, which included new IP-based phones, network upgrades, servers, trunk cards and line cards, and found that the company only spent $150,000 to transition to a PBX system.

"I'm proud of our decision," McCrea told the news source. "They say nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM (News - Alert) or Cisco. That can [now] be true about choosing Asterisk."

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Tammy Wolf