Aastra Telecom has entered the IP-PBX game with the AastraLink Pro 160. This is a very interesting move since Aastra Telecom is known for their IP phones used by various IP-PBXs, including many of the Asterisk-based solutions - trixbox, AsteriskNOW, Druid, PBX in a Flash, etc. With the AastraLink Pro 160 Aastra is now competing with IP-PBX vendors that purchase their phones. It will be interesting to see if some IP-PBX vendors, especially the Asterisk-based ones, move towards other IP phones such as Polycom. I suppose in the SMB space you're still more likely to go up against Avaya, Nortel, Toshiba, etc. than another Asterisk competitor. In any event, the AastraLink Pro Model 160 IP PBX is based on open standards (SIP) and is designed for the small business market targeting 25 users and under. "Combined, and fully integrated with Aastra’s existing portfolio of SIP phones, the launch of the AastraLink Pro enables us to deliver to market a powerful and truly cost-effective telephony solution specifically created for small sized organizations," said Yves Laliberte, Executive Vice President at Aastra Telecom. “As a longstanding industry leader in the SMB space, Aastra’s key priorities are to design flexible and reliable products from the ground up to deliver enterprise-class IP communications to all of our SMB customers.”
According to Aastra, AastraLink Pro enables users to quickly and easily get phones up and running by simply plugging the system into an existing LAN and it will auto-provision. They espouse the fact that it doesn't have hidden application license and user costs or the need of an installation technician.
AastraLink Pro provides all the standard PBX/Key system features and functionality while leveraging a host of new IP-based services – including auto discovering and self provisioning of extensions, visual voicemail delivered via XML, SIP trunking, expanded user control via a web GUI, remote teleworker and the ability to network multiple AastraLink Pro's via IP. Designed to be compatible with select Aastra SIP phones, the AastraLink Pro also supports up to 6 PSTN FXO trunks, 2 FXS Analog ports and 1 SIP trunk plus external paging port and a music input port.
Feature highlights:
- Local SIP extensions, remote SIP users and SIP Trunking
- Auto fax detection and routing
- Visual and standard voicemail
- Voicemail to Email notification with audio attachment
- Operator Console
- Auto-attendant (AA) with day/night/holiday scheduling and custom announcements
- Easy to use soft key management via global or local user templates with the ability to print soft key inserts
- XML interface to on board Push Button Input Trigger and Relay Output
- Built in audio in/out circuitry for music on hold and external paging
- Standard PBX/Key system functions such as: Busy Lamp Filed (BLF), Flexible Call Forward (CFB, CFNA, CFA), 3-way Conference Calls (3WC) and Call Park
- Key System emulation of SLA (Shared Line Appearances) (FXO ports only) *
- Enhanced system features such as: Find-Me Follow-Me (FMFM), Directed Call Pickup (DCP), Aastra SIP telephone auto discovery and FXO line monitoring via GUI
- Up to 6 Foreign Exchange Office (FXO) ports for connection to analogue public telephone lines (PSTN). Each FXO is equipped with on-hook CallerID detection and full G.168 echo cancellation
Update: 11:06am
This from Aastra's PR rep... It is indeed an Asterisk based solution:
"AastraLink Pro 160 is comprised of a Linux-based appliance running Asterisk open source call manager embedded software. The product was designed in house by Aastra's R & D department."
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Holy Crap. seems have we reached the 1,000,000th Phone system yet?
We had this system. It is unreliable. We have to restart it at least once a week. The voicemail system is so cumbersome as to be unusable. After four months of fighting with it, countless lost calls, my entire office furious, we have just purchased replacement system. This system is so bad, I cannot in good conscience even resell it on ebay. Run the other way.
I tested this system and I have to say that it's missing the most basic options.
- There is no number normalization.
- To dial using FXO lines you must prefix the number with 9 and SIP lines the prefix must be 8. (This cannot be changed)
- Very limited Auto-Attendant.
- No call queues.
- Only one usable network port (No WAN and LAN).
- Only compatible with Aastra Phones.
On the positive side:
- Integration with the phones is great.
- Tech Support is good.
This can be a great system if Aastra put a little more work into it.