Changing PRI

[ahren]

My phone service provider (CallOne) wants to give us a new vPRI with Flex Path. Based on the quote it looks to be an Adtran TA908 (2nd Gen). Currently we have Teltrend dsawm-207alc.

I'm not familiar with PRIs at all, and don't really get how they work, which is why I am concerned that swapping the PRI will cause me to have to reconfigure our Patton SmartNode or make changes to our 3CX Manage Console.

Would swapping in this equipment necessitate changes in 3CX or on the Patton? What can I prepare for?

Our salesman at CallOne doesn’t really “get” 3CX phone systems so he’s not helpful in avoiding potential pitfalls like from yanking out a PRI and replacing it with something completely different. Or maybe swapping the PRI isn't a big deal, provided that it's configured correctly by the installer?

Any advice or insights you can offer would be massively appreciated!

 

[JasonNadeau]

Patton will most likely get discontinued and you'll need to setup a sip trunk between 3cx and the adtran. As long as they know how to setup the adtran the 3cx end is relatively easy.

 

[ahren]

Whoa, didn't see that scenario coming! That sounds like a lot more work than I bargained for. Hopefully, they're up to the task and it doesn't fall on me...

 

[NTB Inc]

Assuming this is a traditional PRI and that is the handoff it should be relatively simple to swap; it really depends though if they are "handing off" to you a PRI or a SIP connection. A lot of times the "flex" circuits are delivered over SIP by the carrier but then handed off to the customer as a traditional PRI. A couple of concerns/items to check if a traditional PRI...

- Are they sending you 7 or 10 digit numbers, this will be valuable for call routing on incoming numbers as your Inbound table in 3cx will need to match.
- Does new provider allow you to specify outbound caller ID? If so you will need to update outbound caller ID where configured, some carriers like AT&T will reject outbound calls if passed caller ID numbers are invalid.
- How many channels are being provided, generally speaking a PRI will be 23 channels unless it is a half or some other custom configuration.
- What protocol are they using such as NI-2, 5ess, etc.
- PRI Clock Source (generally customer is slave)

You basically need to make sure the Patton or whatever PRI gateway you are using is setup to accommodate what the new circuit will be using. Personally I would have the provider bring in the new circuit, set it up, have them provide you some test numbers so you can begin testing call flow in/out and not have surprises; a "cutover" scenario would be most likely have issues popup in real time. So basically you would have 2 services in use and you could slowly transition between the 2, depending if you are keeping/porting your numbers, would contribute to a much smoother migration.

First step would be to confirm with carrier how they are "handing off" the connection to the customer, if it is a SIP based connection that is probably easier as you could set it up inline with your existing environment for testing. If it is PRI handoff you will need to chat with carrier to understand what their settings are and then configure the Patton and 3cx appropriately. If you are unsure of what to do on Patton, a quick call to their support will get that going, they have great support folks. If you are porting your numbers and assuming they provide same inbound digits you could keep most of your existing 3cx config, again depending on your situation. Hope that helps.

 

[ahren]

Huge help! Stress levels falling. Thank you!

 

[cobaltit]

It sounds like it's even simpler. They are giving you a vPRI, most likely over EoC circuits which will save them money over a true copper PRI. Just ask them to keep all the settings the same signaling, digits, channels, etc and it should be a PnP swap. But yes you are going from a true copper PRI to SIP delivered to the Adtran and then an emulated PRI.

 

[JasonNadeau]

... I dont see the point in converting sip to a pri in adtran, only to plug it into a Patton to reconvert it to sip. I'd use their adtran as an sbc and go sip direct to 3cx. Should cost less too since u don't need the pri gateway part in the adtran.

 

[cobaltit]

The OPs question is whether the change required any changes in equipment. Since they already have a PRI the provider is switching to a cheaper way of maintaining that PRI hand-off. And I don't believe CallOne is a certified provider. Since they already have a Patton the steps I outlined would be the easiest and involve the least amount of effort.

 

[JasonNadeau]

Not arguing with you cobaltit, your advise is sound and is definitely the easiest. I just don't like the idea of that double conversion and needing to worry about 2 gateways. Adtrans and 3cx play nice together, despite not being supported.

 

[cobaltit]

@JasonNadeau

If this was a greenfield scenario then I would recommend going straight SIP as well. I also don't like the double conversion as it introduces more potential points of failure (and extra cost).