Positron Telecommunication Systems is shipping a PBX PCI adapter with telephony and Ethernet ports, based on the open source Asterisk telephony engine. The Linux-based V-114 is an “Asterisk PBX on a card,” complete with hardware echo cancellation, and supports any desktop OS, says Positron.

(Click for slightly larger view of the V-114)

Combining PBX and gateway functions, the V-114 is designed to be used as a standalone PBX or unified gateway, or else to expand PBX solutions such as Cisco Call Manager by cost effectively adding phone extensions, says Positron. Based on embedded Linux, the board and is said to install as an Ethernet adapter, making it operating system (OS) independent and requiring no additional drivers.

The adapter is based on the open source, Linux-compatible Asterisk, IP PBX (Internet protocol private branch exchange) telephony engine and toolkit from Digium, which also offers an AsteriskNOW Linux distribution and “software appliance” based on Asterisk. The V-114 supports any SIP-based application, and interoperates with Microsoft Office Communications Server and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, says the company.

The V-114 appears to ship with a full complement of PBX features, including dial by name, extension, or group, and advanced call forwarding rules. It also offers unified messaging and gateway features such as video integration, as well as voicemail conversion to email, says Positron.

V-114 connectivity

The V-114 PCI adapter is said to include the following features and specifications:

• CompactFlash slot
• 4 x Foreign Exchange Office (FXO) ports for telephony connections
• 1 x Foreign Exchange Station (FXS) port for connecting a phone or fax machine
• Hardware-based G.168 echo cancellation (up to 128ms tail length)
• PCI 2.2 compliant Ethernet interface
• 10/100Mbps auto MDIX Ethernet port
• Auto SIP phone provisioning — Linksys; Polycom; SNOM; Aastra; Cisco
• Codec support — G.711 ulaw & alaw; G.729 a/b; GSM; Speex
• Deployment options:
  • Stand alone PBX
  • PBX extender
  • Google Apps voice system
  • Unified Messaging Gateway
  • HMP Blade
• Dimensions — 4.2 x 12.3 inches (107 x 312mm)
• Operating system — embedded Linux; supports any desktop OS

Stated Richard McGravie, President of Positron Telecom, “The V-114 PCI is the first in a series of PCI adapters that we are introducing to challenge the traditional telephony board market. Having a native Ethernet interface built into our PCI cards and routers allows application developers to focus on SIP based telephony, which is the wave of the future.”

Availability

The V-114PCI is said to be available now for $630. More information, including a full list of PBX and gateway features, may be found here.

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