To answer a few questions in one email..
^^^ Thats them!, Roger is the owner, really nice guy. He has forgotten
more than I know about T1's (and I have 9 years experience with digital
telephony....)
Somebody Asked what CSU/DSU do I use.
I use a CAC DataSplit CSU/DSU, it has a T1 input and 2 DTE outputs, I
simply set it so all the DS0's go to DTE1 and run that into a Cisco 2501
serial input. The DataSplit has a serial port that I run to a serial
port on the PM and I can remote admin them. If the T1 is up I can telnet
to them if the T1 is down I can call a number into the PM and attach to
the serial port and gain access to the CSU/DSU on both sides of the T1,
Very helpful to place blame on the Telco so they get the lines fixed ASAP.
As Jerry Pournelle would say 'Highly recommended'
The CAC DataSplit I have ran $1495 I think...
Somebody Asked 'IF you don't use a channel bank for Internet Access what
do you use them for'
Short Answer, Another part of our company.
Long Answer: We are also an Answering Service/Voice Mail/Order Entry
company and use T1's to get local dialtone for DID trunks and dialout
trunk to different parts of the area code. we have 2 Wescom (made by
Rockwell) channel banks that digitize 24 analog lines and spit out a T1,
that T1 is then run up directly into our Redcom L5 switch, the switch
then sends the calls to live operators or to our VM after handling the
DID digits.
Somebody else asked if CAC as a good company.
Short Answer, YES YES YES YES
Long Answer: I met Roger Koenig (the owner) at a convention for the
Answering Service part of our company, he/CAC has provided SOLID support
and systems to the Answering Service community for years, I have installed
3 or 4 of his setups around the northeast and they have always worked and
have always been very solid. An associate had a fire and had to move his
office ( on a friday) Roger was ready and willing to ship any and all
parts we may have needed to get up back up and running, Fortunatly the
channel banks & CSU/DSU were unplugged and didn't get wet so they didn't
need replacement.
Roger also knows enough about how the Telco does its thing to come up
with some very inovative solutions to some problems.
This group is NOT for advertisements I know, but CAC is a very good
company for T1 access equipment, Tell the Matt Crocker from Crocker
Communications sent you.
Thats all...
-Matt