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Our business is looking to have a fiber line installed in place of our current set up of 3 T1 lines and a DSL line.

Before I can eliminate all of the T1 lines, I need to know if the PRI, that I have running on it's own T1 for our phone system, can be sent down the fiber or if I need to keep a T1 strictly for the PRI.

Basically, we want to run ALL the data down the fiber pipe if possible (PRI, VPN x 2, and Web)

Anyone with any experience with this?

Joe JMC IT
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2 Answers2

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You really really need to ask your provider. "Fiber" is just the physical layer, we here have no idea what protocol(s) are going to be run over it, or what the handoff equipment can support.

It's probably possible, which is the most I can tell you.

mfinni
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  • Thanks, I'll give them a call. I just want to make sure that they are not trying to sell me extra lines that I don't need. – Joe JMC IT Oct 24 '12 at 14:54
  • Out of curiosity, what are the best questions to ask the provider regarding this matter? What would you ask if you were in my shoes? – Joe JMC IT Oct 24 '12 at 15:00
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    Give them your complete requirements, same as you need to do any other time you make a purchase. Then, research their answers. – mfinni Oct 24 '12 at 15:02
  • If the things they offer don't make sense, come back here with a new question with your specifics - that'll get a lot more response. – mfinni Oct 24 '12 at 16:10
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Never say never...

SIP Trunk - The level headed choice

It is possible yes, but as previously mentioned by mfinni it is dependent on your provider and your internal set up.

If you have the PRI for an interal PBX for example, you could have the traffic re-delivered over the fibre if your provider supports SIP trunks. Your PBX would need to support SIP trunks and the fibre provider would need to be the same provider as the existing PRI (in this theoretical scenario) so they can route the same numbers to you down a SIP trunk.

If not you are going to need a number porting agreement between providers and then, well, it really is getting to specific to talk about here.

So to wrap up, if its the same provider and they are any good, this is perfectly possible.

Encapsulation - The long shot

Since you are having a fiber line delivered, presumably a new shiny CPE will be heading your way too. If you have an MPLS capable device and your provider supports (this isn't very common) you could have the PRI data delivered to you as "Circuit Emulation over MPLS" (AToM) whereby an MPLS Pseudo-wire emulates a TDM link.

mfinni
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jwbensley
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