I think oslec is a bad trend. PIAF being source based allows for it to be easily added for those who feel the need but seriously when you get over a certain amount of channels it craps, I am not sure whats wrong with zaptels built in, if you need more you probably should go with HWEC.
I understand that OSLEC or any other software echo canceller will obviously have performance issues with a large amount of channels, (for instance if I was deploying a system with a multi-channel E1 trunk I'd certainly use hardware EC!) I accept from an engineering standpoint tried, tested and solid hardware will always have the edge.
However, I disagree with the assertion that OSLEC is a bad trend or that those deploying it "do not understand echo".
My background also includes traditional telephony and electronics and the professional broadcast industry, as well as 20+ years of experience, plus (perhaps most important) a constant willingness to learn. I wouldn't have bothered with the extra effort of revisiting skills from college days to install and compile OSLEC were there not a gain in doing so.
I tested both MG2 and OSLEC with both Trixbox and PIaF and there wasn't much difference, but OSLEC had the edge as it converges a lot quicker on my system.
No, it isn't 100% perfect, but Dave Rowe admits this on his own website (and even the developer of MG2 says OSLEC is the better performer)
I have had the system in live test for some weeks now, have told users to listen out for and report objectionable levels of echo, and have had no complaints whatsoever. (There is far less echo on this system than some mobile phone calls in this country, or on other VOIP-based phone systems provided by British Telecom!)
if you were any other random person on here I wouldn't have made
this following comment, but because you are representing your brand on here it
does sound like you are a bit cross as some other chap has developed a product for "free" which competes with a product
your company makes, even if its not 100% as good.
But thats the way it is with open source and a free market, and its a price sensitive market these days. BTW I'm not a reseller or system integrator trying to screw the last penny out of my customers by skimping on the system, I'm an in-house IT/telecoms engineer for a small business looking for best value with tight budgets. Even the current £100-150 or so price premium for hardware echo cancel is a lot of money to a small business, especially in the early stages of a project.
I'm also dealing with a business culture in a rural area of a country where we only got broadband a couple years ago, and it wasn't so long ago there were no DTMF phones, mobiles were horrendously expensive and people queued up outside red telephone boxes...
My office didn't even have a LAN until I arrived, and every bit of spend on technology has to be justified.
This is also a broad church of users - not everyone has big bucks and there are a lot of smalller SOHO users with only 1-4 PSTN lines for whom OSLEC seems to be working very well, or well enough. If you don't want to deal with these "small fish" or are unhappy they aren't spending the few extra bucks to buy
your product then fair enough (and I accept the Rhino analogue cards are quite a good price for what you get!), but don't berate people (who may even one day be potential customers!) for their own informed choices...